More adventures, at home and afar

The adventures continue here for Addie and Barb, as we keep the home fires burning while the guys are in Alaska. On Tuesday, I discovered that my decision to wait to go to the garbage cansiter was not a wise one. A bear had gotten into the shed overnight, and had scattered garbage near and far. This happened extensively last October, when a bear was able to tear apart the door that kept the garbage secure. Greg built a new door this summer, thicker and heavier than the last one. Only trouble for me is that it didn't yet have a latch on it. Addie and I cleaned up after the bear and took the cans to the canister. We went to town that afternoon, and one of our first purchases was a hasp for the garbage shed door. It is installed now, and things have been quiet since.

Two days ago, we fired up the bread oven to bake and make pizza with some friends. The weather this week has been wonderful, so we were able to eat outside by the oven. While we sat there enjoying our pizza, I noticed a barred owl come swooping through the gravel pit. It landed on a spruce tree branch about 15 feet from us. What a sight! He looked us over, then turned his body around, but kept an eye trained in our direction. A nearby squirrel sensed/saw the owl, and immediately launched into a flurry of noise. The owl decided to take off, and when he was gone, the squirrel made its way to the very branch that the owl had occupied. The squirrel kept up the chatter while inspecting the branch. I wonder what he expected to discover there?

The travelers made it into Eagle on Monday night. The drive took some extra time because they had to keep stopping to take pictures. Greg says that the fall colors are incredible right now, lots of reds and yellows all around them, from the underbrush on the ground to the tops of the trees. They took the historic tour of Eagle, and have been doing some reading about more of the history. They are enjoying meeting friends of Jim and Sharlene, and getting to know the area that we have heard so much about. Upcoming plans include some cranberry-picking, and a ride on the Yukon River.

I heard on the radio that there was recently a large solar flare-up that may cause some trouble in the coming days with sattelites, radios and other types of transmission. My ears perked up because solar flares often mean incredible northern lights. We will keep our eyes checking in the northern skies this next week, in hopes of seeing some displays that include colors. Sometimes, these flare-ups also bring the viewing to audiences south of us, so you should watch for them, too.

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.

August Mist and Loons

The mornings of late have been cool enough for steam to form on the lake and in the lower wet pockets of the woods. It lays and shifts and rises, revealing the darker hills behind. The view is softened and as the sun rises the mist melts away like ice cream on the tongue.

This summer, it seems as though we've heard more loons calling than in years past. Most of them will stay around for another six weeks or so. Some hang on longer. I remember one very cold November morning a couple years ago. As the moon was setting and the sun wasn't even close to rising, Paul and I were sitting in the woods on opening day of deer season. The lonely wail of a loon had no trouble penetrating the leafless understory and reaching us. It is the latest I've ever heard a loon.

Summer fawns

The recent cold snap has moved on, and in its wake, we have been enjoying some warm and wonderful sunshine. The last two days we saw temps in the seventies. As I sat out on the porch in the sun yesterday, I was reminded of last year, when September turned out to be a nicer month than August. I wonder if we will be treated to some more of that warm weather in this next month?

On Monday, I turned on to our side road from the Gunflint Trail, and a little fawn dashed across the road. It still had the reddish brown coat that I have come to recognize as their summer color. The spots were almost faded on it. It reminded me of another fawn that we had seen earlier this summer. Greg and I were on our way up the North Loon Lake road, and we spotted a doe and a fawn in the road. As we approached, the mama took off in a flash, and the baby dropped to the ground just like a pancake! It dropped with its hips splayed apart, and seemed to be trying to get as flat and as invisible as it possibly could. We got out to look at the little guy (gal?), and we decided that it must have been very very new to this world. I had always heard from the DNR that if you encounter a fawn all alone in the woods to just leave it. It is not unusual for the does to leave the little ones for short periods of time. In this case, we were able to get pictures of the fawn, and observe it for some time, before going on our way. When we passed by a little while later, I looked to make sure that it had moved on, and sure enough, there was no sign of it. It feels odd to "interrupt" nature sometimes, as we had inadvertantly done, and I can only hope that it all had a happy outcome and the little one got back together with its mama.