Category: Life at Tuscarora Lodge

According to the Cook County Star, Betsy Jane Powell of Saganaga Lake died on October 21st 2007.
I didn’t know Betsy personally, only from hearing the stories, then reading her book. We portaged into her abandoned Saganaga Lake resort this September—she operated Green Forest Lodge, a resort on the Canadian side of Sag from 1937 until 2004 when she fell and hurt herself while blueberry picking.
I think I really liked her. Noah told us of avoiding her little bay in his towboat in 2003—he claimed that she sat on the dock with a shotgun to scare off intruders. Not sure if it was true, but it is fitting for my image of a strong eccentric woman growing old in the north woods.
I like to imagine what it was like to survive life in the true wilderness in the 30’s and 40’s—when she lived off the grid, without Internet access, or highway to Duluth. (Sure, we live at the end of the road, but Bill the UPS man visits us nearly every day.) I like to think of her unconventional get-her-done nature with little regard for society’s rules. I like it that she was self reliant and capable, even into old age. She was tough. I think I miss her.

( I understand that I may be romanticizing the same woman who may have turned us back at the portage we took last September—had we dared to brave the shotgun blasts. Still.)

We said goodbye to Noah, Jake, and Anna (they called themselves the A team) the last of our summer staff members. It was a unique honor to eat, live, and work with these young people in this transition time of their lives.
This fall Noah and Jake coached both of our kids in soccer; Anna (covert star athlete) was Shelby’s unofficial cross country running coach during her long Saturday runs. On Saturday evenings we had make-your-own-pizza night—and I thought more than once of our little extended family—how lucky we were to be able to hang with them and hear their perspectives as they figured out what directions their lives were going to take next. I felt a little nostalgic on behalf of their mothers—someday my children will also be at this stage in their lives apart from me— all part of the growing up equation.
Jake became the expert raspberry pie baker this fall—using up his summer surplus. They brought a 6am breakfast farewell pie before the school bus came. Jake tells Daniel that a great part of being an adult is that you can eat pie for breakfast if you want—or you can order it first at a restaurant to make sure that you have room for it. As we button up and shut down the outfitting building, Andy sees ghosts of clients and staff members around every corner. It’s peaceful as we approach our quieter season, but we definitely miss the people that filled our summer and fall.

Each spring, Andy and I dream and plan for the Hunter’s Island 10 day trip we’re going to take in September. Maybe some year we’ll pull it off. This year, it was whittled down to 3 nights in the Quetico. But they were splendid.
We went out with our friends Dave and Nancy again.
This year we took a 4 seater Bell Kevlar Canoe. (we called her Bonnie) She was perfect! Bonnie plowed through the Cache Bay rollers with 4 strong paddlers (or at least 3) hardly taking on any water. We stayed on Saganagons and traveled up and down the Falls Chain in an easy day. I don’t have the patience to fish much, but these fish are not crafty at all. A half an hour each day yielded great dinners.
It was a cold and drippy week, but even that was perfect. As outfitters, we need every dry day to button up for winter. Wet days are worry-free travel days. We’re also on to the warm-when-wet clothing—how to keep dry and comfortable in the void of all comfort. We pack relatively lightly ( 3 out of 4 of us do), but we all have our little luxuries. Extra weight for the fishing net, for the box of wine, for all of the apples, for the cotton pillow case (this is the BEST new trick for me).
Andy loves to look for old cabins and the evidence of history, Nancy’s favorite moments are when we sit in the chairs and look at the water (never long enough), Dave is a great fish cook, and I ‘m just delighted not to be in charge of anyone.
We all were game to explore the 1000+ rod portage that we were pretty sure was there…part way through we came upon a boggy pond. It seemed like we might be able to paddle it, but it was full weeds.. We would paddle up to a dead end, Dave would stand up and look through the maze at what appeared to be flowing water, then we’d use our paddles to all move a floating bog island aside and presto—a passage would appear. Just like Harry Potter. I LOVED THAT PART!

We left Tuscarora under the charges of my father, plus Noah, Jake, and Anna. Who knew that my dad missed his calling as a resorter? Noah should already be running his own soccer camp in the woods, Jake kept everyone’s spirits up with his ‘no worries’ attitude, and Anna lingered in the background with all of the answers. My mother took care of our house and kids, tucking them into tightly made beds and leaving them clearly relaxed and well cared for. This competent crew handled the broken foot emergency during a wind storm. Noah cleared the road of downed trees to rescue a group that had bailed out early, Jake gave a portage lesson to a group of arborists who then gave him a chainsaw lesson so that they could cut their way into Bunkhouse 4. Never a dull moment! We couldn’t have left the place in better hands.

We’ve come home to warmer and sunnier days for some beautiful fall canoe trips for guests! Peak color season, still plenty of water soaking into the woods. It doesn’t get any better.

WE REMEMBER IN AUGUST….

District Forest Ranger Dennis Neitzke calmly let the town know that USFS resources were maxed out. In his non-panicky underdramatic way—he reported over the radio that overall conditions in the Superior National Forest ranked in the 99th percentile on a danger scale of 100. (YIKES!)

Since Smokey Bear also said conditions were SEVERE, Jake and other staff members spent some time making sure our fire pump worked, watering trees and crispy grass, just hoping to raise the humidity a little bit.

BUT NO MORE!

We’ve had some rain this week—an entire Cross River full one night—-a few washed out roads, and a happy Jake could kayak down the swelled river—that was just a trickle last weekend. Smokey says MODERATE. The fire ban has been lifted, water levels are way up. Fortunately, our neighborhood is equipped to handle this kind of rain without many problems—other than a few temporarily soggy people in the woods.

Photo from Round Lake Road on May 5th…
Same road…..Daniel took the photos below on his way to the mailbox on August 30th—–the burn cleared the way for a spectacular display of wildflowers.