Trail Time – Winter Peace
The sun is high, the sky a clear blue and temperature has dropped back down to the single digits. It’s the right kind of cold that makes the snow crunch under your boots. I’m the loudest thing around on a still January morning.
We’d been enjoying — and enduring — the dark gray days that come with warmer weather. Gray skies and deep snow have the own beauty. On those days I find it mostly in smaller things, like seeing the prints of mice or voles in the snow or maybe some otter slides if I’m lucky. Or I can find it in the dried seed heads from last year’s grasses as they form silhouettes against the snow. Sometimes the most striking part of the day is the blue hour, those moments between dusk and dark when the world is suffused in varied shades of blue. This clear cold weather brought out the stars last night and they spread across the heavens, bringing beauty and a certain positive energy to the night sky.
Now that it’s full-on winter, lodges and restaurants have opened up again to welcome skiers, snowmobilers, snowshoers, skaters and those who enjoy ice fishing. At Gunflint Lodge, the only place that stays open year round, there are six miles of ice skating trails that link to Gunflint Pines and Borderland Lodge. All the snowmobile trails have been groomed and are in good shape, as are the cross-country ski trails at Bearskin and Golden Eagle Lodge. You can rent snowmobiles at Hungry Jack Lodge.
When you’re ready for indoor sports, there’s Bingo on Thursday nights at Poplar Haus and a scavenger hunt is planned this weekend involving Trail Center, White Pine Lodge and Poplar Haus.
The outdoors is big and can absorb a lot of fun and still maintain the peace and beauty of the borderlands. If it is peace you are seeking, this is the place to be.
With our urban friends and families struggling with the presence of armed troops harassing them and their neighbors, peace can feel elusive. It can be hard to know what to do. Those of us who choose to live on the Gunflint Trail have a legacy of taking care of neighbors and visitors. Showing up for and standing with our neighbors is one way to show our support. I’m convinced that a little prayer always goes a long way. Another way to respond is to care for and protect this beautiful wilderness, so those who need peace can find it. Preserving this jewel of Minnesota for generations to come is our duty and our calling. May peace continue to rule on the Trail.
— Marcia Roepke
