Excerpt from Trip Report of Hiking the Kekekabic Trail and Border Route Trail
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Border Route Trail: Gunflint Trail to the Gunflint Lodge
I left my hometown of Madison, Wisconsin one week ago.
I woke up early and went over to the shower building and called the Grand Marais Post Office. I said I had a package there. The lady who answered the phone seemed to know about the package. I asked if they could have the package delivered to the Gunflint Lodge today. because it had my Camera Battery Charger. The lady said they could deliver it. That was great. It was 6 am and I already had one victory under my belt for today.
So I decided I would start doing a photo log of the photos
that were on the camera card. I decided that I was going to send the camera card back to Keith, my sister’s husband and he could post some of them on my website. I started the log at breakfast at the Gunflint Lodge. But, also at breakfast I met Tracy and her son Daniel. Tracy looked to be in her 20’s or 30’s and Daniel looked to be 8 or so. Daniel was quite fidgety. Tracy said he had autism. I was showing Tracy photos on my camera. I went through the highlights of my trip, especially Aganok Falls. She told me that she was a nurse from Kansas City and that they were going on a 5 day, 4 night canoe trip. Daniel looked like he would be a little hard to control sometimes. She said he had good days and bad days. But they had already done lots of Kayaking, if fact Daniel had his own kayak. But this was the first time Daniel would be in a canoe. Man, I thought, this lady has a lot of balls for taking a potentially problematic boy into the wilderness. But it’s something she really wants to do.
I finished my fantastic breakfast, again at a reasonable price. I ask the Lodge Front desk clerk where the laundry facilities were. He said they didn’t have a Laundromat at the Gunflint Lodge, but less than a half mile down the road, the Gunflint Pines had a Laundromat. I went up to the Gunflint Outfitters Store. I was looking for a sleeping bag cover to keep me from getting cold at night. They didn’t have one, but they had a sleeping bag insert. It was more like a sheet, but maybe it would help. So I bought the insert and a T shirt. I asked Bonnie, the person that runs the Gunflint Outfitters, how much it would cost to have someone run me down to the Magnetic Rock Trailhead this afternoon. She said it was free for people who were staying there. Wow, again. I said I would have to do my laundry first. I also asked about how to make a collect call, and she said I had to dial 1-800-COLLECT. That’s what I was doing wrong.
So I went back to my bunkhouse and gather up my clothes. When I was coming out of the bunkhouse, Tracy and Daniel were outside. They were getting ready for their canoe trip. I offered to go down and take a photo of them launching their canoe. But she said they were going to Seagull Lake to launch. But I could take a picture of her and Daniel in front of the bunkhouse. So I did. And I gave her my card. She had a small SUV with two kayaks on top of it. I asked her if she could run me down the road to the Laundry, and she said yes. So she ran me down to the Gunflint Pines. That’s the last I saw of Tracy, I was hoping she’d email me to let me know how her trip turned out.
End of Excerpt
Fast forward to January of 2022. I had to make a decision. I had organized the North Country Trail Booth at Canoecopia for nine years before 2020. I was all set to do the booth in 2020. During the week before I was wondering if that Canoecopia would even happen because of the Coronavirus. Many of my volunteers that signed up to work the booth at Canoecopia had dropped out. But still Canoecopia was planning to have the event. But then the Governor did a proclamation that gathering of more than 50 people were banned. Canoecopia had to shut down. This happened the day before the event and part of Canoecopia was already set up. So, now in January of 2022, I needed to decided whether I would organize a NCTA Booth for the 2022 Canoecopia. There was a new variant of the Coronavirus called Omicrom, but it didn’t seem as bad as the Delta Variant. And maybe it would run it’s course before Canoecopia.
So, I decided to Roll the Dice and proceed with having a booth at Canoecopia in 2022. I sent an email to Andrea Ketchmark, Executive Director of the North Country Trail Association. I wrote to Andrea that I would run the booth with minimal staffing and perhaps would run it all by myself if need be. I also wrote to the people at Canoecopia and found out that the NCTA had a credit available from the 2020 booth that would pay for the 2022 booth. This was great because I usually have to ask for donations from the Chapters and Affiliates to pay for the booth.
Andrea and Valerie at the NCTA took a look at my proposal for a 2022 booth at Canoecopia and approved it as long as we follow the local regulations regarding the Coronavirus and have minimal staffing.
In the weeks before Canoecopia
I send out my normal email to all the Chapters, Affiliates and Trail People I know.
I asked for Volunteers and I asked the Chapters and Affiliates to send me brochures and promotional materials. Matt Davis emailed Lisa S., a NCTA NextGen Coalition participant and she volunteered to help at the booth. Then Kevin Steffens, immediate Past President of the Heritage Chapter said he would volunteer
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