Category: Life at Tuscarora Lodge

Today, Tuscarora guest Andy Arndt returned from a canoe trip. Andy and Andy were good sports about posing for a photo (see Andy A on the left, and Andy on the right). I thought that they’d have a chance to chat about the name thing—but really they talked about the fishing on Little Sag, the weather, Andy’s trip….

None of spontaneous chatter/questions I expected ….Did you ever mind being so close to the first one in the alphabetical seating chart? Do people mistake your name for Art? Do you get jokes about aren’t=are not? Did you mind that your first and last names start with A? What do you think about the initials AA? They never even compared middle names!

I believe they were just humoring me anyhow, but I’m sure it will be a different scene when Andy sends his mother Sue up for a visit….no kidding.

Jim Colbert from Iowa State wins the prize for canoe trip detours, 2 years in a row. Last year we set up a detour for him, and Jim Holz and their biology students. They put in on Poplar in May, because the Ham Lake fire kept them out of our neck of the woods. They camped on Omega—the fire was 12 miles away when they started out….and they wondered if it was still 12 miles away?????–but not—and they were escorted out through Brule Lake.

This year, Jim and two students were good Samaritans as they escorted a camper in trouble all the way from Little Sag. Then they had some soup, stocked up on fresh cookies and Mountain Dew (in the Nalgene bottles, of course, model BWCA campers that they are) and headed right back. We hope that they are back on Little Sag right now! We really like these guys—and bet that they’ll sleep well tonight!!

No bears at Tuscarora this spring—just Denali. My brother sent me an update from another spot in Minnesota...
Ever worry about squirrels getting into your bird feeder? Well, look at this.

We’re having beautiful spring weather–the word is that ice is gone everywhere. With the exception of a sheet on Saganaga that is causing a few detours, but not stopping anyone. That pesky sheet should be gone any minute now. No worries!

The first hearty groups returned yesterday and today—happy to have been the pioneers, all have had their fill of Lake Trout!

Highlights:

• A mother moose gave birth to twins on the shore of Rib Lake-
• Tuscarora was frozen to the edges on Friday so John Ewerts group floated/towlined their canoes along the shore (where they couldn’t paddle) to the Little Sag portage. Tuscarora is all open now.
• Fishing was great in the Peter/Gabi/Gillis areas. John Ohman’s group really enjoyed the views around Peter–their favorite part of the trip. He called it a mountain lake—and can’t wait to come back and explore. The moose are plentiful, the scenery is so different. They loved that.
• On Friday Gillis was also an ice adventure to paddle—and they could only get through on the north side of the lake to the French Lake portage.
• A few sunburns, stories of a snowy Saturday morning, unanimously happy campers.