1f61 Poplar Creek Courier Brought to you by Boundary Country Trekking » 2009 » March 1f4b

Poplar Creek Courier Brought to you by Boundary Country Trekking

March 27, 2009

Green-Up Tree Planting Weekend Specials

Filed under: News, Events, Event Special — admin @ 6:23 am


Join other friends of the Gunflint at the Gunflint Trail Tree Planting weekend. At Poplar Creek Guesthouse and cabins two weekends have been dedicated to helping reforest the area from the affects of the 2007 Ham Lake Fire and the ongoing reforestation of the Poplar Creek/Little Ollie Lake area damaged by the 1999 BWCA Blowdown and subsequent salvage logging operations.

GGUP_Logo_211w.JPGGunflint Green-up Tree planting

May 1-4, 2009

 

We provided lodging with Barbara’s famous breakfast and you can join in the many exciting scheduled events

A Green Living Fair is planned on Friday from 1:00-5:00 pm followed with a talk by Howard Sivertson and picnic dinner in the big top tent at Gunflint Lodge.
Saturday is tree planting and release of the overgrowth around the trees planted in 2008. Saturday evening join the community for a celebratory dinner and dance. Sunday you can take in the Ham Lake Run Half Marathon.

* Your choice- Two (2) nights $89/ person or Three (3) nights $133/person plus taxes, double occupancy, at B&B/4 person minimum at cabins

There also is a $40/person participation fee charged by the Gunflint Greenup Committee to cover the cost of: Friday’s picnic dinner, a box lunch on Saturday and Saturday evening's dinner and dance.


Little Ollie Lake Blowdown Tree Planting

May 8-10, 2009

We provide planting instructions, planting equipment and tree seedlings, two nights lodging with Barbara’s famous breakfast each morning. One-day planting trees with trail lunch. Picnic-barbecue dinner at B&B on Saturday night. Also included during your stay is a discussion on the Area’s Fire History and Reforestation

* Two (2) nights (May 8-10) $89/person plus taxes- double occupancy at B&B/4 person minimum at cabins.

For more information or to make reservations contact Poplar Creek Guesthouse B&B

800-322-8327

 

 

March 26, 2009

Gunflint Green-up Tree Planting

Filed under: 1f5a News, Specials, Events, Event Special — admin @ 5:53 am

People, Trees, and Community — Coming Together for a Better Future

Grand Marais, MN ­ The second annual Gunflint Green Up takes place May 1-2 at various locations along the Gunflint Trail Scenic Byway in northeastern Minnesota. All planting and release sites are located within the Superior National Forest, in the area affected by the Ham Lake Fire of May 2007.

Gunflint Green Up begins with a Green Living Fair on the afternoon of Friday, May 1, at Gunflint Lodge’s conference center. The Green Living Fair is inspired by the idea that green living and planting trees go hand-in-hand, and that good stewards of the forest must be good stewards of the environment. The Green Living Fair offers a collection of local experts to assist the community and its visitors in that direction. Stewardship begins at home, whether home is the Gunflint Trail or hundreds of miles away. Following the Green Living Fair, there will be a picnic in the big top at Gunflint Lodge, music by the Sivertones, and a presentation by local artist Howard Sivertson. Saturday is tree planting and release of the overgrowth around the trees planted in 2008, trail lunch, dinner in the big top with music by Gerald Thilmany, celebration of the 100th anniversary of Superior National Forest, and dance with Trail’s End Band.

All participants must register to take part in the program. This year the registration options include ala carte meals, and an option to “plant only.” Participants can register for the Gunflint Green Up online at www.gunflintgreenup.com. The registration fee for all meals and programs is $40 per individual or $100 per family (1-­ 2 adults and their children 16 years of age and younger) and includes Friday’s Green Living Fair, dinner, evening presentation, Saturday tree planting, box lunch, dinner, dance, and t-shirt.

Please visit the website for ala carte options. All planting and release sites are within Superior National Forest and the area affected by the Ham Lake Fire of May 2007. Planting locations include the vicinities of Trail's End Campground, Chik-Wauk Museum and Nature Center, Kekekabic and Magnetic Rock Trails, Round Lake public landings, and the Iron Lake Campground. All are public lands; participants may visit the trees in future years.

“Green Up participants found the event to be a time they could give back to the Gunflint Trail, a special place that has given them so much through the years,” said Nancy Seaton, chair of the Gunflint Green Up Committee. “Planting a tree can be a powerful experience when you think of all the animals and people who will find a home in its branches or beauty in its shadows. Last summer people stopped me on the streets of Grand Marais to say they were going up the Trail to visit ‘their’ trees. Green Up really gave the planters a sense of ownership, a sense of being a part of the community. Green Up is as much about creating a greater community as it is about planting the trees for future generations.”

Sunday is the Ham Run Half Marathon (separate registration required). Information on the marathon can be found at www.hamrunhalfmarathon.com. The 2008 Gunflint Green Up was awarded the Explore Minnesota Tourism “Sustainable Tourism Award” and the USDA Forest Service Eastern Region Honor Award “Connecting Citizens to the Land.” Registration: www.GunflintGreenUp.com . Questions: email hjo@boreal.org.

Poplar Creek Guesthouse B&B and Cabin is offering a Green-up Special for more information click on- Green-up Special.

March 5, 2009

Late Winter-Early Spring Skiing can be the Best

Filed under: News, Ski Trails — admin @ 8:51 am

Skiing here at Poplar Creek Guesthouse B&B   does not end just because the calender says it is Spring. Some of the best skiing of the season is yet to come. In a recent article by NewHampshire ski writer, Roger Lohr, he states, "It happens every year – winter wanes and spring blooms with a flip of the calendar page. People, who live to ski and ski to live also known as snow lovers or winter worshippers can be disappointed to see springtime come. But there are a few well kept secrets about so called “spring skiing.” Spring snow conditions have many faces and offer many different opportunities. We see wet snowy blizzards that dump deep heavy feet of pillowy snow. And the warm March or April sunshine turns the snow to beads of corn before it turns to mush. The days are longer so we can ski after work or into the early evening hours."

You do not have to stop skiing just because it is spring. Long ago "local" skiers have learned to taken advantage of the hard crust  formed on the snow by the alternating freezing and thawing that occurs in the spring.   "Crust skiing," as it called, enable you  to skate off-trail deep into the Boundary Waters and other places inaccessible during the winter.  Then there is the Banadad,  perhaps, the last remaining trail in the state to close for the season. Protected from the warming spring sun by its east west orientation and  the heavy forest shading along the trail and the use of light grooming equipment, the Banadad normally is still ski able through at least the first week in April and often longer.

Whether you want to try the fun of crust skiing or another tracked ski along the Banadad, spring skiing on the Gunflint is the place to come! 


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