I took advantage of the recent rainfall and paddled Larch Creek on Sunday.  It was a beautiful day and I couldn’t stand not to be out paddling.  I took a solo canoe and headed over to the entry point for a few hours of paddling in the Boundary Waters. 

     There was plenty of water in the creek and it was easy to navigate.  Only four beaver dams stood between the entry point and Larch Lake, at times there have been more.  I love the twists, turns and tight corners of the creek and the anticipation of what I may see around the next corner.

     I tried my luck at catching a fish and was rewarded with a lone northern pike.  Trolling around the lake I ended up catching more weeds than anything else.  I didn’t mind as it gave me an excuse to paddle the entire shoreline and enjoy all of the new jack pines popping up since the Ham Lake Fire of 2007.

     It was a great day for a Boundary Waters day trip.  It would have made a perfect evening for camping in the Boundary Waters too, but I’ll take what I can get.  Hopefully I can get in some more paddling during this next stretch of sixty degree temperatures and sunny skies.

      Labor Day Weekend has come and gone just like most of our summer staff.  We are fortunate to have Chelsea, John, Ron, Elsa and Kristi still here and Eric helping out sometimes as well.  The options for who to hang out with after work have dwindled and I happened to be sitting nearby when Chelsea declined Kristi’s invitation to hike the Magnetic Rock Trail.  Kristi must have noticed my sad puppy dog eyes and then said, "You don’t want to go hiking do you Sue?" 

     So there we were hiking the Magnetic Rock Trail, Kristi for the first time and me for the who knows how "manyth" time.  I hiked the trail before the Ham Lake Fire and have hiked it quite a few times since the fire.  I look at it with pre-fire eyes.  I imagine the canopy of trees that hung over parts of the trail, the towering pines that shaded the path, the thick woods that lined it in places and how you couldn’t see the rock until you were right beneath it.

     Kristi had never seen the Magnetic Rock Trail before.  She was filled with "oohs and ahhs" and "wows and oh my gosh’s."  Every few moments she had her camera out taking a picture of this or that. The stream, the hills, the rocks, the plants they all looked beautiful to her.  She was so excited and in awe of the beauty surrounding her I couldn’t help but start noticing it too.

     I saw a mushroom.  I noticed how tall the jack pines were growing.  I examined the intricate design on a burnt tree. I saw beauty in the way the sun filtered through the clouds and casted shadows on the hills. 

     Then I asked her, "The burn doesn’t look ugly to you, does it?" "No, this is so cool, it’s so different than anywhere else on the Trail." 

   So true is the statement, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."  Thank goodness no one else was around to go hiking with Kristi or I wouldn’t have been lucky enough to experience the Magnetic Rock Trail through her eyes.  I’m glad I can start seeing it differently.

     This thinking about change put the song Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes in my mind and I started to try to sing it and realized I had no idea what the lyrics were.  I also had no idea who sang the song.  Thank goodness for internet or what would we do? Immediate answers to any questions we can come up with no matter how silly they are.

     First shocker is the fact that David Bowie sings the song. Never knew that, doesn’t sound like him to me.  Second shocker is the lyrics aren’t anything like I ever sang and Third shocker is the thread of comments on the lyrics site I accidentally happened upon.  If you are ever in a need for a comedy relief break then check out this website.  http://www.lyricsdepot.com/david-bowie/changes.html

     I couldn’t come up with a way to relate his song to the changes I was thinking about because after I started to read the comments I couldn’t quit reading them.  Then I realized how much time I had wasted reading them and wondered if it was strange.  Or had it been a strain to read them?  Or was I late for the train in Spain?  I guess I’ll never know and neither will you. 

     Here’s the lyrics from the website, just in case it matters to you.

