Thursday, September 01, 2011

Summer is winding down

Labor Day weekend is upon us and as intense as the summer was at times it is still somewhat surprising to realize that fall is coming and things are slowing down.  What a summer it has been.  We had a week straight of 90 degree weather, we had one day where we got 7 inches of rain, we had a windstorm that dropped 12 trees on the property(one hit the transport van), we redid the store, built a shower house, redid the bunkhouse, put a couple of new kitchens in, remodeled a couple of bathrooms, restored suite B back to rental status, built a new dock, installed new water lines, put a new roof on the shop, bought new 4 stroke motors for the boats and so much more.  Whew, no wonder we are tired. So many people have been asking us how the first summer went.  Such a simple question, but not a simple answer.  The only reasonable response I can come up with is that we learned so much.  The long days added up and we are tired.  But the satisfaction of doing what we love and meeting so many great people really feels good. 
One of the best parts of the summer was Tuesday nights.  Every Tuesday Harriett Boostrom Taus would come over to the lodge and tell stories about her parents(Charlie and Petra Boostrom) and about growing up in the Lodge.  It was amazing.  Harriett was born in 1928 and lived for 17 years in the lodge.  Her story telling ability is excellent and the stories bring so much life to the lodge. 
One of my favorite stories is about why her parents picked Clearwater Lake as the place to build the resort. Charlie found Clearwater Lake while living with the Indians and began to guide trips on Clearwater as early as 1912. In 1913 when he and Petra married he took her to Clearwater to see this lake, supposedly he told her that someday he wanted to own land there. Charlie and Petra were of the opinion that the view down the lake at the Palisades is the best view on the Gunflint Trail. Early in 1915 they were able to purchase a cabin on the lake and Clearwater Lake Lodge, the very first lodge on the Gunflint Trail, was officially started. Over the years he added a lodge, several cabins and outbuildings and we feel so privileged to have a small piece of history. One thing for sure, we are in agreement with Charlie and Petra that the view looking down the lake is the best on the Gunflint Trail!

Thursday, August 18, 2011

More Summer Projects

 This summer has been a summer full of projects.  One of the projects we did was redoing the bunkhouse.  Our bunkhouse is one of the older original buildings on the property.  It was originally used by a logging company.  The logging company did a deal with Charlie and Petra Boostrom so that they didn't have to pay rent in exchange for the building when they were done with it.  But it was in need of serious work.  So we gutted it, built 3 new bunk rooms and a new shower house.  Here is Mike working on what would later become a bunk.

For the stalls in the shower houses and the lumber for the bunks we used blow down lumber.  People have been very positive about the new bunk house rooms and love that there are now 6 showers and 6 toilets for use. 

We were running short on space for boats on the main dock.  So we built a new floating dock.  This took a bit longer than we anticipated but was really needed. 

Here is the new dock, we will be putting tires and cleats on both sides.  Now things aren't as congested and the boats don't have to be tied up so close that they bang into each other. 

Friday, July 22, 2011

Canak test-drive

One of the perks of working up in the northern wilds of the BWCA is testing out new equipment, so on my day off last week I grabbed our new Wenonah Canak for a 15-mile day-trip over to Crystal Lake, where I set up a hammock and did some reading, before catching a few nice smallies and heading for home.

The Canak is an interesting hybrid craft that meshes a kevlar 'canoe' bottom with a covered 'kayak' top, complete with hatch covers to keep out splashing water. It's shallower than a solo kevlar like the Encounter, and thus a bit more tippy, but it is also noticeably faster, too. This is the fastest boat I've ever paddled. It also worked well as a fishing boat, and I was easily able to drift along Crystal's steep-breaking shorelines while casting, only rarely using my paddle to make corrections. I especially liked the traditionally kayak-style bungee clasps on each side of the cockpit that held my fishing pole and paddle during portages.

While the Canak paddles very much like a normal kayak, it portaged smoothly with the 'snap-in' yoke (same one as the Encounter). Coming back out of Crystal, I ran into three regular kayaks and the three people driving them. Of course, they were awkwardly carrying the boats one at a time with a person on each end, essentially triple-portages the boats and then running gear. As I breezed into Canoe Lake and put the Canak into the water, one guy in the group asked what I was paddling and commented on how "cool" it looked. I chatted with him for a bit about the new craft, working up north, fishing and the weather, and then power-stroked out into the lake, leaving a wake behind.

