I should have warned everyone that it usually snows whenever I leave town with my family. While we were traveling last week, the Gunflint Trail was buried under 24 inches of snowfall. It was a great week to be in Iowa.
The snow came down so fast and furious that it was almost impossible to plow with a truck. There are a few Gunflint Trail residents who are still snowed in, and will just have to wait for the melt down to get out of their driveways. It took heavy machinery with snow blowers to open up some of the gravel roads around here. A storm like this deserves a name.
Rachelle and I stayed at the Aspen Lodge in Grand Marais the last night of our vacation. We were coming from the Cities after dinner with the family and I did not know what to expect back home. Luckily, someone plowed our driveway so we were able to get in without any problems. I went out a few days after the storm and tried to plow but the snow is too wet and heavy now. Where was this snow last December and January?
So much for getting an early start on the garden this year. It could be Memorial Day before we see our lawns.
I shouldn’t complain because the snowmobile trails look pretty inviting. I would think the lakes are going to get sloppy this week, but the trails should stay good for a little while yet. Rachelle and I will have to get out this week and burn up some gas on the sleds.
Snowmobiling in May? It could happen.
There are warmer temps forecasted for the week but so far there is very little sign of anything beginning to melt. The culvert that goes under the Gunflint Trail at Little Iron Lake isn’t even showing water yet. I simply cannot see how we are going to have open water by May 11.
Everything is going to happen later this season— even the robins are afraid to come back too early. While we were staying overnight in the Cities we were awakened by thousands of chirping robins. The migrating birds are staging up since they are afraid to trek any farther north with the frozen lakes and bad weather. You might even say that the robins knew a bad storm was coming before the meteorologists did.
Cory Christianson has worked as a fishing guide on the Gunflint Trail since 2000. If you have any fishing or wildlife reports or stories to share, send an email to: christiansoncory@hotmail.com or call 218-388-0315. You can also visit Cory’s website at Gunflintfishingguide.com.
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