The EDGE: Dirt from the Yurt and other Chatter from the Edge of the Boundary Waters

Boundary Country Install New Yurt Along Banadad

2009-11-10T06:04:00.000-06:00

Skiers traveling the BWCA's Banadad Ski Trail this winter will be greeted midway along the trail by new overnight accommodates.
A new twenty foot yurt was erected earlier this fall at Bedew Lake. The new yurt replaces Olga's hut and will serve as the main lodging at the camp. Olga's Yurt will accommodate up to six guest and also provide dining facility for the camp. The older Croft yurt will provide additional lodging for another four guests.

It is expected that as usual the Banadad Ski Trail should be open by December 15 and the yurts at Bedew Lake will then be officially open for guests traveling the trail.

Early Snow on the Gunflint

2009-10-11T04:51:00.005-05:00

First snow of the season! Over the last two days the mid-Gunflint Trail area has registered about three and one-half inches of snow. More is predicted through Monday. But don't break-out your skis just yet. The trails still need more work; the swamps and ponds along the trails are not frozen and it is quite likely we will have some more warm weather before we finally settle into our winter season sometime around mid November.

Meteorite Impact Evidence Site Tour on Gunflint

2009-09-10T05:01:00.001-05:00

Mark Jirsa, University of MN Geologist, will be leading an
interpretive walk to two Sudbury meteorite impact evidence sites on
Monday, September 21. Meet at the gravel pit on the Gunflint Narrows
Road (formerly Warren's Road) at 4:15 PM. (We will car-pool, if
necessary, to the parking area, then walk to the sites off the road.)

Mark will give a presentation later that day at 6:30 PM, at Gunflint
Lodge's conference center.

These sites are of great significance in the world of geology. The sites are
quickly becoming grown over, post-fire, so now is the time to view
and learn about this.

>From the University of MN Geology Department web site:

"In 2007, a layer of rock was discovered in Minnesota that is
thought to have formed during the Sudbury meteorite impact event.
The layer is exposed near GUNFLINT LAKE, nearly 500 miles west
of the impact site at Sudbury. It is sandwiched between
the Gunflint Iron Formation below, and slate of the Rove Formation
above. Both of these formations were deposited as muddy,
oceanic sediments. Nearly a billion years later, these rocks were
intruded by magma (Logan Intrusion) as part of a major continental
rifting event."

For more information go to:
http://talc.geo.umn.edu/mgs/meteoriteimpact.pdf (a fairly large pdf
file, so allow a bit of time for it to load)

Mark has updates of findings which have been made since the initial
discovery in 2007.

Gunflint Trail Forest Planning - Draft Plan

2009-08-26T07:27:00.001-05:00

The Gunflint Trail Scenic Byway Committee is in the process of
developing a Vegetation Management Plan which will be referenced by
various agencies in managing the vegetation along the Gunflint Trail
in the future.

The public is invited to an open house at the Gunflint Conference
Center on Gunflint Lake on Thursday, August 27th, at 3:30.

The purpose of this open house is to give the public an opportunity
to share ideas about the visual appearance of trees and plants along
the roadway.

The draft of phase I of the plan can be found by clicking on
"Vegetation Management Plan" on the right column at
www.gunflinttrailscenicbyway.com

For more information call 388-2273.

Conservation Corp takes on the Banadad

2009-08-23T12:20:00.001-05:00

A five-person crew from the Minnesota Conservation Corp (MCC) spent eight tough days widening the remote interior of the Banadad Ski Trail. The crew hiked in from the west end trailhead, setting up camp at the bench midway to the Bedew Lake Yurt Camp. After several days clearing the trail on either side of their camp, the crew then moved onto Bedew where the sent several more days widening the trail from the yurts to the midtrail junction. When they finally hike out from Bedew the crew had widen two full miles and cleared many down trees blocking the eight miles of the trail they covered.

It is speculated that the down trees were the result of a nasty hail-wind storm cell that hit the western end of the Banadad on August 13. Luckily it appears the storm missed the trail’s eastern end.

