More pix

If you want to see more photos from our last few trips here is my web albums account link:

http://picasaweb.google.com/willo11

Enjoy

(let me know if it doesn't work)

4th set of days off

Though MPLS seems a lifetime ago, there are only about 6 weekends left for us up here. And a couple of them are already planned out (Kirsten’s Parents visiting, Duluth Anniversary trip, etc.). So with that in mind we wanted to hit up some different places while we are up here. Sorry BWCA(W), but we won’t be hangin’ with you for a few weeks; but we won’t miss letting the bugs thin out. While Isle Royale (thanks for the spelling, Hun) and kayaking the world’s 3rd biggest lake (Superior) didn’t happen, many other adventures were had on Minnesota’s Northshore.

Thanks to some incredible trip planning and weather watching (Rick Steves and Al Roker better watch out for Kirsten) we raced to Judge C.R. Magney State Park just in time to get the tent set up before the thunderstorms rolled through. With the rain fly on, we decided to head into town (Grand Portage) to wait out the rain and see where the next day would take us. When we returned to our site, the power was out and the firewood was soaked, but we were too tired from a long week of work at the lodge to care.

Let’s just call the next day waterfall Thursday. Magney park is home to two great falls: Upper and Devil’s Kettle. The trail was busy with families of all ages, and it contains over 200 stairs…it is definitely on the beaten path, but worth the traffic. The falls were impressive, especially Devil’s Kettle. Though it’s been a bad year for bugs up here, all of the area falls are at high levels of flow. That is, most of the tourist guide pictures show much less water going over the falls than what is actually currently happening. In addition to the rushing water, the Kettle is an intriguing feature. It is a hole that the water flows into, and experts have not been able to track the water path or determine how deep the kettle goes.

After the hike we grabbed a quick bite back at camp, and then hit the road. Even further up the northshore we drove around the inlets of Grand Portage. We came across a fox with a meal in its mouth. It ran alongside our car for about a quarter mile and just starred at us. Eventually we made it to our next destination: Grand Portage State Park. This park had two more hiking trails and two more waterfalls. The first one, High falls (creative name) is the tallest falls in MN. It is on the border river (Pigeon River). This is what made the river impassable for the fur trading Voyagers, forcing them to make a 9 mile! portage, which thus gives us the reservation’s name of Grand Portage. High falls was much more impressive than its name. The splash mist was far reaching and rather refreshing.

Kirsten and I decided to take the additional trail to Middle Falls. It was longer, and more dangerous (I cut my toe pretty good on a stick) than we thought but the end result was perfect. Middle turned out to be a pretty falls that we were able to walk out to and relax on the rocks. But once we caught our breath, it was fun to push logs into the rapids and watch them bob through the rapids.

Tired, bloody, and muddy we decided to venture to the fanciest restaurant we’ve visited yet. The Naniboujou lodge, a depression era club for the nation’s elite, is a fascinating stop just outside of Hovland and literally across the street from our campsite. Kirsten is going to review it for the CW lodge blog, but in the mean time I will quickly give you an overview. It rests right on the shore of Superior and it is a well kept, colorful lodge that takes you back to an earlier time. After a tasty meal we headed to the shore to skip some rocks, loon watch, and snap a few dusk photos.

Friday was not as eventful as planned, but was relaxing. We had hoped to kayak the big lake. But with a high chance of storms (which never came), pretty cold (49*) June temperatures, and a decent wind churning up the waves we decided to take the relaxing plan. Instead we made our first ’08 stop at World’s Best donuts, perused the shops (where I scored a $10 ($42 orig.) at Joynes Ben Franklin’s), made some (rare) cellphone calls, and hit up the Blue Water Café (again). That place does not disappoint. From Kirsten’s Eggs Benedict to my Hot Turkey sandwich, the meals were excellent. Not only that, but the service was on the money and we (I) discovered (finally listened to Kirsten) that there was an upper level with even better views for the harbor. I’m not sure what was a better way to end the weekend, Blue Water or our $28 weekly grocery bill…but either way another nice weekend up north.

Week ramblings

It was a fast week. Lots of late nights but not as much to show for it. Anyway, here are some random memories from our 4th week here.

The summer is in full swing up here. The nights are not as cool, the sun shines til almost 10pm, but most importantly the cabins are on a weekly rotation. Saturdays and Sundays (which have been our ‘Mondays/Tuesdays’ of our work week) have meant lots of cabin cleaning and left over goodies finding.

