Trail Clearing Help Needed

A fun thing to do in the winter on the Gunflint Trail is cross-country ski the Banadad Trail. It’s a long trail(18 miles) and it travels through the Boundary Waters. Mid-way through the trail Boundary Country Trekking has a yurt skiers can stay in overnight.  I’ve stayed there a couple of times and absolutely loved it.

Since parts of the Banadad Trail are in the BWCA they can’t use chainsaws to clear the trail. This means all of the work must be done by hand. Like any project the more hands there are the faster and easier the work is.  If you’re looking for something to do on October 25th then how about lending a helping hand on the Banadad ski trail?

Banadad Ski Trail Work Day, Annual Meeting and Pizza Party
Saturday, October 25

The Banadad Trail Association invites you to help get the Banadad Ski Trail ready for winter. We will be concentrating our clearing and trimming low hanging tree branches starting at the Banadad’s eastern trailhead. I was out on the first mile of the Banadad from the eastern trailhead and found nine large downed trees blocking the trail including a 12-14 inch Aspen along with several other trees it brought down and on either side of this clump of trees were two more large downed Aspens. These trees are just beyond the Swamp Lake Portage and well within the BWCA where all trail work must be done using hand tools.

If what we experienced on this part of the trail holds for the rest of the Banandad we have got a real job ahead of us. Please join us; we really need your help!”

Volunteers meet for the Trail Work Day at 9:00 am, Saturday, October 25, at Poplar Creek Guesthouse B&B, 11 Poplar Creek Drive (just off the Lima Grade) Gunflint Trail. Hand tools and lunches will be provided to all volunteers. Wear sturdy clothing and boots.

After the work session volunteers and friends of the Banadad are invited to return to Hestons Lodge, 579 South Gunflint Road for the Banadad Trail Association’s fifth Annual Meeting followed by pizza dinner cooked in Heston’s wood fired-outdoor oven and social hour. Festivities at Heston’s begin a 6:00 PM. RSVP, 218-388-2243

For more information on the Trail Work Day and/or the Banadad Trail Association’s Annual Meeting and Dinner contact 218-388-4487.

Hope to see you on Saturday, October 25, Ted Young, Banadad Maintenance and Grooming Administrater