Changes
David Bowie

I still don’t know what I was waiting for
And my time was running wild
A million dead-end streets
Every time I thought I’d got it made
It seemed the taste was not so sweet
So I turned myself to face me
But I’ve never caught a glimpse
Of how the others must see the faker
I’m much too fast to take that test

Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes
(Turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-Changes
Don’t want to be a richer man
Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes
(Turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-Changes
Just gonna have to be a different man
Time may change me
But I can’t trace time

I watch the ripples change their size
But never leave the stream
Of warm impermanence and
So the days float through my eyes
But still the days seem the same
And these children that you spit on
As they try to change their worlds
Are immune to your consultations
They’re quite aware of what they’re going through

Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes
(Turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-Changes
Don’t tell t hem to grow up and out of it
Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes
(Turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-Changes
Where’s your shame
You’ve left us up to our necks in it
Time may change me
But you can’t trace time

Strange fascination, fascinating me
Changes are taking the pace I’m going through

Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes
(Turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-Changes
Oh, look out you rock ‘n rollers
Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes
(Turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-Changes
Pretty soon you’re gonna get a little older
Time may change me
But I can’t trace time
I said that time may change me
But I can’t trace time 
 

SOLAR ACTIVITY: On Sept. 4th around 1600 UT, a magnetic filament erupted, hurling a bright coronal mass ejection (CME) off the sun’s northwestern limb. Today’s edition of

http://spaceweather.com features a close-up view of the blast from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory. The CME is not expected to hit Earth. Nevertheless, auroras are possible in the nights ahead. A solar wind stream flowing from a coronal hole is heading our way, due to arrive on Sept. 5th or 6th. NOAA forecasters estimate a 50% chance of high-latitude geomagnetic activity when the solar wind hits. With the approach of northern autumn, Arctic nights are getting dark again–dark enough to see the Northern Lights. People in Alaska, Canada and Scandinavia should keep an eye on the night sky this weekend.

      I guess those familiar or not so familiar weather sayings are only useful if you know exactly how they go. Otherwise those sayings don’t help too much when you’re out on a wilderness lake wondering if you should stay put or take the tent down and travel.  So, if your memory is better than mine then try remembering some of these more proven weather sayings and you’ll impress your friends, or not!

From this website - Among the more reliable weather proverbs are:

The moon and the weather may change together,
But a change of the moon, will not change the weather.

A ring around the sun or moon, means rain or snow coming soon.

When grass is dry at morning light
Look for rain before the night.

Dew on the grass, rain won’t come to pass.

Sea gull, sea gull, sit on the sand,
It’s never good weather while you’re on the land.

When sea-gulls fly to land, a storm is at hand.

Rain before seven, fine before eleven.
Evening red and morning grey, two sure signs of one fine day.

The sudden storm lasts not three hours
The sharper the blast, the sooner ’tis past.

The higher the clouds the better the weather.

Cold is the night when the stars shine bright.

Sound travelling far and wide, a stormy day betide.

When the forest murmurs and the mountain roars,
Then close your windows and shut your doors.

When leaves show their undersides, be very sure that rain betides.

Chimney smoke descends, our nice weather ends.

When the night goes to bed with a fever, it will awake with a wet head.

When stars shine clear and bright,
We will have a very cold night.

When the ditch and pond offend the nose,
Then look out for rain and stormy blows.

Three days rain will empty any sky.

The farther the sight, the nearer the rain.

Rain long foretold, long last,
Short notice, soon will pass.

The sharper the blast, the sooner ’tis past.

If bees stay at home, rain will soon come,
If they flay away, fine will be the day.

The first and last frosts are the worst.

When clouds look like black smoke a wise man will put on his cloak.

A rainbow afternoon,
Good weather coming soon.

A rainbow in the morning, is the shepherd’s warning
A rainbow at night is the shepherd’s delight.

When the chairs squeak, it’s of rain they speak.

Catchy drawer and sticky door,
Coming rain will pour and pour.

The winds of the daytime wrestle and fight,
Longer and stronger than those of the night.

Dust rising in dry weather is a sign of approaching change.

Sun sets Friday clear as bell,
Rain on Monday sure as hell.

No weather’s ill if the wind be still.

The squeak of the snow will the temperature show.

When smoke hovers close to the ground, there will be a weather change.

When down the chimney falls the soot
Mud will soon be underfoot.

When the sun shines while raining,
it will rain the same time again tomorrow.

When the wind blows from the west, fish bite best.
When it blows from the east, fish bite least.

If salt is sticky,
And gains in weight;
It will rain
Before too late.

Red sky at night, sailor’s delight;
Red sky in morning, sailor take warning.

When clouds appear like rocks and towers,
The Earth’s refreshed by frequent showers.

