Hosting Thanksgiving dinner at our home on the Gunflint Trail was always too stressful, given the limited space we had to work with. This year we utilized the lodge and commercial kitchen, which comfortably accommodated a dozen relatives and friends, and clean-up was a snap with the big dishwasher and many helping hands.
It was especially nice to have everyone visit us since we are unable to get away for the holidays this year. We feel slightly incarcerated by our new property considering the amount of preparations necessary to meet our opening date of December 2nd, and were happy to finally get a sense of it becoming our home.
Devil Track Lake had been icing over last week with a couple hundred feet frozen from the shoreline— until this week’s rain and high temperatures made it melt away. Snowmobiles were racing along the old runway and it appeared that winter was here to stay. Our cousin’s Bernese mountain dog even thought it was safe enough to walk out on the ice, and successfully managed to trek out 20 feet before getting scorned by her owner to return to shore. The ice was making noises as she stepped back to them, but luckily she never broke through.
The lake water temperatures are cold enough to turn solid overnight if we start seeing sub-zero temperatures—minus the high winds. Wind gusts were strong enough last week to rip the cover off of our Bertram, which sadly never saw the water this summer, and rip apart the bow section where it meets the radar in front of the fly bridge. It will have to get a patch-job with an ugly blue tarp since we will not have enough time to remove, repair, and re-cover the boat this season.
Winter will happen soon enough, and we are predicted to receive above average snowfall—like last year, and below average temperatures—unlike last year. Wet winters are not very fun for outdoor activities, hopefully the ground will remain frozen and the white stuff will fly ’til April.
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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