Now with this year’s work by MCC some eight remote interior miles of the Banadad have been widen over the last four years. Yet to be widened is about one and one-half more miles some of which it is anticipated will be taken-on this fall.

Gunflint's Bridal Falls Adventure

2009-08-17T06:38:00.002-05:00

Looking for an adventurous hike along the Gunflint? You might want to consider going into Bridal Falls. Recently guests from Taunton, Minnesota, and staying at the Little Ollie Cabin took on the challenge. is located on the far south eastern end of Gunflint Lake. It is long hike in along the Border Route Trail. Plan a full day if you want to take in this adventure.

Locate just to the east of the falls is the remains of the old "cord-wood" railroad trestle . First used by the Pigeon River Lumber Company as part of a railroad side spur called the Gunflint & Lake Superior Railroad from Little Gunflint Lake, 3 and ½ miles to Crab Lake in 1903. For several years this logging venture succeeded in shipping a rich harvest of timber from the Crab Lake area onto the mills in Port Arthur. In more recent times the trestle became part of the snowmobile route between Loon and Gunflint Lake. The trestle began burning in the recent Ham Lake Fire and is still smolders. Remains of the trestle are still visable.

REMINDER FOR SAFE BERRY PICKING ON SUPERIOR NATIONAL FOREST

2009-08-01T10:41:00.000-05:00

July 29, 2009 -- People picking berries on the Superior National
Forest should be aware that spot application of herbicide to control
invasive plants may occur on some roadsides within the Forest. As
part of a Forest Service-wide effort to manage exotic and
rapidly-spreading (non-native invasive) plants, Forest Supervisor
Jim Sanders signed a decision in 2006 that allows for management of
non-native invasive plants using a variety of methods including
herbicide, hand-pulling, and biological controls. Locally, the
Superior National Forest has been working with partners such as the
counties and state to control non-native invasive plants. When ever
possible, we choose to use non-chemical means. However, herbicide
spraying is often the most effective control for invasive plants that
grow within the rights-of-way of roads. Through the end of August
2009, we plan to use two approved herbicides, Milestone and Escort,
both of which have low toxicity to people and wildlife. Although we
control the spray to stay within 25 feet of the road's edge, we
suggest that if you do pick next to a road, you move 50 feet from the
road before you start picking. This will help ensure that your
berries are from outside the treated area and that you are safe from
traffic hazards.
As always, we urge berry-pickers to confirm identification of plants
they are harvesting from and to be aware that some forest plants bear
poisonous fruits. There are many excellent printed and pictoral
guides to wild and edible plants that can help.

Maps showing herbicide treatment sites for this summer are available
at district offices in Grand Marais, Tofte, Aurora, Ely, and Cook,
MN, and on the Superior National Forest
website: www.fs.fed.us/r9/superior. To learn more about non-native
invasive species of concern on the Forest and what you can do to help
slow their spread, check out the "Non-Native Invasive Species" section.

Mesaabi Biking Trail Fills in Last Remaininng Gap

2009-07-10T05:35:00.003-05:00

MidwestWeekends July 9-There’s good news for bicycle tourists looking for a new stretch of trail to try.

This week, a troublesome 1½-mile stretch of the Mesabi Trail in northern Minnesota finally was completed between Taconite and Marble, giving riders 74½ nonstop miles of beautiful asphalt.

The rolling trail, which does not follow a rail corridor, takes riders past turquoise mine-pit lakes, through rock cuts and to the door of nearly every Iron Range attraction. For more, see Lodge to Lodge Biking.

Wolf Strolling along the Lima Grade

2009-07-04T06:04:00.001-05:00

Yesterday two guest were driving along the Lima Grade just south of the North Brule River and about four miles from Poplar Creek Guesthouse B&B when they spotted this wolf along the trail. There has been a pack of five or six wolves in the area for sometime. Guest staying a the Tall Pine's Yurt often have heard them howling and several people have spotted them along the Lima Grade before. This lone wolf is likely a member of thie Lima Grade pack.

