Enjoy It, Before Its Too Late

The long, hot, sun-soaked days of summer are long gone. They have been replaced by the shorter, cooler days of fall. This time of year on the Gunflint Trail is my favorite time. Considering the lack of bugs, humidity, and crowds, its hard to imagine how anyone else wouldn't love the northwoods fall season too. On top of all that the foliage is outstanding. Anybody can take beautiful pictures this time of year. Although the colors only last a few weeks, I believe that is what makes it special. They come and go so quickly that one morning you wake up and the forest is alive with color, and the next it seems, they are gone. Every trip to town takes an extra hour, stopping every few miles to snap a picture of what looks like the best one yet, only to stop again minutes later. Sometimes it's a little overwhelming when you have a camera. I feel there are places where you could close your eyes and blindly point and shoot and they would still be great. We still have a week or so to enjoy the colors. With every leaf that falls, it brings us closer to the inevitable. The dark days of winter are upon us, and its with that thought in mind that makes the frosty nights and mornings at 35 degrees bearable. So please get out and enjoy these fleeting weeks of fall, these days with 12 hours of sunlight, because before you know it you'll be staring out your window into a white abyss begging for a balmy 35 degrees.

Thanks For Reading,

Erik

Fall Colors

Fall colors are out on the trail. It shows promise of being a pretty one. One thing about me going to IN for the winter is that I will have a fall here and fall colors will again be at their peak in Indiana when I get there. I also get two springs, an early IN spring and a later MN spring when I return. Something to look forward to!

Taste of the Gunflint

Lee Zopff, Marti Marchino and Lynn Pauloski

We were a featured Historic Lodge at the first annual 'Taste' tour this past Saturday. The volunteers from the Historical Society made treats from the cook book and they also premiered the new Gunflint DVD.



The event was 1 t0 5 pm and featured us, Nor'Wester and Chik-Wauk. Chik-Wauk is where the museum and nature center is being planned and will open in 2010. I really didn't know if we would see 10 people stopping by or none. But what a surprise! Visitors started about 12:15pm and we estimate that we had close to 100 people stop by to see the lodges and taste the treats. It was wonderful to hear the stories from people who were revisting the lodge from years past and to introduce the lodge to new visitors.



To help out with the lodge history and information on the Gunflint Trail Historical Society were two past owners, Lee Nelson Zopff and Marti Marchino. This is a picture of the 3 of us in front of the lodge fire place.



Marti brought along a sheet with the history of the ownership of the lodge.



1915-1945 Petra and Charlie Boostrom


1945 -1947 Art and Lavern Schliep


1947-1951 Marvin and Mildred Manning


1951 - 1959 Art and Lavern Schliep


1059 - 1964 John Henry and Sharon Eliason


1964 - 1986 Jacko and Lee Nelson


1986 - 1995 Margy Nelson (Jacko and Lee's daughter)


1995 - 2003 Bob and Marti Marchino


2003 to current.....Mike and Peggy Trace, Lynn Pauloski



Lynn

Fall Color Update

....... I haven't seen anything yet!

Flowers for Kirsten and AJ

This blog is to Kirsten and AJ who so happily planted and tended the lodge the flower gardens this summer. We waited and waited for this one type of flower to bloom but it just kept growing and growing on a long skinny stalk. AJ threatened to cut them off before she left. I promised to send a picture if and when these flowers every bloomed. So, these flowers are for Kirsten and AJ who worked very hard keeping the gardens beautiful.

A Taste of the Gunflint Trail

A Taste of the Gunflint Trail:

Historic Lodges, Film Premiere, and Tastes from the Cookbook

The event is a “progressive” tour of the Gunflint Trail historic lodges. Visitors may begin at the either “end” of the Trail, and visit as many lodges as they wish.

Featured Historic Lodges with historians present:

Clearwater Lodge - 774 Clearwater Road (Clearwater Lake)
Nor'Wester Lodge - 7778 Gunflint Trail (Poplar Lake)
Chik-Wauk Lodge - approximately 56 miles from Grand Marais on 28 Moose Pond Road (Cook County Road 81, Saganaga Lake), future home of museum and nature center

Tours of historic Gunflint Trail lodges with local taste treats and screenings of the short documentary, "A Taste of the Gunflint Trail."

Other participating businesses, offering tastes, cookbook sales, and collecting donations:
Bearskin Lodge - 124 East Bearskin Road (East Bearskin Lake)
Golden Eagle Lodge - 468 Clearwater Road (Flour Lake)
Hungry Jack Outfitters - 318 South Hungry Jack Road (Hungry Jack Lake)
Gunflint Lodge - 143 South Gunflint Lake Road (Gunflint Lake)
Gunflint Pines - 217 South Gunflint Lake Road (Gunflint Lake)
Tuscarora Lodge & Outfitters - 193 Round Lake Road (Round Lake)
Way of the Wilderness - 12582 Gunflint Trail (Gull Lake)
Voyageur Canoe Outfitters - 189 Sag Lake Trail (Saganaga Lake)

Event is free of charge but donations accepted and Gunflint Trail Historical Society and memberships encouraged.

Watch for the "Taste" signs.

Fire restrictions lifted

Due to the cooler weather and the rain we have had this past week, all fire restrictions have been lifted and you can have a fire anytime during the day.

Lish and Jon Visit

Good afternoon! Well, Im Alicia, Peggy and Mikes daughter and Lynn's niece. I came for a later visit this year and brought my better half Jon. Ive been coming up here since I was 8, but this is Jons first time in the North Woods (or anything even close to something like this). So of course, on the second day I made him climb the face of the bluffs on clearwater lake. (see pics) He loved it, and he got to see one of the most amazing views ever. Weather has been amazing about 75 and sunny everyday until yesterday we did get some rain that cooled it down quiet a bit. Today is only 60 but still sunny and beautiful. Still havent got to see much wildlife, all the wildlife seem to hide when they know someone is up here for the first time and wants to see them.

We have also been put to work since we have been up here, cleaning cabins and and washing out canoe's since the staff has all gone back to school and we feel bad for the owners. But its fine, they havent tortured us too bad.

We will be taking the 18 hour trip back to Ohio tomorrow, not excited to leave at all, but who ever wants to leave this place?

Lish