Business as usual!
Tuesday July 25th,
Many of
you have been calling to either express concern, check on us or
try to find out what's really happening here. - THANK YOU!! It
makes us realize how much you care about us! We are fine!!!
Things are
going well, we are open as usual and have been busy taking care
of campers, fishermen, children, & families along with all of
the extra calls and questions the fire has brought. At no time
has any business on the Gunflint Trail been closed
because of this fire.
Sunday it rained most of the day and throughout the night.
While the fire is still burning on the west side, the rains had
a tremendous impact. We have had a full house during the
past week and I'm happy to report that while guests were aware
of the Cavity Lake Fire they did not feel greatly affected by
it. We kept them informed of the situation daily, and
while a couple of parties with asthma were concerned that smoke
may impact their stay. Not one of those or any other party
left early and all reported they had a great time!
" Having a
respiratory condition, I was particularly concerned with the
fire in the Boundary Waters. We had reservation at the
pines beginning Saturday 7/22. I called Shari and she
informed me that the fire and smoke conditions were not that
noticeable. Only occasionally would there be a smell of
fire - something like a campfire a the next site. I
have camped at the Pines for 5 years and trust Shari - We are
here now and do not notice the fire at all. I am glad that
we listened and trusted Shari." Lydia Kohls
- Excelsior MN
Other than the
fire - the Gunflint Trail Annual Canoe races were held at
Gunflint Lodge this past Wednesday (on one of the biggest fire
days) drawing a huge crowd!
They have also re-opened Seagull
lake to day canoe traffic and now over night campers on the east
end, so the other day I went with some friends on a evening
paddle around Seagull to see what I could see of the fire.
I did encounter smoke at the far end of the lake and was able to
see some of the fire's devastation. We also took a quick
hike up the seagull palisades on the north easterly edge of the
lake - what a spectacular view!
The
raspberries are out and the Blueberries are fewer this year -
but overall there are still plenty of things to do and see on
the Gunflint Trail - Come check it out - we're open!
You can find information on the Cavity Lake Fire by using the
following links:
http://199.134.225.50/nwcc/t1_pnw2/2006/cavity-lake/
www.mnics.org,
www.boreal.org,
www.gunflint911.org
Shari
Summer's in full swing!
Saturday June 24th.
The solstice has come and gone and
so has the heaviest bug season. Oh we still see mosquitoes
in the early morning or late evening or a cooler humid day, but
the Black Flies seem to have run their course for the season.
The wildlife has been
out in full swing! Guests are coming in daily to tell us
of their sightings of Moose with calves and bulls in velvet.
There are several fox, deer, and even some wolf sightings
too.
The woods are green and lush
again. We've had some good rains this spring and it
finally seems the new growth trees have gotten big enough to
begin covering the open hillsides left from the blowdown of
1999. It's been 7 years since the blowdown and the
Gunflint Trail has been through a lot of change, but I feel like
we're finally on the upside again.
The wildflowers
are blooming! The forget-me-nots have come and gone and
the lupines are currently standing tall by the roadsides.
We've been seeing a few wild strawberries already and I can see
the bees are busy pollinating the raspberries too.
For those of you
who are more familiar with our property and the area - Charlotte
Merrick passed away Thursday June 15th at the age of 92.
We purchased our lakehome from Charlotte in the fall of 2003.
She was an incredible woman having been a doctor and a pilot,
and world traveler. She went on many adventures with
Justine Kerfoot from the time they met in the early 70' until
the late 80's. She loved the Gunflint lake area and all it
had to offer. She will be missed by us all and remembered
through sharing her Gunflint Lakehome "Ogoshia Magonch".
Shari
Trout, Walleyes, Moose
and Campers!
Tuesday May 16th, 2006
Well we're
off and running for the season. It was an early spring.
Warm in April! The first weekend of May we hosted a Work
weekend and got the campsites raked, firepits cleaned out,
firewood cut, and the bathhouse cleaned. We also cleaned
up the construction dust in Cabin 3. We remodeled the
bathroom and gave it a much needed makeover.
The first
campers of the season were waiting at the door Friday morning at
8am when we opened up. The rain and colder weather
of the past week encouraged them to opt for a camping cabin
rather than a tent for the night. Saturday's opener was
cold and rainy. By Monday it was slowing down and warming
up. Today was just beautiful and in the high 60's.