Rainy Weather on the Gunflint Finally Breaks

2009-07-02T05:10:00.000-05:00

After four or five of non-stop days of rain and wind gust up to 40 miles per hour, yesterday it did not rain and the wind finally stopped blowing. At Boundary Country we had one dripping wet canoe party return one day early. One of the men on the trip’s raincoat tore apart. Needless to say he was soaked. Otherwise several other of our parties are still out on their BWCA canoe trips.

Today and for the next several days the forecast calls for sunny weather. This should give everyone a chance to dry-out.

Northwood's stylel Heat Wave, 80 degrees

2009-06-24T07:41:00.004-05:00

Yesterday, at the Poplar Creek Guesthouse B&B the temperature hit 80 degrees for the first time this year. Today it looks like we are in for another warm day. Then it is expect to cool down a bit. Still the nights are cool; never getting above the mid 60s.

However nothing like the weather we are reading about to the south of us.

The Vance Lake Logging Camp- A Historic BWCA Site Revisited

2009-05-24T07:12:00.009-05:00

Ted Young, Gunflint Trail-The other day Julie Collman, Cook County Deputy Sheriff; John Jacobsen, Grand Marais; Ashley Jacobsen, student at Superior State College; and I retraced a trip into an old logging camp on Vance Lake that Julie had visited more then twenty years before with her parents. When first visited by Julie, much of the original camp was still intact. She recalled that there were twenty-four old building on the site at the time of her first visit.

(Image at right is of remains of old log building)

Our quest to find the old camp began with a canoe trip across the east end of Brule Lake then over the portage to Echo Lake, down Echo to near the east end where we beach our canoes. We then bushwhacked about a half mile through thick “blowdown” north to Vance Lake and then to the east end of Vance where Julie recalled the camp was located.

Upon reaching the east end of the lake, our first discovery was the remains of small log building by the shoreline with a culvert buried in the ground that we speculated might have been the camp’s water source or maybe a small boathouse. Searching the area further we found the remains of a large log structure build into a side hill. There were trees growing out of this building. This build was large enough to have been the camp’s mess hall. We also came across many cleared areas that we presume were the sites of other structure and of course we found lots of rusty tin cans. But the other buildings Julie had previously seen were gone.

One unexpected fine located on the site was a test pit or mine. The pit was located about one hundred feet north east of the remains of the large log structure. The pit was filled with water so we could not tell its depth. Around the pit were many pieces of jasper that appear to have come from the hole. We can only speculate that at sometime prospectors must have taken up residents at the camp.

It was likely that the camp was in operation sometime during the 1940-50s. During this period it would be likely that the logs were trucked out in the winter through a frozen creek-lowlands passage lying just north of the camp. This creek flows east about one and a half miles to the northeast corner of Brule Lake. From there the trucks could travel across Brule Lake over an ice road. The High hills and steep cliffs surround most of Vance Lake would make this one of the few places trucks could have readily travel to and from the camp.

A similar ice road across the Brule was used to haul the timber cut at the Davis Lake Logging Camp east of Winchell Lake. The Davis Lake camp was in operation from 1948-52. (see “North Star Timber Company and the Davis Lake Timber Sale” by Robert Lee, Iron Mountain, and MI. May 2005)

However, John Lyght, life-long Lutsen resident, former county sheriff and who trucked timber across Brule Lake for the Davis Lake Timber sale felt the Vance Lake Camp was operating in the 1920’s. The deterioration of the two remaining building in my mind would certainly indicate this. If this were the case then logs were hauled to the railhead of the Alger-Smith Logging Rail Road. The railroad had spur lines going into the Brule and another line into a logging camp on Swan Lake and possible as far as Vernon Lake just east of the Swan Lake camp. Somehow logs would have to have been hauled to one of these two railheads.

After exploring what remained of the camp we retracing our route out across Echo and Brule Lakes and home.

We can only speculate when the camp was in operation and who were the many folks that lived and worked there. Why was there a test pit or mine at the camp? And what were these prospectors looking for? Our trip only raises more questions then it answers. We would like to know more about the Vance Lake Logging Camp.

