Gunflint Green Up Weekend

The stately looking front lawn at the Main Lodge is really starting to green up fast with all the rain that we keep getting. Our front lawn is one of the first to green in the county as it receives about 8 hours a day of direct sunlight. The rain keeps feeding the creeks and rivers and they just keep rising and flowing with even greater intensity. This spring waterfall season has really been amazing so far! The second annual “Gunflint Green Up” up the Gunflint Trail from Grand Marais will take place this weekend, May 1st-3rd. Volunteers will be planting hundreds of trees in the burned area of the big Ham Lake Fire of 2007. This fire devoured about 100,000 acres of forest in Minnesota and Canada. The trees planted will be red and white pine seedlings. The volunteers will also be tending to yearling trees planted at last year’s event to make sure they have room to grow. Other events include a Green Living Fair, thank you dinners, music and dancing. The finale on Sunday is once again…the running of the Ham Lake Half Marathon. I can think of no better way to welcome in spring and celebrate the rejuvenation the season brings than with a great event like this.
Superior National Golf Course in Lutsen is expected to open this weekend too. The “River 9” section of the 27-hole course will open to walkers only on Friday May 1st. Exciting news, considering the Gunflint 9 Municipal Course still has a foot of snow covering the whole course. Minnesota’s fishing opener is just one week away now, and many anglers are busy getting their boats and equipment ready for the big day. But, word has it that all area lakes at the time of this post are currently 100% iced over. Up until about a week ago, snowmobilers will still zipping around on most lakes. Here’s hoping for some warm weather soon to open up a few of them so we can get some fishing in!

Spring Fever

Rivers and creeks broke wide open across the arrowhead region the past few days. Water is flowing from every nook and cranny as it thunders from higher terrains down to Lake Superior. What a site to behold, absolutely breathtaking! Air temperatures can vary widely from location to location this time of year. The popular saying “cooler by the lake” comes into play here. High pressure has settled in this last week or so and when the wind comes in from the north or northeast off the lake it has been in the upper 30’s, low 40’s along the shoreline. At the same time, temps of upper 50’s and low 60’s have been reported at inland locations. This is a unique phenomenon indeed. Use caution when traveling in lowlight conditions because thousands of deer are staged along the Highway 61 corridor feeding on open vegetation. These deer are patiently waiting for all the snow to melt at their summer getaway spots. Birders in the area are pleased that the northern spring migration of our “feathered friends” is well underway. Hundreds of different bird species are being identified around the area. Recently, this blogger happened upon a pair of Golden Eagles perched atop Lookout Mountain. The couple was watching for dinner down in the Cascade River Valley when I scared them off. The wingspan on these beautiful birds of prey is over 8 feet in length! A big gaggle of bright blue-wing teal ducks was seen swimming by the resort shoreline yesterday. This group was enjoying a sunny spring day with the rest of us. The ducks were already decked out in the rich hues of their summer plumage.
In staff news, David and Lek have returned to Cascade Lodge after spending the last 5 months in Thailand. David kept us posted via email all winter about their adventures in travel, food and way of life in Thailand. We are very happy to have them back. As you may know David is a great cook over at our restaurant so a very welcome addition again. Matt and Michael Jr. went to Lutsen Mountains last weekend to take part in the “Mountain Meltdown Festival.” It was the last weekend the hills were open, the crowd was huge, and the skiing was fantastic. Some years Lutsen can only open about 10-15 runs because of a lack of snow in March and April. This year however, that massive dumping of 15-20 inches of fresh snow on April 1st prolonged what was already a great ski season. Over 50 runs were still open and all the skiers and snowboarders could not have been happier about it! An outdoor BBQ and live stage music by local bands capped off an awesome weekend.

In like a Lion, out like a Lamb?

You know the saying about the month that officially marks the start of spring. March comes “In like a Lion, out like a Lamb.” While this saying may hold true most years, 2009 was definitely an exception. The last three Tuesdays of the month have not been very Lamb-like. We should have predicted this I guess because it was “tournament time” after all. Three weeks ago on Tuesday the area received anywhere between 5-8 inches of snow. That snow was a welcome sight because it gave hope to many skiers the season would be prolonged for a few more weeks. A massive warm-up began after that as sunny temperatures in the low 50’s zapped ski trail bases thin and even bare in some spots. This weather buildup led to a severe ice storm two weeks ago on Tuesday, March 24th. Rain, sleet and strong winds whipped through Cook County leaving downed power lines, snapped trees and debris everywhere. Power outages throughout the county were reported as Arrowhead Electric Co-op and MN DOT scrambled to restore power and clean up the mess. Hardest hit were the towns of Silver Bay and Finland. Some residents were without power for several days. On Tuesday, March 31st another big storm coming from the Dakotas was barreling down on the Arrowhead Region. Initial reports suggested we were to receive between 5-8 inches of snow. As it grew closer that amount was increased to 8-12. It started snowing that morning at about 8:00am, growing stronger as the day went on. School was called off early at 1:30pm. Fueled by strong east winds off the lake, this storm turned into a two day event that dropped about 15-20 inches of heavy, wet, lake-effect snow! Ski conditions at Lutsen Mountains the next day were perfectly described by one skier… “Lots of Powder Man”! With all this new snow and no serious warm-ups in the near future, downhill skiing at Lutsen should be excellent right up through “Mountain Meltdown Weekend,” April 11-13th.