Tuscarora Lodge & Canoe Outfitters

It’s kind of quiet for a few hours-turnover in cabins today, all the paddlers are out on the water.

We’re all push overs for the little guys around here. They run around and eventually squirm their way into our hearts.

Ben spent the day in the outfitting yard yesterday. He insisted on 5 photos because he is 5 years old. After awhile, “helping” included spraying John and Carl with the hose, as they were moving the canoes around. At one point John said…”Uh oh, Ben, I think you might be busted.” His mom appeared out of nowhere, -to make sure he was truly helping. His lower lip only came out for 2 minutes, until he was happily invited back to the scrubbing.

Also–little chocolate Laramie was the new member of the Levin crew. Honestly, Could they be any cuter?

Linda and her friends finished the Kekekabic Trail today. They came back all sweaty and dirty and beat up.

The trail runs about 41 miles from Snowbank Road to the Gunflint Trail–just about 1/2 mile from us. I don’t know the Ely end, but as you get close to us, it dips down to campsites on Gabimichigami, Howard, Bingshick and Agamok. It’s a great hiking/running trail for us around here—it’s well cared for and maintained by the USFS and the Kek Trail Club.
I know more people tend to traverse the entire trail in the spring and the fall.
It’s a rough trail–and when I asked them if they had fun, they just laughed at me. No they said, they’d never call it fun. This time of year it was sort of hot, the trail was grown over, and they met obstacles everywhere.
For Andy and me, was actually a refreshingly amusing trip report. We have had just gorgeous weather for the last month or so. Sweatshirts in the morning and evening, swimming in the afternoon, fish and sun. Everybody is usually so pleased with this little slice of nirvana.

Check them out though—they’re still glowing from the escapade. I’m sure they’ll not repeat this experience—-ever……..but it was an adventure–and adventures are the stuff of life. I had a little touch of envy as they laughed with each other….and I had to take their photo before I let them “get the hell out of here.”
They were definitely proud that they kicked the Kekekabic!

Recently, Sheridan, Sheldon, and Ben Frank traveled through the Frost River–to Little Sag, and Tuscarora.

We’ve had good water levels so far this summer for the Frost River (out of Frost Lake, just south and west of Long Island Lake–flowing toward Little Saganaga).
Even so, it’s a challenging route. Sometimes, water levels in July and August can turn the challenging route into …..a seriously challenging route. Our friend DaveO once called the Frost River the best kept secret of the BWCA. What I’m trying to say, is one person’s “best kept secret” can be another person’s sheer hell.
The Franks however, had a great time. Can you tell that they were enjoying the weather we’ve been having?….50’s at night 70’s during the day (perfect, if you ask me)—Thanks to Sheridan for sharing her photos here–she obviously has a photographer’s eye.
They saw some baby beavers learning to swim–the lily pads here are about the size of small tortillas–just to give you some perspective on the little guys in the photos below. The way Sheridan described the chattering I guess I love those babies from here.

You know, in the BWCAW you’re supposed to stash your fish guts well away from the lake. In the Quetico people are allowed to leave the leftovers on the shore rocks, for the seagulls and eagles to pick clean. It sounds like a good clean sustainable plan, until the eagles start counting on it. Early this summer in Quetico, John Hooley’s group had some eagles following them around, waiting to feed their young in a nest nearby. The Hooleys are pretty successful on Kawnipi, and the eagles decided not to wait for the entrails–they just started snatching the fish right from the line. I don’t know what kind of test line it takes to hold back an eagle from flying away with a fish—but I believe as they were trying to reel in the walleye and the eagle at the same time, they may have just redefined the term “birding”.
The eagles always won. I hope the lures didn’t hurt them, but I think it’s another good reason to stash fish guts well away from the shoreline, campsites and portages….

I try really hard to appreciate the moths around here. They are at their loveliest when they clump together around the scat. Mmmmm. Sometimes the contrasts are what a person learns to value in this life.

It’s a fabulous time of year .

Former Staffer Lauren Vilen made a reservation earlier this summer—we just didn’t realize she’d be celebrating her honeymoon. Drew and Lauren were married on the North Shore this weekend.

It was a modest affair–but check out the photos on Stephan Hoglund’s website. Really nice.

And tomorrow they’re going fishing.

It has been very hot and humid up here the past few days.

Getting through the work day can be a bit brutal when the air feels as thick as the lake water. The staff have been working on ways to cope.

We take ‘safety swims’ periodically where we stop what we are doing and jump in the lake for a quick dip to cool down.

We wash canoes efficiently in the lake.

The freezers are well stocked with icies and ice cream. After work, we congregate on the end of the dock and swim. Despite our best efforts, the heat is still causing a bit of insanity. The other afternoon, after some gunnel pumping practice, someone pointed out the load limit sticker in the front of the canoe. Of course we had to prove that wrong. We loaded up the canoe with the listed limit of 4 people, then kept adding until we reached 8 people, clearing the dock. We made it a ways away from the dock before capsizing. Deep down, that was the intent all along.