Laketrails Base Camp

Where were you 40 years ago?

By Pat Zavoral

So, I was thinking where was I when the first man walked on the moon. It was July 20th, forty years ago today. I was working at Laketrails, and had pulled beach watch for kids that wanted to swim off of the main dock. The old dock shack was Earl Jenkin’s pride and joy. It had more nuts, bolts, wrenches, oil cans, gas cans and rope than any other place on the island. It was also the place where the life jackets were stored for the boats. The smell of oil, gas and lake water permeated a fifty foot swath around the entire building. There was an old radio that was our life line to the outside world, no internet back then, phone service was spotty and expensive; two way radios were everywhere and were used to communicate with the boat captains who brought supplies, campers, mail and bottle gas twice a week up to the islands.

This particular day was hot and still, the flies were buzzing around the sand, the water temperatures were warm enough to allow everyone to swim without screaming bloody murder. Father Bill was sitting on a chair, listening to the radio and smoking a pipe. All of a sudden he called everyone over and urged us to listen to the radio broadcast of a moon landing. We all listened to a scratchy voice from a Canadian radio station explaining what was going on and then heard Neil Armstrong’s voice utter the famous, “One small step for man, one giant step for mankind.” We could see the moon in the sky that late afternoon and some of us wondered where they were on that planet.

A couple of days later Fr. Bill posed a question at a staff meeting whether or not it was right for Americans to be spending all this money going to the moon while there were still people going to sleep hungry all over the world. Being a smart college student will some social conscience but also a practical side I suggested we probably could do both if we had the will to do it. Forty years later we still have hungry people and a space program with faulty toilets.

Environment Committee Update

Environment Committee Update, July 1, 2009

I am happy to report that Dave Kranz, a science teacher at Eagan High School, was at Laketrails again in June to work on developing our footpaths along the south shore of Oak Island. Along with the help of the ambitious and energetic camper workers, Joe Miller and Jacob Farmer, Dave gave a good trim job to the wonderful South Beach Footpath that he developed last summer. This footpath is now readily available to anyone wanting to take a nature walk along the forest edge and the beach that starts at R2D2 at Eagle Point past Toad Marsh up to Frog Marsh. These are the new names that we have applied to the various locations along our property on the southwest portion of Oak Island--a map of these locations is available in the EcoRoom in the Chart House. Come and enjoy.

Dave also got a good start on developing a new footpath from Frog Marsh to the cool tucked-in little beach on the way to Ash Point (again, these locations are available in the brochure). Dave really is impressed with an area that he believes can become a great campsite next to this mini-beach.

This new footpath will lead through two different types of forest that are also found on the South Beach Footpath.

The first type is a large section made up of impressive green and black ash trees, which average a height of 72-feet and 13-inches in diameter. The black ash like wet feet so prefer the swampy areas and the green ash stand on the higher ground. This section of forest also has many ash seedlings and saplings as well as some paper birch. The underbrush is made up of mountain maple, dogwood, alder, and high bush cranberry. This portion of our forest, while very beautiful, is an area of serious concern because of the advance of the Emerald Ash Borer that has recently been found in south central Minnesota and is now apparently advancing in our direction. At the moment, the Emerald Ash Borer is as invasive and destructive as Dutch Elm disease. We have information on the Emerald Ash Borer in our EcoRoom.

The second type is primarily a bur oak forest, many of which are 35-feet tall, and under them you can identify some oak seedlings and saplings. The underbrush here contains dogwood, hazel, Juneberry and mountain maple. In tree history terms, these bur oak trees are significant because they live very near the northwestern limit of bur oak in North America, and therefore are very slow growing. These trees can live up to 200 to 300 years old and their acorns are very important wildlife food--bears and squirrels go nuts over them.

Our forest is also critter country! If you walk these forest footpaths in the early summer evenings, you can join in and harmonize with the frog and toad choruses. There are also all kinds of birds along these footpaths and beaches. Bald eagles love to roost along these shorelines. So get your hiking boots on and bring your binoculars.
Thanks to Dave, Joe and Jacob for all their sweat, scratches, and mosquito bites.