Therefore if anyone has any additional information about history of this camp we would very much like to hear from you.

Editors note- Since we were unable to find the twenty four structures Julie had previously seen on her earlier visit, I can only speculate that the Forest Service burn these structures just as they had burned the Davis Lake Logging Camp, Benny Ambrose’s cabin and other historical structures in what is now the BWCA. The explanation I have heard from Forestry officials for burning these building was that these building were in a “wilderness area” where people were not suppose to have lived. However this goes without say people have lived there for thousands of years. Other Forest Services officials have told me unoccupied building in the BWCA would be vandalized. To me burning these old building and pretending that these buildings and the people that lived and work there never existed is the ultimate form of vandalism.

Thankfully, the Forest Services policy of trying to destroy the past by burning it has been changed and they now recognize that maybe historical structures within the BWCA should be allowed to remain.

Gunflint Nordic Ski Trails Carbon Off-Set to Gunflint Green Up

2009-05-15T06:14:00.003-05:00

Nordic Skiing is normally considered an eco-friendly sport, northeast Minnesota’s Gunflint Nordic ski trail managers have taken this one step further. The Central and Upper Gunflint Ski Areas connected by the Banadad Ski Trail known collectively as the 210 Kilometer Gunflint Nordic Ski System this year went carbon neutral.

The trail managers calculation the cost of sequestering the carbon emissions produced from the maintenance and grooming of the trails based on information from the Chicago Climate Exchange, “Regional Estimates of TreeAnnual Carbon Accumulation,” and the Gunflint Ranger District, USFS tree plant cost estimates.

Then, yesterday, May 5, at the Gunflint Trail Association’s Spring Meeting ski trail representatives presented a $896 “carbon off-set” check to Nancy Seaton, Gunflint Green Up chairman, The money will be used as seed money for next year’s tree planting. Since the Gunflint Trail’s 2007 Ham Lake Fire, the Gunflint Green Up has annually purchased young trees and organized volunteers to plant the trees. To date the Green Up has planted over 100,000 new trees in the area burned over by the Fire.

According to Ted Young, Banadad Trail manager, “It was a great snow year for the Gunflint’s ski trails. That translated into lots of grooming hours. And as a result we put lots of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere- by our calculation the maintenance and grooming of the Gunflint’s three ski systems created some fifteen metric tons of CO2. We feel that offsetting this carbon by planting trees in our neighborhood, to us, is the right thing to do for the Gunflint and our environment.”

Resorts participating in Gunflint Nordic Ski Trail’s Carbon Off-set project are Gunflint Pines, Hestons and Gunflint from the Upper Gunflint Trails: Boundary Country Trekking from the Banadad and Bearskin from the Central Gunflint Trails. Golden Eagle Lodge, that maintains half of the Central Gunflint Trail offset the carbon their maintenance and grooming created by planting trees on their own property.

Note- Attached image- Left to Right Ted Young, Boundary Country Trekking, Nancy Seaton, Gunflint Green Up Chairperson, Dennis Neitzke, Gunflint Ranger USFS, Shari Baker Gunflint Pines Resort, and Sue McCloughan, Bearskin Lodge.

Ollie Lake Tree Planting Continues Inspite of the Snow

2009-05-09T17:08:00.005-05:00

May 9- one inch of snow covered the ground this morning along the mid-Gunflint Trail area and the snow continued to fall until about 10:00 am. By late afternoon the fresh snow was gone.

On the other hand, Poplar Lake did see its fishing opener, even though most in the area were saying Poplar and other mid size lakes in the area would still be ice covered for the opener. The ice actually went-out yesterday, the day before the opener.

Here around Little Ollie Lake, as a follow-up to last week's Gunflint Green Up, several neighbors were out planting more trees. Most planted on their own property. Poplar Creek Guesthouse B&B, this year, planted white pines on the trail to the Tall Pines Yurt. While walking along the Little Ollie Road it was clear that most of the white pines and spruce planted last year along the road had survived the winter and appeared to be doing fine.

