Loon Lake Tales

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

The Martens are coming!

2:28 PM

Well we have a new visitor to our bird feeder. We call them Pine Martens but they are also called American Martens. They have a long slender body covered in glossy brownish fur with a lighter coloured throat, a long bushy tail and a pointed snout. Like those of cats, its claws are semi-retractable, and aid it in climbing trees. It also has very large foot pads in relation to body weight allowing it to walk on hard snow. This provides the marten with a distinct advantage in areas that receive heavy snows.

They mainly eat small mammals like red

squirrels or mice but will eat just about anything. They can be aggressive if cornered but if you leave them alone there is no problem. Their fur looks very soft but I have no plans on checking that out. During the fur trading days their numbers fell when their fur became desirable for coats. Today some trapping is allowed but the season is limited.

We see them mainly in the winter and early spring. Just another of our interesting neighbors.

Sunday, February 1, 2009

Running Dogs

2:19 PM

Had a great time at the Beargrease Sled Dog Race again this year. Our part of the race is just a small snap shot. I work with the check in and check out of teams at Trail Center. Reporting times and number of dogs for each team to the race managers. Teams started arriving a 7:15 pm and continued until around 4:20 am after a few hours rest they then started to leave. The last team out left at 6:00am. Temps were in the 20 below range but the dogs were ready to go. I on the other hand was ready for bed!

With the race coming through Loon Lake this year I wanted to get at least one picture of a team coming down the bay. It was about 8:00 am when I thought I saw the first dog approaching but it was just a single dog and it took me a few minutes to realize it was a wolf following the trail of the sled dogs. He walked on the trail from the point across from the Lodge to just short of the

boat landing. I quietly watched hoping I could get a good picture but something spooked him and he was gone like a flash. Shortly a team did come around the point heading for the Lodge.

After the teams pasted I headed to bed to get some sleep. Each year I have more and more respect for the mushers and their teams. The race ended with the first team back to Duluth on Wednesday afternoon. If you ever wanted to see a race up close check out the dates for next year. The "Shack" offers a great view of the teams coming down the lake and if you want you can go and cheer the teams on as they come off the lake. I guarantee it is something you don't see everyday.

Sunday, January 18, 2009

John Beargrease Sled Dog Race

7:29 AM

For over 25 years there has been a sled dog race commemorating the life of John Beargrease. He and his brothers delivered mail along the North Shore of Lake Superior in the late 1800s. They used a number of different means to move the mail from Duluth to Grand Marais --walking to canoeing and then in the winter, sled dogs.

The race route has changed over the years and this year they will be coming down Loon Lake to the Lodge and travel up our road to connect to the snowmobile trail that parallels the Gunflint Trail. Last year I was a volunteer and it was a tremendous experience. I never knew the physical and emotional strength it took to run a sled dog marathon. The dogs are the most important part of the race and a great deal of effort is put into making sure no animals are hurt. There are veterinarians all along the route to make sure care is available. The mushers themselves are almost secondary.

The race will start Sunday, January 25th in Duluth and will finish sometime on the 28th back in Duluth. The exact time they will be coming through Loon Lake is a little hard to estimate. We are around the half way mark so best guess would be sometime Monday night or early Tuesday morning. If you are anywhere along the North Shore, Gunflint Trail or Loon Lake during that time be sure and take advantage and cheer the teams on.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

It is kind of cold outside!!

2:14 PM

Well this is a good time to catch up on my reading. My thermometer quit working last night so I checked out the weather station at the Seagull Guard Station. Many of you have seen the place about halfway between Loon Lake and Sag Lake. They have an online weather station and according to them it was 45 below this morning at 7:04. Burrrrrrr. It always surprises me that things work at that temp. Our house was nice and cozy so I went down to make sure the Shack was warm and everything was working just fine. The good news is just about all the slush is gone. When it is this cold everything outside freezes solid.

I tried to take a picture of the birds feeding today but every time I tried they took off. You should see them. They look about twice as big as usual with their feathers all puffed up to keep themselves warm. They were feeding all day just trying to keep moving and to keep their strength up.

Well that is all for now it time to finish that last chapter.

Friday, January 9, 2009

Beautiful Winter

6:29 PM

Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow! So far we have had a great winter for snow enthusiast. We

have been getting some snow about everyday. Some days more than others but I am shoveling the deck every morning. We have had a few snowmobilers by but that part of the season is just getting started. Terry has been out skiing everyday. Right now she heads off to Crab Lake. Larry our neighbor has been grooming and packing the trail so conditions are very good. The lake is a different story. We got a great deal of snow right after the lake froze over. This causes slush. Not very nice for anyone. You can't ski, snowmobile or snowshoe when there is slush on the lake. The good news is we are now experiencing some cold weather and it should take care of the problem in short order.

Just to remind you we do have the "Shack" open this winter. It is a great place to recharge your batteries. It is the only cabin we have open so you have to place to yourselves. Lake trout fishing is generally good on the lake if that is your thing. You can also go cross country skiing right from your door or snowshoe almost any place you would like. It is like having your own place.

