We're starting to venture deeper into the BWCAW as the lake ice gets better, so I figure I'd start a thread like the one from last season.

After last night's cold it appears that Gunflint has locked up, which probably means that the small chunk of Seagull still open, and the big part of Sag, are frozen as well. Most small to medium lakes have a good 4 to 8 inches, with almost zero snow cover. There's very, very little snow at the end of the Gunflint Trail, a little more mid-trail.

Here's what the trail to Tuscarora and the north east part of Seagull lake looked like as of yesterday: Tuscarora and Seagull Palisades

Andy

Thanks for the update. Hoping to get up that way soon.

Nice video... I enjoyed your commentary on the ice, lakes, and conditions.

Awesome video! Thanks for the update.

Thanks for the update. I had some friends drive up to the end of the Gunflint on Sunday and did some ice-skating. Looks amazing up there right now. Just need some more snow.

Also, here is a link to the current snow depths in Minnesota:
MN DNR Snow Depths

A pretty quiet weather week, another couple inches of snow and seasonably warm temps. If you're coming up around the holidays or for the BWCAW lake trout opener the lake travel, especially the skiing, is amazing. Unfortunately we're going to need some more snow before dragging sleds over portages is going to be anything other than misery.

Here's what it looks like: Old Fashioned Gunflint Trail Winter Update

Well, we knew it would happen sooner or later. The Gunflint Trail got about a foot of snow this week and some bad slush formed, although it's not everywhere like last year. If you're headed towards Missing Link or Brant anytime soon here's what you can expect to see: Slush Monster

Andy

Thanks for the update. Hopefully your prediction about the slush setting up in 2 weeks is good. I'm heading up next weekend.

My wife and I skied from Sawbill out to an island campsite on the south side of Alton Lake and had a wonderful lunch on Sunday 12/27.

Very little traffic so far, we followed sled tracks on Sawbill as long as we could as breaking trail was not all that fun. The snow was deep in some spots and scoured down to bare ice in other spots. We did run into some slush here and there on both Sawbill and Alton. Nothing at all like last year.

We only had to stop and scrape skis a couple of times.

I had just recently hot waxed our waxless skis (glide areas only) and then applied a swix wipe-on liquid wax (over the whole ski including fish scales and the sides of the skis).. I think these two things made a big difference in how little ice accumulated on the skis and how easy it was to scrape off.

I am off to ski some bwcaw lakes around Ely the next couple days. I will report back oon snow and slush conditions when I return.

I skied some snowmobile trails, dog sled trails and bushwhacked south and a bit east of Burntside Lake the last few days. I skied across a small lake and a medium size one in the area and slush was a real problem with the recent addition of a about 3 - 4 inches of snow. Ran into slush on parts of the lakes so I spent most of my time on the trails. A dog sledder caught up to me and we talked for a bit and he had also been avoiding the lakes because of the slush.

The snow coverage is good, but we need some deep cold for several nights to firm the ice up.

Nonetheless, it was great to be out in the woods.

Mike

northerncanoe
The snow coverage is good, but we need some deep cold for several nights to firm the ice up.



Mike"

Slush is cleared more by time than by cold. The snow above the slush and the warmth of the lake below allow the slush to remain "slushy" for days or even weeks regardless of the air temperatures. Over time the water drains from the lake and from the ice surface (sometimes forming large openings in the ice) and the desaturated slush transforms into white ice. Slush can also be vanquished if the water saturates so much of the snow cover that the insulation is minimized.

That being said slush conditions around Ely are fairly epic right now.

The slush has been getting steadily better on many lakes, it's widespread but not very deep. We don't have very much snow and it's been super warm for this time of year.

If you're headed down Seagull anytime soon here's what you can expect: Seagull and Glidelites

Andy

Slush has been fairly bad east of the Gunflint this week. Bearskin (west) has been spotty, but a bunch of snowmobile traffic still. Daniels had a fair bit of slush. Clearwater was hit or miss. The small lakes south of Clearwater were really slushy with the worst of it on the East end of Deer and parts of Moon. Those hiking in big classic snowshoes were staying on top of it, but there's 6 inches of slush in some spots if you do punch in. Looks like Bearskin (lodge) has gotten most of the ski trails groomed with all that nice snow we got near Christmas. Winter's in full swing.

