Loon Lake Tales

We had a very good summer season which kept the dinning room busy.  We started serving meals in May this year.  If you were here in 2009 you may remember we had to wait until July because we were working on the Lodge.  Well that work was finished and we were able to open this year by mid May.  We added a new chicken dish this year and we are making plans to change one or two meals for next year.  Our rib dinner continues to be one of our most popular meals followed closely by walleye, steak and duck.  The big surprise this year was the popularity of our meatloaf.  It is one of the old-time Loon Lake Lodge recipes from the Taste of the Gunflint cookbook.



So thank you to all who made this a great summer season and if you are looking for a winter retreat check out our winter page.  We will open after the first of December so give us a look.

If fall colors are what you are looking for, you should make plans soon.  I took this picture from our house yesterday.  The leaves are just about at there most colorful.  Driving the Gunflint Trail you will see lots of reds and yellow along the road.  Maple Hill just out of Grand Marais is very colorful right now.  So you have less than a week for peak colors in this area. 

I think it is safe to say summer is over.  We have had some cool temps in the morning.  We dropped to the low 30s a few days ago.  This causes fog in the morning to lay over the warmer water creating a beautiful scene.

 
The fog stays around until the sun heats up the air and burns it off.  A great time to sit on the dock and just take it all in.

The leaves are also starting to turn but not as fast as I would have thought.  Moisture or lack of it is a major factor in leaves changing colors and we had a very dry summer.  So I thought by this time we would have more yellow in the bay.

We had some excitement just before the Labor Day Weekend.  A small fire became visible just a couple of miles west of Loon Lake.  The Forest Service says it was started by a lighning strike from a thunderstorm that passed through 7-10 days before.  When it was all over it burned less than 60 acres and we were never in any danger but the air show was impressive.

First on the scene was the Beaver aircraft.  They are used to spot fires and fly over the area one to three times a day depending on the fire danger.  They were called in to assess the danger posed by the fire and what resources should be called apon.  It was decided to let it burn but not to the area where it would be a danger to people or structures.

Then large Bombardier CL215s were called in to drop water on the north and east perimeters of the fire.  They would come towards Loon from the west down the bay then turn and land on the main part of the lake.  They never stop but drop a 4 inch pipe into the water and fill up their tanks on the move then power up and take off.  They would circle back to the fire and repeat.  This went on for 5 hours a day for a couple of days. 

So it is all over now.  It is an interesting thing to watch how professionals deal with fire.

Good news for our hikers.  The Conservation Corps has cleared the trail to Crab Lake and around Crab to Bridal Falls. The trail to Crab hasn't been too bad but it was cleaned up and the grass was mowed.   It hasn't been possible to get to the Falls from Loon Lake since the fire in 2007.  That area around Crab Lake was burned and when summer came brush and raspberries took over the area and it was impossible to even find the trail from the end of the Lake to the Falls.  Terry and I walked part of the trail today and it is very easy to follow even better than before. 

Big  lake trout are still being caught on Loon.  Joanne Johnson caught this 16 pounder just last week.  Very nice.

The Centennial Trail is one of the newest hiking trails on the Gunflint Trail.  It is a combination of the Kekekabic Hiking Trail and a new trail cut along what was the Port Arthur, Duluth & Western Railroad.  This was the railroad that was built to haul iron ore out of the Paulson Mine.  The trail ran from what is today Thunder Bay to the north side of Gunflint Lake and then onto the site of the mine.  Built in the early 1890's by hand with much of the work be done by Italian immigrants for Canada.  After all of the work, only one car load of ore was ever taken from the mine before it failed!

The first 1.2 mile of trail is along the Kekekabic Trail which has been around for many years.  It starts on the Gunflint Trail and ends outside Ely and is well maintained.  Just after you come to the Paulson Mine you will cut back to the east and follow the new Centennial Trail.  This was cleared late in 2009 by retired smoke jumpers.  Every year they clear different trails around the country for public recreation.  It is called the Centennial Trail because the Superior National Forest was 100 years old in 09.

The Centennial follows the old grade and is a diffuculte hike.  The old trestles are gone and you have to climb up and down hills in a number of locations but I think it is a wonderful hike.  Total length is about 3 and a half miles counting the part of the Kek you also hike.  You will see old test pits, the Paulson Mine, historic railroad bed of the PAD & W and some great vistas of the area.

                              Sign at the Kekekabic Trail                Sign at the Centennial Trail
It is a great hike but it is not for everyone. 

The season has been moving along faster than I want.  Blogs are always hard to get to.  Never seems to be enough time in the day to get everything done.  We have been working on the Lodge and the cabins.  We now have finished the new Lodge roof.  New roofing and a lot of new wood.  It looks very nice.  Cabin 2 and 3 have new bathrooms.  Cabin 3 is completely new from the ground up and cabin 2 got new flooring and a new shower.  We are now finishing new steps from cabin 7 down to the lake.  We will add a new dock and low voltage lighting along the steps so when you come in from fishing you can dock there and find your way up the hill!

We just had our first family get together of the summer.  The Sheatsley family from Minnesota and West Virginia were able to spend some time together here at the lake.  Jim and his wife Sandy meet up with his sisters and their families in the cities and then most headed to Loon Lake for a few days of great family time.  They spent their time swimming, sitting around the campfire and just hanging out.  As far as I could tell there was now fighting and they all left as friends.  Jim's parents started coming to Loon Lake in the early 70's.

You still have time to book your stay at Loon Lake this summer.  Check out our web site and see what cabins are open.  We would love to have you visit soon.