Thursday May 28, 2009
Please Note that the section of the Border Route from the Crab Lake Access Trail to the Sock Lake Campsite has been cleared in September 2009 by Paul Zoldahn and Al Ringer.
I woke up before 6 and walked over to the Shower House to call the Post Office. I asked the lady if they could pick up a package at the Gunflint Lodge today and since it was a local delivery, take it to the Clearwater Lodge on Friday. She said they could do that. Another victory early in the morning.
I went back to the bunkhouse and started sorting out what was going in my backpack and what was going in the package to Clearwater Lodge. I went down to the restaurant at the Gunflint Lodge right at 7am when they opened up for breakfast. This would be my last good meal for a while.
After breakfast I went back to the bunkhouse and finished packing up. I brought my package and two letters down to the Gunflint Lodge to mail. Unfortunately, my package had Priority Mail taped all over it. So the clerk had to find another box for it because it was a local delivery. This took a while. I also got an envelope and wrote a note to the staff of the Gunflint Lodge on how great they were to me. I left a little something in the envelope. I got my backpack and went up to the Gunflint Outfitters Store and said goodbye to Bonnie. But she was pretty busy because a high school group had just come in off the lake. So I when out back of the Gunflint Outfitters and started hiking up the hill. It was around 9 am. when I left, which was a little latter than I wanted.
I had talked to Dustin, the Gunflint Lodge Naturalist, and he told me to take the High Cliffs Trail up to connect with the South Rim Trail, which is the Border Route. So I hiked up the High Cliffs Trail which was really well marked. There were other trails connecting with the High Cliffs Trail, with signs pointing out the directions of the trails. In parts the trail was really steep. I walked right next to some big rock faces as I went up. Then I got to a spot where I thought it was the end of the High Cliffs Trail where it connected with another trail. There was no sign there. But I did see some blue ribbon marking the new trail, so I thought it was the South Rim Trail which is the Border Route. Soon I got to a beautiful overlook. It was great. you could see the Gunflint Lodge way down below and also magnificent views of Gunflint Lake. I figured this had to be the South Rim Trail. I took several photos at this location.
So I continued to follow the trail that was marked with blue ribbon. I followed it for about 20 minutes, then it connected with a Ski Trail. There was a sign there. It showed the Lonely Lake Ski Trail going to the east and the Mid Cliffs Trail going to the West. So I wasn’t on the South Rim Trail at all, I was on the Mid Cliffs Trail. Well, at that point, I didn’t want to backtrack that far, so I looked at the map and the Lonely Lake Ski Trail intersects the Border Route down by Heston’s, which is another mile or so down the Trail. So I followed the Lonely Lake Ski Trail. I was so used to the Kekekabic and the Border Route being marked with blue ribbon, I just naturally started following the blue ribbon. That’s where I how I made the mistake. But when you are thru hiking, it is Okay to take acceptable alternatives to the official trail. Lots of times if there is high water, or something like that, you have to make a change anyway. I thought the Mid Cliffs Trail and Lonely Lake Trails were more than good enough to be considered an acceptable alternative. And I also believed that in April Nimblewill Nomad had skipped this entire section of the trail because according to his blog he road walked down to Heston's.
Soon I made it down by Heston’s and reconnected with the Border Route. The sign at the intersection said that Bridal Falls would was 3.3 miles away. That’s going to be the next big opportunity to take photos. Shortly after the reconnection, you cross the Loon Lake Road. Loon Lake Road connects with the South Gunflint Road that the Gunflint Lodge, Gunflint Pines and Heston’s is on. The Trail heads southeast towards Loon Lake. The Trail is easy walking here. It is not as wide as a ski trail, but it is wide for a hiking trail. Everybody was saying how much better the Border Route is maintained than the Kekekabic. At this point I would have to agree. The trail heads down next to Loon Lake where the Trail has some wet spots, but it isn’t bad.
The trail turns to the northwest and gradually climbs a hill. Some interesting things happens when you get up on top of the ridge. First, you have some great views of Gunflint Lake and second, you are right at the edge of the burn zone. On the north side of the ridge near Gunflint Lake, everything is burnt up. On the south side of the ridge near Loon Lake, it’s not burnt. I remember looking at one very tall majestic pine tree at the edge of the burn zone. I was thinking to myself that god had saved that tree. It was very beautiful.
The trail continued going up a ridge. A one point it reached the high point, a place with a beautiful overlook of Gunflint Lake. There is an island down below and a little peninsula of land jutting out into the lake. There was a small motorboat trowweling down by the point of the penisula. I wanted to wave at them, or somehow signal them, but I decided against it, because maybe they would think it’s a distress signal. I stopped for a snack and put out the beacon at this overlook.
After the overlook, the trail gradually started to go down hill. Eventually I made it to a bridge. The one thing that I’ve learned about bridges on the trail, there’s always something good underneath them. Of course I heard the falls for a distance, too.
Underneath the bridge there was a 10 foot wide chute of water known as Bridal Falls. I set my stuff down and took photos. The chute was very long and not very wide. And there was whitewater coming down the whole stretch. It was a nice falls, but I decided to move on.
After the falls the trail gradually went up to a top of a ridge. This was much like before Bridal Falls. you could see the east end of Gunflint Lake. But now as I looked forward to the east I can see glimpses on South Lake. Gunflint Lake is a long lake. I’ve been seeing it all day. Soon, I got to where I was past Gunflint Lake, but everytime I looked back I could still see it. I couldn’t hike far enough to get it out of my sight. Then I went up over a hill and it was out of my sight.
I didn’t see the Crab Lake Cutoff Trail, or a sign for it. And I didn’t see a sign for officially entering the Boundary Waters Wilderness Area again. I was hiking along a hill then it descended a little bit and I reached the junction with the Crab Lake Access Trail. The trail had been really well maintained up to Bridal Falls. After Bridal Falls, the trail looked a little less maintained, but it was marked with blue ribbons. After the Crab Lake Access Trail, the Border Route was no longer marked with blue ribbon.
The Trail went gradually up a hill, and I looked back. There it was again, I could see Gunflint Lake off in the distance. This would be the last time I would see it. But what I started seeing was very nasty. The thickets started closing in on the trail and there were downed trees everywhere. This continued for a long time. It was really slow going. At one point, when I was crossing a downed tree I fell really hard. I had fallen several times on the trip, but my hiking poles saved me from falling many times, too. I was praying that I’d see Topper Lake soon.
I was wondering why all the bad stuff happens to me late in the day. My episode going to Strup Lake happened really late in the day. Now, it was in the early evening on my approach to Topper Lake. Then finally I saw the portage, then the lake, then the post for the campsite. It was around 6 pm when I made it there. I debated whether I should go on to the Sock Lake Campsite. That campsite is a mile and a half ahead on the trail, but then you have to go down a spur trail which is a third of a mile at least. I imagined that the Border Route still might not be very good hiking for that whole length. And then what if the spur trail, which probably doesn’t get used that often is terrible. I stayed at Topper Lake, vowing to wake up early and head out.
I had a nice evening at Topper Lake. The weather was beautiful. I had a good meal and was relaxing. But all of a sudden when I was trying to put my bear bag up, my left leg felt a little sprained. I was suddenly very worried. I suppose it happened when I fell at that downed tree. At any rate, I started having visions of being hauled out of there by the Forest Service. What a defeat that would be. We’ll see what happens in the morning, maybe it will perk up.