Jack Conway

Islet in Waiting

Environment Committee 2009 Summer Solstice Update Islet in Waiting

After taking a week off-island, I returned to Laketrails on Friday, June 12, with Chris and Jake Reber. After a mere nine days many changes were obvious. The days are longer and the nights shorter. The groundcover and lower greenery on the island had thickened. The Dutchman’s britches flowers and leaves were now covered with a light green blanket of jewelweed and dandelions. Some new grass is growing on the bare spots on the paths and roads. Good to see that. Most of the trees are leafing out but the ash trees and especially the bur oak were just beginning to come out of budding, but now, after a couple days of great sun, temps in the 70s, and humid afternoons, even they are leafing out. I saw a few moths and even one new dragonfly sitting still and slowly moving each wing, one at a time, probably trying to figure out—I suppose—what these things can really do. He must have figured it out because he was gone in a flash. I wonder if dragonflies say to themselves, well I liked being a bug, but these wings are really cool!
I see that a yellow-bellied sapsucker that I have never actually seen is still banging away on our white pine next to the Lodge and leaving its gooey patterned beak marks. Today I did see and hear my first Veery that sings away while it seems to be gargling. All the birds, of course, are still going nuts, racing through the trees at sonic speeds protecting turf, building nests and displaying. Our displaced barn swallows have abandoned the west porch of the Lodge although they still like to sit on the upper windows on the porch. One of the persistent ones however continues trying to build a nest on one of the rafters, but she (he?) has dropped more mud on the deck than has stuck to the rafter. I see them still scooping up mud from the islet’s central drainage area mud so I am wondering where they are relocating their nests. I think it is important to keep them nesting around our islet because they are a species that is slowly declining in population in this country. We want them to feel welcome on our island, but just not over the doors of our kitchen and eating areas. We also want them around because they are a beautifully colored bird with a wonderfully pleasing chatter as they swoop and soar around our buildings. They perhaps are the most acrobatic and swift among the flying critters, and they, besides, they love to chomp on mosquitoes! So far no deer or bears on the island. Wood ticks are showing up. The mosquitoes are just coming out in hoards. The frogs across on the island marshes are tuning up as they slowly get into a free full-blown orchestra concert each evening. It wasn’t too many years ago that the frogs were silent. What has changed I do not know, but it is great to have them back, and in such good voice. The lake level is at a high point, just now beginning to creep onto the top of our low dock, and when the wind is up, the waves wash up over the top. Water level at Cyclone is 1,060.1. We like it at 1,059. I wish it would do the same at the canoe dock which is full of Canada goose crap and gull garbage of crayfish claws and more poop. Now that there are a few more of us on the island at least the Canada geese are not mouthing off at us, in fact, we hardly see them on the island now.
As you might have noticed from our website, the lawn got mowed, thanks to Jake and Chris. Wade and I planted a maple tree near the Bernice garden—Larry Schmitz brought one to us. Many plants are flowering now—you may have seen the pin cherry blossoms on the website camera. And we have dandelions, so many that Chris made a dandelion leaf salad the other evening (the secret: get leaves from dandelions that are in the shade; those in the sun get too bitter). Everything seems to be in place, just waiting for the arrival of the staff and then the campers. And off we go for another season of Laughing, Living, Loving, and Learning.

Jack Conway

Memorial Weekend 2009

2009 MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND AT LAKETRAILS BASE CAMP
 By Jack Conway
 

May 22, 2009: F 18 people (and two dogs) on the islet. Wade worked on the Laundry/Shower hot water heater, the last item needed on the water system. Wade and I scoped out the work tasks for today since our volunteer crew will begin arriving soon. Tom and Cheryl Vander-Heyden were the first to arrive around 11:00 AM in the light rain. The Millers (Glenn, Joe, and friend, John Hopper, and also Janelle Sietsma (late 70s guide) came about 2:00 PM. Mark Lindell with Tim, Brandt and Brian and brother in law, Todd Barnes, with son, Carter, arrived about 5.00 PM. Finally about 6:00 PM Deb McGarry, Pam Farmer with Jacob, Lydia and the singing Buster boated in about 6:00 PM. Wade, Tom, and Cheryl worked on the Rockhopper, lawn mowers, the Honda boat motor, the water system to the old Laundry, and on other Shop stuff.

