Windy Day on Wood Lake

Here is recent blog post in our Red Rock Outdoors Blog about a recent trip to Wood Lake with friend and Northwind Lodge guest Paul Edwards.  Lots of wind, one really nice walleye with the JVC Adixxion II camera worked both above and underwater.  Yes, it is definitely waterproof and dries off very rapidly.  Between the driving rain and dunking,  "waterproof and rugged" is a good thing in little action cameras.  

To see the new post - Click Here

Red Rock Outdoors Blog

Northwind Lodge Website

Red Rock Outfitting Site

Yearning for the Good Old Days

I just had a party check out after staying one week here at Northwind Lodge.  Well, they paid up their tab and need to leave early tomorrow morning (Saturday) because of upcoming commitments.  Fortunately for me, I was able to talk with the parents and kids individually over the course of the week, and I gained some insight to the behavior and interaction of this family.

While I moved around the resort for various reasons over the course of the week, I found various members of this this family of six at the beach, in the store, and on the footpaths.  I saw the girls and mom out on the stand-up-paddle boards and water bikes, the boys were fishing with their dad and sometimes the whole family went out on the water.  They even took a trip as a family to Wood Lake which is something we rarely see these days.  Despite their arrival from a very windy day of BWCA rowing and struggling in gusts, they all came back smiling.  They didn't even look worse for the wear and nobody appeared ticked off.

In talking with the patriarch, I expressed how great it was for me to see an entire family enjoying their time together at our resort.   It is what I grew up with having been in the resort for my entire life and seeing mom & dad taking out the kids is "homemade meatloaf, mashed potatoes and gravy" to me.  He told me that they had a wonderful time despite the fishing.  Fishing went from a rather exciting prior week to a big weather change with high winds and slow fishing this week even when I expected it to pick up.  They caught fish, but those fish sure weren't yelling "catch me" by any means.  That's why it's called fishing and not catching.

Also, in talking with the dad, he said it was a bit tough for the first day and a half upon their initial arrival. All four kids discovered that they had no cell service or wifi everywhere they went.  His term was "the shakes" regarding the electronic social disconnection, and he said that after that malady passed, the kids began to enjoy the simpler things like taking out a kayak or a SUP and doing something with their muscles.  They also played Battleship and other board games as a family.  We need more of this in the US today.

Then, he expressed that he really liked the cabin because it was roomy enough and felt like a cabin in the woods - not a condo in a development.  The part he truly enjoyed was Jasper Creek as it passes by outside.  With the constant, soothing white noise after being out in the fresh air day after day, he said that his whole family slept like logs and that meant HE slept like a log.  He hasn't slept THAT well in a long time.  The solid sleep was one of the parts that I sensed really "made" the trip for this dad.

The final part of the discussion was at the cost of staying in Ely.  Given the fun they had all week, he could not believe that we had cabin openings.  Comparatively, he said, for what one gets in a vacation in Ely - real wilderness, a cabin in the woods next to a lake, a real waterfall, water toys and fishing - the cost of having fun compared to other areas was downright cheap.  For the amount of money they spent for lodging and outside activities like a guided fishing day trip, they couldn't even touch such an adventure in Disneyland or some other place.  He estimated that it would cost four times as much easily.   So, he was surprised that we weren't packed reservation-wise given the enjoyable, relaxing, stay they had here.

It was good to hear that again from a family.  With the changing times in the New Normal, we don't get to hear or see it nearly as much as we should.  And, I know he wasn't making it up as they made reservations for next year.   I look forward to their arrival next season!  

Talkin' Fishin' with Northwind Lodge Guests

Yes, I know....talkin' fishin' with the Normans is like shootin' fish in a barrel.  These people are "fish magnets", but the really useful part is that after they've been on the water, I know that I have an accurate fishing report about the status of the lake.  After they hit the water and report back, you know there are a ton of fish out there.  This as opposed to more of our "non-fish-magnet" guests who might, on occasion,  declare various lakes in our area to be completely devoid of fish. After listening to Jake, his dad Bob, and mom Mary Sue, I doubt that you will get the sense that there are no fish in the waters on which they venture out.

Big sky and blue water are calling you for adventure!  Answer the call and come up!  Take a daytrip on the water and come back to your cabin at night!  There are not a lot of places where you can do this with very few to no people around!  However, you can here!