Spring Slow to Arrive in the Mid-Gunflint Trail Area

2009-05-06T05:46:00.002-05:00

While much of the Banadad Ski Trail still has plenty of snow there are signs that spring is arriving. The ice went out on Little Ollie Lake yesterday. Poplar and other mid size lakes are still covered with ice.It is doubtful whether the ice in these lakes will go out before the fishing opener on May 9th. In the woods and on north facing slopes snow remains- in some places up to a foot deep. However, about a week ago the season’s first loon was spotted flying over Poplar Creek Guesthouse B&B.

Long time Poplar Lake Resident Passes Away

2009-04-29T06:27:00.001-05:00

The Bridgemen family purchased their cabin along the Gunflint Trail on Poplar Lake between Old Northwoods and Rockwood Lodges some fifty years ago. Paul the youngest of seven children spent many summers at the family’s small frame cabin. This past year the old Bridgemen’s cabin, which originally was one of Doc Rimples Northwood Lodge’s cabins was torn down and replace with a new winterized building.

The other day Paul his wife and his brother Dan and his wife were up working on this new cabin. Paul was not feeling well; he went outside to sit in his vehicle. When Paul did not return his wife went outside to check on him and found him unconscious. 911 was called and the family members attempt to revise him with CPR. He died as both the Gunflint and county Ambulances arrived.

The following is the obituary from the Minneapolis Tribune, April 28, 2009.

Bridgeman, Paul S. Age 54 of Minnetonka, passed away unexpectedly on Saturday, April 25, 2009. Preceded in death by parents, Phoebe and William and brother-in- law, Dave Conner. Survived by loving wife and best friend, Becky; daughters, Kristin and Karla; siblings, Jean (Mont) Ferguson, Richard (Jane), Ruth (Jerry) Anderson, Mary (Bill) Oja, Beth (Ed) Snyder, and Dan (Barb); sister-in- law, Jan (Don) Skraba. Also survived by many nieces, nephews, other family and friends. Paul has gone home to fish with Dave. Memorials preferred. Private interment. Service Thursday, April 30, 11 AM with visitation 1 hour before at: Washburn-McReavy Edina Chapel 952-920-3996 West 50th St. & Hwy 100

Barbara Young Elected President of State B&B Association

2009-04-28T08:39:00.003-05:00

At Minnesota Bed and Breakfast Association (MBBA) annual meeting held in Duluth Barbara Young, Poplar Creek Guesthouse B&B innkeeper was elected the Association's new President. Joining Young on the Association’s Board of Directors were Shannon McKeeth, Bingham Hall from New Ulm as Vice President, Chuck Dougherty from Stillwater as Treasure, and Mary Grover from Soglimt B&B in Duluth as Secretary. Filling out the Board were innkeepers from Auf Deutschtrasse in New Ulm, Mathew Burrows 1890 Inn and the Olcott House in Duluth, the Summit Inn in Center City, the Pillar Inn in Cold Springs, Cedar Rose in Alexandria and the Candlelight Inn in Redwing. Outgoing President Suzanne Tweten will remain on the Board as past President. Pam Thorsen from Hasting’s Classic Rosewood Inn and Spa serves as the organization’s Executive Director.

This year’s Annual Meeting entitled “Its Inn to be Green” spotlighted developing green sustainable Inns. The meeting featured seminars offering green programs from “Using Renewable Energy,” “What B&B’s are doing to be Green,” to “worm Composting.” Meanwhile venders were hawking green and other use innkeeper produces throughout the two-day meeting. . Other seminar topics included marketing, table setting, and more were also offered. One new program unveiled at the meeting was a State promoted farm and forest stay program where guest would be able to visit and stay at working farms.

According to Young, “Duluth provide a great venue for this year’s annual meeting, the seminars were outstanding and the many venders in attendance offered us many useful products. But most importantly we had a great time!

The MBBA represents some one hundred and twenty B&B and Historic Inns from throughout Minnesota.