When the wind is in the east, ’tis neither good for man nor beast.

The more cloud types present, the greater the chance of rain or snow.

     We desperately need more water in the Seagull River right now.  We’ve never seen the level as low as it is right now.  It’s so low we aren’t able to take groups out through the rapids to Saganaga without touching the sides of the boat, the skag of the motor and getting stuck two or three times.  The rental boats are stilll able to go through because they are much narrower and their motors don’t have such long shafts.  If we keep our fingers crossed then we might just be able to get through there again this season, but I’m not holding my breath.  We’re just boating through the rapids with the empty tow boats and then picking up and dropping off at the public landing which works out just as well. 

     I don’t know what got into Mr. Wind but he has been blowing alot of air around the Boundary Waters lately.  Today the trees at Voyageur are bending and thrashing about.  When it’s windy in our low spot of the river you can’t begin to imagine what it looks like out on the lakes.  That’s why we have a few groups hesitating to paddle right now.  We haven’t had rain slow anyone down this year but this wind blowing upwards of 20mph with 30 mph gusts is a bit too much.  

     The temperature is just 53 degrees and that’s what the high for the day is predicted to be.  The winds and rain are suppose to leave us with the rain being done soon and wind dying off this evening.  Let’s just hope the wind stays dead for the Labor Day Weekend.  The sun will be shining the rest of the weekend with temperatures up into the mid-high 60’s this coming week.  It’s a little cool for me but for some folks they are just fine with relief from the heat. 

     What about you? Want to get away from the real world and visit us in the Boundary Waters?  There are no bugs, very few people and lots of wilderness campsites calling your name.  Hope to see you up here.

Fromboreal website RAIN WITH A FEW THUNDERSTORMS WILL TRACK OVER THE MINNESOTA
ARROWHEAD THIS MORNING. ALTHOUGH THESE STORMS ARE NOT EXPECTED TO
BECOME SEVERE…WIND GUSTS AROUND 40 MPH WILL BE POSSIBLE.
ADDITIONAL RAIN SHOWERS WITH EMBEDDED THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE COMMON
THROUGH THE DAY.

Northland jellyfish reappear, this time in Namakan Lake

Tiny freshwater jellyfish, seldom seen in Northland waters, were spotted in recent days in Namakan Lake along the Ontario border.

By: John Myers, Duluth News Tribune Tiny freshwater jellyfish, seldom seen in Northland waters, were spotted in recent days in Namakan Lake along the Ontario border.

Thousands of the small jellyfish were spotted Saturday by Steve Geving, a Lake Superior area fisheries

specialist for the Minnesota Department of Natural

Resources who was kayaking on Namakan Lake in Voyageurs National Park with his wife, Glenita.

“We were sitting in our kayaks off North Mitchell Island. You could see 10 or more in some spots, then do a few strokes and see nothing. Some were dime- to nickel-size,” Geving, of Duluth, told the News Tribune. “They were whitish, opaque.”

Gary Montz, a research scientist for the DNR, said biologists have speculated that water temperature and abundance of zooplankton, jellyfish food, may play a role in the jellyfish developing to a noticeable size that floats to the surface.

In 2006, another warm summer, Chad Polecheck of Esko, a former Minnesota conservation officer, told the News Tribune that he saw “thousands and thousands” of the jellyfish while fishing on Little Sturgeon Lake north of Hibbing in late July. At first he thought it was pollen in the water, but he captured

several of them in a jar and watched them “pulse” through the water. Another 2006 report came from Dodo Lake near Duluth.

Those jellyfish were on display for a time at Fisherman’s Corner bait shop outside Duluth.

Geving said they snorkeled Saturday among the whitish, opaque jellyfish for some time.

“Pretty neat little critters,” he noted.

While they have been around for years, most people have never seen a freshwater jellyfish because they spend most of their lives as underwater polyps that live on or near lake bottoms.

Only occasionally, and scientists aren’t sure why, do the polyps develop into dime- to quarter-sized jellyfish that can be seen floating and pulsing near the surface.

Most sightings are in August and September, experts say. The “blooms” last only a few days.

”It’s really exciting for us. We’re trying to get more information on it,” said Mike Ward, Voyageurs superintendent, who said park staff would attempt to find more of the critters.