We’ve also been trying to get out more, like our trip to the palisades. So after that trip we grabbed the kayaks the next night and hit the lake again. This time Kirsten was followed by a loony loon. It kept within 20 feet of her as we paddled around Clearwater’s inlets.

We also continued our outdoor games competitions with more badminton. Rumor has it that we will be playing a summer long game to 101 sets. Winner will receive his/her choice of can-o-beans.

Our boss Mike left for Ohio to do some real world work and visit his newest grandson for the first time. So we’ve been working without our fearless leader for a bit now. On Tuesday Kirsten and I were the only ones working so I got a chance to get out of the food room and down to the waterfront. A bit of a mistake, but all of our paddles are now color coded and organized. What can I say, OCD is in my blood.

Kirsten and I finally hit the closest restaurant to the lodge: Trail Center. It’s owned by the sister of the owner of My Sister’s place and the menus and buildings are very similar. Rumor has it that it’s the best food on the trail. At least stuff that isn’t dehydrated.

Like I said, it was a fast week but I’m not sure where the time went. Well look for some more postings after Kirsten’s parents visit. And enjoy my personal favorite eating holiday (the 4th).

Mark your calendar, make a countdown paper chain, or (in my case) link to an online countdown.

Two important return dates:

8.17.08 return to MPLS
You might not be able to find us for a while though. Between my internship at north central, finding an apartment, and Kirsten gearing up for her 3rd year of classes, we will be at the state fair (most likely in the line for cheese curds) or watching the Olympics (mainly Will).

12.23.08 return to SEA
While ’07 saw 4 trips back west, we are still oh-fer ’08. But the plane tix have been bought and it is on. We definitely will not be able to see everyone and do everything we would like, but it will be a much needed time to catch up. Get ready!

Slide show

Check the slide show on the lower right side. They are finally our BWCA pix instead of random pix. Enjoy.

First Timers

Here's my (Will) advice for those of you coming to visit for the first time.

http://www.clearwateroutfitters.com/2008/06/first-timers.html

The O'Brien Weekly Restaurant Review

Here's the link to our latest taste bud adventure:



http://www.clearwateroutfitters.com/2008/06/obriens-restaurant-review.html

Palisades

Here are a few pix from a trip we did after work today. We kind of cheated because Donny and Kevin were headed out fishing so we had them tow our canoe to the trail head. But the weather looked iffy, so it saved us some raindrops. The hike, to the top of the Palisades visible from the lodge, is one that we recommend to our cabin and lodge guests. It’s about a 40+ minute canoe trip (one way, and depending on the weather). The trail head is unofficial and is kept up by our staff occasionally. It’s only about 10-15 minutes to the top, but the views to effort ratio are quite good. Below are some pix to help get the feel. We did get hit by a few raindrops on the short paddle home, but with all of the rain gear I was wearing the spray was actually kind of refreshing.

Clearwater Staff

This will be briefer that is fair, but hopefully enough to get you through the blog this summer. I need to introduce the rest of the staff, so that blogs make since when I make quick references to my co workers.

AJ/Alisha (radio name: Tarp) – she works in the lodge with Kirsten. She’s a little firecracker from the cities, but is finishing up school at Northern Michigan U. A card/board game master for sure.

Mike (radio name: Kwasie) – he is a general maintenance man who backs up the waterfront operations. Basically a jack of all trades. A well read Wisconsin student who fits the stereotypes of a true midwestener well, Mike is a solid worker and addition to the lodge.

Kevin Lundeen (too many nicknames to list besides my favorite K-lud) – Lundeen works the waterfront. Never (truly) awake before noon, this young buck (19) is a NDSU transfer (to St. John’s (MN)) who aspires to hike the Appalachian trail when he graduates.

Eric – is the only returning staffer, but is a three year vet now. He does a lot of random stuff but mainly makes sure that the rest of us know where things are.

Donny (radio name: redbird) is an outdoorsmen extraordinaire who is bound to replace ron shera. He does the gear outfitting and we work together a lot. Lundeen and he when to the same HS and are now inseparable.

(big/boss) Mike (radio name: bald eagle) – is the man in charge and an all around mellow jokester who is great to work for.

Lynn – is the woman in charge and who I report to. She is the details person, and knows everything about Clearwater.

Beard Update

Well it’s been almost a month now. It’s starting to get pretty thick in parts. Kirsten says I’m finally starting to look different, my simile now isn’t as big because my face is wider. Not sure what that means, but I know that it’s getting kinda long. We here are some recent pics. Tomorrow is the staff picture day. Lots of disgusting facial hair will be captured forever. Somewhat embarrassing, so I’m not sure how much longer this will last.

