#gunflint

[vintagecamping]

Gateway To The Gunflint Trail

Grand Marais, Minnesota

1957

[laurelroadpoetry]

Somewhere on the Gunflint Trail, 2017.

[chaddavisphotography]

Gunflint Trail picnic table.

[rhumbline]

[sohannabarberaesque]

With the Hair Bear Bunch, it's not just about ursine love

The following was an Editor's Note preceding an illustrated essay which the Hair Bear Bunch contributed to Squiddly's Underwater Annual, the annual privately-circulated compendium of underwater esoterica compiled by Squiddly Diddly, drawing on experiences of the madcap ursine trio of Hair, Square and Bubi when their mating season road trip took them into the Gunflint Trail region of northern Minnesota's Arrowhead:

For 57 miles inland from Grand Marais, Minnesota, along Lake Superior's shore, the Gunflint Trail (otherwise known as Cook County Highway 12) is something of a legendary gateway into the Boundary Waters region and its Canadian counterpart, the Quetico Wilderness in northern Ontario, attracting many thousands of the adventurous annually seeking out wilderness pursuits such as canoeing, kayaking, backpacking, tent camping--and even diving.

Yes--diving underwater.

It's been known for some time that Hair, Square and Bubi, otherwise known as the Hair Bear Bunch, are fond of taking prolonged road trips coinciding with the bear mating season into bear country for some "quality time" with their ursine cousins which they doubtless enjoy.

But when they're not into mating pursuits, they can't help but enjoy the sensation that is diving in some lake by which they've set up bivouac for a day or two in their rebuilt campervan. And such happens to be the foci of this particular item.

Yours truly [Squiddly Diddly] was somewhat surprised to find a Priority Mail envelope some months back sent by the Hair Bears as included some choice underwater photos taken by and among the trio during their diving escapades, which are more or less of the breath-hold, freediving sort, while their road trip mating adventures took them along the Gunflint Trail. Not to mention diary entries from the travel journals of the madcap trio as covered that particular region relating as much their underwater as their sensual exploits.

All in all, covering quite a few of the lakes along and close to the Gunflint Trail region, in many instances being photographed underwater for perhaps the first time ever. For which we have Hair, Square and Bubi to thank for such vivid and fascinating presentation, even if it may have been with a disposable underwater camera for the most part.

[veryverytemporary]

Reece Hickman, And the dog teams are off on the Gunflint Mail Run, a 10-dog, 65-mile race from Gunflint Lake, in the Boundary Water wilderness, to Grand Marais, on the north shore of Lake Superior, in northern Minnesota’s Arrowhead.

[the-hwaelweg]

Packing to go on vacation up the Gunflint aka trying to cram 3 seasons worth of outfits in my bag.

[highways-are-liminal-spaces]

Dusk on the Gunflint Trail

Superior National Forest, taken February 2024

[seraphica]

Minnesota Dioramas at the Bell Museum

A series of intricate dioramas at the Bell Museum in St. Paul, Minnesota, depict snapshots of flora and fauna from locations across the state. The earliest dioramas date from around 1917, while the most recent were created in the 1950s. All received a full refurbishment in 2017, when the museum moved to its new home. PBS produced a half-hour documentary on the move, which is available to view for free.

Moose at Gunflint Lake

Wolves at Shovel Point

Spring at Cascade River

Elk at Inspiration Point

Cranes in the Red River Valley

Beavers at Lake Itasca

Lake Pepin's Sand Point

Big Woods

Snow Geese at Lake Traverse

Tundra Swans at the Minnesota River Valley

Bonus: Life-size Ice Age reconstructions - featuring a Wooly Mammoth by Blue Rhino Studios

[nerdyqueerandjewish]

It’s fun seeing how the reclaim clay changed at the studio. When I started it was very close to Speckled Buff, and now the reclaim is super dark because everyone is into Gunflint

[wuxiaphoenix]

Colors of Another Sky Worldbuilding: Flint vs. Match

Necessary caveat: Not a gun expert, nor do I play one on TV. I have almost no practical experience with firearms. (One day I want to have enough hobby money aside to visit a gun range and impose on them to show me All The Things.) I have, however, tried to get a handle on what kind of firearms were historically bouncing around Northeast Asia about 1550-1650. Most of those, even in European hands, would have been matchlocks.