Some events coming up that I will write more about later -- John Beargrease Sled Dog Race the end of January and Winter Tracks Festival coming the end of February. Keep checking back to find out more.

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Birds, Birds and more Birds

1:30 PM

Ok I know it has been way too long since I last updated our blog. I will once again try and do a better job. Just so you know the summer was great. We had very good help this year with Casey and Steve. Having kids you can depend on make our summer more enjoyable. We did part of a wedding in August and an entire wedding in September. Lots of fun and both went off without a hitch. Finished up the season in October with mainly weekend guests. Most out looking at the leaves and some grouse hunters.

This fall also brought some sad news. Willard Johnson who we bought the Lodge from passed away this October at the age of 95. He along with his brother and a friend bought the Lodge in 1949 and lived to see many changes along the Gunflint Trail. We along with many of you will miss him.

With the onset of winter I have been feeding the birds. This last year we have been trying to learn more about birding. I have three feeders of different sizes with different seeds. They seem to come in waves. We will have 6 or 8 pine grosbeaks come into the big feeder with sun flower seeds. The males are red with gray and the females are mainly gray with some dull yellow. The red-breasted nuthatch is the hardest worker. They just grab one seed at a time, fly off to a near by tree and crack the seed open, eat and start all over again. The black-capped chickadees are our most frequent visitors. They will work the feeders all day.

All of these years I haven't really spent the time to notice the different colors and beauty of birds. So this winter I will keep you updated on our feathered visitors.

Saturday, June 28, 2008

Fishing is still very good!

7:38 PM

Over the past couple of weeks we have had a number of people out fishing. The Miller party had a good deal of luck over by the river. The top picture is one of Johnathon with a nice northern. The second picture is of Steve who works for us and has caught the fishing bug. He has caught a number of nice northerns and a few decent bass. The Clasen party just checked out today but they caught a nice variety of fish. Wayne caught lake trout, northern, small mouth bass and even a walleye. Yes I know it is hard to believe a walleye on Loon Lake but strange things do happen.

Camp is full tonight. The weather has not been cooperating with people camping so we always get a few people looking for a dry place to sleep. That is great with us because sooner or later most people give up that crazy camping idea and want to vacation someplace with a nice bed and a warm shower and have we got a deal for them.

Sunday, June 1, 2008

Fish are biting!!

6:52 PM

Sorry I haven't been keeping up on my blog. May flew by and here it is June. The ice went out late. Our first guests had to fish over by the river because that was the only open water on opening day!!! The bay was clear of ice by the 11th of May and the main lake went out on the 15th. In the last couple of years we were ice free by the 19th of April.

We have had a good number of big northerns caught in the bay over the last couple of weeks. Our son Adam got this 42 inch monster in just 2 feet of water over by the river coming in from Little Iron. Jerry Hinkle-Johnson brought in a very nice 38 inch northern off our dock last weekend. As you can tell this is the time of year to get the bigger fish when they are up in shallow water. Surface temperature today was 50 degrees. Still a little cold for swimming.

Adam's father-in-law Jack got the nice lake trout off our pontoon dock. Jack has been up a couple of times since the season open and each time he catches two of nice lake trout in about the same spot. Why change?

We still have some good openings in July. Give us a call if we can help out on your vacation plans, 1-800-552-6351.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Spring?

7:07 PM

I was walking on the lake today! That can't be a good sign for people waiting for spring. The ice is still out to the edge of the lake and the river is just starting to open so it will be another week before we can hope to see open water. I saw two pair of Mergansers at the mouth of the river. They are the ducks with the brown heads and the males have a white body and females are brown. We always seem to have more of them than any type of duck.

We have half of the cabins cleaned but they are not complete. We still have to go back and wash all the curtains and clean all the stoves. Jack and Cindy came up from Duluth this last weekend to give us a hand. It is always more "fun" when there are others around to share the cleaning duties. We have to have the "Shack" ready to go for the first of May. Then we will need to have them all ready by Memorial Weekend.

Things are set and ready to go for the big tree planting weekend May 2 - 4. Twelve of us will unload 75,000 seedlings on Tuesday and then position them on Friday for the hundreds of people who are signed up to help get them in the ground. Big dinner, party and dance follows Saturday night. Then on Sunday there will be a half marathon. I won't be running!! I know that surprises many of you. I will be driving behind the runners to lead cars around them since we can't close the Trail to traffic. Should be exciting.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Signs of Spring!!!

2:29 PM

Believe it or not Terry was skiing on the lake just yesterday!! Today however is a different story. The lake is just starting to get dark spots and that means melting. We are getting some warmer weather and rain is predicted before the end of the week. Before long we will start to hear the river run and within a short time loons and other summer creatures will return.

It is hard to get fired up about spring cleaning when you have to climb over snowbanks to get to the cabins. We will start in earnest in the next few days. We are opening early this year with our first guests arriving May 1st. That will be "Green Up Weekend". There are a number of events planned from tree planting to a dinner dance and finally the Ham Run Half Marathon. There has been a great deal of interest and I am sure there will be plenty of people on the Trail.

We are all looking forward to "ice out"!