Gunflint Trail Association

With Thanksgiving behind us, holiday season is in full swing and many people along the Gunflint Trail are busy decking their halls with seasonal decorations.

Searching for the perfect Christmas tree in the Gunflint Trail forest is a time-honored tradition for many Northwoods families. It’s a great way to make memories, build holiday and family spirit, and spend time outdoors in the winter world. With this year’s layer of snow, it’s easy to ski or snowshoe into the forest to pick out a tree.

Although both spruce and balsam trees are commonly harvested as Christmas trees in Minnesota, it’s the balsam fir tree most people associate with the holiday season. Not only do balsam trees give off that wonderful evergreen fragrance, they are also widespread and fast growers in the Gunflint Trail area, making them excellent choices for your family Christmas tree. Balsam wood is not especially valuable and is highly susceptible to fire. Property owners along the Gunflint Trail often remove balsam trees around their cabins and outbuildings to make their property less vulnerable to summer wildfires. Although many people consider balsam wood a valueless wood, it could be argued that the happy holiday touch of greenery that balsam trees provide in many Gunflint Trail homes and businesses might be a worthy enough purpose in and of itself.
Whether you choose a balsam or some other conifer for this year’s Christmas trees, there are a few things to keep in mind when choosing a Christmas tree:

• It’s best to select a tree growing among other trees. Removing your Christmas tree from a clump of trees will give surrounding trees room to grow and your Christmas tree’s absence will be quickly eclipsed by the other trees’ growth in coming years.
• Gather your tree from deep in the forest, away from roads and other established areas.
• Cutting off just the top of a tree to use as a Christmas tree is a harmful practice. The U.S. Forest Service states that trees cut down for Christmas trees should have stumps no taller than 12″.
• It’s important to have a realistic idea of what an appropriate sized Christmas tree for your home would be before setting out in the woods to avoid selecting too large a tree.

The Gunflint Trail is surrounded by state and national forest land, so if you’re not planning to harvest your Christmas tree on private property, make sure you have the appropriate permit for Christmas trees.

The Minnesota DNR states that on State Forest Land:
Trees may not be cut without a permit. Trees may not be cut for Christmas trees and no plant may be dug up and removed. In some areas, certain trees may be cut for fuelwood, but you must obtain a permit from the local DNR Forestry office, if you want to take wood out of state land boundaries. Similarly, you must obtain a special-use permit from the local DNR Forestry office to harvest boughs for holiday decorations. You may pick up pine cones from the ground to take home.

You are allowed to cut Christmas trees on National Forest land (but not in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness) but you do need to acquire a special use permit from a U.S. Forest Service office.

You can reach the Grand Marais DNR Forestry at 218-387-3037 or the U.S. Forest Service Gunflint Ranger District at 218-387-1750.

Happy Holiday decorating!

Here on the Gunflint Trail, we’re thankful for a lot of things:

• moose and wildlife
• lakes, ponds, streams, and fresh water
• snow plows, snow tires, car heaters
• blueberries in the freezer
• wildflowers
• summer memories
• visitors, neighbors, family, friends
• bird feeders and noisy squirrels
• sunsets
• hiking, skiing, snowshoe trails
• boats, canoes, kayaks
• fresh snow and fireplaces
• wool socks . . . wool anything
• fish
• rosy cheeks
• quiet moments
• and so, so much more!

What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving?

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

Many people come to the Gunflint Trail seeking wildlife experiences but sometimes, despite the omnipresent chattering squirrels and birds at the feeders, it can be hard to believe that any other being is really lurking in the quiet woods. The recent snowfall along the Trail preserves footprints and every other track that passes through the fluff white blanket. These winter tracks allow us to see just how busy natural world really is, even if we don’t always catch the wildlife in action.

Deer Track

One track you’re bound to see a lot of in the wintertime are the tiny prints of red squirrels. These busy little creatures’ tracks crisscross all over: underneath trees, by the bird feeders, on walkways, railings and porches.

Squirrel tracks

An animal track guide can be helpful resource to have in your jacket pocket during a winter outing. Often, the tracks allow us to construct narratives of what the animals have been up to before we arrive on the scene. For example, these tracks lead away from a bird feeder, where a fox sneaked in to steal some of the birds’ suet.

Fox Tracks

If you see a set of large, wide set tracks along the road’s shoulder as you’re driving along the Gunflint Trail at night, that’s a good reminder to slow down and stay alert: you might be about to cross paths with a moose!

Last weekend, the first snow of the season came down and stuck in the Gunflint Trail area. As temps dip lower and lower and the snow continues to swirl outside, it seems like a good time to spend the dark evenings pouring over some Gunflint Trial history. But with Chik-Wauk Museum and Nature Center closed for the season, what’s a person to do? Luckily, there are plenty of ways to enjoy Gunflint Trail history until Chik-Wauk reopens in the spring.

The local community radio station, WTIP,  in Grand Marais often produces historical features pertinent to the Gunflint Trail. If you’re in the mood to sit back and enjoy Gunflint Trail history, you can check out either the History Speaks (the latest feature is about the history of Gunflint City, the Paulson Mine, and Port Arthur, Duluth, and Western Railroad) or the Legacy of the CCC features.