Couple of shout outs

First, my brother (Matt) is entering his last year of twenties. On the 18th he turned 29. Next year bro, you’ll be officially old.

Second, dad’s had a pretty celebratory june. First was his birthday (8th), next was father’s day, but the big one….retirement! Congrats dad on a long and successful career. They will miss you, but now you can come canoeing J Oh, and paint the house, I guess.

Past few weeks; the ramblings…

We’ve been here about 4 weeks now and I’ve been want to post a comprehensive blog entry about what life is like up here. Well, just like this post, it can be pretty random. From board games, to canoe trips, to bingo, to thriftstore shoping, we’ve been doing it all this summer. So without further introduction, here are some tangents about our past 27 days.

I don’t know if it’s the people we are working with (mostly college age…so technically younger) or something about the camp type atmosphere…but we play a lot of games. And I mean a lot. First it was cards, then it was board games, and recently it’s been yard games. I wasn’t much for cards but I’ve learned a bunch of games (including cribbage…nice learn). We had one crazy night of Scategories and Loaded Questions. But now, especially since the temperate is above freezing at night, we’ve been playing horse shoes and badminton…and bocce ball is not far behind.

Another game we picked up was bingo. Yes bingo. A better recap is on the Clearwater blog, but the quick story is that we went to grand portage casino after work for some laughs and Kirsten and I ended up both getting a bingo. 80 bucks. Not bad. But the old folks were giving us the eye, and the Canadians were laughing at our ‘southern’ accents.

(I said I’d be random) The other nightly activity that was taking up some evenings was our trips to a local watering hole called Windigo (lodge). It’s a great local scene, with a different bartender each time I’ve been there. From the guitar rocking “Dude Man” to Bobo who takes 15 minute breaks to the 7ft. woman it’s been a great place to catch the Celtics (who are 1 part Sonics 1 part Twolves).

The other thing we do with our time off is go into town. We try to hit a new (for us) restaurant each time we are in town. So far we’ve probably been to about nine different joints. We may cover all the bases by summer’s end in this small town. And we’ll try to post restaurant reviews on the Clearwater blog. But the real gem in town are the shops. Ben Franklin’s is the smallest big store I’ve ever been too. It’s aisles are only for the narrow-bodied. But if you’re lucky, you can find some steals at the Recyling center, Grand Marais’ thrift store (conveniently attached to the dump). Women’s camo vest – check. Banana slicer – check. Vintage Macintosh cups – check. Ice skates – check.

During the working hours we do a lot of cleaning and organizing and random projects, etc. But some of the bigger things for us have been flowers and manuals. Kirsten has planted a ton of flowers around the lodge over the past few, and it is looking pretty good now that the sun is out and the pedals won’t freeze. And I’ve been working on making a food manual for the food outfitting (packing) position. I didn’t think I’d be typing this much this summer, but I kinda like it. Yes, I’m kinda nerdy that way.

Since I am working in the food room, I get to do some sampling. But mostly only of expired dehydrated camping food. I can tell you a lot about 10 year old vegetarian lasagna. I can’t say that I recommend it. Or Heuovs Rancheros for that matter. But Sloppy Joes from a bag aren’t half bad. Also I am learning how to spell a lot of weird cooking words. Who knew the educational value of a summer outside of the classroom?

It’s been a crazy weather year in MN. Nothing would surprise me anymore this year. And up north is no exception. It’s been raining a lot. We’ve had some road was out due to all of the thunderstorms. Also, part of the reason the bugs are so bad right now is the rain and the late thaw. Yeah, the lake was frozen until after the fishing opener (only about a month ago). At first it was very cold at night, but now that’s starting to fade a bit. Water temp., though, is still below 60. I may try to swim on my last day here (8/17).

Another crazy aspect of the summer is all of the wildlife that we’ve been seeing. Of course we see squirrels and birds and fish etc. But we’ve got a ton of Moose on our road. There have been a few bear sightings, some too close for comfort. Recently we’ve seen a bunch of turtles (Kirsten’s fav.). Also on our last two trips we saw beavers, loons, grey-jays, toads, and (my personal fav. so far) a peregrine falcon.

Bzzzzz

Some people say that the Minnesota state bird is actually the mosquito. And I believe them.

Kirsten and I just got back from a trip (on Friday), and I have counted at least 20 bites. On my legs. From below the kneecap. On both legs. I’d say that I got at least 75 mosquito bites over the 42 hour trip.

