That’s How We Earn Our Reputation
Anyone can dig themselves out of a major dumping of snow that happens once every couple of years. Most folks can survive three days of bitter cold temperatures during an entire winter but Gunflint Trail folks earn our reputation by choosing to live in the conditions described above and actually enjoying it.
When the deck snaps and moans during the night you know the temperature is dropping. When I head outside to start the car and it whines about turning over I know it’s a cold morning. These nose hair freezing mornings are what make people like me proud to say, "Yep, I love winter, bring it on."
The past few days we have been away on our annual snowmobile trek. Starting in Ely, Minnesota on Monday the temperature was way too warm for snowmobiling. The thermometer was hovering near thirty degrees and one layer of clothing beneath the snowsuit was too much.
Fast forward to Wednesday morning with below zero temperatures when four layers of clothing beneath the snowsuit were barely enough to stay comfortable. The cold was so sharp that even with a head sock and helmet on it took a bite out of Mike’s face leaving a nice piece of frozen flesh. That is how we earn our reputation and we wear those pieces of frostbit skin like badges of our bravery.
Some peope may say our acts are not of bravery but of stupidity. I might have to agree most people probably think that. But then again, most people don’t drive RV’s on frozen lakes, camp in a tent when it’s 20 below zero or jump through a hole cut in the ice into the frigid water below. These are things only a true northerner would do and like pieces of flare we wear them like a Boy Scout displays his patches and that folks is how we earn our reputation.