May 23, 2009: Saturday 18 people on the islet. Joe Miller, John Popper and Jacob Farmer worked on wood chipping all the tree slash from our tree work last weekend, did some lumber stacking, and cleared all the slash except for the piles at Cokes and from around Herolds. These guys also helped to tear down the Fire Pit hardware wire and poles. Lois would like to plant a tree in the middle of the old Fire Pit. We then hauled all the downed wire mesh and fencing to the Dock Shack to bring to the recycle center, and then stored most of the poles, rebar and pipe. Wade and Mark and Todd worked on leveling buildings such as Noesens that always seems to be sinking into the nearby swamp, leveled the Noesen’s staff porch and outside porch, cleaned some of furniture—they found a whole dresser drawer full of a mouse winter apartment house), leveled the two porches leading into the Palace, and leveled the Noble House john ramp. Glenn Miller spent the day in the Pump House working on leaks, the wiring, getting rid of broken parts, and reworking some of the wiring. Pam, Deb, Janelle and Lydia cleaned and disinfected the kitchen, pantry and KP areas and all kitchen utensils, plates, stainless, etc. Tom and Cheryl redesigned the interior of an old outhouse by the Shop into a Gas Shed, worked on the Palace wiring—and while doing this discovered another heavy duty mouse winter condo in the breaker box. We needed to turn off all the power to remove the mess. Todd’s Carter and Mark’s boys—Tim, Brandt and Brian—worked on the johns, cleaned the Lodge windows using the Genie, whcked some weeds, and mowed the lawns in the late afternoon.

May 24, 2009: Su 18 people on the island. Wade, Tom and Cheryl moved the web site camera from Lodge to the Chart House and wired it for power, and getting it up on the web after such a long absence over this winter. Take a look at the great new live view of camp on our website—new view every ten seconds! Wade used a barrel to construct a composting device that we will be using this summer. Jack continued observing the Barn swallow’s persistent nesting tactics above our Lodge kitchen doors and installed the Barn swallow nesting devices (built by Mike Broderick) at both ends of the Lodge monitor to see if the swallows would make us of them. (Earlier this week Wade and Jack installed some plastic spikes above the Lodge kitchen doors to see if these would also induce the Barn swallows to build their mud nests elsewhere.) Tim, Brandt and Carter finished chipping the slash pile by Cokes and spreading the chips over some of the muddy portions on the footpaths by Cokes. Joe, John and Jacob cleaned all Chart House windows, inside and out—and these guys even got up on the roof to clean the outside upper windows. Deb, Pam, Janelle and their gang continued cleaning of Lodge KP area and the large eating room. Jack trimmed the spreading edges of the cherry tree patch just west of the Lodge. The Mark and Tim and others did a bang-up job of leveling the Wheelhouse (now tilting some six inches to the east) and firmed up the deck, bridge and walkways leading to the Wheelhouse. They also replaced and painted the rotting facing board on the foundation of John’s Villa and leveled the building. Glenn continued to work on fixing and doing the final clean up of the Pump House. Over this whole weekend, Deb McGarry, Pam and Lydia Farmer, and Janelle Sietsma not only prepared wonderful meals throughout the weekend which made for a good time in the Lodge, but worked long and hard to get the Lodge kitchen, pantry and KP area into tip-top shape. Also, Deb and Pam purchased and arranged for the purchase and transport of all the weekend food to camp. And wonder of wonders, Janelle Sietsma, after working real hard along with Deb, Pam and Lydia in the Lodge kitchen, took it upon herself, on Sunday afternoon to single handedly clean—and I mean CLEAN!—the Laundry and Shower Building. The entire place just glowed with clean! Wade did a great job of organizing and running the weekend cleanup activities and keeping everyone up to speed on what progress we were making. Jack completed the cleanup of the EcoRoom, and made a poster for the camper and staff that deal with the Emerald Ash Borer and the Gypsy Moth—two invasive critters that are most likely spreading because of our national habit of hauling infested firewood. The Lindell and Barnes fishing expeditions led to some great fish meals during this weekend. (Be sure to take a look at our website see the great walleye that Tim Lindell caught.) He released this one, but the group had a bunch of others for us to feast on. Yum, Yum!! As a final note, all the usual birds—even the hummingbirds—have arrived on the island, and except for the swallows and geese, they were totally unaware of our existence since they are all nutty and frantic about mating, nesting and super-charged aerial acrobatics. And, of course, the relentless grackles literally kept following the swallows and warblers to their nests to snatch any early eggs (I found two broken robin eggs). Even though there are a lot of challenges out there for us all to face due to all our economic woes, this singing islet is alive and well and full of budding wonders.
 