Not to sound like a broken record... But the slush is still steadily getting better on the upper Gunflint Trail lakes, some colder than forecasted temps along with a general lack of snow has frozen some of the worst pockets, but there's still widespread slush.

The BWCAW trout opener was the busiest in history and it's looking like it's going to be a busier than normal winter season. If you have any questions about parking please don't hesitate to call or email us, or any other business up here. Lots of people are getting stuck trying to find places to park to access the BWCAW.

Here's some fishing and some thoughts about the slush: Fishing trip and a little slush talk

Andy

Severe wind chills -say -40F/C and colder - also help to firm up slush. as mentioned, not so much the temperature- but the removal of heat by severe wind chills does help.

Well, nothing ever seems to change up here. No new snow and no cold. Slush is still all over but not deep, the big lakes are way better than the small ones. Excellent packed trails to most popular winter camping and ice fishing lakes.

Here's a ton of fishing: BWCAW Lake Trout

Andy

A bunch of the lakes east of the Gunflint are pretty traveable this last weekend. There is still bad slush in spots, but there is a pretty good hard layer on top of it that is holding. The big lakes are still looking real good. We finally have been getting some below zero this week after a very mild winter.

The lakes at the end of the Gunflint Trail are in pretty good shape, slush is minimal, and there's not much snow. Skiing is the way to travel right now, it's super fast and easy. Permit week was by far the coldest week we've had so far this year, and we picked up a few inches of snow, but we're still far behind normal snowfall.

A little weather talk, some fishing, and some new MN made ice fishing rods: A lake trout, brook trout, and some new gear

Andy

Finally some changes! After over a month of the same weather day in and day out it's starting to feel more like a real winter. We had 4 to 5 inches of snow from two storms in the last week and then it got cold and super windy. It's -26 right now, yesterday's high was about -14 and we expect the same today.

The snow, combined with the high winds, formed incredible drifts on all the lakes. Skiing, snowshoeing, and hiking through these is a bit of a challenge right now. Some slush has popped up, but it's not widespread yet.



We got out before the cold snap and the snow for what will likely be the last time we fish outside of shelters for the next few weeks: Catching some lake trout

Andy

Quick update!

Slush: Gone, as far as we can tell the slush is frozen and gone at the moment.

Lakes: Wind whipped and crusty with 4 to 8 inches of snow. Great skiing or snowshoeing.

Snow: Not much for this time of year, 20 inches or less.

Ice: Seems like 20 inches is the average we have seen, but some lakes could have less or more depending on how much snow cover they had going into the cold snap.

We're getting into the best time of winter for fishing and camping!

Andy

Thanks very much for the regular updates, Andy. Heading up this weekend (Ely side, alas). The perennial question is, "How's the slush?" Glad to hear it's not bad.

The best winter conditions of the season are here! Lake travel with skis or snowshoes is excellent, slush is nonexistent, and the temps are seasonably mild.

Ice has been ranging from 18 to 26 inches.

We got out after some trout and ended up with the best fish of the year so far: Windy Lake Trout Fishing

Andy

Andy thanks for the many good videos and posts. I appreciate them. We hope that post covid life will allow more travel to the trail in the winter. Keep us posted.

Our canoe we picked up from you last fall is first rate, and ready to be refinished in the basement....looking forward to a summer of fun with that!

10+ Inches of snow fell on the upper Gunflint Trail overnight. Right back to February conditions. Haven't been out on the lakes yet, but they look like there will be some sloppy spots.

bummer, I was planning on fishing Sea Gull this weekend. Any updates are appreciated, I might go mid-trail if it seems like travel will be difficult.

Ugh. Hopefully some brave souls break some trails before Saturday. Always appreciate the updates.

Sadly, large parts of Round lake are a slushy nightmare right now. It may be wet enough to freeze solid over the next few nights though.

The lake travel improved much faster than we thought it would. Most lakes are extremely firm with little to no slush. Creeks and areas with moving water are starting to open up a bit, so be careful.

March on the Gunflint Trail

Andy

Winter is still holding on up here. It's hard to believe but we really haven't lost any meaningful main lake ice yet, the regular snowfall we've been getting has been insulating the lakes against the above average temperatures. But, anywhere with current, the creeks, and some shorelines (mostly the public landings) are in rough shape.

Late March


Andy

Well, that's all she wrote for Winter 20/21. We're headed towards a super early ice-out.

Early Ice Out?

Andy