The Gunflint Trail’s youtube channel offers a bunch of snippets on Gunflint Trail life including this history piece.

The A Taste of the Gunflint Trail cookbook remains the “go to” resource for Gunflint Trail history.

Not only does the cookbook provide a great comprehensive history of the development of the Gunflint Trail road and businesses, the cookbook includes plenty of tasty recipes. If you have successful hunters returning home this time of year, you might try out Trout Lake Lodge’s Venison with Gingersnap Gravy.

Up here on the Trail, the GTHS and Chik-Wauk are busily transcribing a bunch of oral history interviews, thanks to a Minnesota Historical and Cultural Grant. The information in these interviews with Gunflint Trail ol’ timers will be used to develop future exhibits at the museum and will also be available to researchers. We’re pleased to be expanding our own historical offerings during these quiet winter months.

A thin layer of ice covers the Gunflint Trail’s smaller lakes – Swamper, Iron, and most of the “moose ponds” — almost every morning these days. The ice forms during the night, but by midday, patches of open water break up the ice cover. Last night, temperatures dipped into the mid teens at the end of the Trail and this morning Seagull Lake wears a collar of ice around its shoreline.

Today, big fluffy snowflakes are falling past the window. The temperature hasn’t gotten much above 34 degrees F in the last week.  So what does it take for ice to start forming in earnest on the lakes?

Ice on East Bearskin Lake, March 2010

You’d think that something as scientific as water freezing would be pretty straight forward, but ice is actually pretty complicated. Scientists are still arguing about what makes it slippery! But we do have a general idea of what’s going on every November and December when the lakes ice over.

Have you ever heard someone tell you that heat rises? Well, they were right, but not when it comes to water. Cold water and ice are less dense than warmer, liquid water. However, the entire body of water needs to reach about 39 degrees F/4 degrees C before a lake or pond will start to push cooler water up to the surface. So smaller, shallower lakes, like Swamper and Iron, freeze sooner because they have less water to cool to the common temperature of 39 degrees F than larger lakes like Gunflint and Saganaga.

The fact that cooler water is less dense than warmer water is what makes ice fishing possible. We fish from up on top of the frozen water while the fish swim below in the warmer water.

A study done on Lake Placid, NY in 2002/03 by a group of scientists showed that two types of ice form on lakes: congealation and snow. Snow ice only forms on top of already formed ice. So what we’re all waiting for right now on the Gunflint Trail is for the lakes’ water to grow cold enough to cause it to nucleate and form congealation ice. This nucleation is caused either by consistently cold temperatures or when particles (like hail or snow) hits cold water on a windy day.

Winter camping, Rose Lake, January 2010

You don’t have be a scientist to guess when the ice will form on Gunflint Trail lakes this winter. You can join in the fun at the “When will ice form” guessing game on the Gunflint Trail Association’s Facebook page.

Remember, even when ice does form, we need to be careful on this capricious substance in early winter. The MN DNR provides general ice safety guidelines . Please be careful!

If the Farmer’s Almanac is to be believed, the Midwest is in for a cold, snowy winter. The snow’s no bother if you’re along the Gunflint Trail. In fact, if we get as much snow as the forecasters seems think we might, that should help keep temperatures on this side of zero for a lot of the winter.  That’s great news for winter enthusiasts. Whether you ski, snowshoe, snowmobile, dogsled, skijor, build snow forts or make snow angels, this could be the winter we’ve all been waiting for.

Pine needles covered with snow

Mother Nature gave all of Minnesota a little “preview weekend” of winter these past couple days. While the Minnesota metro area got heavy snow and slop this weekend, on the Gunflint Trail, the snow started to flutter down a little past noon on Saturday. By Monday morning the fluffy snow added up to about five inches at the very end of the Gunflint Trail and six-seven inches in the Mid-Trail area.

Upper End of the Gunflint Trail

Temperatures have stayed below freezing for the last couple days and it looks like even colder weather is headed our way.   This delicate frosting could be with us for quite a while.

Shoreline trees covered with snow

The Gunflint Trail is a great place to spend a snowy week or weekend. Whether you’re itchy to hit the ski trails or just want to cuddle up in front of the cabin’s fireplace with a hot mug of cocoa, we hope we’ll see you in this neck of the woods soon.

Chik-Wauk may have closed its doors for the season nearly a month ago, but don’t be fooled into thinking nothing has been happening behind Chik-Wauk’s closed gate. A group of volunteers set aside time on the last two weekends of October to construct a boardwalk across the lowland area near Chik-Wauk’s driveway.

The boardwalk begins at the southeast end of Chik-Wauk’s main parking area (right next to the small outbuilding you might have noticed near the Amikwiish Way hiking trail head) and winds its way through the woods before cutting across a low area next to an inlet of Saganaga Lake.  The boardwalk connects with the pre-existing Rubaboo Road hiking trail. A platform in the middle of the boardwalk offers a spot where hikers can take in the view. The boardwalk is ADA accessible – wide enough for a wheelchair, with easy access onto the boardwalk right off of the driveway and with places to turn around a wheelchair. Some of the funding used for this project came from the Taste of the Gunflint Trail event earlier this fall.

