April 29th Seagull Ice

Spring is coming and the ice out contest will soon be over! Photos just taken 10 minutes ago today! Deb

April 25th at Seagull

I thought I would tease you all with some open water. These shots were taken on the walk to the mailbox today. It is GREAT to see open water. It is 60 degrees here in the woods today.

This gives you a whole different perspective than the webcam shot. I suspect many of you will get excited seeing these that you are still in the photo contest!

Deb

An early morning visitor at Seagull this morning. I was enjoying my morning cup of java while overlooking the bay this morning. Two wolves came through the narrows and walked over to the store, stepped on the dock and walked onto the shore. I walk over there everyday to the mailbox and think I will drive today. We are sharing these woods with many others!

The ducks are returning to the open water in the narrows and by the dock. There is open water surrounding the perimeter of the bay and things are starting to melt again. You can see by the photo what the ice looks like in the middle of the bay.

There were actually 4 wolves that were on the south side of the narrows this morning. Two of them went north to our store and the other 2 went east. Fox walking on the ice is an everyday occurrence here.

We are anxious for open water, wildflowers, customers, staff arriving and the tug of a walleye!

Deb

60 Degrees in the Woods Today

The melt is coming! We had 60 degrees and sunshine on Seagull today. We had significant snowmelt and snowbanks are vanishing. The pond behind the store is looking dark and the water is moving through the culvert. This should help to get the thaw going and spring on the way! Stay tuned! Deb

Spring IS Coming

I think we can imagine ourselves paddling this canoe right about now. This photo was emailed to me by Seagull customers Ann and Steve. This is a "fog" shot on Ottertrack Lake. They are currently preparing for their 101 day canoe trip. Can you imagine that? How many of you would want to spend 101 days out in the woods? Or better yet, how many could afford the time to do so.

Temperatures have moderated and maybe this long cold winter is coming to a close. It has been a tough winter for everyone around the country. Maybe it is time for you all to enter the March Photo Contest on the Discussion Forum from the home page of our website. This month the photo theme is "Wildlife". Or, think about entering the Ice Out contest on the discussion board. The winner gets a $100 credit towards canoe rental or a cabin vacation at Seagull Outfitters. You can watch the winter ice disappear from the webcam shot on the home page.

Rental cabins are filling fast. We have changed our marketing for our cabins to accommodate shorter stays. You can also come and go any day of the week. You will find our current availability online on the website under the cabin site navigation.

Canoe trips are booking well too and we think it will be a great paddling season ahead. We are enjoying a little down time fishing in south Florida waiting for the snow to melt! Please email or call with any questions about your trip this summer.

Deb

Winter at Seagull

Quiet, serene, peaceful and calm! It is a great winter and summer wonderland in the canoe country. And the night sky is magnificent. Last week with the cool crisp nights, the stars were out in all their brilliance. We can star gaze from the upper level of our house on Seagull. It is spectacular. You can do the same thing if you head north this winter. The Gunflint Trail festival called Winter Tracks happens this Feb 4-13, 2011. Drive north and enjoy the Gunflint Trail winter.

Deb

January 2 at Seagull

It is January 2 at Seagull and we are watching the last Vikings game of the season. The weather has turned cold and we had minus 1 degree this am. The pine grosbeaks are happily eating in the feeder on our deck. The lake photo is shot south from our deck. The sun gives the illusion of being warmer than it actually is and that is a good thing!

It is time to start thinking of hiring staff, going to gift shows and planning for 2011. With that in mind, I wanted to give you an update in regard to the permit reservations for both the Boundary Waters and Quetico. We are still submitting Boundary Waters Permits into the lottery through January 15th. We can submit BW permits online after the lottery on January 20th. The phone lines for Boundary Waters Permits open on February 1. The Quetico Park is working with a new reservation system after the fiasco last winter/summer. The Quetico Park says that the new office equipment has arrived in Atikokan, will be installed this week and then they will be trained. I would expect that we will be reserving Quetico Permits by mid January if not earlier.

Therefore, for those of you headed to the Quetico Park this summer, please try and call me this week so we can get what you need. The same is true for any Boundary Waters paddlers that have their dates already. Or, just fill out our online reservation form on our website at your leisure and we can take care of things that way.

My stepdad Gene is headed off on a 110 day world cruise this week. I would love to hop on that boat. Instead, I am here waiting for your calls!

For those solo boat/kayak paddlers, we have added the Wenonah Canak to our line this summer. It is a solo kevlar prism with the capacity of a canoe with bow and stern storage compartments yet the touring ability of a kayak. It should be a great watercraft for any solo paddler.

Happy New Year to All!

Deb