There’s an account from Xu Guangqi (yes, that Xu Guangqi) in Ming China about 1605 of an arquebus that can “use stone to ignite fire”. There’s another mention in the official record of the Joseon dynasty that on the 12th of July, 1631 (the 9th year of King Injo), a magistrate sent a flintlock musket to the king as a potential trade item. This is the first known flintlock in Joseon. King Injo, worried about the Jurchen/Manchu threat, wanted to mass-produce flintlocks, but the court... resisted. As we now know, bad call.

So. Matchlock vs. flintlock. These terms don’t actually refer to specific types of guns. They refer to how the gun ignites and fires.

In brief: Gunpowder down the muzzle. Wadding and bullet down the muzzle. Gunpowder in the priming pan. Then, and only then, do they differ.

A matchlock has a burning slow match. (Yes, technical term.) A thick fuse you’ve already set alight, attached to the serpentine (looks like the hammer on a more modern gun). When you pull the trigger it slams the match into the pan, setting that ablaze, which puts fire through the touchhole, which sets off the main charge, which shoots the bullet.

A flintlock has gunflint. Pull the trigger, it slams the flint against the steel frizzen to make a spark. Ignition proceeds, boom.

So. Advantages versus disadvantages?

Overall and in the long run, a flintlock is advantageous. First, so long as you don’t bust up your gun, the flint’s not consumed by being used. Slow match is. Second, if rain or accident soaks your flint, you can dry it out and use it later. Slow match, not so much. Third, whenever the match slams into the pan, there’s a chance it’ll go out and you’ll need to relight it. Flint doesn’t have that problem. Fourth, with a flint there are no sparks until you fire. Meaning you can sneak up on an enemy position in low visibility without slow match blinking like a swarm of fireflies.

Less supplies needed, less chance of going wrong, more sneakiness potential. All of these mean that if you have a choice on the battlefield, take the flintlocks.

However. The main characters in Colors are not soldiers. They are monster hunters.

There are monsters against which mass artillery is your best bet. In which case they’re likely to commandeer the nearest hwacha. They are definitely not averse to guns, or the most modern tech they can get their hands on. Yet they’d hesitate to switch to flintlocks. Because flintlocks don’t have slow match.

This is where the magic aspect kicks in. Monsters (and cultivators) have weaknesses, effectively banes; things that really don’t agree with how their body runs and heals itself. Cultivator banes vary, and individuals generally find ways to work around them. Monster banes tend to be more predictable. Silver, hawthorn, cold iron, various purifying herbs and the like. Some of these can be added to ammo, but herbs make terrible alloys. Slow match, on the other hand, is made from vegetable fiber, usually cotton, soaked in a flammable solution. Herbs and hawthorn could be in that solution, or even woven in as part of the fiber itself. With the added benefit that if you have said match on you, burning or not, a vulnerable monster may hesitate to close in and shred you to pieces.

This also means if you know what you’re hunting, you can switch out your match for the best bane you’ve got. It complicates logistics but it can save a monster hunter’s life.

Likewise, think. If you’re hunting monsters at night, you run a very real risk of shooting your fellow hunters by accident. If everyone’s carrying burning match, you have a visual marker telling you don’t shoot.

There’s another more subtle magical aspect that can affect the battlefield. Skilled craftsmen cultivators can work an array into an object, to be set off under certain conditions. Smoke from your slow match might be part of said conditions. Although given the time and expertise needed, this would probably still be more specialty weapons for officers and sneaky troops.

If you’re wondering about flintlocks/matchlocks versus cultivators or other magic users? A bullet’s a bullet, dangerous to anyone, and an exploding iron shell is one of the known ways to kill a pesky enemy cultivator. (And anyone else standing in fifty-odd feet.) AKA while some cultivators can survive incredible injuries, even a stab to the heart, assume the Chunky Salsa Rule applies.

There are magical ways to defeat gunfire, most of which boil down to don’t get hit. Some cultivators can form elemental shields, stopping bullets with a sheer mass of water or stone. Some play tricks with gravity. Some can form portals that whip the bullet or shrapnel off Somewhere Else. But all of these depend on a cultivator knowing they’re about to get shot with enough time to react. Mind, they can react supernaturally fast, but....

