My son and I took a mini-trip up the gunflint trail to the meads-caribou-horseshoe area over the memorial weekend. On Thursday we booked a bunkhouse (not to be named) for Friday night. We had told them we would be getting in late, as we planned to watch the end of the Wild playoff game first. Normally this outfitter leaves a note for us on their door, letting us know which bunk we are staying in. They have been really good to us over the years, but on Friday night, there was a little mix up, and there was no note on the door. It was midnight, and we were facing sleeping in the pathfinder.

My son didn't want to do that, so he called the Norwester at 12:07 AM. Karen actually answered the phone at that time of night. I was a bit shocked she answered, and a bit embarrassed that we were bugging her so late. She said they had a bunk available, we paid her the money, and then turns out her bunks were full too. She thought she had two bunk rooms open, but turns out, two of her employees, had split up, and each one, took one. So then Karen graciously offered us one of their two room cabins for the night. We were going to be gone before 8, and were going to use our own blankets and pillows, so we wouldn't be much trouble, however I am grateful she went out of her way to take care of us.

Karen had driven with her children from Prior Lake to Brainerd for a funeral that day, and then on to the middle of the gunflint trail to the Norwester, to help her mother Luana with outfitting. It was 12:07 am. She had had a really long day, and I'm sure was very tired. She could have easily not answered the phone, or been crabby and short with us, but she was the complete opposite. She was very kind, pleasant, and thoughtful. Not to mention generous with their accommodations.

I just wanted to take a minute and say thank you Karen; you were wonderful!! I will definitely call you in the future. (note, her mother Luana was very nice too, and so was their lab Kirby!!).

Props to the Norwester for taking care of us in a time of need, at a late hour, with no notice. Thank you!

There’s just something special about the Midwest. Having grown up in Wisconsin and worked all over the country, I’m still confident in the general warmth of folks around the Great Lakes.

That is awesome. Will keep them in mind if I ever use a place up there.

That's terrific that the Norwester took care of you at that hour of the night. Kudos to Norwester.

But I'm curious what the other unnamed outfitter gave for an explanation for the "little mix up". In my opinion, that is more than a little mix-up if you indeed had a confirmed reservation. Doesn't the unnamed outfitter owner live on property? Did you try to contact them that night? Did they offer an explanation? There has to be more to this story.

The good folks at Nor'Wester came to our rescue the year of the crashed website that delayed permits a couple of months. Had a Lizz and Swamp permit (I thought) and was contacted by my issuing outfitter -- Rockwood -- about it possibly being cancelled. We chatted about bunkhouses and thought I had reserved one. Not really. When I got the permit in March, I figured we were all set. Less than a week before entry, I got a bad feeling and called Rockwood. Nope... Permit and canoe here, no bunkhouse, sorry. Totally my fault...

This was only our second trip on the east side, and so I was not all that familiar with whom to contact. Calls produced a few dead ends and totally filled spots; folks had to be shaking their heads at my lack of planning... Then I got ahold of Nor'Wester. "You know, we usually don't let out for single nights, but we do have one opening... our 1-bedroom 'Birch View' cottage... just one bed.. sort of our honeymoon suite." It was small, a bit quirky, but clean, very pleasant, and right on the water. Nor'Wester was a life saver!

HangLoose: "That's terrific that the Norwester took care of you at that hour of the night. Kudos to Norwester.


But I'm curious what the other unnamed outfitter gave for an explanation for the "little mix up". In my opinion, that is more than a little mix-up if you indeed had a confirmed reservation. Doesn't the unnamed outfitter owner live on property? Did you try to contact them that night? Did they offer an explanation? There has to be more to this story."

This post wasn't meant to be a roast of the original outfitter. It was meant to compliment Nor'wester for being so friendly, and accommodating.