Bugs aside, everything else was fantastic. We headed out from West Bearskin lake to BWCA entry point 60 (Duncan Lake). Since we left after work on Wednesday, we tried to keep a good pace in order to make the two portages and find a campsite before dark. We ended up cruising through Bearskin and Duncan before settling in on Rose lake. Rose is a border lake (between Canada) and much larger than the previous two lakes we traveled through. It is pretty popular because it has a beautiful waterfall that connects Duncan and Rose lakes.

On Thursday morning we traveled back to the falls and got some pix because we didn’t really stop the evening before since we were trying to find a campsite. Then we headed west along the border to South lake (with Rat lake, truly more of a pond, in between). South lake is large, and its west end is a BWCA entry point (58?) from North lake.

We didn’t see a single person on South lake, but once we got to the portage to North things got interesting. First Kirsten almost got stuck in the mud, and then just her sandal, but both survived the muddy/mucky portage trail. But the real excitement came when I heard some rustling and saw a small black bear disappearing about 40 feet off the trail. But then we got to the end of the portage to North and we heard a much larger crashing sound on the other side of the trail. Instead of trying to scare off whatever it was (as you should with Black bears) we ran. Not the right move, but we didn’t suffer the consequences. While we never saw it, my guess is it was mama bear (which could have been bad news) or one of the bear’s buddies. However, the story now is that it was Sasquatch.

That was enough excitement and paddling for us (we ended up traveling about 14 miles that day; about double what we recommend for a day). But the weather was perfect on the lake so we caught some rays. Too much in fact. Both of us are not only scratching our bites, but also our sunburned backs.

We awoke Friday morning to the briefest of Thunderstorms and ended up with another gorgeous day off. We finished by heading to town. It was a bustling day in Grand Marais. There was a wooden boat show and a lot of tourists. We grabbed a bite at My Sister’s Place, which I now highly recommend. The Canadian Dave (an open faced hamburger topped with gravy) is fantastic.

The bugs are so bad right now that it might be awhile before we have another round of BWCA updates, but Island Royal (on Superior) could be our next destination. So for now enjoy these pix…(click on them to enlarge)

Two of my favorite NBAers

I love that my favorite players get rings. I just wish it were with my teams.

Clearwater Blog

I have been blogging on our Lodge's page lately, so I'm going to just post the links when I do (Kirsten).

http://www.clearwateroutfitters.com/2008/06/fish-fry.html

Horsing Around

Check out the Clearwater Blog to hear about our Staff Horseshoe Tourney.
http://www.clearwateroutfitters.com/2008/06/dead-ringer.html

Picture speaks 1000 words right?...

It’s the end of our second set of days off, and I just wanted to post an update about our random adventures over the past few days. But I’m tired, and all of my witty composing is not going to happen tonight. At least not in large quantities. So here are some pix to describe the most recent times.

We went on two hikes today. This one is Magnetic Rock. You can see the fire damage from the large BWCA fire of ‘ought7.

Kirsten misses yoga class. And hikes in flip flops.

We got temporary wedding bands for the summer.

Beard update. Today (Friday the 13th)was the day we were all going to cut down to mustaches. But I’m starting to enjoy looking like an Irish Castro/lumberjack.

One of our random collections: Kirsten doing cool jumps on vacation pictures.

Hike #2 the Superior Trail. Started with an upside down map of Lake Superior.

Our hikes were somewhat strange. With all of the rain we’ve gotten in this prolonged spring, this bridge was actually having water flow over it. Too close to Canada I guess.

Come visit

Well part of the purpose (for now) of the blog is to keep you up to date about our lives. The other part is to let you know when to visit. We are working in a really cool area. While we are pretty busy, we do get random days off. Which means that we are your perfect source for a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday camping trip. These aren’t the best days off, but we’d love to have you. If you make the trek, we’ll show you around. The more camping and canoeing this summer the better, we might even portage for you. Well that’s a stretch. But do it.

Why you should come, exibit A:

Double Wide

Some of you heard (correctly) that Kirsten and I are trailer trash for the summer. Well I just wanted those of you who can’t experience it, to…well…experience it (at least electronically). Besides a leak and not much heat. It is perfect. Oh, the moldy frige was a bit gross too.

Beard

Out of necessity, I am growing a beard (Will, not Kirsten). Why a necessity? Well, glad you pondered. I didn’t plan this. Well, not entirely. As we were frantically trying to finish packing, etc. I misplaced my toiletries kit. Adios Mach 3. I had a little scruff going when I got here. Two weeks ago. Now it is starting to get out of control. (tangent: I kinda wish I had a beard cam so that we could track the growth. Looking back at some of the photos from the first week’s camping trip won’t completely do it justice, but it’s a reference point…the only one you’ll get). Anyway, the second night we were here I was going to buy a razor. 15$ for a Mach 3 at the store in town. Skipped that, and here were are. I even powered through the itchy phase. Enjoy it while it lasts because I may never have this opportunity again.