May 25, 2009: Monday 1 person on the islet. Starting at 6:00 AM people were boating away from our docks to get to Young’s Bay before the coming rain hits. The light rain started around 7:00 AM, and everyone was gone by around 9:00 AM. Jack remains on the islet—an islet now ready and waiting for the return of the staff and campers.

A BIG THANKS TO ALL THOSE WHO CAME TO CAMP THIS WEEKEND TO HELP CLEAN UP AND TO GET OUR GREAT CAMP READY FOR THE SUMMER SESSIONS FOR OUR CAMPERS!!!

NMJC Work Weekend Report

LAKETRAILS WORK PROJECTS AT LAKETRAILS 2009

REPORT FROM ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE

 

May 12: Wade moved in and began working on water system.

 

May 14: Lois J.and Jack C.arrived.  The lake was very high at Young’s Bay, but as Lois noticed on the web, the lake level at 5:00 PM was 1063.82, and by 9:00 PM at 1059.55—that’s a four- foot drop in four hours!!  We like the 1059 reading here at camp.

        How about our Oak Point Islet?  Well, the grass was just starting to grow so at least we did not need to take time to mow.  Lois and I took a quick tour around the place, and as usual the angry and pissed-off three pairs of geese grudgingly moved off the east side of the islet honking off some insults over their backs at us as they retreated.  The local mice had left their traditional welcome markings in all our buildings—tons of little black turds and a couple dead furry corpses in various containers.  In fact, here is a scat report: plenty of bear dump, fresh green goose goop, otter poop, and a number of mystery droppings.  We are fertilized.  No buds on any trees, some on a few bushes, no dandelions, and the Dutchman’s britches are just barely beginning to bloom.  We found a big load of pine cones under the white pines by the Lodge, two pelican skeletons on separate parts of the islet, severe deer browse on the pine and cedar this winter, sun-scald on blue spruce in front of Noesens, and the Wheelhouse tilting seriously to the east.  There were quite a few downed branches, one of very big ones blocking the road by the Lodge mound.  The island soil was very soggy and saturated from the recent rains, and there were many small pools all over the islet.  The middle of islet was a small lake slowly flowing over the road by the Shop.  Overall, things looked about normal for this time of year after a long winter. 

 

May 15-17: Two NMJC leaders and seven kids arrive on a windy day. 

        On Friday Lois started a fire in the Lodge early in the morning to begin taking off the winter chill of the building.  The kids, a great group of energetic young dudes raring to get to work, first got settled in and immediately jumped right into tree trimming projects. 

        Saturday morning we awoke to a numbing wind chill of around 12 degrees, a blanket of snow on the ground and a very very very frigid wind slamming in from the northwest, making it so cold that it was nearly impossible to work on west side of island or even be in the Lodge since the building was still radiating its winter cold.  For the kids, our BIG fire in the Lodge took on the character of a people magnet.    

        The barn swallows, orioles, Black and white warblers, Yellow-rumped warblers and a number of smaller sparrow types arrived Saturday along with gaggles of grackles.  I continue to wonder how tiny little creatures like warblers and sparrows survive these severe weather conditions.  The big birds are around, of course.  The bespeckled pelicans continue to cruise the winds, as do the fast black cormorants spearing past just above the big waves, and gulls everywhere.  The place is alive!  Impressive!