The much needed rain helped the water levels rise and the
flowers have really taken off.
On this
morning's hike through the woods I noticed the blooming Birds
Foot violets. Delicate purple flowers close to the ground.
I have also heard that the Morel Mushrooms are out, though I
haven't been hunting yet.
This is such a
wonderful time of year, and highly underrated by guests.
The days are as long as they are in July -but the slower tourist
season makes for a much quieter, peaceful time. -
Join us - We hope to see you soon.
Shari
Ice off!!
Newsletter Tuesday April 18th, 2006
Just a quick note to let you all
know that the Ice began moving off of Gunflint Lake Saturday!
We took a boat ride yesterday and it was about half off the
lake. .It's been sunny and beautiful so I've been out
raking! We're hoping to keep the good weather and
try to open the campground early.
The first two pictures were taken
yesterday from the boat. The second two are of the Boys
last snowmobile ride of 05-06 just before we went on vacation to
florida. Jaret turned 8 this year and had some classmates
from town up for a sleepover. The nest three pictures are of
some of our trip to Florida. People come here to see
Moose, we went there to see Alligators! Now we're back and
quickly preparing for the summer.
Hope to see you all soon!
Shari
Tis the winter!
Newsletter February 18th, 2006
Well we've finally
gotten the cold weather. It's about a month late, but it's
here. This morning it was about 22 below. Today's
high should reach 0. If there's one thing I like about the
northwoods it's that it can remind you in a hurry how vulnerable
you are. Last night as we watched the temperatures drop
and laid in bed listening to the house crack from the cold,
there was suddenly total silence. . . . . as happens now and
again we had lost power. The crews here are great
and usually the power us up and running again within 2 hours or
less. Remember it usually takes them the better part of an hour
just to get to the problem just because of distance. After
the first few minutes you begin think - where are the candles,
how long will it be before the water lines to the house freeze,
will the guests be ok. Then the power lights everything up
again and the next morning most guests don't even mention it, or
if they do, they are so matter of fact that they just figured if
they were out of power everyone else was too. Even
though I laid there worrying what everyone would think, they
were just enjoying the silence and a nice warm bed. Thank
goodness for propane furnaces and wood fireplaces! It
reminds you not to take everything for granted.
Shari
P. S. Winter Tracks is just around
the corner - check it out at
www.wintertracks.com
News letter January 24th, 2006
Snow, Snow and more Snow!!
This past week has been more on track for a Northwoods winter!
Early last week we got about 5 inches, 2 days ago another 4 and
last night 1.5! It just started to snow again about 1 hour
ago and looks like we could get another couple inches out of
this.
The deer have been coming to feed
regularly again and it's nice to see that several bucks made it
through the hunting season. One rather large buck has lost
his antlers already and has a limp in his left hind leg.
Unfortunately he may not make it until summer. The wolf
population is really high this winter and we have had regular
sightings on the west end of the lake. About a week ago a
guest was fishing out front and had a nice trout on the ice.
A wolf came around the shoreline point to about 35 yards or so
from him. We're sure he was looking for a fish lunch.
When it wasn't readily offered he moved on the cruise the
shoreline.
The Cross Country Skiing has been fantastic this past week, I
ventured out a couple times last week and had great conditions
and perfect ski weather. As I write it's 18.5F. On the
average the temps have been about 10 degrees higher than normal
this year. Bob & Jaret even went out to do Big & Little
Pine 2 days ago. They had fun on the hills and Bob even
went for a quick ski again yesterday before picking the boys up
from the school bus.
The second
annual Winter Tracks festival is happening on the Gunfint Trail
Wednesday February 22nd through Saturday February 25th. We
have a lot more activity planned and still have a couple cabins
left - check it out on
www.wintertracks.com .
Meet
the newest member of the Baker clan! Congratulation to
Bret & Jamie on the arrival of Joshua Robert Baker. Born
January 8th, 2006. Another Congratulations to
friends Tim & Karla Edmonds on the arrival of Cathrine Mae, born
January 17th.
I
have such good intentions of updating this more often, I just
haven't gotten it onto a regular routine yet. With both
boys in school now, I'm beginning to get organized again.
Currently the new Brochure is at the printer. I would hope
to send it out early next month along with letters outlining
what you all have reserved for the upcoming summer. If you
haven't already reserved, now's the time to start thinking about
it. The calls are beginning to come in daily for summer.
