12/24/2000 --1/17/2001 Training trip
1/31/2001--2/06/2001  Grand Portage and the Pigeon River
2/07/2001--2/17/2001 South Fowl to Moose Lake
2/18/2001--3/8/2001 Moose Lake to Crane Lake
3/9/2001--3/16/2001 Crane Lake to Kabetogama

Posted:  02/16/2001  9PM  (-6 degrees F)

2/16

Windy is the word for the day.  Tundra and I pulled into a strong headwind all day. With the wind chill being well below zero I had to stop to warm my nose and cheeks often.  We crossed paths with another party for the first time since Saganaga Lake.   I find it amusing that two of the three parties that we have encountered during the adventure have commented about reading about us in the newspaper.  It seems that everyone reads Sam Cook's articles in the Duluth News Tribune. 

I had a huge craving for summer sausage at lunch today and ate about half a pound in five minutes.  I was really hungry and it tasted great.  The cold wind really got my appetite going and I am about to eat a huge spaghetti dinner.  It is nice to listen to the wind rushing through the trees from the protection of a small bay and a warm tent.  It really is the simple things that you enjoy most.  A hot meal and a warm place to lay your head, what more do you need!

I took a picture of some slush to show you what it looks like up close.  I have not encountered much slush lately, knock on wood, but I found enough to get a picture.  This is pretty shallow slush only about five or six inches.  You really need about eight or ten inches of slush before the real fun begins!

  2/15

Last night was our coldest yet, 24 below zero.  I woke up about 5 am a little cold so I built a fire to warm up the tent and then fell back to sleep with out any trouble.   The day turned into a warm sunny one and we made good time and saw a bunch of very fresh wolf tracks.

Question:  Can you find out what the coldest recorded temperature on the earth is?

Posted:  02/14/2001  11AM  (20 degrees F)  

  2/14

Computer charging inside the tent.	Tent with solar panel catching the morning sun.

Happy Valentines Day!  Tundra and I are spending the day resting,charging batteries, and working on the website.  We are camped 2 miles west of the portage out of Ottertrack Lake on Knife Lake.  It is a beautiful, sunny day and with the computer charging I am getting ready to kick back and do some reading while munching on chocolates that my valentine gave me.  The last time I looked Tundra was on his back sprawled out with the warm rays of the sun beating down on his belly.

  2/13

Fast travel has awarded us with the luxury of breaking camp late and making camp early.   This is not to say that we are not working hard.  I usually have water on the stove for breakfast around seven AM and by the time camp is set up and dinner is ready it is usually between seven and eight PM.  Then there is equipment to be dried and mended, journal writing, and maybe some reading before I turn off the headlamp and blow out the candle around 10 PM.

Today we glided down Ottertrack Lake and I am happy to report that we did not sink into the slush once!  The weather was warm, sunny, and windy.  At lunch we stopped in a sheltered bay and enjoyed a long, relaxing lunch in the sun while the solar panel was busy charging the batteries for the computer and satellite phone.  Two bald eagles flew over head during lunch and I was surprised to see them so far from open water.  In the winter they are usually found near open water where they fish for food.

Posted:  02/12/2001 8 PM (8 degrees F)

  2/12

  A light snow was falling as we packed camp and headed onto the lake's huge interior, leaving us miles from shore.  I spent several miles a day dreaming about following the same course on a windy summer day.  Riding high on west bound rollers and the exhilaration of their cold spray hitting my back as they lap over the stern of my canoe.    

   After five miles we left the snowmobile tracks behind and broke our own trail west.  We stopped at the west end of Saganaga for lunch and I munched on beef jerky and smiled at our fast progress as Tundra slept in the warm sunshine.  After lunch we continued on and were greeted by an otter playing in some open water just before we entered Swamp Lake.  We are now camped in a nice cedar stand on the east end of Ottertrack Lake.  In the morning we will push on, hoping that the slush that we found on Ottertrack on the Training trip has frozen.