They didn't call it "a little mix up". That's what I was calling it, to not escalate this thread into outfitter-bashing. Yes, they live on site. Yes, we tried to contact them (but it was midnight, it's not unreasonable that they were sleeping). The day before, at the time of the reservation, the person taking the reservation was on their cell phone, and not at the desk. We often pay in cash, and I asked whether he wanted a cc or just have us pay cash as usual. I think where he was in the middle of something, it was easier for him at the time, to just have us pay cash like we normally do, and leave it in an envelope for them. When I asked him for an explanation, he said something about entering a quick reservation on his phone, but it didn't go through. We thought we had a confirmed reservation. They've never given us any sort of confirmation number or anything like that. I just give them my name, and they mark us down. We often come in after 10 pm, and they'll have a note on the store door, for which bunk is ours. Now they have a door bell thingy, that will call their cell, when you push it, and it also has a little camera. Unfortunately, they were asleep when I tried to push the doorbell to call them, at midnight.

It left us in an awkward position, but they have always taken good care of us in the past. The situation would have been worse and more embarrassing if there had been 8 of us, with tired kids etc. In this case it was just me, and my adult son, so at worse, we would have had to sleep in the car. We just didn't have room to lay the seat back.

I guess the lesson learned, is not to get there at midnight. I should have made sure I was checked in, before watching the wild game.

analyzer: "

HangLoose: "That's terrific that the Norwester took care of you at that hour of the night. Kudos to Norwester.



But I'm curious what the other unnamed outfitter gave for an explanation for the "little mix up". In my opinion, that is more than a little mix-up if you indeed had a confirmed reservation. Doesn't the unnamed outfitter owner live on property? Did you try to contact them that night? Did they offer an explanation? There has to be more to this story."

This post wasn't meant to be a roast of the original outfitter. It was meant to compliment Nor'wester for being so friendly, and accommodating.


They didn't call it "a little mix up". That's what I was calling it, to not escalate this thread into outfitter-bashing. Yes, they live on site. Yes, we tried to contact them (but it was midnight, it's not unreasonable that they were sleeping). The day before, at the time of the reservation, the person taking the reservation was on their cell phone, and not at the desk. We often pay in cash, and I asked whether he wanted a cc or just have us pay cash as usual. I think where he was in the middle of something, it was easier for him at the time, to just have us pay cash like we normally do, and leave it in an envelope for them. When I asked him for an explanation, he said something about entering a quick reservation on his phone, but it didn't go through. We thought we had a confirmed reservation. They've never given us any sort of confirmation number or anything like that. I just give them my name, and they mark us down. We often come in after 10 pm, and they'll have a note on the store door, for which bunk is ours. Now they have a door bell thingy, that will call their cell, when you push it, and it also has a little camera. Unfortunately, they were asleep when I tried to push the doorbell to call them, at midnight.


It left us in an awkward position, but they have always taken good care of us in the past. The situation would have been worse and more embarrassing if there had been 8 of us, with tired kids etc. In this case it was just me, and my adult son, so at worse, we would have had to sleep in the car. We just didn't have room to lay the seat back.


I guess the lesson learned, is not to get there at midnight. I should have made sure I was checked in, before watching the wild game."

Thanks for sharing the whole story. I definitely didn't want to roast the unnamed outfitter. The outfitters all work very hard and mistakes do occasionally happen. I appreciate knowing the details so that maybe myself and others can avoid any confusion in the future. Like you, we often arrive at our bunkhouse after hours. Again, glad it all worked out.

I think in the future, I'll call on the day of, as we depart for up north, and double check that we are set for lodging, and remind them that we may be getting in late. if they somehow have double booked, or forgotten us, at least they have time to try to make other arrangements for us, or we can call around (during normal business hours) to try to find something else.

analyzer: "I think in the future, I'll call on the day of, as we depart for up north, and double check that we are set for lodging, and remind them that we may be getting in late. if they somehow have double booked, or forgotten us, at least they have time to try to make other arrangements for us, or we can call around (during normal business hours) to try to find something else."

Good idea. I did the same thing just yesterday after hearing your story. I called my outfitter to confirm my shuttle. I never received the email confirmation after I spoke with them on the phone a month ago. I thought that I better confirm. Outfitters are very busy. It doesn't hurt to pick up the phone and verify everything is in order. Especially this season. Things are very hectic up there