Cool nights and bright starry skies paired nicely for evening campfires this week with our visiting family from Iowa. I worked my brothers pretty hard on the garage project by day, and at night we sat by the fire ring absorbing the sweet smell of burning birch to the backdrop of a distant calling loon—what could possibly be better? The answer is S’mores.
Sophia has mastered roasting marshmallows over a fire and Rachelle has taken the traditional S’more recipe to a whole new level. My favorite rendition includes a semi-dark chocolate with wild blueberries which did not sound that exciting at first but proved to be a crowd pleaser.
We have tried substituting Reese’s peanut butter cups for the chocolate bar, which I thought was good, but simply adding a little peanut butter to the traditional S’more recipe was even better.
The variations are endless but the key to a great S’more is a perfectly roasted marshmallow with a golden brown crust—not burnt! Unless of course you like it that way.
Building our garage was the top priority this week but we did manage to play “hooky” for a couple of days on Saganaga Lake. All work and no play is never a good plan and the fish happened to be cooperating even throughout the nasty cold front that arrived at the end of the week. The deeper that fish decide to loiter in a lake, the less they are affected by weather systems. Walleyes are still going to get sluggish, especially when you get such a major front settling in from the north, but we were able to catch enough for a fish fry and send the Iowans home with a few for their freezer.
Fall is such a bittersweet season for me because it never seems to last very long up here. Every year I am excited to see the leaves change colors but they fall off the trees a little sooner than expected usually because I am not fully prepared for the following season. Each day gets a little colder as we approach October, reminding me that I need to make like the squirrels and get everything in order for the big freeze approaching. I am not too nervous yet but I have been seeing some of the telltale signs that winter is not very far away.
The traditional warning signs on the Gunflint Trail of the annual winter prelude include: falling leaves, misty mornings, and spotting either Larry Krause or Jim Morrison pacing the Hungry Jack Road with their Nordic Ski poles. If these two guys are shaping up for the Ski Trails then winter is not far away. I had better get to work.
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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