(If you’re getting the idea that John Wick would be a very real threat to even a powerful cultivator - yes. Yes he would.)

Aaaand then there are demons.

The Chunky Salsa Rule does not apply to demons.

In this AU, one of the reasons the Ming Dynasty hasn’t been as grabby for northern territory as they were IRL is, there are demons there. Daehan, and their Demon-Callers, are a buffer between Ming and things you need a flamethrower to stop.

...Well, they haven’t been as grabby yet. The Ming are dealing with the Jesuits. They have access to gunflints.

Oh boy.

Shoutout to Kateriobrian; hope this is what you had in mind! ;)

[jessebeckerms]

Weingut Eckehart Gröhl Riesling Niersteiner Ölberg Rheinhessen 2021

Lagenwein / 100% Riesling / organic (in conversion) / 12.5% alc. / 4.7 g/L RS / 7.6 g/L acidity

Ölberg is a south-facing site, next to Hipping. Classic Roter Hang (Rotliegend) red soil. Johannes notes that “there is always wind at the top of this site.” Vinified in half Stückfass, half stainless steel tank. Compact aromas on the nose of grilled peach, smoke, and gunflint with superb length and layered finish. “Ölberg is always calm, not stressed on the palate,” says Johannes Gröhl who spent time honing skills as a Riesling and Spätburgunder specialist at Weingüter Rings and Philipp Kuhn in the Pfalz, and Matthias Knebel in the Terrassenmosel. It is presumed that the Ölberg (Oil Mountain) was named for the oily texture of its wines. ****

Imported by: Veritable Wines & Estates Miami, FL

download / gröhl / riesling / rheinhessen / 2021

[newmusicweekly]

“MN Acoustic Music Master,” (Star Tribune) Michael Monroe, performs original/acoustic cover tunes on vocals, crystal/bamboo flutes and Seaton Guitars crafted on the Gunflint Trail with reclaimed 200 year-old wood from the bottom of Lake Superior. Michael Monroe is now in his 5th decade of performing nationally in concert, festival, corporate and educational settings. He has travelled many miles since his first paid performance for an audience of 4000 in Asbury Park, NJ and recording his first demo over 6 decades ago in a “chicken coop” studio owned by Paul Stookey of Peter, Paul and Mary. Monroe’s award winning instrumental soundtracks are featured on PBS/CBC, in Jim Brandenburg (National Geographic) “Chased By The Light.” and received an Emmy for Jason Davis’ On The Road, program, “Soaring On Mended Wings.” A recipient of many MN State Arts Board grants from the 90s through 2023. Michael’s original music and compelling energy bring a powerful style that is as much fun as it is innovativemusic and technology working together powered by creativity and he recycles his music LIVE on stage as “master LIVE Looper” since 1990. His soulful performance delights and inspires. Monroe returned to the Twin Cities following 28 years on the North Shore of Lake Superior near Grand Marais 11 of which were spent “off the grid” where he recorded his first 12 original albums using solar power. Read the full article

[sohannabarberaesque]

Postcards from Snagglepuss

So Duluth was meant to be laughed at, no?

ON THE SKYLINE PARKWAY IN DULUTH, MN: The motorhome whence Huckleberry Hound and yours truly have decided to continue our everlasting road trip is parked close to the Engler Tower, itself a landmark of Duluth as much as the Aerial Bridge in Duluth Harbour, essentially THE only access between downtown and Park Point. And sipping coffee besides as we drink in a somewhat misty view unto Duluth's downtown below.

"Uh, Huck--did I tell you about the one time I found the CB Bears and reconnected with them practically in this same spot in the parking lot?"

"I think the memory escapes me on that point, Snag," Huck remarked as he took another drag on the coffee--which turned out being the Arco brand, a well-known local such in the Twin Ports and the North Shore regions.

"It was early on in my road trip experiences. Not exactly Route 66, to be honest about it, but the Mini Cooper was my vehicle of choice ... I was driving along the Skyline Parkway, just drinking in the view as we are now ... and just near the Engler Tower, even, I couldn't help but notice the trio of Hustle, Bump and Boogie."

