Warm Start to Fall

It's been a lovely Labor Day weekend here on Gunflint Lake. After a few days of strong northwest winds, the lake calmed down on Saturday and the temperature rose into the seventies. We've enjoyed days filled with sunshine, and a couple of nights filled with Northern Lights. The aurora was shooting streaks of white and green into the sky in the early part of the evening, and in the wee hours, they were shimmering and dancing. I haven't seen much of the Lights this summer, so it was great to have them back.

Greg, Robert and Paul are off to Alaska with Sharlene. They flew into Fairbanks, and are now driving the Taylor Highway into Eagle. We had a brief report from them, the morning after their late-night arrival. They got to see Northern Lights from the airplane over Canada, and they could also see thunderstorms in places below them. Greg said that the lightning strikes looked like flashbulbs popping off. As we hear from them, I will post notes here about what they are seeing and doing.

I had my first adventure in the absence of the guys this morning. One of our boats escaped during the night. A guest came to alert me, so we pushed out another boat and headed onto the lake to look for it. The winds were from the south, and I soon spotted it on the Canadian side of Gunflint. It was up against the rocks, no worse for the wear. We shook it loose, tied it to our boat and slowly headed back across the lake. I'm not as experienced in driving a boat as Greg or Robert, so we did get a bit wet from the waves and the spray. We made it back, got the boat back up on shore where it belongs, and came up to finish morning coffee. Not quite what I pictured for my Monday morning, but a good adventure nonetheless. I knew that the boats and motors would be my biggest challenge while the guys are gone. I'm hoping that I've had my time with them, and it all goes smoothly from here on out.

Some folks told me that they canoed into Daniels Lake yesterday to do some fishing. They paddled around the lake, fishing and exploring, and then decided to try one last place near a rock pile. Low and behold, it was the lucky spot, for they found about fifteen bass in just a half-hour.