2/11

     It was a little after 1 PM when Tundra and I said good bye to OB and headed north up Saganaga Lake.  A smooth, packed trail with a fresh dusting of snow made for fast travel.  Tundra seemed amused and a little scared by the snowmobiles that whizzed past.  I was soothed by the fact that in the morning we would leave them behind and travel for over a hundred miles before we will cross paths with another snowmobile.  I was lulled to sleep by the sounds of a grouse rustling in a sleeping birch behind our camp.

   Posted:  02/11/2001  9 AM  (4 degrees F)

   Tundra and I are heading off into the wilderness this morning after a day in the city working on the website.  I hope you like the new pictures, scientific data, and Questions and Answers.  There are also  great new sections on ecology, northern lights, and deer.  I can't wait to get back on the trail so I am going to say good-bye for now, but will write again soon about my adventures!

    Posted:  02/10/2001  12AM (6 degrees F)

  The last few days have been very good for traveling.  We were able to travel 30 miles from 02/08 to 02/09.  They were wonderful days with a range of weather.  Most of Thursday snow was falling and the sky was overcast.   Traveling down Gunflint Lake for eight miles there were many times when we were surrounded on three sides by white with only the faint out line of shoreline in the distance.  Weather like that causes you to turn inward and occupy yourself with thoughts other than those of your surroundings.  Silence surrounds you and the sight of your skies breaking through freshly fallen snow is your only visual clue of forward momentum.  A seventeen mile day brought us to warm and friendly Gunflint Lodge, located on the southwestern edge of Gunflint Lake.  The friendly staff welcomed us with open arms, allowing us to charge our batteries and camp behind the lodge.  We enjoyed watching about twenty deer wander around in front of the lodge while we ate a hearty breakfast of pancakes and a great big omelet.  Next, we headed north on the Granite River. 

    The day broke sunny and windy as we headed across the two miles stretch of Gunflint.  Once on the river, the wind died and while the temperature stayed around 10 degrees we were very comfortable and the scenery was spectacular.  I had enjoyed the Granite on the training trip and was glad to get to explore it again.   Most of the river is wide and the current is slow.  However, in places the river narrows into steep granite lined canyons, the water cascades over ledges and this energy keeps the water from freezing, leaving dangerous and beautiful stretches of open water.  Otters are drawn to open water, and we often saw them popping their heads out to curiously watching us pass.

   As dusk set in, we headed up a small drainage into Ambush Lake eventually finding our way to my car which was parked at the south narrows of Saganaga Lake.   The snow became very deep.  Sinking through several feet of sugary snow with every step reminded us of travel along the Pigeon River.  After pushing our way through an Alder choked bog for about a mile we arrived at Ambush Lake as the sun's glow was just fading in the western sky.  We spent several minutes exploring a small cabin and looking for a trail to take us to the Gunflint Trail and the car..  We were unable to find the trail and decided to bushwhack through the woods to the car.  We arrived at the car around seven and headed to Grand Marais.

   My original plan was to leave directly from Saganaga Lake and continue the adventure.  I have fallen into a rhythm and in many ways did not want to come out of the wilderness, but there were several things that I wanted to work on for the website.   I felt that it was necessary to go to town for a day to get things sorted out.   I plan to be back on the trail in the morning to continue the adventure!    I would like to apologize for the lack of dates on the first few journal entries and the lack of pictures for the first ten days.  I believe that I have resolved both of these problems and have added the pictures that were supposed to be posted during the first ten days of the adventure.  I would encourage you to go back and look at the archived journal entries to view some of the pictures that were posted late.  You can look at them by clicking here, or at the bottom of the page.

A question for the students:  what are three predators that pray on beavers?

Archives: 12/24/2000 --1/17/2001 Training trip 1/31/2001--2/06/2001  Grand Portage and the Pigeon River 2/07/2001--2/17/2001 South Fowl to Moose Lake 2/18/2001--3/8/2001 Moose Lake to Crane Lake 3/9/2001--3/16/2001 Crane Lake to Kabetogama