Wednesday, May 27, 2009
I left my hometown of Madison, Wisconsin one week ago.
I woke up early and went over to the shower building and called the Grand Marais Post Office. I said I had a package there. The lady who answered the phone seemed to know about the package. I asked if they could have the package delivered to the Gunflint Lodge today, because it had my Camera Battery Charger. The lady said they could deliver it. That was great. It was 6 am and I already had one victory under my belt for today.
So I decided I would start doing a photo log of the photos that were on the camera card. I decided that I was going to send the camera card back to Keith, my sister’s husband and he could post some of them on my website. I started the log at breakfast at the Gunflint Lodge. But, also at breakfast I met Tracy and her son Daniel. Tracy looked to be in her 20’s or 30’s and Daniel looked to be 8 or so. Daniel was quite fidgety. Tracy said he has autism. I was showing Tracy photos on my camera. I went through the highlights of my trip, especially Aganok Falls. She told me that she was a nurse from Kansas City and that they were going on a 5 day, 4 night canoe trip. Daniel looked like he would be a little hard to control sometimes. She said he had good days and bad days. But they had already done lots of Kayaking, in fact Daniel had his own kayak. But this was the first time Daniel would be in a canoe. Man, I thought, this lady has a lot of balls for taking a potentially problematic boy into the wilderness. But it’s something she really wants to do.
I finished my fantastic breakfast, again at a reasonable price. I ask the Lodge Front desk clerk where the laundry facilities were. He said they didn’t have a Laundromat at the Gunflint Lodge, but less than a half mile down the road, the Gunflint Pines had a Laundromat. I went up to the Gunflint Outfitters Store. I was looking for a sleeping bag cover to keep me from getting cold at night. They didn’t have one, but they had a sleeping bag insert. It was more like a sheet, but maybe it would help. So I bought the insert and a T shirt. I asked Bonnie, the person that runs the Gunflint Outfitters, how much it would cost to have someone run me down to the Magnetic Rock Trailhead this afternoon. She said it was free for people who were staying there. Wow, again. I said I would have to do my laundry first. I also asked about how to make a collect call, and she said I had to dial 1-800-COLLECT. That’s what I was doing wrong.
So I went back to my bunkhouse and gathered up my clothes. When I was coming out of the bunkhouse, Tracy and Daneil were outside. They were getting ready for their canoe trip. I offered to go down and take a photo of them launching their canoe. But she said they were going to Seagull Lake to launch. But I could take a picture of her and Daniel in front of the bunkhouse. So I did. And I gave her my card. She had a small SUV with two kayaks on top of it. I asked her if she could run me down the road to the Laundry, and she said yes. So she ran me down to the Gunflint Pines. That’s the last I saw of Tracy, I was hoping she’d email me to let me know how her trip turned out.
They have a real nice Laundromat there. But I needed some change and detergent, so I went across the road to the Gunflint Pines Store. This place is part food store, part liquor store, part outdoor supply store, part bait shop, part Ice cream stand and part coffee shop. And it had all sorts of moose and deer antlers on the walls, so it was part nature center too. I got my change and detergent and went back to the laundry. Since there was nobody there, I decided to do all my laundry, even the clothes I had on. I put on the new Gunflint Outfitters T shirt and wore the sleeping bag insert around my waist like a skirt. There was a table and chair there, so I sat down and continued working on my photo log for Keith. I had over 500 photos on the camera card. While I was there, Ron and Betty, two summer employees of the Gunflint Pines came and got their laundry out of the dryer. Then Jen, a guest at the Gunflint Pines came and started her laundry. But she left, and I was able to get my pants back on after they dried. When I left I met up with Jen again. She said her husband and two boys were out fishing and she was enjoying the peace and quiet. I gave her my card and took a photo of her at the Laundromat.
I hiked back to the Gunflint Lodge and started getting ready for my day hike. I put a few items in my backpack, like the first aid kit, the water bottle and some snacks, then I headed down to the Gunflint Lodge to get the boots that were drying. They said the boots were up at the Gunflint Outfitters by their fireplace. It was past noon so I got my package and went back to my bunkhouse and started charging batteries
Then I went up to the Gunflint Outffitters and picked up my boots. They were dry!! I put on the boots and Bonnie arranged for Hudson to take me down to the Magnetic Rock Trailhead. The Trailhead was only about 200 yards down the road from the Kekekabic Trailhead. So it was about 4 or 5 miles from the Gunflint Lodge. But, it’s about 8 miles hiking back on the Border Route Trail. The Magnetic Rock Trail is part of the Border Route Trail. I know that’s a little confusing, but it happens a lot. In fact, the Kekekabic Trail, the Border Route Trail and the Superior Hiking Trail are all going to be a part of the North Country Trail. Did I confuse you some more. Well, nevermind all that.
I had arrived at the Trailhead around 1:30 pm. I took a photo of myself at the Trailhead, then headed down the trail. I came to a spot where a stream had cut its way through a rocky area. It was really cool looking. I was in the burn area again. The area around the Gunflint Lodge was not burnt. It must be an interesting story on how they saved that area from the fire.
I continued down the trail and it started to go up on top of some rocky ledges. You could see the valleys below, with little pothole ponds in them. Then there were more hills past the valleys. There were lots of burnt up rocky hills and valleys, in every direction, everywhere you look. There are several places where you can go up to a rocky ledge and look down. You walked across big rocky slabs with interesting patterns on them.
