Ice, ice baby on the Gunflint Trail

The lakes on the Gunflint Trail still have ice on them. The swamps, ponds and rivers are relatively ice free. There are different methods of determining when the ice will be off of the lakes and at Voyageur Canoe Outfitters we like to use the following theory.  Two weeks from when the ice goes off on moose pond the big part of Saganaga will be ice free.

Another way to guess when the ice will be out goes back to Gunflint Trail mailman Don Brazell. He delivered mail for 30 to 40 years. We weren’t here when he was delivering but his son was our mailman for a long while. His calculations included the North Brule River. When the river started flowing free of ice it would be one week later and the smaller lakes of the Gunflint would be clear and a week after that, the larger ones.

I’m sure there are many other methods out there but that’s all I can remember.  With our moose pond calculations the big sheet of ice will be gone by May 11th. Only time will tell.

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