Snow Continues on the Gunflint Trail

2009-04-24T08:40:00.000-05:00

In the mid-Gunflint Area from the “Pines” to about Gunflint Lake winter still lingers on in the shady spot and in the woods where continues snow from one to two feet remain. Along the Banadad Ski Trail the ski conditions are still great with bare spots only in sunny open areas. Once you get much past the South Gunflint Lake Road where the Ham Lake Fire took place conditions change drastically. Here must of the snow is gone- must likely due to the lack of shad in this area’s burned over forest. Also, as it usually happens, the upper Gunflint area again this winter received a bit less snow then the mid Gunflint, which may have helped it to melt faster.

Temperature are hovering in the 30s to 40s.

Spring Skiing on the Gunflint Banadad

2009-04-19T09:42:00.003-05:00

April 17- Starting at Poplar Creek Guesthouse B&B, two skiers from Tofte skied 9-10 kilometers out and back on the Banadad. Upon their return they stated the skiing was great and they had an excellent time. The temperature was about 40 degrees. Today it is down below thirty and snowing.

Spring Skiing - It ain't over till it's over

2009-04-16T12:21:00.001-05:00

April 16, 2009. Six Kilometers of the east end of the Banadad Tracked. Great Spring Skiing! 12-16" of snow; no bare spots.

You can expect snow on the Banadad to remain at least another two weeks. Right now the trail is in great shape. Also go "crust skiing" and travel anywhere in the area.

Art Option Along the Gunflnt Trail

2009-04-05T09:42:00.003-05:00

A Weekend of Art Classes in the Woods at Poplar Creek Guesthouse B&B

Featuring Noted Artist and Instructor Sue Pavlatos

Time: The weekend of April 24 –26

Location: Poplar Creek Guesthouse B&B 11 Poplar Creek Dr Grand Marais, MN 55604

Content: Sue Pavlatos will demonstrate and give individual design and painting instruction. She will instruct you in painting a water color picture that evokes a feeling of the Gunflint with a variety of techniques. All art supplys provided.

Includes: One 4 hour art lesson taught by Sue Pavlatos, wine and cheese get together with the artist, two night lodging with breakfast each morning, buffet lunch and dinner.

For more information or to reserve a spot contact- Barbara Young 800-322-8327 or 218-388-4487 or go to www.poplarcreekbb.com

Sue Pavlatos is an accomplished artist and teacher. She owns a gallery and studio in Cloquet and Minneapolis. Sue is proficient in watercolor, acrylic and casein along with oils and pastels. According to Sue, -"Painting is a way to capture the moment. I enjoy connecting my life to the earth and water with paint. My images reflect nature's impact on my life."

Sue exhibits regularly. Her work was included in the '94, '95, and '97 Ohara, Japan painting competitions. A member of the Duluth Art Institute and the Lake Superior Watercolor Society, Sue has exhibited nationally in the Great Lake Regional Art Exhibit, as well as the Arrowhead Art Exhibit and Red River Valley National Show. “Growing Wild” was the title of a recent one person show she did at Full Circle Gallery in Sioux Falls, SD and “Survivors on the Edge”, was a one-person exhibit at the Johnson Heritage Post Art Gallery in Grand Marais, MN. These paintings celebrate man and nature, and partnership and stewardship.

Join Sue – At “Art Options Along the Gunflint Trail”

Gunflint Spring Snow no April Fool Joke

2009-04-02T07:53:00.006-05:00

April Fools Day brought 12 - 14 inches of heavy wet snow to the Gunflint Trail's Poplar Creek Guesthouse B&B and along the Banadad Ski Trail. On the morning of the first with guests planning to leave for home the roads and driveways into the B&B's two rental cabins had to be cleared. Plowing began at 7:30 am and five hours later the two and half miles of roadway to the Gunflint Trail was open and the guest were able to drive-out. In departing the guest declared the snow fall was great and they would not have been disappointed had they been snow bound for another day.

Then guess what? It is still snowing- so far another 3 inches today.

