Ice or no Ice?

As I sit in the third floor basement of the JHU Library (I have not seen natural light in weeks it seems!) contemplating deep questions such as what motivates US International Trade policy: ideas, political elites, rational choice models, power, or my personal favorite the structure of international anarchy, another question drifts into my mind which is much less complex but will also have wide ranging implications for my future, Ice or no Ice?

Will there be an ice out on the Gunflint before I arrive on May 9th?

Specifically I am wondering if when I arrive in the BWCA in just over two weeks whether the lakes around Tuscarora on the Gunflint trail will still be iced over? According to Minnesota DNR the average ice out for may of the lakes in the region is right around the beginning of May and last year the ice went out in record time by April 10th. This year though has been the year of the never ending Winter in Minnesota with temperatures remaining near freezing and snow storms occurring in mid to (gasp!) late April! While temperatures are warming up in Grand Marais and the Gunflint Trail ice out can be a long slow process. The record for the latest ice out in the region is May 17th back in 1996. Should there be another historically late ice out this year (and it looks like there might be) chances are my first week in the BWCA will be a bit different then I was expecting!

Current MN ice out conditions

BWCA in T-Minus 1 Month!

It is hard to believe but my time here in Baltimore is already coming to close and in just one short Month I will be leaving this city (and civilization in general) to spend nearly four months in the Wilderness of the BWCA in Northern Minnesota.

A typical BWCA lake

I have been to the BWCA several times in the past on Church and Family Canoe Trips as well as biking the 70 mile long Echo Trail with my Father last summer on a 350 mile long Father-Son Bike Tour through Northern Minnesota. Needless to say between time spend at my Family's cabin near Grand Rapids and time spent in Duluth and the North Shore I am quite familiar with Northern Minnesota and the lifestyle it entails, but this summer I am going to get even more acquainted with it!

Tuscarora Lodge and Outfitters near the end of the Gunflint Trail and close to the Canadian Border

From May through August this summer I will be working at Tuscarora Lodge and Outfitters (website & blog) on the Gunflint Trail! This place is literally almost at the end of the trail and miles and miles from modern civilization. While I will be busy helping outfit people for their canoe trips, I have no doubt that I will find plenty of time to do some of my own exploring in the BWCA as well (which will of course be documented here)!