I highly recommend this new boat for any solo paddlers visiting the Boundary Waters. If you are interested in taking the Canak for a spin, stop by Clearwater Lodge or call 218-388-2254 for rental information. We're one of the only outfitters on the Gunflint Trail that has one on our water-front.
-am

Saturday, July 09, 2011

Paddle Boards

Today we received some new toys at Clearwater Lodge. Two new Stand Up Paddle Boards!
Kids and adults seemed to have a great time on them. At least a dozen people tried them out yesterday afternoon/evening. On girl even asked her mom if they could take a paddle board next year instead of a canoe!
Brock was a bit upset that he couldn't go out and paddle around like his sister. But even he agreed that the boards were pretty cool and provided a great way to enjoy the lake on a beautiful day.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Made from scratch rhubarb muffins

The big rhubarb plant at Clearwater Lodge produced its first crop of the season, just in time for the summer solstice. In celebration of the fresh rhubarb and the longest day of the year and a full breakfast dining room, I decided to bake up rhubarb and almond muffins to compliment our famous buttermilk pancakes, and the reviews from both customers and crew were jubuliant.

The recipe came out of the official Clearwater Lodge cookbook, and so the exact contents are - naturally - top secret, but I thought the base combination of eggs and buttermilk and brown sugar made a pleasing still-life along with the chopped rhubarb and almonds.
I was pretty happy with the final product, but I'm always tweaking recipes as I go and I'd like to try this again with about double the rhubarb content. Surely some folks might find this 'overly rhubarby' but I can never get enough of that amazing sour flavor.

You can bet we'll be doing lots more with rhubarb here at Clearwater Lodge over the next few months, and I'm especially looking forward to combination pies using locally-picked berries - strawberries should be here very soon with the abundant rainfall over the previous 36 hours.

-am

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Pies at Clearwater and Cabin 2

We have had many people ask us if we would be bringing back the old tradition of having pie served at the lodge. Well, today we are pleased to announce that this Thursday, June 16th, we will be serving pies in the afternoon and evening at the Lodge. We talked with our neighbor and the granddaughter of Charlie and Petra Boostrom, Gloria Johnson, who used to bake for several previous owners and she will be baking pies for us also! Pies will be available starting at 2 pm on Thursday and cost $3 a slice. Anyone is welcome to come over, have some pie, and see some of the changes that we have been working on. Such as...We finally finished redoing cabin 2. This is a picture of the new master bedroom. This beautiful log bed really changed the look of this room. All the furniture in the cabin is now log and matches. We have really enjoyed having many people come by just to look at the cabins and see the changes we have been making. So many people comment on cabin 2 now and we think that guests will love the changes.This is what the living room and kitchen now look like. We got rid of the orange dinette set that was in here and replaced it with a rustic log table and chair set. We got a new log futon some new artwork and a new kitchen. The other bedroom also got a new log bunk bed.

Friday, June 10, 2011

Someone has to do research

As we prepared to take over operations at Clearwater my wife and I were very worried about being able to find time to get out and learn the lakes, fishing spots, portages, campsites and more. Last week I was able to slip away for an evening to try some fishing spots. And this week I took off for two days to learn more about a particular canoe route. While it may take a long time to learn as much as we feel is needed, at least the research is fun!
Ady really wanted to go on a canoe trip and I figure that she is now 4 years old and in my book that is old enough to go camping. So off we went. The first day we got started late since I was very busy at the Lodge and trying to get all my work done. So we ended up setting up camp and cooking dinner as it was getting dark. But she enjoyed sleeping in a tent and cooking over a fire. Kids sure love doing anything that gets them dirty!
The next morning we got up, finished paddling down Clearwater, across West Pike, portaged over into Pine Lake, and after fighting some wind, we made it over to Johnson Falls. Ady really loved the waterfall. Then we paddled to across little Caribou and over to Caribou Lake and finally portaged back to Clearwater Lake. We arrived back at the lodge tired but feeling that wonderful sense of accomplishment that always comes after a BWCA canoe trip.
And what a trooper Ady was, 15 miles of paddling and 3 miles of portages all in a single day, and still smiling at the end of the day.

Wednesday, June 01, 2011

New Dock and New Canoes

We have been very busy at Clearwater the last month. Some of the changes have been big and some not as big. We decided to repaint the boats since they looked like this.
Then after getting the boats sanded and painted we didn't want to put them out at the dock since we knew that they would just get destroyed again. The dock had nails and stuff sticking out the sides. So we went and got some tires and lined all the docks with tires. Now the boats won't get beat up by wind and waves banging them against the dock!
After the tires went on we went and put new cleats in so that they all matched and boats could be more securely tied down. I thought the finished product looked pretty good.
We also got some new canoes. Last week we sent one of the staff to Mount Iron to get 4 new Wenonah Minnesota II's and two Souris River 3 man canoes. New canoes look great and will be heavily used this summer.

