5/4/08 – After another chilly night last night, the lake ice measured 9 inches thick this morning. The sun is shining brightly and some of the smaller lakes are starting to look quite dark.
I went up to the end of the Gunflint Trail last night to play for a dance with my band, The Splinters. It was a celebration of the Gunflint Green-up, a community effort to recover both physically and psychically from last year’s gigantic Ham Lake forest fire. Four hundred volunteers planted more than 50,000 white pine and red pine seedlings. The weekend included a dinner, dance and the Ham Lake half marathon that traces the route of the fire for 13.1 miles along the Gunflint Trail. It was great to see a community celebrating their resiliency after a devastating disaster. It was also impressive that they had the energy to dance after planting trees all day. – Bill

I am warily drilling the daily test hole (notice my one foot in the canoe). It turned out to be plenty strong enough to stand on (9″), but I didn’t want a chilly surprise!

The official measurement.

Open water around the island.

Phoebe worries about the two humans that are literally walking on the thin ice.