You might notice that only the straight stretches of the boardwalk have been completed so far. The “finesse” work will be completed soon: at least in time for you to take a spin on the new boardwalk when Chik-Wauk reopens in May 2011!

Chik-Wauk may have closed its doors for the season nearly a month ago, but don’t be fooled into thinking nothing has been happening behind Chik-Wauk’s closed gate. A group of volunteers set aside time on the last two weekends of October to construct a boardwalk across the lowland area near Chik-Wauk’s driveway.

The boardwalk begins at the southeast end of Chik-Wauk’s main parking area (right next to the small outbuilding you might have noticed near the Amikwiish Way hiking trail head) and winds its way through the woods before cutting across a low area next to an inlet of Saganaga Lake.  The boardwalk connects with the pre-existing Rubaboo Road hiking trail. A platform in the middle of the boardwalk offers a spot where hikers can take in the view. The boardwalk is ADA accessible – wide enough for a wheelchair, with easy access onto the boardwalk right off of the driveway and with places to turn around a wheelchair. Some of the funding used for this project came from the Taste of the Gunflint Trail event earlier this fall.

You might notice that only the straight stretches of the boardwalk have been completed so far. The “finesse” work will be completed soon: at least in time for you to take a spin on the new boardwalk when Chik-Wauk reopens in May 2011!

What do you do in the winter?

Chik-Wauk Museum and Nature Center may be closed for the season, but there’s still plenty going on in the woods around the museum this time of year.

The snow definitely isn’t here to stay yet at the end of the Gunflint Trail, but a few mornings this last week dawned especially frosty.  Many sources have predicted a snowy winter for northern Minnesota. While it doesn’t appear that the Gunflint Trail will have an especially early winter in 2010, there are plenty signs that winter’s well on its way.

One indicator of winter are the snow buntings. Anyone driving down the Gunflint Trail these days is sure to stir up flocks and flocks of snow buntings. These ground dwelling arctic birds migrate south every autumn. We might not have seen a lot of snow yet this year, but a flock of snow buntings taking to the air is certainly reminiscent of a blizzard!

Another winter bird has arrived. The beautifully colored pine grosbeaks seem to appear just as we’re losing the last of our autumn leaves. They’re a lovely splash of color in the otherwise bleak time before the snow falls.

The days are growing short and darkness is setting in.  In these last fleeting autumn days, it’s time to put up the bird feeders and wait for the snow and cold to come in earnest. We know it’s coming.

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 6, 2010 at the Gunflint Lodge Conference Center
located 45 miles up the Gunflint Trail out of Grand Marais

7:30 pm “History of the Centennial Trail” by Tom Kaffeine, USFS Wilderness Ranger

The Centennial Trail is a loop trail of 3.3 miles. It incorporates 1.2 miles of the Kekekabic Trail and connects the Port Arthur Railroad bed built in the early 1890’s. After the Ham Lake Fire, several of the old mine pits and railroad beds were exposed and that’s how Tom Kaffeine, USFS Forestry Technician and wilderness guru, came up with the idea of this historical trail.

8:00 pm “Kekekabic Trail from 1990 to present, 20 years of volunteer maintenance,”

by Martin Kubik, Kekekabic Trail Club Founder

The Kekekabic Trail is a 42 mile long deep wilderness trail. Built as an access trail for fire fighters in 1930’s, the trail became a recreational trail in the 1960’s. In 1980’s, the Forest Service abandoned the trail due to budget cuts. In an attempt to bring the trail back, Bill Rom, retired canoe outfitter from Ely, put up a reward of $500 to anyone who would clear the interior 20 miles in 1986.

Back then, the Kek as it is called, had between 2,000-3,000 treefalls blocking the path. In 1990, Martin Kubik recruited volunteer co-workers from 3M Company in St. Paul and together they cut a clear path between the two trailheads. Later, Martin Kubik founded the Kekekabic Trail Club and in 2002, the BWA Committee was formed to help maintain historic hiking trails.

The Kekekabic Trail remains a wilderness challenge. The 1999 storm decimated 2/3 of the trail. Following two major fires in 2006 and 2007, much of the path was burned to the rock bed and made it extremely difficult to follow even by experts. The trail gained nationwide attention in 2008 when two hikers from Duluth were lost on Kek for four days. Today, the Kekekabic trail is regenerating itself and is ready for those willing accept its challenge. It is currently maintained by several volunteer organizations working with the USDA Forest Service to keep trail over-growth in control.

Boundary Waters Advisory Committee is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserve existing, historic and intrinsically beautiful wilderness hiking trails of the BWCAW in the Superior National Forest . It accomplishes its mission by organizing trail clearing trips in cooperation with the USFS, increasing awareness about the wilderness hiking trails, and by lobbying to preserve existing trails.

Free Event!