Living With A Polar Vortex Winter



Ferns



Feathers

  








There are two ways to get through Winter up here in the Northland. You can stay inside and look for feathers or ferns in the frost patterns that cover your windows each morning or you can go outside and enjoy Winter.





We froze all of the waterlines and pumps in our water treatment room last month and have spend way too much time getting the system running again. Now it is time to get out and enjoy some time in the sun. Someone should warn the Lake Trout over in Moss Lake that I will be there soon! 



Holiday Guest and Holiday Plans

We're in the middle of the Holiday Season and things have not managed to slow down much here at the Lodge. Our cabins are closed and the canoes are all put away for the winter but before we can get something done two more "jobs" seem to crop up for our "to do" list. A few of the little jobs that still require attention include: order outfitting food, update our Health Department License, clear the driveway so we can get a propane delivery, recharge the pressure tank for the lake water system, and update our website. However, one of our more important tasks is to relax and take advantage of the slow time to spend time together.



Thanksgiving Guest

 Lin and I were alone for Thanksgiving. Well, we actually had a fox invite herself to our Thanksgiving dinner. She showed up about an hour before the turkey was done and stayed for handouts after we finished eating. She visited us for about a week seeking handouts from us and a family that was staying the Lakeside Apartment.

We had planned to do our family road trip last week but the unusually cold weather and a nearly empty propane tank has forced a change of plans. Our local weather have had nighttime temperatures in the negative teens and we have been lucky to get daytime temps above zero. We still get out several evenings a week to visit our neighbors but the Lakeside Apartment may become our refuge if the propane delivery doesn't happen soon.   




 
Mid- January is a busy time for outfitters here on the Gunflint Trail. The BWCAW entry permits become available on a first-come-first served basis beginning at 9 am on January 29, 2014. We'll be busy helping people making trip plans and reserving entry permits. We certainly plan on enjoying our quiet time over the next four weeks.

Happy holidays to you and your family. We hope you get a chance to enjoy them as much as we do.  

Fall Hikes, Trails Less Traveled






Mayhew Lake

Experience has taught us to usually discourage people from hiking on the South Lake Trail -- a lack of scenic overlooks, complaints about mosquitoes, and generally overgrown vegetation. At this time of the year the bugs are gone and the vegetation has died down. Wednesday, I decided to hike this trail and was amazed by what I found. ( I forgot to take a camera.) There are several interesting trails that are hid by foliage during the Summer months.   

Just off the South Lake Trail there is a trail that runs from Birch to Moss Lake. There is a really large cubic rock, that sits next to the trail that has a raspberries canes growing on top. (Of course there is no way to reach the top of this rock). Another interesting aspect of this trail is the large amount of driftwood that can be found along the rocky shoreline where the trail runs into Moss Lake. The noise of the water flowing from Birch to Moss Lake is a welcomed hiking companion.

I can upon a flock of 11 ducks after hiking one of the spur trails off the South Lake Trail that runs into Birch Lake. 



Topper Lake Trail



East Otter Lake was frozen over but I had to stop and watch minnows swimming in the stream between the beaver dam and East Otter Lake. (This is the area where Summer hikers have have trouble finding the Trail.)

I found another trail that goes over to Dunn Lake starting from near Partridge Lake.  After spending nearly four hours hiking I came home to a worried wife and a very comfortable easy chair.  

Yesterday I took a short hike over to Topper Lake to take a couple of pictures for this blog. We finished the day by transporting a car to the eastern trail head for the Border Route Trail for a couple of hikers. We want to encourage everyone to make an effort to stop at the Portage Brook overlook just off the Arrowhead Trail -- once again I forgot to take along our camera.  Just another reason for us to revisit this remote corner of Cook County.   

Adapt or Hibernate

This year, it wasn't until May 18th before the ice departed from Poplar Lake. In 2012 the lake ice was gone by March 28th. It was probably to much to expect that the first signs of winter would be late this year to offset for our late thaw.

The temperatures today are holding below freezing and there is a light dusting of snow that will still be around when we get up tomorrow morning. Since we have been here at Rockwood Lodge the average date for Poplar Lake to ice over has been November 18th. We're really wishing for an ice free Thanksgiving and a white Christmas.  

October 20th,  2013

 Most of the work involved in getting the Lodge ready for the winter season has been completed. Water lines have been drained, cabins have been closed, canoes have been stored and sewers have been winterized. Today's big accomplishment was finding the garbage can that a bear took from Cabin #3 last August. (The leafs on the underbrush are gone making it possible for us to spot the can out in the woods.)

I still have to get the outboard motors ready for winter storage and to haul the canoes that are being replaced to a buyer in Ely. Replacing the shower valves in the Bunkhouse, moving the internet satellite dish up the house, fixing a couple of picnic tables, attending a safe driver course and getting one of the cabin canoes welded are just a few of the items on my agenda for this week. We should probably pay some bills -- but finding and organizing my tackle for the upcoming December 29th opening for Lake Trout fishing may take preference.      

End of Summer and the Construction Seasons

Anyone who has driven up the Gunflint Trail lately has noticed that a major construction project is underway along the roadway.  Arrowhead Electric Cooperative is burying their electrical lines along the Trail. They are also installing fiber optic cable for eventual broadband service. We actually have fiber optic cable ran up to a juntion box mounted on the side of our house. However, the other end of the cable is not connected to anything! Our best guess is that we will have broadband service by the end of next summer.

Putting the lines and cable underground has been a slow process. It has taken nearly a month to go from far end of Poplar Lake to our Lodge. We have already had three days without phone service as a result of cut phone lines. As the installation crew moves past the South Lake Trailhead shown in this picture we will have two branch phone lines to our Lodge and house that will likely have to be relocated.

 

The weather service has predicted overnight lows in the upper 20s twice this month. So far we have been lucky and have not actually experienced frozen any waterlines. I've already insulated the exposed sections of waterlines and the exposed valves. I have also drained the water from the Outfitting building. On the really cold nights Poplar Lake gives up heat and is keeping the temperatures along the lakefront from dropping below freezing.  The fog you can see in this picture looking into the bay behind the Outfitting building is acting as a blanket keeping us warm.