Northwind Lodge Website

Red Rock Outdoors Blog

Put in a Little Time on Jasper - Catch Some Nice Fish

The Norman family from southern Illinois are showing them how to do it again here at Northwind Lodge.  Bob, Mary Sue and son Jake have been pulling out some beeyooteefull smallmouth up to 5 lbs. and largemouth up to 6 lbs. and one 5 lb. walleye so far.  Northern pike have been hitting as well but nothing really huge has made its presence be known - yet.  Bluegills are really active in the new, upcoming weedbeds of Jasper.  Some of the best fishing for big bass has been in the shallows right in front of the river where Jasper Creek dumps into the lake.  That happens to be next to our docks.  Some of our guest have been pulling in really nice bass without even getting into a boat.

During this week the Normans are our only fishing group and they spent the day on Wood Lake yesterday with spectacular walleye and bass fishing.  Big fish, little fish, fish who climb on rocks were hitting hard all day during the high pressure and overcast skies.  It was like the perfect storm for fishing and they were biting all over the area.  Having a retail store like Red Rock here lets us find out where, who, what, when, and why in fishing details for the region.  Many people caught fish incorrectly believing that they only bit on leeches or worms.  They were slamming artificials like crazy as well.  So, you can go out and buy organic, live bait and lug it around with you, keeping it alive, or you can bring of box of undead lures and toss them over the side.  When the fish are biting, you will catch the same amount of fish with either and the undead allow you to use them over and over while forgetting them in the sun.  You come out ahead with the undead.

Salmo Hornets #3 in Rainbow Dace have been scoring big with walleyes and stream trout simply by trolling them on the bottom for walleyes with a rubber core sinker or 200 feet behind the boat for trout.  Black and gold, F11 floating Rapalas are also getting attacked by walleyes and huge bass.  Another great bass lure is the Yamamoto Senko, 5" worm rigged wacky style.  (that means hooked in the middle for those of you who don't know all that tech jargon of the southern bass world).  Just cast them out and let them sink to the bottom in bass country and  walleyes will come in and gobble those up as well!  Who knew!

So, if you like to fish, take a few days and come up to Northwind Lodge and hit the water.  But remember, to do well, you need to put in the time.  It's a pretty rare occasion where you can go out in one day, hit them hard and go home.  So, in my opinion, planning an overnighter will be a waste of time and money.  At least try to squeeze in three nights.  Check out our online internet specials!  You really need to get up north and get back to wilderness.  Or do you like being surrounded by a sea of people?  Click Here

Northwind Lodge - River tour

Take an outside tour of Northwind Lodge and Jasper Creek in early spring right after ice out.  It was a beautiful day on May 10, 2014, opening day of fishing!

Visit our Northwind Lodge Website 

Visit our Red Rock Outdoors Blog

Putting in the Second Dock - the Finale!

The second T-Dock at Northwind Lodge gets launched.  This is the final video in this exciting series.  Curt got water in his boot.

See Vid #2

See Vid #1

Visit our Website - Northwind Lodge

Visit our Red Rock Outdoors review blog

V is for Victory

Way back in 1939, my grandpa Frank Baltich decided he wanted to settle on Jasper Lake with a trapping shack.  The land here had all been logged off in earlier years and it was making a comeback as it always does.  The shack that he built was a small, one room, vertical log building that he heated with wood. Of course, Grandpa had to dig it into the side of the hill and my uncles Frank and John helped move the dirt from the steep hill towards the lake,  Then, after digging out a hole right up to a a huge rock, he built the cabin's corner RIGHT next to the rock.  He also did that with Cabin #5  and Cabin #8 much to my chagrin, that of my dad's, and my brother Bernie.  What would it have hurt to build it three feet from the rock so the grandkids wouldn't have to wonder how they are going to dig it out 68+ years later?

Anyway, Grandpa decided to add a porch to the nice little log cabin overlooking Jasper Lake.  As he was adding the porch, Dec. 7, 1941 rolled around and Japan came up with the crazy plan to bomb Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.  When the news made it to Ely, Grandpa said ominously that Frank, Jr. was going to end up going to war via the draft.   It was a sad realization.

Frank, Jr. got the call by Uncle Sam and ended up in the Battle of the Bulge in Germany.  Grandpa was worried sick, and he was still working on that porch.  

He had traveled from the old country to America to build a better life.  Like most immigrants, he carved out his existence in the Land of Opportunity working for 16 years deep in the underground mine that is now Miner's lake in Ely  During his time here, he adopted the United States as his home and his land.