Saturday, May 28, 2011

New Cabin Improvements

We just finished upgrading two of the cabins. We put new kitchens in cabins 2 and 3, a new bathroom in cabin 3 and new furniture has been put in cabins 1 and 3. We also have new furniture that will soon be put in cabin 7 and 2. In addition we have put some new furniture in the one bedroom suite. Here is an example of one the new pieces of furniture. We now have some new log futons. Ady claims that this futon from Cabin 3 is very comfortable.
Here is the new bathroom for cabin 3. We rotated the shower 90 degrees, moved the toilet over away from the shower and moved the sink over to where the water heater used to be. Then we put in a new tile floor and a pocket door. In all the bathroom is about 2 feet bigger than it used to be.
And finally the new kitchen! We more than doubled the amount of cabinet space and think that the new cabinets look great in the cabin. We moved the sink over to this other wall and it really opens up the cabin by having the kitchen on the right side of the room.
We are very happy with how the new improvements look in the cabins and rooms. Anyone and everyone is welcome to stop in and take a look.

Friday, May 20, 2011

Today's Paddle

As new owners of Clearwater Lodge we feel that it is very important that we get out and learn as much as possible about the area and things to do as we can. Today I had an opportunity to do just that. Joseph(the extremely skilled carpenter who did the work on the new store and new kitchen cabinets in cabins 2 and 3) and I set out today to look at a few portages and campsites. The water was absolutely perfect this morning. This is what it looked like as we got started.
After paddling across Bearskin, portaging to Duncan and then paddling across Duncan Lake we headed to Rose Falls. The water levels are really high right now and the falls were really pretty. Sorry, the photos don't do the falls enough justice for their beauty.
Then we decided to hike part of the Border Route Trail and explored some of the nice overlooks of Rose Lake. It was very enjoyable and refreshing to sit up on the cliffs and just feel the breeze as we looked out over the expanse of forest and Rose Lake.
After we finished checking out the falls and the cliffs we paddled across Rose Lake to Long Portage. Long Portage is 460 rods to where the Daniel Spur connects. Fortunately the portage is very flat and fairly well maintained. We finished up paddling across Daniels Lake and back to Bearskin. Wonderful day and can't wait for the next excursion.

Saturday, May 14, 2011

First Timers

They say that there is always a first time. Well, as the new caretakers of Clearwater Lodge and Outfitters we have had many "firsts" in the last couple of days. Yesterday we had our first customers. Today was our first fishing opener. We had our first difficulty with getting a permit printed. We shuttled our first canoe group across Clearwater Lake this morning. Last night we had our first evening of chatting with new friends next to the hearth after they checked into their Bed and Breakfast rooms. Today we sold our first t-shirt. We had our first fishing report come back this afternoon (7 Lake Trout before lunch).

After years of dreaming about the day that we would be able to experience these "firsts" we are so excited to actually be experiencing them. Some of the new experiences are anticipated, and some are not. But just the opportunity to have them is wonderful. We are very excited for the 2011 season and for many more "firsts". We look forward to meeting every single person that comes to Clearwater and our first meeting with them and the future memories of the first time we met new friends.

They say that when you buy a business not to change anything the first year. While we are aware of this old adage, we have made some changes. First off, we have a new store. Here is a picture of the old store.



And here is the picture of the new store. After much discussion and debate we decided to jump right in and make what we felt was a fairly significant change. The new store is more than twice as big and will allow us to carry more items. We intend to add a small grocery section, an increased assortment of clothing, more camping gear, a fridge for drinks, and even a freezer for ice cream. If you want to see more pictures of the project, check us out on Facebook. The new Facebook page can be found if you search Clearwater Lodge and Outfitters and click the like button.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Sports Shows!


We are entering the sports show season. It is that little window of time when winter is still hanging around, and you are sick to death of it, but spring fever hasn't quite hit you yet.

Visit a few sports shows and you will long for summer!

We will be at two sports shows in the next month. The first is Canoecopia in Madison, Wisconsin on March 11, 12 and 13th. The second is in Minneapolis on March 30 - April 3. Both are great events so stop by and see us.