There were plenty of rocks and boulders to be seen. Most of them were either white or gray in color. But which one of these rocks was Magnetic Rock. According to the Border Route Guidebook, Magnetic Rock was an orange colored 40 foot high monolithic rock that looked like something from 2001: A Space Oddessy. I had not seen anything like that yet. I kept on following the trail on a ridge with rocky hills and valleys to be seen everywhere.
Soon, off in the distance I saw a big thin flat rock standing straight up. Could this be Magnetic Rock. Yes it was. The closer I got to it the more amazed I was. It was totally different than all the other rocks around. This rock was thin, jagged and standing straight up. All the other are rounded. It’s though god had thrown his giant razor blade, and it ended up here. I must have spent a good half an hour taking photos around Mag Rock.
There are so many footpaths around Magnetic Rock, that it’s hard to figure out which one is the Border Route. I checked the guidebook and it shows the trail turns right before the rock. I went back a ways and found the trail. The trail heads east down a valley from Mag Rock. You go past several rocky outcroppings going down valley. There were also a couple downed trees across the path. Soon you are hiking up a hill again, but It’s not bad. And it’s the same thing as before Magnetic Rock. You’re hiking past rocky ledges and seeing rocky hills that are all burnt up. And you’re also seeing small ponds in the valleys. In one section of the trail you go down by a small pond with the yellow water flowers in it. But then go up a hill where you can make out a road in the distance. You see a straight ribbon of land down below you. I saw a car go by, so I knew it was a road. Up there you are also getting your first glimpses of the western end of Gunflint Lake.
Soon you are crossing the road, and then the Border Route joins a Ski Trail. It is very easy walking here, but the rest of the trail wasn’t very hard either. Soon you’re seeing more of Gunflint Lake and you are seeing more ski trail junctions. But I followed the ski trail I was on right down to another road. This Road was at the western edge of Gunflint Lake. The Border route turns Right on the Road, crosses a bridge then turns right again. I came up to the bridge and there were two men fishing. It was Phil and his son, they were vacationers who weren’t having much luck fishing.. The bridge they were standing on was crossing the Cross River. I asked Phil what time it was and he said 6 pm. I took their photo and gave them my card then went on.
After the Bridge the Border Route turns right and goes westward for a ways then it turns east and comes back across the road down about a third of a mile. I decided to skip it and just walk down the road until it reconnects. Phil had said it was 6 pm. I was really making slow time. But it was supposed to be a day of rest so I was taking it easy. But my attitude changed now, I wanted to get back. So I walked down the road and reconnected with the Border Route. The trail is still a ski trail. And the map shows the ski trail zig zagging around. I came upon a foot trail that I thought was a short cut to skip the zig zag, and sure enough it was. It met up with the zag part of the trail. Pretty soon I saw a trail going up an electric line right of way that I thought would be a short cut up to the road, and it was. Then it was just a short walk down the road to the Gunflint Lodge. I had made great time since seeing Phil and his son at the Cross River Bridge. And all my short cuts worked out.
When I got back to the Gunflint Lodge, I made the same mistake as the night before. I went right to the Bistro and ate. I really should have taken a shower first, but I wasn’t nearly as grungy as the day before. But at the restaurant I kept finding ticks on me again. I had taken several precautions on the hike, but to no avail. I usually have chicken or fish when I go out to eat, but I had a hamburger again.
At Supper I devised a new plan for my hike. I wanted to hike all day Thursday and Friday, and on Friday hike out to the Clearwater Lodge. Then Saturday could be a rest day. I would send my supply package on Thursday, and since it’s a local delivery, maybe I could get the post office to deliver it to the Clearwater Lodge on Friday. I called over to the Clearwater Lodge and told the lady my plan. She said that they have a Screen bunkhouse that she would rent to me for $16 a night. She said my package and directions to the Screen Bunkhouse would be waiting for me on the porch of the Lodge, because they would be closed by the time I got there on Friday. Boy, I said to myself, she doesn’t have very much faith that I’m going to get there very early.
With this new plan, I would only have to carry 2 to 3 days worth of supplies instead of the 6 or 7 days worth to get to Hovland. Going to Clearwater would add 3 miles each way to my trip. But it would be worth it if I didn’t have to carry so much.
At Supper, Greg Mackler called me at the Gunflint Lodge. I called him earlier, because he was the only one I could get through to on 1-800-COLLECT. 1-800-COLLECT doesn’t except Visa and my mom is on the do not call collect list, so I wasn’t able to call her. Greg was going to set up a 3 way call with my mom, so he called her and all we got was the answering machine. So, I left a message that I was Okay and everything was going good.
After supper I went back to the bunkhouse and got all my maps and writing materials then went to the Trapper’s Shack. The Trapper’s Shack is a little recreation hall with a ping pong tables and some regular tables. The problem with the bunkhouse is there is no place to sit except on the bunks. So I went to the Trapper’s Shack and spread out all my maps on the table to look at. I finished up my photo log for my sister’s husband Keith. All I had to do is write about today’s photos from the Magnetic Rock Trail. Everything else was written up at the Laundromat in the morning. So I got the camera card ready and put it in an envelope with the photo log.
Then I wrote a trip report to Cory Munsen, the Forest Ranger in Ely. He wanted me to write him up something on the conditions on the Kekekabic Trail. Of course I wrote that I got lost using the Fernberg Road Trailhead and that the stretch between Thomas Lake and Strump Lake (the Big Wicked Thicket as I call it) was pretty bad. I gave him some pretty good details like how I thought that both the Howard Lake and Harness Lake Campsites needed to be cleaned out. After I got that done I took a shower then went back to my bunkhouse and turned in.