I updated the prices on the web pages today - hopefully I didn't
miss anything. We look forward to seeing all of you again
soon! Feel free to send me pictures, I think I might
finally get to publishing that guest photo gallery! (in
case you missed it in the Christmas letter, I put a picture of
the deer I took this fall in this photo gallery).
Shari
November 28th, 2005
I know its been awhile since we
have updated this page. Sorry about that. We need you people
to give us reminder once in a while, so we can keep you up to
date on whats happening in the northwoods.
Its been a busy couple of months
around here. Between the boys after school activities like
scouts and soccer and the upcoming basketball season, plus
getting the resort ready for winter, there’s not a lot of time
for anything else. The weather is starting to seem like winter
around here. We have anywhere from 1- 8 inches of snow on the
ground and the temps have been hanging around 25-35 degrees
during the day. We are in the process of getting the ski trails
ready for grooming and the snowmobiles ready for riding. Looks
like its going to be a white Christmas and with a few more
inches of snow, all the winter activities will be in full swing.
Both Jaret and Wyatt are in
school now and doing really well. Shari has been keeping busy
with resort and one of her new responsibilities as the Gunflint
Trail Association President. I’ve been getting the resort ready
for winter, by doing trail work, getting the piston bully ready
for snow, and all the other fall maintenance that needs to be
done. This time of year is kind of weird, in that, it’s a
waiting game with a lot of pressure. We are waiting for the
snow and hoping it comes soon, but not too soon because there is
a lot to do before we get the snow. But you know, Ill take the
snow anytime it wants to let loose. Then hopefully the visitors
will come just after that. By the way, for those of you that
want to know, Sota the camp dog is doing great. She definitely
has the run of the resort now.
What’s new around the resort?
Well the newest thing on the property is a new suburban. Not by
choice. Shari had a close call a couple weeks ago, when she
rolled our now old suburban up the trail. She is doing fine,
she had her seatbelt on and ended up with a laceration on top of
her head that required 26 stitches. No other injuries, just the
cut. The stitches are now out and she is really doing just
fine. We have done a little work in the cabins this fall by
replacing the fireplace stacks for better drafting in the colder
temps. Also have replaced some light fixtures with ceiling fans
in some of the cabin bedrooms. Hopefully in the next month we
will be adding a couple more rental snowmobiles to our fleet and
maybe redoing one of the A-frame bathrooms.
Come enjoy this winter with us,
you’ll have a blast.
Bob
Monday July
11th,2005
It's
hard to believe we're already this far into the summer.
The weather has been great lately. Sunny and hot. We're
going through Ice cream like water these days. We've been
spending a lot of time at the beach and waterfront lately.
Bob & I took a day to hike and canoe into Saganagons to fish
last Friday. It was a long hot day, but lots of fun.
We caught some great Walleye and big Small Mouth Bass.
Last night Bob took the boys out for about an hour on Gunflint
lake and got into a trout bite. The boys had a blast and
brought home two of the eight or so Trout.
Wyatt finished up his T-Ball season and Jaret just finished his
parent pitch season by winning the Championship game by 1 run.
Bob did a great job of coaching both teams.
The
USFS is conducting an Archeological dig on the North side of the
West end of Gunflint Lake. It's interesting to watch the
process and see the artifacts they find.
Recently we added a campfire ring down by the waterfront for
cabin guests to use. The Fors family broke it in for us
this past week. It's about 25 feet from the waters
edge with a nice wind break of trees and brush. Earlier we
added a campfire ring just off the parking lot up by the main
lodge. Guests may find this a protected alternative for
windy evenings. I like it because it means I can have
campfires with the boys to make S'mores even if I have to watch
the lodge.
Friday June
24th, 2005
Summer is
officially here and it's hot, hot, hot. We've had several
days of sunny hot weather. Great for hanging out at the
beach. Today we finally had a cool breeze which was a
relief to many. I've recently come across a few ripe
strawberries as we're beginning the berry
season. I've also been noticing that thanks to the
abundance of black flies (and their pollination abilities) the
blueberries look like they'll be a bumper crop again this year
if the heat doesn't dry us up. We've just recently
completed shooting the summer photographs for our new virtual
tour! As soon as we get them back and loaded I'll be sure
to let you know. We should have some exciting shots.
