BIG Visitors!

Mike took the snowmobile down to the lodge this noon - he's trying to pack a path so we can get through the thigh-deep snow and maybe shovel some of it off the lodge roof. Along the way he noticed that someone - maybe two someones - had been hiking the length of Rockwood Road - who on earth would hike through such deep snow when they could walk on the reasonably well-plowed Gunflint Trail?

So... he came back to the house, got me and the camera, and we decided to drive down the Gunflint Trail to the Grand Marais end of Rockwood Road to see where our hikers came from. (I'm waiting for a packed trail before I start hiking through the resort!)

Once we got to the first Rockwood sign - it was pretty obvious! A pair of moose walked along the Trail, decided that our road looked like a better bet (?) and slid and strode their way down the steep ditch behind Cabin 7 and then walked down the road, past the cabins, past the lodge, past outfitting, all the way up to our house! They stepped over the fence between our land and Austin's next door like it wasn't even there and continued down Austin's Landing.

Apparently they were very active last night (as well as very quiet) - we saw tracks on the other side of the Trail wandering around the neighbor's yards as well.

It's fun to know the moose are around - we've seen a few along the Trail - but this is the first pair we've literally had in our back yard in a while. It's snowing pretty hard right now - and blowing - so the tracks won't last long.