That brings us back to the porch of that log trapping shack.  If you paddle by it on the water, you will see it, but if I didn't tell you, you would never notice it.  In the logs, there is a  big log "V"  that Grandpa built into that porch.  The logs were painted in a pattern of red, white and blue that I remember seeing as a small child.   It was his way of showing support and hope for our country and his kids.  It must have been a favorable talisman built into the wall of Grandpa's Log Cabin overlooking Jasper Lake.  All three of his sons were drafted into two different wars and all three came home alive and  went on to build their own  long lives here in Minnesota.

So, if you are paddling past an old log cabin on the southwestern shore of Jasper Lake, look for the "V".  There are many stories behind those two logs.

Cutting Trees with Bob

One day, my father-in-law Bob Sommer called me up and asked if I could assist him in cutting down a few nasty poplar trees next to his house.   Bob was a tough-as-nails, rugged individualist who liked to tackle jobs and succeed.  Sometimes they would be messy,  bumpy, and a little scary, but they were always functional in the end.

 In northern Minnesota, poplar trees are sneaky.  They are all over the resort and constantly sneak up on us between the resort cabins and along power lines.   They start out small and everybody forgets about them.  Then three days after your house is built, they get to be 16 to 20 inches in diameter,  About two thirds of the way up, they rot out when nobody is looking.  A big wind comes by and downward plummets the leaf-laden top to destroy anything and everything  below.  If the top doesn’t snap the bottom does so and a 60 to 70 foot behemoth lands on your house.   They grow like Minnesota bamboo and I never felt bad about cutting one done.  You can always count on twenty new ones taking  its place.

Bob said that to expedite the operation for his tree, he would have everything ready and he needed me mainly  to run the hand winch.  Of course, I said “Sure!” and made plans for tomorrow at 1 PM. 

I drove over to the Moose Lake road and Bob had the trappings of the adventure all in place.  Bob had a thick yellow rope way up on the tree about 20 feet.  It was securely tied and running through a massive hand winch secured to a solid tree about 60 feet away.  He had his screen-faced helmet with earmuffs on, his usual worn pig-hide gloves on with the little red bead and his brown leather belt with big buckle.  Also, as part of his usual get up was his .44 magnum, stainless steel Smith & Wesson revolver in its black nylon holster, stuck to his belt.  With red Jonsered chainsaw  smokin’ hot in hand, he was ready to go.

I know the chainsaw was smokin’ hot because Bob had a unique style for warming it up.  Every modern chainsaw comes with a chainbreak which serves both as a knuckle guard and a device that instantaneously stops the chain in the event that the saw jumps upwards when improperly touching a log with it while it is spinning.   Stopping the blade suddenly lets the operator only cut off his ear a little as opposed to sawing it off entirely.  The only time the break is locked is when there is a reaction from an emergency like a kick-back.  Otherwise there is no other reason to lock the blade.   Well, Bob found a reason.

A few years prior to this event,  Bob and I were talking chainsaws and he was having trouble with his.  He blew the head on it once, and it kept getting dull.  It got really hot, etc.  I suggested we start it up and see what it sounds like.  We’ve owned Jonsereds for over  20 years at that time and they were pretty reliable saws.   I couldn’t figure out what could be the problem with Bob’s saw.   I would find out shortly. 

Bob cranked up his saw.  It began to idle and sounded fine.  I was just about to shrug and say, “Sounds OK…” , when Bob suddenly tripped the chain break safety with his knuckles, and put a death grip on the throttle. 

The little engine roared  powerfully and the chain didn’t turn!   After a two "shock" second delay on my part,  I yelled,  “Bob!  Bob! Stop!  Whaddya doin”?!!!!!”, over the roar of that little motor and the blue smoke caused by burning metal.  The clutch must have turned cherry red under the side plate.   He let go of the throttle and looked at me in wonderment, and asked, “What?   I’m warming it up.  That’s what that chainbreak is for.”

“That just for emergencies”, I explained.  “You don’t use that to warm up the motor!”

He said, “No.  I do this all the time.  Warms the motor right up.” 

I politely gave up while feeling sorry for that saw.  So, today, when Bob is ready to go, I’m pretty certain that his saw is truly warmed up.

To me, everything looked pretty good to go on this tree job.  It was the usual “hairy” operation where if anything  goes wrong, we are going to wreck one of two buildings .  But the rope was stout and he had it tightened up.   I gave a test crank on the winch and it looked properly operational. 

