Boundary Waters Blog

    We took our first guests out onto Saganaga yesterday afternoon.  They didn't get too far, but they are out canoe camping in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.  The paddling season has arrived...

ICE STATUS as of 1530, Thursday, May 8, 2008

 ICE FREE

 Alpine, Banadad, Brant, Crocodile, Cross River to Long Island, Iron, Jap, Little Saganaga, Missing Link, Moon, Ogishkemuncie,  Portage, Round, Sawbill, Tucker, Two Island

SOME ICE REMAINING

Alton, Cherokee, East Bearskin, Flour, Frost, Hungry Jack, Kimball, Little Trout, Meeds, Mink, Seagull (especially on western end), Swan

FROZEN

Bearskin, Birch, Brule, Clearwater,  Davis, Duncan, Elbow, Gabimichigami, Gaskin, Gillis, Greenwood, Kemo,  Loon, Mayhew, McFarland, Musquash/Misquah, North Fowl, Pine, Poplar,  Rose, Saganaga (quite frozen, according to the pilot), South Fowl, Trout, east of Kimball Lake Campground), Tuscarora, Winchell

 The pilot feels that things will change quickly with the exception of the eastern side of the Gunflint Trail (Clearwater, Greenwood, Duncan, Pine, etc).

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     There are numerous places to float your boat on the Gunflint Trail today.  Yesterday's early morning rain and afternoon sunshine with temperatures into the 60's was just too much for some sheets of ice to deal with.  They succumbed to the open water and left quietly. 

   We took a boat ride out onto Saganaga to see what the ice situation looked like.  As predicted the ice was gone in the narrows and all of the way out to the main part of the lake.  Clark Island, as seen in the photo, is still iced in, but that is expected to change by the end of today.  The edges of the lake are open and navigable while the main lake remains frozen.   Today's ample sunshine will work through the layers of the ice and the open water attempting to beat the ice down.  Will the ice on Sag be off by opener?  That remains to be the number one question and my answer is yes, it will be off by Saturday.  This is by no means a scientific answer, it's just using the S.W.A.G. Theory(Scientific, Wild Ass Guess).   

 We don't have to use the SWAG Theory to know there are open lakes to enjoy.  It is a fact Sawbill's ice is off, Iron, Little Iron, Larch Creek, Seagull River and many of the small lakes of the BWCA are as well.  The USFS plans to assess the situation by air later today, so we'll see what they have to say.  Until then go ahead and find a small lake to float your boat and remember to wear your life vest, that water is cold!

     That seems to be the question of the week at Voyageur and elsewhere around the state of Minnesota.  You can check the ice out status of lakes in Minnesota at this website.  Yesterday was warm, 64 degrees and the forecast is calling for warm temperatures for the rest of the week.  There's some wind in the forecast too so that should help the ice out process. 

     The ice is rapidly changing each day.  It turned a very dark black yesterday and is getting more porous as the minutes go by.  The ice is pulling away from the shore more and more and bays are opening up.  One thing is for sure, if the lakes are open for opener then the water is going to be cold.

      DNR warns early season anglers about danger of cold-water shock (May 6, 200

 

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) reminds early-season anglers about the danger of cold-water shock and the importance of wearing a life jacket, especially in May and early June.

“The shock of a fall into cold water is certainly one of the biggest hazards for early season anglers,” said Tim Smalley, DNR boating safety specialist. “The gasp caused by sudden immersion in icy water can cause the victim to inhale water and drown if they aren’t wearing a life vest.”

It was once thought that good swimmers who drowned after falling overboard into cold water were succumbing to heart attacks, Smalley said. While that may have happened to some victims, researchers find that most drown due to the torso reflex rather than a cardiac episode.

“The torso reflex is the gasp that happens when your face and chest suddenly enters cold water,” Smalley said. “The gasp is automatic and nearly impossible to stop. If your face is underwater when it happens, it’s often fatal, unless of course you’re wearing a life vest.”

Boats must have one U.S. Coast Guard approved wearable personal flotation device (life jacket) of the proper size for each person readily accessible on board. Boats 16 feet and longer also must carry a U.S. Coast Guard approved type IV throwable seat cushion or ring buoy on board.

The DNR recommends that everyone wear life jackets. “While the emphasis tends to be on children wearing life jackets, it’s the adults who die most often in boating accidents,” Smalley said. “There have been a fair number of cases in Minnesota where an adult has drowned in a boat accident, but the child who was wearing a life jacket was just fine.”