The Banadad remains snowed-in. The trail groomer is expected to begin opening the Trail on Friday, after the snow has settled a bit making it easier to groom. It is anticipated that about 5 or 6 kilometers of the east end of the Banadad and the Lace Lake Trails will be tracked by this coming weekend. According to Boundary Country Trekking which maintains the trails, it is anticipated that with the addition of this snow fall the Banadad should remain ski-able well into April.

Total measure snow on the ground at Poplar Creek Guesthouse is now 32 inches.

Gunflint Green-Up Specials

2009-03-27T06:30:00.001-05:00

Join other friends of the Gunflint at the Gunflint Trail Tree Planting weekends. At Poplar Creek Guesthouse and cabins two weekends have been dedicated to helping reforest the area from the affects of the 2007 Ham Lake Fire and the ongoing reforestation of the Poplar Creek/Little Ollie Lake area damaged by the 1999 BWCA Blowdown and subsequent salvage logging operations.

Gunflint Green-up Tree planting

May 1-4, 2009

We provided lodging with Barbara’s famous breakfast and you can join in the many exciting scheduled events

A Green Living Fair is planned on Friday from 1:00-5:00 pm followed with a talk by Howard Sivertson and picnic dinner in the big top tent at Gunflint Lodge.
Saturday is tree planting and release of the overgrowth around the trees planted in 2008. Saturday evening join the community for a celebratory dinner and dance. Sunday you can take in the Ham Lake Run Half Marathon.

* Your choice- Two (2) nights $89/ person or Three (3) nights $133/person plus taxes, double occupancy, at B&B/4 person minimum at cabins

There also is a $40/person participation fee charged by the Gunflint Greenup Committee to cover the cost of: Friday’s picnic dinner, a box lunch on Saturday and Saturday evening's dinner and dance.

Little Ollie Lake Blowdown Tree Planting

May 8-10, 2009

We provide planting instructions, planting equipment and tree seedlings, two nights lodging with Barbara’s famous breakfast each morning. One-day planting trees with trail lunch. Picnic-barbecue dinner at B&B on Saturday night. Also included during your stay is a discussion on the Area’s Fire History and Reforestation

* Two (2) nights (May 8-10) $89/person plus taxes- double occupancy at B&B/4 person minimum at cabins.

For more information or to make reservations contact Poplar Creek Guesthouse B&B

800-322-8327

Gunflint Green Up Happening May 1-2, 2009

2009-03-26T05:35:00.005-05:00

People, Trees, and Community -- Coming Together for a Better Future

Grand Marais, MN The second annual Gunflint Green Up takes place May 1-2 at various locations along the Gunflint Trail Scenic Byway in northeastern Minnesota. All planting and release sites are located within the Superior National Forest, in the area affected by the Ham Lake Fire of May 2007.

Gunflint Green Up begins with a Green Living Fair on the afternoon of Friday, May 1, at Gunflint Lodge’s conference center. The Green Living Fair is inspired by the idea that green living and planting trees go hand-in-hand, and that good stewards of the forest must be good stewards of the environment. The Green Living Fair offers a collection of local experts to assist the community and its visitors in that direction. Stewardship begins at home, whether home is the Gunflint Trail or hundreds of miles away.

Following the Green Living Fair, there will be a picnic in the big top at Gunflint Lodge, music by the Sivertones, and a presentation by local artist Howard Sivertson.

Saturday is tree planting and release of the overgrowth around the trees planted in 2008, trail lunch, dinner in the big top with music by Gerald Thilmany, celebration of the 100^th anniversary of Superior National Forest, and dance with Trail’s End Band.

All participants must register to take part in the program. This year the registration options include ala carte meals, and an option to “plant only.” Participants can register for the Gunflint Green Up online at www.gunflintgreenup.com. The registration fee for all meals and programs is $40 per individual or $100 per family (1- 2 adults and their children 16 years of age and younger) and includes Friday’s Green Living Fair, dinner, evening presentation, Saturday tree planting, box lunch, dinner, dance, and t-shirt. Please visit the website for ala carte options.

