Tuscarora Lodge & Canoe Outfitters
Boundary Waters & Quetico Canoe Trips and Gunflint Trail Cabins
Ironically, it took the sky raining ice for the lake ice to finally dissolve on the Gunflint Trail. We’re still not ice free yet, but it’s going fast.
Here are the latest ice out photos from this morning, April 25, 2016.
Round Lake
Gunflint Lake near the Cross River
Seagull Lake Blankenburg Landing
Saganaga Lake Corridor, Tow Boat Dock
Round Lake is open! Ok, ok, ok, you can’t technically leave from our beach yet if you care about your canoe. The wind switched last night pushing the remaining ice into our back bay. However, the far side of the lake is open which means you can paddle from the public access landing to both portages!
The first group left this morning heading for Brant. No one has been in to Missing Link or Tuscarora yet so the ice conditions that way are unknown. Typically Missing Link is open around the same time as Round. Tuscarora will be a few days later because it is such a large and deep lake.
We had one group this weekend staying on Larch Lake. They reported good luck with walleye and that Clove Lake went out on Sunday.
Ham Lake is now completely ice free. No one has paddle past Ham Lake yet, but typically when Ham is open, Cross Bay Lake is open. Long Island Lake is most likely still covered in ice as it is a large deep lake as well.
The forecast for this week is on the cold side. Highs in the lower 50’s. Lows in the upper 20’s. Mostly cloudy with on and off showers. Not great for melting ice but if the wind keeps up with all the rain squalls, ice conditions will improve quickly!
Time to catch some lake trout!!!
Public access launch on Round Lake
Tuscarora’s beach this morning
Looking toward the Missing Link portage from the public access dock
Andy, Lucy and I dipped in our paddles for the first time this spring! The Cross Bay entry point dock is open and a little underwater. The Cross River is running fast and full. We passed by a beaver surveying the damage to his busted dam and an otter enjoying the fast moving fishing. The little lake with out a name before Ham Lake was hosting two loons who were too busy fishing to notice us. We scared up a flock of common mergansers and a pair of buffleheads. A broad winged hawk was soaring over head. We made it all the way past the first campsite on Ham Lake before we found the ice again. We hugged the shoreline as far as we could punting ice chunks out of the way before we reached an icy dead end. The portages still have a little snow in the shade but mostly they are covered in a nice layer of good old spring time mud. Round Lake is looking promising after last night’s rain. The opening by Cabin 2 is getting larger and usually has a pair of mallards paddling around in it (at least until Lucy comes zooming in barking her head off). The ice is pulling away from the shoreline and starting to get dark. A killdeer has shown up in the canoe yard today, the merlin pair have found their Tuscarora nesting spot and the ravens are making a noisy nest close by. Getting closer everyone!!! 
Round Lake from the public portage
Round Lake from the public portage
Happy May Day! It is the first of May, Tuscarora’s traditional “Start of Canoe Season” day. While we are open year round, today we are now officially open for summer. Some of you out there may be thinking more along the lines of “mayday mayday mayday!!!” when it comes time to think about your May or even early June canoe trip plans. Keep calm, and send warm thoughts our way. It has been a strange winter and a strange spring, so no one can know for sure when the ice will go out. Keep checking in. We will let you know when the ice goes!
Here are a few pictures from yesterday and today. It has been overcast and drizzling/raining on and off for a couple of days now. The Cross River that runs along Round Lake Road is open from the rapids all the way to the start of the first portage. I caught sight of an otter rafting along on an ice flow before slipping under the water. The migrating birds are singing like crazy in the mornings. Round Lake is showing some promising cracks along the shoreline. The outlet is running strong as well which has harbored a pair of common mergansers. Good signs!
Round Lake outlet by Cabin 2
Open water on the edges of Round Lake where the main dock will be
Beaver pond on Round Lake Road getting closer to being clear of ice
Cross River is running fast and full
Cross Bay entry point dock
Standing on the Cross Bay entry dock looking toward portage
We are so close to May, yet sometimes it feels oh so far away. Yes, we did receive 5 inches of snow last night and it is still coming down. Yes, it has been a long winter. Despite all that I still can appreciate a good snow storm. This one dumped the thick, heavy, sticky kind of snow that sticks to every surface and turns the forest into a magical place.
The temps this morning are in the low 30s. This wet, heavy snow will melt fast. Until then, we wait. And wait. And wait. Hang in there! We will be paddling before you know it!
