Winter Tracks

If you are driving up the Gunflint Trail, you will see some interesting shapes along the side of the trail! In preparation for the Winter Tracks Festival, snow sculptures were created by our local artists to greet you on your drive. This owl was sculpted by Dave Seaton. We have snow sculptures at the Swamper Lake turnout, Trail Center Restaurant, Lauentian Divide, Iron Lake, Gunflint Lake overlook and the Magnetic Rock Trail.

In addition to these snow sculptures, there are more, along with quinzhees and snow forts at Bearksin Lodge, Trail Center, Gunflint Lodge and Gunflint Pines.

Bridgestone Squirrel

If you watched the Super Bowl, or at least the commericals, you will recognize this guy. He is related to the screaming Bridgestone Tire commercial star. He moved up here to avoid traffic.

Find Moose Antlers

In February, the moose loose their antlers - called shedding or moose shed. Shedded antlers are a great source of protein to small animals in the wilderness each year so they are hard to find. The Owen's party was out and followed some moose tracks and just happened upon a very freshly shed pair of antlers. What a find!!

Smokey Bear Slept Here

Yes, Smokey Bear slept here in September of 1992. Well, actually, Smokey's creator Rudy Wendelin slept here. Artist Rudy Wendelin helped conceive and draw the US Forest Service mascot and spokesman for 40 years. He took Smokey from a bear cub to an animated protector of the US Forests. Mr. Wendelin was born in 1910 and died in 2000, but in 1992, he slept at Clearwater Lodge. He left us this little drawing in the guest book of the room he stayed in.

It says....

Thanks to Clearwater Lodge

.....and all my forest fire

preventing friends!

Smokey

by Rudolph Wendelin

9-9-92 who slept here

Winter Camping

The Plahn Party took their annual winter camping trip starting on Clearwater Lake. They skiied to West Pike and set up camp on West Pike for some fishing. This picture was taken before they started out. Unfortunately I didn't have a chance to see them when they returned but they left a note that they saw 11 wolves (2 packs) and 9 Bald Eagles.

Cabin and Lodge Books

In every lodge room and every cabin, we have a book where we invite our guests to make comments on what they did while visiting and record thoughts. Although I rarely seem to have time to read the books, I do try from time to time because they are so interesting. When we first bought Clearwater Lodge, I read the book in Cabin 6 where Peg and Mike had been bringing their family for years and I read all the kids notes about what they did when they were little and spending such wonderful vacations in MN at Clearwater Lodge.

Well, I can't get into the cabins during the winter but I have been reading the books in the lodge. Sometimes there are wonderful drawing, sometimes comments on the big fish that were caught or got away. Some of the best enties are from the kids who write what they enjoyed and did. In October 2006 Mike Hardy from Vicksburg, MI wrote this poem before a canoe trip with his son and I so enjoyed reading it again today as I was cleaning the room. We were expecting 8 inches of snow the day of their canoe trip.

If it were just the snow I'd say 'let's go"
What if ? "heavy wind may become our trips end"
Let this adventure unfold. We'll be bold in the cold.
Let us use some common sense! guess we are still on the fence.
A vision of white, lakeshore provides yet another beautiful site.
The waters await as we ponder our fate.
With God by our side our journey is great.
No matter what we decide as we sit here fireside,
We've had some some fun
Just being Father and Son.

MN Fishing License Changes

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) reminds anglers that their 2007 fishing and shelter licenses are good through April 30th, 2008. The State legislature changed the statute last session, so it was not reflected in the 2007 Fishing Regulations Handbook, already in print at the time of the change. The statute now states that the license year begins on March 1st and ends on April 30th of the following year.

We do issue fishing licenses. It is much easier to issue a fishing license if you have your DNR number from your previous year license. So, don't throw that old license away, bring it with you when you get a new one.

The warmth of the fire

We just had a beautiful day yesterday. The temperatures were in the 20's with no wind, the flakes were falling lightly all day and the sun was warm, well, as warm as the sun gets in February. But around 3 to 4:00 pm the winds started howling. By 4:30 pm the temperature had dropped by 20 degrees to 4 above. Our guests, who had been out snowshoeing most of the day were just heading out to supper when.........the power went out in the entire county.

Power outages in the summer are a mild inconvenience, in the winter, they can be really rough and thankfully, I have experienced very few winter power outages. We have enough back up heat to keep the temperatures above freezing in the lodge but in my case, with high winds and dropping temperatures, just above freezing is what I can do with back up propane heat, wood and no electricity.

After an hour with no electricity and the temperatures still dropping, the large propane stove was running at full blast in the dining room, the guests built a large fire in the fire place and I hooked up the emergency heat in the well house to keep the water pressure tanks and pump from freezing. I figured I had still a couple hours before I needed to fire up additional emergency propane heat in the basement of the lodge.

The electricity came back on after about 4 hours (thank you Arrowhead Electric!) and I breathed a sigh of relief. Our guests had settled in for a 'winter campfire' as close as you could get to the fireplace enjoying the warmth and cozy flickering lights. When the lights did come back on, it is such as surprised that we went around the lodge and turned them all off to continue to enjoy the winter evening.

The temperatures continued to drop during the night and it is now 20 below outside. The winds haven't let up yet and continue to move around our snow and beat at our windows. My intrepid guests are strapping on their snow shoes to venture out again.

Snowmobile to the cabin

When our neighbors come up during the winter, it is sometimes hard to get all the way back on South Clearwater Road (summer home road). The best way is often to leave your car up near the lodge and take the snowmobiles to the cabin for the weekend.

Wolves on the Trail

As I was driving to Grand Marais in the snow today, I was hoping to see a moose and had brought my camera along. No moose, but as I glanced in my rear view mirror I saw a wolf come out of the woods behind me. I stopped but didn't bother to turn around or try to get a picture since they were a little far away and would be long gone before I could circle back. However, I sat there for about 10 minutes and watched the activity in my mirror as two more wolves came out of the woods, played on the road for a few minutes and then took off back into the woods.

I have lived up here now 6 years and I am still fascinated by the wildlife we can see on a daily basis. Growing up in Indiana almost all our vacations were camping in MI or IN but I never remember seeing any wildlife other than deer, rabbits, raccoons and opossums. The only larger mammels I every saw were in a zoo or some sort of controlled park or on the farm (moo). It makes you think about how far we have gotten away from nature in our city lives.

How lucky we are up here to share the natural habitate with such varied creatures and they give us a glimpse into their lives and play.