Sunday Drive

Cabin fever hit us hard today. Lin decided that going for a drive up the "Trail" might help us break out of our winter routines. We were very surprise to actually see two moose wandering along the edge of the road.

They were very thin and have already starting to shed their winter coats.  While we have managed to put on winter fat the moose have lost their fat and their coats are dull and shaggy.

 The nice thing about looking for moose in the winter is that they really stand out against a snow background. It also helps that they are often found on the roadway looking for salt. We watched the moose in the picture on the left go about 10 feet off the roadway before it started eating snow. It probably was eating salt before we came upon it.  

                                                                                                               

Late Winter Activity

The last two snow storms that were tracked across the Midwest missed us entirely! With the warmer daytime temperatures and longer days the human activity along the Gunflint Trail has definitely increased. In the first two weeks in March  we had a Trout Derby on Gunflint Lake, a brest cancer Mush for a Cure fun raiser weekend and the John Beargrease Sled Dog Race. 

Ice fishing for Lake Trout continues and gets easier as the month progresses. Plowed roads on Gunflint Lake from the Trout Derby make lake access easy for those of us without snowmobiles. The hike into Moss Lake is also easier as the fishing season starts to wind down.  On Clearwater Lake the fish are biting on jigs worked in the 25 - 40 foot depths.

Snowmobiling activities are going strong especially for riders crossing into Canada. We have had several groups staying in our winter apartment that spend more time riding at night when the moon was out that what they spend daytime riding!  

On a down note, the DNR has reported that five of the 111 radio collared moose in their moose study died in the first month.   Four of the deaths are considered capture related as they happened in the first two weeks after capture. The fifth death was contributed to a wolf kill.  The DNR plans to expand their study this spring with the collaring of 50 calves.  

This blog update without photos is very unusual for us. We have either been too busy to take any photos or have forgotten to take a camera with us when we go out. We'll do better for future blogs.  .