The plan was that Bob was going to notch it towards me and I was going to tension it up with the winch which would put a lean on the tree right at me.  Then Bob would make a light back cut and I would continue to apply pressure to slowly begin the lean in the right direction.  Once it begins the fall, I step to the left and get out of the way.   Simple plan.  I’ve done this a zillion times with my dad and brother at the resort,  so nothing new was happening on my end.  We get in position with me on the winch, Bob at the base of the tree.

Bob cranks up his Jonsered and  begins sawing.  He saws and saws and saw.   I’m getting a little nervous  because at that moment, I was wondering if he’s cut down many trees of this size and it really sounded like his chain was really dull.   The other problem is that I can’t see him at all.   It’s a bright sunny day but Bob is 60 feet away in northeastern Minnesota in July. That means he’s shrouded by light and dark greens of thick, gnarly hazelnut leaves.  He’s somewhere in there but I can only see the cloud of blue smoke rising both from a combination of overly rich gas and probably a badly slipping clutch on the saw.

He goes to idle and yells for me to crank.  So I begin.

“Chi-kik, chi-kuk, chi-kik, chi-kuk, chi-kik, chi-kuk” went the winch and the rope got tighter.  Bob yelled to keep going, and the rope got tighter still.  Then, he yelled to stop and the saw fired up again.  Saw, saw, saw,  stop.  “Go ahead and give ‘er  some more!” he yelled. 

So, I lean on the winch and that sucker is getting really tight.  I was thinking that as some point I would be able to play DaVinci’s “Joyful” as the pitch of that now thinning yellow rope began to climb with the extreme tension.    I’m starting to get a little worried about this because that tree should be trying to crush me like a bug at this point.   But, it’s not.

Back on the throttle of the saw, Bob goes.  Three more seconds and the saw shuts off and the cussing begins.  From deep inside the hazelnut brush, I hear a blurry of cuss words in combinations new even to me.   From the new, rising verbal cloud of blue smoke, I figured Bob cut himself somehow. 

So, not wanting to leave my critically important post as I have control of that tree, I yell to him and ask what happened. 

He replied with tones of anger and humiliation, “It looks like I cut the  #$@%^$*&#!  wrong tree.”

“Come again?”  I didn’t fully grasp what he said.  “What!!!!????”

“I cut the tree right next to the one with the rope on it.  We got a problem!”

Oh, boy, did we ever have a problem.    For the last 10 minutes, I’ve been trying to bring down a 70 foot poplar just with the winch and a plastic rope.  The second  70 foot tree that needed to drop with a secure line on it, now has a notch aiming at me and a back cut which has pinched the saw blade as it began its death lean right at Bob’s house.  The only thing keeping it from completing its fall is Bob’s chainsaw bar, stuck in the cut.  With no directional notch and the tree leaning on the back cut, it can go anywhere in about a 120 degree radius.  If the wind picks up, utter pandemonium with destruction would most likely ensue.  Not only that, we now have a Bob-induced “widow-maker” on our hands and the clock is ticking.

Now, the two of us rapidly start to “tiptoe” quickly around a tree that could fall any number of ways all by itself.   It was like a focused Chinese fire drill.  First, we have to loosen the winch which just got done playing  “Tree Concerto for Piccolo in G#”.   Then, I grabbed the ladder and climbed the tree that was supposed to come down and undo the high-tension  power-knot, with one arm around the tree.  Drop the rope,  get down the ladder and ever-so-gently  stand  it on the new, “tree-of-death”  which was literally standing  by a thread and a chainsaw bar.   I  shimmy up to tie a new knot  but not quite as high.   Back down the ladder I tiptoed and removed it while Bob was on the winch.  Several  fast  chi-kik, chi-kuk’s  and  down came the tree crashing with the winch doing the work.  It was exactly how Plan A was "supposed" to go.

“Well…..er…THAT was exciting!  Ha, Ha!” he said with the chuckle he would employ when things that went awry,  then went OK.   I wiped the July sweat off of my forehead.   Holy crap.  We took down two more trees.  But each time I asked  him to verify the tree by looking up before he cuts the notch.   “If you don’t see the rope, please don’t cut it!”

With all trees on the ground, all buildings still standing, I said “bye” to Bob and went home for that day.

Visit Northwind Lodge's Website