"THEY were the CB Bears, Snag?"

"You had best believe it, recall them, even!" Which had Huckleberry Hound chuckling a modest bit. "Shucks ... how easily yours truly, being one of the earliest of us Funtastics, forgets newer stuff like the CB Bears. Were they those bears named for disco dance moves?"

"Correct, Huck, correct. At any rate, yours truly could not help but be surprised at such a meeting, and with their Perfume Wagon still managing to hold on with the proverbial baling wire ... even though the cases they got from 'Charlie' seemed few and far between."

"So what are they nowadays doing?"

"Huck, that ursine trio happens to be into fishing, and serving their catch on cedarwood planks. But later on, after we met, they decided to try some surfing in as unlikely a spot as on Lake Superior. Up by Palmers, even, along the Lake Superior Scenic Drive--"

"You mean to tell me, Snagglepuss," Huck remarked, "that people can actually surf in such otherwise chilly waters as on Lake Superior?!"

"Correct. And not long afterward, Hustle let me in on a little secret ... that he was originally from along the Gunflint Trail. Out of Grand Marais, even!"

"So where were Bump and Boogie from, if I may ask?"

"Bump turned out to be from somewhere near Yellowstone, having managed to escape from a rather intense forest fire ... and Boogie was originally from Alaska himself!"

"Rather amazing, these backstories we all have. And you wonder if many of us have stumbled on Breezly Bruin, understood, naturally enough, to be from Nome, Alaska."

"Have you seen Underwater America with Peter Potamus, Huck?"

"Snag, now that you mention it--I have. And I couldn't help but find Breezly Bruin looking rather crazy in diver's gear. Even if, as a polar bear, he manages to otherwise dive rather well breathhold."

Stepping out of our motorhome and into the parking lot, the mist had started to clear somewhat to allow for that impressive view down upon Duluth ... even enough to notice another vessel or two crossing under the Aerial Bridge heading outbound. Leaving me to ponder to myself just why "Duluth" was among those names that still brought down the house on the Orpheum Circuit in vaudeville's zenith (and I could still picture George and Joey Bungle trying to generate laughs with the sheer mention of "Duluth").

*************

@warnerbrosentertainment @zodiacfan32 @jellystone-enjoyer @iheartgod175 @haiyis-dark-void @archive-archives @thylordshipofbutts @screamingtoosoftly @princessgalaxy505 @themineralyoucrave @thebigdingle @warnerbros-blog1 @indigo-corvus @xdiver71 @theweekenddigest @railguner34 @warnerbrosent-blog

[spinstrackingsystem]

“MN Acoustic Music Master,” (Star Tribune) Michael Monroe, performs original/acoustic cover tunes on vocals, crystal/bamboo flutes and Seaton Guitars crafted on the Gunflint Trail with reclaimed 200 year-old wood from the bottom of Lake Superior. Michael Monroe is now in his 5th decade of performing nationally in concert, festival, corporate and educational settings. He has travelled many miles since his first paid performance for an audience of 4000 in Asbury Park, NJ and recording his first demo over 6 decades ago in a “chicken coop” studio owned by Paul Stookey of Peter, Paul and Mary. Monroe’s award winning instrumental soundtracks are featured on PBS/CBC, in Jim Brandenburg (National Geographic) “Chased By The Light.” and received an Emmy for Jason Davis’ On The Road, program, “Soaring On Mended Wings.” A recipient of many MN State Arts Board grants from the 90s through 2023. Michael’s original music and compelling energy bring a powerful style that is as much fun as it is innovativemusic and technology working together powered by creativity and he recycles his music LIVE on stage as “master LIVE Looper” since 1990. His soulful performance delights and inspires. Monroe returned to the Twin Cities following 28 years on the North Shore of Lake Superior near Grand Marais 11 of which were spent “off the grid” where he recorded his first 12 original albums using solar power. Read the full article

[the-hwaelweg]

It is such a beautiful, warm, sunny, spring-like day, and I am so abjectly frustrated with every single aspect of my life, it took all of my willpower, when I ran my lunchtime errands, to not just keep driving, all the way to Duluth, or the Gunflint, or hell, Canada.