Plus the staff picture is going to have 5 guys with mustaches. I can’t be the odd one out now.

Tangents

So we’ve been up north for a little over a week now. Here are some ramblings from our time so far…

After finishing up cleaning out our apartment in Loring Park, we made the drive up on Memorial day. It was a nasty day, cold and rainy. But at least we weren’t headed south; the traffic returning to the cities that day was crazy long. Once we arrived we met some of the staff and stayed our first night in the lodge. After getting the tour from our co-workers, we played some cards (which is becoming quite the tradition). However, my (Will) shot at winning on the first night was cut short when two of the other staff we lost on the lake late into the night in sub freezing temps. While the search party didn’t find them, they did make it back just fine.

Our first full day of work, last Tuesday, started with us cleaning out our sweet ‘new’ residence, a retro trailer. While it needed a good spring cleaning it is going to be fun. I’ll post some pix, and besides a leaky roof, it is quaint…a perfect camp home. Then for work, Kirsten got the worse of the two jobs that day as she immediately trained for her position as a lodge desk worker and cook, while I got to take the tour of all of the canoe drop in sites. If you haven’t been to the BWCA, just know that there are a ton of lakes and the gun flint trail consists of a bunch of canoe outfitters and lodges. None, however, are as classy as Clearwater. When we returned from the tour, I started on my job, food outfitting. I’ll be packing the food for all of the groups who are fully outfitted for their trips.

The rest of the first week mainly consisted of learning the tricks of our new trade. From Kirsten’s breakfast making and reservations to my cleaning the cabins and getting all of the gear ready for the summer, it was a lot to learn. Some of the notable instances include: multiple trips to Sven & Ole’s (pizza place in town); seeing bear, moose, loons, and other wild life; getting to know all of the rest of the incredible staff here; learning to play cribbage; grilling way too many hot dogs; smelling like vinegar water from all of the cleaning; groups falling in the 49* lake water; and, of course, some great canoe and hiking journeys.

There will be many more stories to tell so check the blog. Probably weekly updates are most realistic, but I’ll try to recap the week. The lodge has its own blog, so there may be more stories there for you. At any rate, this is a start at updating you about what we are up to.

Northern Livin'

For those of you interested. Internet connection: check; cell reception: negative. In summary, we do have wireless (satellite?) internet here, but we’ll only have working phones when we head into grand Marais. So we’ll probably be able to use up our cell phone minutes once a week, and even though we have internet we won’t be online every day. Best case scenario, the world wide web will be visited every other day.

So if you need us, email, the blog, facebook or weekly checked voice mails will be returned eventually. For anything urgent, see our summer contact below. And remember, everyone loves a good care package :P

Clearwater Canoe Outfitters & Lodge
c/o Will & Kirsten O’Brien
774 Clearwater Road
Grand Marais, MN 55604

800.527.0554

http://www.clearwateroutfitters.com/
Clearwater blog

1st Trip

We did it. We conquered our first overnight trip in the BWCA. Even if it was only for about 28 hours. Monday, when we finally got our first ‘weekend’ days off, we headed out. We hitched a ride with another group who was headed to the drop in at East Bearskin (lake). From there we paddle the length of that lake, portaged to Alder lake, and finally portaged to Canoe lake where we met up with one of our co-workers, Mike K., who was on a solo trip. We had great weather and were surprised by the ease of the journey, which makes us more excited and confident about our next venture.

Along the way we saw a loon fishing from about 10 yards from the boat. When we arrived Mike was just getting back from a hike to Johnson falls, which he was gracious enough to return to and then be our guide. That portage, which we only hiked, was about 230+ rods (1 rod = 16.5 feet…who knew?!), but well worth it. With the late thaw, the water was rushing from the three-tier waterfall. Beautiful. When we returned to campsite we made up a tortilla-less (oops) burrito meal. And ended with a relaxing campfire.

However the next day was a bit different. Kirsten woke up with an infected finger. And the wind was gusting. It also looked like it might rain. Fortunately, the wind was at our backs, which it rarely is; and the rain held. So we had to cut the trip a bit short to get the finger looked at, but overall a pretty smooth ride home.

Next time we’ll be out longer, and get more pix. But until then enjoy these below.