Mid-August. Thanks to back-to-school sales and calendars and schedules, a lot of us are already mentally into September and beyond. In some stores, Halloween decorations have even begun to creep onto the shelves. For a little while though, bring yourself back from October, back through September, and take the time to be where we are, in mid-August. The forest right now is almost overpoweringly ripe and full of life. The air is hot and dense and full of fragrances: wet soil, green leaves, even possibly post-thunderstorm ozone.
Birds, which earlier in the summer were hard to find as they sat on concealed nests, are now out foraging. Not only are birds trying to gain some weight for the flight south, but they’re feeding this year’s brood. Mostly, those youngsters are flying and can find food themselves, but still noisily beg from their parents whenever possible.
Mid-August is also when wolf packs begin to abandon their pups, leaving them at rendezvous sites while the pack goes hunting. It’s a fun time to try howling for wolves at night. The teenage pups will often reply to human howls, where their wiser older parents will stay silent.
Bear cubs are straying farther from mom than they were at the beginning of summer. They aren’t wholly dependent on milk anymore, but always return to mom for dessert. Adult bears are also wandering more, looking for those areas where the berries or the hazelnuts are particularly dense this year. This time of year, the Forest is as full of life as it can be. But, just like those Halloween decorations at the store, there’s bits of autumn creeping in. Raspberry, bush honeysuckle, and wild sarsaparilla all have leaves which have begun to turn. Still, for right now, ignore those leaves and take the time to be in the moment and enjoy the drone of cicadas, the music of crickets and grasshoppers, and sharp snap of locusts as they jump out of your way.
Our roads should be good for getting out there into the woods. They’ve been rough and dusty with the lack of moisture and this year’s increased traffic, but recent rains have allowed for grading to happen in several of the rough areas. When driving in a grading area, be aware that loose gravel can be as slippery as ice, so slow down. We also are happy to say that the multi-year project on The Grade is finishing up over the next week or two.
During the last five years, the entire 35-plus miles of the Grade has had culverts replaced and been resurfaced with crushed aggregate. This year, the final 10 miles were completed from Crescent Lake Campground to the east end of The Grade near Two Island Lake. The sole remaining task will be replacing the large 1950’s circa culverts at the Cascade River. This will be completed in future years when funding is obtained for a bridge.
There are some logging trucks out there this week. Tofte will have hauling on the Dumbell River Road, Sawbill Landing Road, the Wanless Road, Lake County 7, the 4 Mile Grade, The Grade, Cook County 27 and Cook County 8. Gunflint will be hauling on Cook County 14, Cook County 7, the Murmur Creek Road, Pike Lake Road, Greenwood Road, and the Sunfish Lake Road. The Bally Creek Road had been closed during hauling hours, but is now open. There still may be an occasional truck using that road, so be extra cautious.
There are a lot of visitors to the Forest this year. If everyone cleaned up after themselves and followed Leave No Trace guidelines, you’d never know that. Unfortunately, not everyone does that. While you can’t take care of everyone, you can take care of you. Make sure you pick up all your trash and dispose of it properly in bear resistant containers. Leave fires only when they are dead out and cool to the touch. Don’t cut, saw, trample, break, or otherwise injure living trees or plants. If everyone followed those simple common sense rules for themselves, there would be no larger problems with litter or escaped fires.
So, take some time to relax, forget about back-to-school, forget about Halloween, and certainly quit thinking about hanging the Christmas lights. Go and enjoy the season of plenty in which we are here in the Superior National Forest.
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