DNR biologists in past years said there is little information on freshwater jellyfish in Minnesota. They often go unreported for years and then several reports come in at about the same time.

Montz said there have been reports this summer of jellyfish in Crab and Banadad lakes in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, Long Lake near Cotton and Airport Lake in Winona County in southern Minnesota.

“This year seems to be a bumper crop,” Montz said, adding, however, that seeing a jellyfish is still a rarity. “If people are not out at the right time and looking at the water, you could miss a bloom on a lake.”

It’s still safe to go into the water, officials say. While freshwater jellyfish have tiny tentacles to sting and capture zooplankton, they are too small to sting people like their larger saltwater cousins can.

Freshwater jellyfish — Craspedacusta sowerbii — have been in Minnesota lakes for decades. They are naturally occurring now, but they probably are an invasive species, possibly from Europe. So far, however, there’s no sign of any ecological disruption or damage from their presence.

Some scientists have said there could be more jellyfish now as northern lakes get warmer earlier in the year and stay warmer later. Northland lakes on average now have two weeks less ice cover than they did 50 years ago. Some speculate that, as warmer water reaches the polyps attached to the bottom of lakes, more of the polyps mature into jellyfish “blooms.” The jellyfish-stage critters then reproduced asexually and tiny eggs attached to the bottom of the lake and became polyps, restarting the cycle.

Usually, when in the jellyfish form, the creatures are white or green and nearly gelatinous — 99 percent of their bodies consist of water. The jellyfish lacks a head, has no skeleton and contains no organs for respiration or excretion.

Freshwater jellyfish are found throughout the world but were first reported in 1880 in England. They were first reported in the U.S. in 1908, according to the University of Michigan’s Museum of Zoology.

I just want to send a follow-up thank you to the Voyageur crew.  We just got back from our annual BWCA trip and it was amazing…the trip itself and also going through Voyageur and using you for our outfitting needs.  Your staff was super friendly, helpful, prepared and just all around nice.  We weren’t just another number waiting in long line to get on the water…felt that way using another outfitter last year but won’t be making that mistake again. 

Thanks again,  Arlen Stark

We had a wonderful first time in the BWCA thanks to you. Your staff was terrific, helpful and friendly at all times. We fell in love with the area and plan to come back at least once, and perhaps more, each year.

Many thanks,

Gerry Hopklins

  Rick Bantz caught a beauty of a smallmouth bass measuring 23" in length.

     James Dorangrichia caught a lunker of a northern pike measuring over 41 inches.

     Wade Brown caught a 28 1/2 inch walleye.

     But outside of my bubble a real world exists.  One where a State Fair is happening and the newest rage is the new Twin’s Stadium.  I knew when I was asked a month or so ago if I wanted to go to a ball game I would rather stay home and go on a canoe trip if I had an opportunity to be away from Voyageur.  But in our family my vote only counts for 2 and I was outvoted 3 to 2.  Mike, Josh and Abby only get 1 vote each. 

     That’s why this morning I will be heading south to the concrete jungle.  Not just Duluth or St. Cloud where there are a few people around but the State Fair and a Twins game where thousands of people will surround me.  Talk about scary stuff.  I’d rather face bears, wolves and swarming mosquitoes in the middle of the woods than be surrounded by people.

     It’s not that I don’t like people it’s just that I really don’t want to leave the Gunflint Trail.  I know there will be plenty of warm days ahead in September and October but then the kids will be in school.  I’m just trying to hang onto summer vacation as long as I can and there’s no place I’d rather spend it then at the end of the Gunflint Trail. 

     It’s that change thing again.  Things are always changing and I don’t like change.  I don’t like it when my summer staff leaves at the end of the season either.  I really dislike saying good-bye to these people who were such a big part of our lives for so many weeks.

     I apologize for being negative.  I know I will enjoy spending time with my family and friends in the cities.  I also know I am in need of some cotton candy and State Fair french fries.  Heck, I may even need to milk a cow at the Fair or buy some infommercial product I don’t need from a vendor at the fair.  Maybe I’ll catch a foul ball at the Twins Game or figure out who George Mauer is, or is it Joe?  I don’t know, I’m in my own world here at the end of the Trail and I just happen to love it and I don’t want to miss it.