All planting and release sites are within Superior National Forest and the area affected by the Ham Lake Fire of May 2007. Planting locations include the vicinities of Trail's End Campground, Chik-Wauk Museum and Nature Center, Kekekabic and Magnetic Rock Trails, Round Lake public landings, and the Iron Lake Campground. All are public lands; participants may visit the trees in future years.

“Green Up participants found the event to be a time they could give back to the Gunflint Trail, a special place that has given them so much through the years,” said Nancy Seaton, chair of the Gunflint Green Up Committee. “Planting a tree can be a powerful experience when you think of all the animals and people who will find a home in its branches or beauty in its shadows. Last summer people stopped me on the streets of Grand Marais to say they were going up the Trail to visit ‘their’ trees. Green Up really gave the planters a sense of ownership, a sense of being a part of the community. Green Up is as much about creating a greater community as it is about planting the trees for future generations.”

Sunday is the Ham Run Half Marathon (separate registration required). Information on the marathon can be found at www.hamrunhalfmarathon.com.

The 2008 Gunflint Green Up was awarded the Explore Minnesota Tourism “Sustainable Tourism Award” and the USDA Forest Service Eastern Region Honor Award “Connecting Citizens to the Land.”

Registration: www.GunflintGreenUp.com . Questions: email hjo@boreal.org.

Poplar Creek Guesthouse B&B and Cabin is offering a Green-up Special for more information click on- Green-up Special.

Rolf Hugenvik, Poplar Lake Summer Home- 1925-2009

2009-02-27T05:45:00.001-06:00

Ina Hugenvik- Rolf Hugenvik (Huggie) was born in 1925 and served in the Army during WWII. While stationed in the Philippines, he saw a picture in a Sunday news magazine of a northern lake with blue sky and pointy evergreen trees. He wrote his mother that he would like to have a cabin some day on a lake like that. Fast forward to 1948: His parents happened to know Doc Remple’s wife and somehow made it to the Gunflint Trail to visit her. Doc showed Huggie the lots he had for sale, completely wooded over with downed trees, brush and raspberry bushes but with plenty of those pointy trees as well as a big pine or two. Huggie could see there was an island in front of the lot and possibly a view to the east and so he thought this would be a good location, if he could get it cleared enough to erect a simple shack for hunting and fishing. Later Remple sent a note that a professor from Iowa was interested in buying some land but Huggie and his mother, Dora, had first choice. Dora sent the money, $800.00 for 200 feet of shoreline at $4.00 a foot. A lot of money in 1948. His sister, Ninnia, bought the adjoining lot to the west for, I think, $5.00 a foot because it was lower and closer to the water. The professor from Iowa (Keitha Herron’s father) bought a different lot west of the Huggenvik spot.

The rest is known history. The following year, with no experience in building anything except a car, Huggie started clearing space enough to erect a simple 16’ x 30’ cabin, buying supplies wherever he could get them, carrying them through the woods on his back or rowing them over in Remple’s boat. He had minimal tools - hammer, handsaw, drawknife, but no ladder. He eventually made a ladder out of small logs. A friend, Al Anderson, from Northfield, helped occasionally and Dora came up to cook. Eventually the mosquitoes were so bad that Huggie sent her home.

The following year he built a similar cabin for his sister Ninnia, on the lot she and Bob, her husband, had purchased. The cabin was furnished with leftovers from home, stuff that was no longer needed or wanted at his parent’s house, or he built emergency items such as a bed, shelves, a booth for eating by the big window looking into the woods. An oil drum-like stove provided heat and a two burner white gas stove was used for cooking. No refrigerator. No running water unless you consider running to the lake with a bucket to be that convenient. Bath time? Go jump in the lake.

Sixty years later, after many additions, renovations, changes, additional small buildings and more land behind the original lot, Huggie decided his quilt (his term for the cabin and site) was finished and turned over the responsibility for it to his four children who had been co-owners for many years.

Huggie was diagnosed with glimo blastome, an inoperable, incurable brain tumor in July of 2008 and died at his Green Valley home January 26, 2009.