Bob and the boys took an afternoon to fish North Lake this week
and got a nice Walleye for dinner!
Wednesday
June15, 2005
We're finally getting into the
swing of summer! Busy planting trees flowers grass etc. The bugs are back to bugging us.
Recently we added a campfire pit near the lodge building for
cabin guests who might like to enjoy an outside fire when our
campground is full. (normally cabin guests are welcome to make
use of an empty campsites firepit). The Buckners and
Adkins of Kentucky joined us again for the early part of June
and had great luck with the Bass, Walleye and Trout. They
even managed to get some great moose pictures, including the one
of the two swimming shown here.
School has ended for Jaret and he's informed me that he has 3 whole months off.
When he returns to 2nd grade this fall, Wyatt will be joining
him for the ride and going to kindergarten. We have also
been busy with T-ball and Parent Pitch this summer - both of
which , and I have once again joined the "Dork" soft ball team
playing slow pitch in town on Thursday evenings. So far
I've gotten a bloody nose, fat lip and a good lump on the knee -
but I'm learning.
Wednesday June 1, 2005
Memorial weekend is over but what a
great time! The Thompsons joined us again as they have
been comming for approximately the past 30 years. They had
a good trout catch this year and pretty good weather to go with
it. A few guests (very few) even braved the lake
for some early season swimming. Bob spotted a bear on the
side of the Gunflint trail and got some nice shots. We
also took some great shots of a moose on our way to town last
week.
Tuesday May 24th, 2005
Bob and the kids
have been busy spotting wildlife! Recently on a trip to
town he spotted a mother fox protecting her den along the side
of the Gunflint trail. She had good reason as her kits
were hiding in the brush nearby. Earlier they found
a beaver also on the side of the trail. He got out to take
some closer shots and it got nervous and began hissing at him.
After a few close-ups, the beaver had had enough and began
running towards Bob. Bob quickly decided he had enough
pictures and left the Beaver to his business.
The leaves
are really beginning to blossom here, and today I saw the first
signs of sunburn on guests. Those guests who spent the day
on the water fishing got a little more sun than they bargained
for. For what's up in the fishing area check out the
fishing report. I will try
to add new photos and quick notes on happenings often.
Shari
Sunday May 15th, 2005
Well once
again it's been awhile since I've been able to find the time to
type out all that's been happening. Winter ended the last
week of March this year with warm temperatures melting the
snowfall quickly.
The first
part of April felt more like July since the temps were in the 60
- 70's each day. The Ice went off Gunflint Lake on April
18th this year, earlier than most years. We thought that
all of the snow would raise the lake levels to a great spring
height, but an early camping trip with the boys to Little North
Lake showed the lake levels about 1 ft below spring normal.
Don't worry though! Bob put in the docks a week ago,
leaving 10 +/- inches to spare and with the recent rains they're
now ready to float away. The camping trip produced cool
days, and chilly nights, but the boys had fun exploring none the
less. We even found an antler to bring home.
This
weekend's opener was chilly (as I'm beginning to believe is the
Minnesota norm), but those brave enough to weather the storms
have been bringing fresh fish back to camp for dinner.
Lake Trout seem to be most responsive to trolling with a
little patience. Walleye still seem to be most active at
night. Early reports have Lake trout averaging 4-6 lbs and
several parties claimed they caught and released 29 or so inch
Walleyes. .
The weather
has been a bit challenging. The campers have been keeping
the campfires stoked and while chilly, they are still
having a good time (with the help of winter clothes). While it's
been cooler than we'd like, the leaves on the trees are still
beginning to pop out.
On the home
front: Sota (our 4 month old English Springer Spaniel) has
been settling well into the position of camp greeter.
She's had the run of the place since we got her in late
February. She's taken a serious interest in
hunting and wildlife terrorism, and she's located all wildlife
housing complexes (mostly chipmunk & Grouse) on the
property.
Jaret has begun counting down the days until summer vacation and
the beginning of Parent Pitch. Wyatt is looking forward to
fishing and starting T-ball. And the Gunflint Summer
residents have begun to drop by for coffee or supplies as they
return for the season.
Summer just
around the corner. Do you have your vacation planned yet?
Don't forget to check out the vacancy page for last minute
specials.
Please send us your great guest shots and watch for the new
photo gallery.
Bob & Shari Baker
