The 2013 Gunflint Trail Canoe Races were held earlier this week at Gunflint Lodge. Events included a long distance race, traditional paddling and backwards paddling but the main event is always Gunnel Pumping. Over a hundred people participated is the various races and a large crowd was on hand to watch the racers do their "stuff". Proceeds from this summer event go to the Gunflint Trail Volunteer Fire Department which provides both  fire and emergency/rescue service to both residents and visitors to our area.

A couple of weeks before the races I started encouraging Jason and Mika, our summer staff students from China, to participate in this year's races. It was soon apparent that neither of them would ever be a strong paddler. I did manage to convence them that they would be naturals for Gunnel Pumping. After a couple of practice sessions it we were off to the races. 



Jason gets a canoe ready for Mika to head out to the starting line.

 It takes some imagination to understand Gunnel Pumping from a verbal description. Basically it involves standing on back half of a canoe's gunnels and bobbing up and down to move the canoe across the race course. You are not allowed to use a paddle durning the race and good balance is a must. With the proper timing of the "bobs" and the correct shifting of your weight the canoe can be guided across the race course.  

A determined Mika reaches the stageing area for the start of the Women's Race.

I can't show you a picture of the actual races because the video I took and my computer are not compatable. Mika went by so fast that she was just a blur. She won the women's race and is this year's champion! Jason ran out of gas and had to be bumped acoss the finish line by another canoist.  If you make it up to Rockwood Lodge this year be sure to ask the kids to show you their video of their races.



Lodge visitors, Portage Trails and Abandoned Gear

I promised to take more pictures, I didn't say the photos would be of professional qualiity. The first pictrue was taken last friday during a hail storm. I was sitting at the computer posting paid bills when a cow moose and her calf walked by the lodge door. By the time I found the camera the moose were just getting ready to turn off the lodge road onto the trail over to South Lake.

Today,  a Forest Service patrol team stopped by and asked about a pile of camping gear that they saw when they went into Meeds Lake on Monday. They couldn't find anyone on Meeds Lake and nobody was using the portage trail.  They wanted to know if someone had picked up the gear or if it was still out at the South end of the portage trail. When they got back to the Ranger Station they found out that the gear had been abandoned and they called to ask me to go in and pick up the gear.

Since I hadn't been over this portage for a while I agreed to go in and retrieve the gear.   It was raining and the mile long entry portage was as long and difficult as I remembered.  I was told to take a large pack to haul the abandoned gear back out. When I got to Meeds Lake I found two sleeping bags, two sleeping mats, two pillows, one tent, two rolls of TP, a hammock, 5 gallons of drinking water (40 pounds), and a pile of throwing disks. On the hike back out I came up with several stories to explain how the gear got to Meeds Lake and what the people who hauled it in expected to find in the wilderness.



Gear greeting visitors to Meeds Lake



I brought everything out except the 40 pounds of water. I also found several great patches of raspberries that will need to be visited again in a couple of weeks.

 

Pack it in pack it out. In three words --- LEAVE NO TRACE

Gear hauled out to  Poplar Lake 

The Ice is Gone, Fish are Biting and Moose Sighting are Up

The late Sping has really kept me busy trying to catch up with all of the little jobs that need to be done to get Rockwood Lodge ready for the season. The new patio doors for Cabin #6 are in but the door for another cabin has been put into storage until this Fall.  Now that I have finally got things under control it is time to start posting some new blogs.

Our summer staff arrived from China earlier this month. Jason and Mika are quickly adjusting to life on the edge of a wilderness -- no cell phone coverage, no TV and no broadband Internet.  Jason has seen a bear and two moose already and Mika is impatiently waiting  for her first sighting. I took them fishing last night and Jason has to eat walleyes caught by Mika -- much to her delight.

This morning I did a transport to Ram Lake and we stopped to see a cow moose down by Swamp Lake. She has two calves and there are moose road signs with the word "Baby" posted on  both sides of Swamp Lake. All three have been hanging out in this area for a couple of weeks. 

It is great to have the LONG winter season finally behind us. Everything seems to be running a little late this year. The Lilac are blooming now and we expect that the blueberry season will be a least a week or two later getting started this summer. Fishing on Poplar Lake has been great but  unfortunately the mosquito season has also started.

I promise to start carrying a camera and to post more photos on a regular basis.  

Ending "Iced In" -- Poplar Lake 2013

When I woke up this morning the temperature was a chilly 22 degrees.  The cold temperatures over  last weekend did little to move us towards "ice out"on Poplar Lake. What little open water we had late yesterday froze and it will take a couple hours of sunshine today before we get back to where we were. The good news this that the weatherman has finally turned optimistic. 

We drove around yesterday to see for ourselves how the lakes along the Gunflint Trail are doing.  Some of the smaller shallower lakes like Little Iron are ice free while the larger deeper lakes appear to have areas that are still choked with ice.  We would suggest checking with a local cooperator to make sure that you can paddle into the BWCAW before heading north for a canoe trip this week.

Daytime temperatures in the upper 60s with nighttime temperatures in the 40s are forecasted for most of this week.  A couple days of warm temperatures should go a long ways towards opening our lakes.  It always amazes us how fast the ice departs once it finally warms up.

 I am going to turn on the resort's water system today and not worry about  freezing nightime temperatures until late September!    


Rockwood Canoe Launch Area -- May 12th



Progress -- Ice Condition Report

There are a couple pictures that I promised to post for those hardy paddlers hoping to start on their canoe trips next week.  The first picture is an update of the picture posted just two days ago.  We have more open water along the north shore and open water is starting to show up near the island in front of Cabin #9.



May 8th



The second picture is of the bay in front of our house.  The ice is turning black and surface melting has started! (The white bleach bottle marks the water intake line for our house and helps keep the line up off the bottom of the lake.



May 8th