Trail briefings might sound like an obvious title for many of my articles, but it belongs to the latest addition to the Gunflint Trail Volunteer Fire Department website, www.gunflint911.org.
On-line subscriptions are available for the monthly “Trail Briefings” newsletter through the GTVFD website. Each edition contains upcoming events, news, run report totals, and even local trivia. The website has always been informative, but the newsletter will be an even better source for local event information and community news with the convenience of on-line subscriptions.
The Gunflint Trail becomes a much smaller town during the winter months, making it easy to forget how many people have interest in this area, despite their current location. The Internet has changed the way we get our information and the encroaching technology has discovered even the remotest areas. For instance, there are more and more vacation cabins lacking running water, yet they are connected with satellite Internet service.
Spoils of modern technology are great, so with risk of sounding like a complete hypocrite, there is a line that might be distinguished between necessity and convenience when deciding to “connect“a remote vacation cabin. Connecting a residence is completely justified, but a true northwoods vacation would seem counterproductive to me. I am afraid the argument for necessity is simply a matter of time.
On-line, people can watch the weather from anywhere at anytime, but very local news has until recently been harder to come by. Some of my friends have web cameras pointed at their docks and know when the lake freezes at the same time as someone living on the lake. I was once asked to check on their cabin because they saw fresh snowmobile tracks near the shoreline of their place via webcam while wintering in Florida. The tracks were actually mine, so I assured them not to worry, and wondered how long it would be before every cabin was watching.
Technology will always wear both faces of good and evil, however advances like a local E-newsletter hosted by the fire department are proof to me that change can be good. I also enjoy up-to-the-minute weather forecasts, shopping on-line, e-mails over phone calls, and YouTube tutorials. The more I get used to these conveniences, the more they seem necessary.
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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