More boating safety information and the “Minnesota Boating Guide” can be obtained free by calling the DNR Information Center at (651) 296-6157 or toll free at 1-888-MINNDNR (646-6367). Information can be downloaded from the DNR Web site at www.dnr.state.mn.us/boating.

     The Cinco de Mayo is over and the sixth of May is here.  Things are normal, as normal as they can be in the springtime at an outfitters after organizing a run that is.  I am happy to be busy with the every day list of things to do.  As long as we are not out fighting a forest fire then things are good.

     Yesterday was the 1st Anniversary of the Ham Lake Fire.  It was a day I couldn't shake out of my head.  Anxiety and fear are words to describe how I felt about that day whenever I thought about it after the fire started.  Similar to D-day for some or like Mother's Day and May 16th(my mom's birthday) since she has passed away.  They are days I dread and am so thankful they have passed when they finally do. 

     It isn't healthy to have that much negative energy towards a particular day.  I started thinking about ways to combat that feeling and others started thinking along those general lines but probably not for the same reasons.  I needed something to focus on to keep my mind occupied and hence, the Ham Run Half Marathon and 5k Fun Run were born.  The Ham Run allowed me to channel my energy in a different direction and for that I am very grateful. 

     I guess you could say the Ham Run consumed me similar to how the Ham Lake Fire did without me even realizing it until the day of the race.  As I was filling coolers with water at 4:30AM on Sunday morning I thought to myself, "What in the world am I doing?"  I had been obsessing over the race for months and my stress level was soaring from trying to squeeze the last drops of energy out of my already depleted stores.  Then it hit me.  I was doing all of this so I didn't have to think about the Ham Lake Fire.  The things people do.

     Well, I guess it worked.  Yesterday I had to drive to Duluth for an appointment and run errands.  It wasn't until I sat down to dinner at a restaurant and they served nachos that I realized it was the 5th of May, Cinco de Mayo.  The First Anniversary of the Ham Lake Fire.  I guess my therapy worked. 

  EVERYONE!  Today I especially appreciate all of the hardworking folks who made the Ham Run sucessful.  What a wonderful community we live in where friends will get up at 4 in the morning, travel 60 miles one way and spend their Sunday volunteering their valuable time to help with the Ham Run.    

  Through the help of many people the First Annual Ham Run Half Marathon and 5k Fun Run was a big hit.  All I have heard from people is what a wonderful race it was, how well it went and how helpful and enthusiastic the aid station volunteers were.  Everyone was kept safe by the careful planning and preparation of the race course and no one was hurt during the event.  

   All of the spectators had a great time and the participants were pleased.  We had over 140 registered runners and they did an excellent job.  The times they had were amazing considering the number of hills on the course.  I'll be posting photos and results on the Ham Run website if you are interested in reading more about it.  But for now, I just want to say a big thank you to everyone, the volunteers, the participants, the spectators and even Mother Nature for providing us with a beautiful day for a run.

Thank you to the Sponsors 

Upper Shore Center for Fitness and Athletics

Grand Marais State Bank

Lake Superior Trading Post

Christie Printing

Bernick’s Pepsi

Wenonah Canoe

Northern Wilds

Upper Lakes Foods

Scott Smith Attorney

Gunflint Trail Association

Cook County Events and Visitor Bureau

The Ham Run Half Marathon and 5k Fun Run would never have been possible without the support of the following… 

Margo Furcht

Mike Prom

Rick Johnson

Sue Ahrendt       

Sheila Wieben

Susan Roy

Bob Baker

Stephanie Humphrey

Bob Morrison

April Morrison

Sandy from Boreal

Sue Ahrendt

Kathryn Ramberg

The Sponsors

The Volunteers

The Participants

A Special Thanks to… 

Rick Johnson and the Boundary Waters Ham Radio Club

Chris Callender and Gusto Hams

Gunflint Pines Resort and Campground

Seagull Creek Fishing Camp

Mark Darling & Way of the Wilderness

The Birch Terrace

Massage Therapists of Cook County

The Trail’s End Band

Dick Parker and the Ridge Riders Snowmobile Club

Bob Baker and the members of the Gunflint Trail Volunteer Fire Department

USFS   DNR  and Cook County Highway Department

The Voyageur Canoe Ou tf itters Family-

Adam Maxwell Bob, April, Bailey, Chance, Dawson and Easton Morrison

Abby and Josh Prom

Last but not least

Mike Prom