        Our major work this past weekend was to open up more sun exposure on our buildings in hopes of reducing the lichen, algae and moss damage to shingles.  Here is our report on our efforts.

 

        Wheelh’se:    Removed 2 fallen branches off roof

        Noble:            Removed 1 live tree

                                Removed 3 dead trees

        Noesens:       Removed 1 live tree

                                Trimmed 1 large fallen branch

        Bills:               Removed 1 live tree

        Harrens:         Removed 3 live trees

                                Trimmed 1 live tree

        Cokes:            Removed 3 live stems from clump of trees

                                Trimmed 4 live trees

        J’s Villa:         Trimmed 1 large branch from live tree

        Herolds:         Removed 7 live trees

                                Removed 1 live stem from clump of trees        

        Log cabin:     Removed 1 small live tree

                                Trimmed 6 trimmed

        Laundry:        Removed 1 live tree (hollowed out, rotting heartwood)

                                Trimmed 2 live trees

        Knob Hill:      Trimmed 5 live trees to allow more sun on garden

        Road:              Removed 1 small deformed tree

                                Trimmed 3 large fallen branches

 

Totals:                    Removed 16 live trees (2 small trees, 1 hollowed out tree, 13 good trees over 6” diameter)

                                Removed 4 live stems from clumps of trees

                                Removed 3 dead trees

                                Trimmed 25 trees

 

--Wade spent a great amount of time and effort in order to get the water system up and running

--Wade got the tractor running.

--Cut up all downed trees and branches and hauled & stacked the wood.

--Tree wood in Woodshed separated from processed lumber

--Many loads of wood to Lodge fireplace (snow on the ground by Saturday morning)

--Filled the Knob Hill wood shed with sized wood for the small KH stove

--Endless chipping of tree slash (much left for over Memorial Day weekend work crews)

--Installed boat lift next to low dock and two boat roller ramps

--Moved boats into water

--Checked and assessed all buildings for possible damage

--Changed regular light bulbs with CFLs in a number of buildings

--Cleaned up flower gardens

--Planted milkweed seeds

--Ditched road so water could flow from central water drainage area

--Benches out around campfire

--Deadheads along shoreline hauled out of water

--Firepit dismantled

--Establish a non-burning policy for camp this summer (recycle to Angle Inlet)

--Cover on Crud Pit, but trying to establish a new compost system by barrel or palette system

--Perishables moved from Chart House to Lodge pantry and Bee Hive

--Information on Emerald Ash Borer to Celeste Colson at Jake’s resort

--Brought Emerald Ash Borer and Deer Tick specimens for EcoRoom

--Brought egg-shell Minnesota rock samples, nature books for library

--Did research on how to try to transition persistent barn swallows away from Lodge porches

--Brought two barn swallow nesting devices and two bluebird houses (built by Mike Broderick)

Back on the Island!

Well, I arrived back on the island on Tuesday night (5/12).  The ride across was ok but it was a bit choppy going around the corner at Flag Island.  Yesterday however, was a different story.  Winds out of the south west with gusts over 50 mph.  The rollers coming by the lake were 3'-4' in height.  Last night the winds switch to the northwest but are still at speeds of around 30 mph.  The temp dropped to about 25 last night with wind chills in the single digits.  The dock is full of ice and it is so cold the boat won't start!

Worked on getting the water system up and running yesterday.  The pump house is good, up to the holding tanks.  The problem is that the pumps to push it from the pump house to the rest of camp are in need of some repair.  The parts are ordered and should be coming up with Jack Conway and Lois Jenkins this afternoon.  I also have all of the building ready for the water to arrive.  It looks  like they all made it through the winter with no issues. 

We have a work group from the Northwest Juvenile Center arriving tomorrow for some spring cleaning.  It doesn't look like we will have the best weather, but they always manage to bring a good group of kids and get a lot of work done.

I will update this again tomorrow and hopefully can report that the water system is up and running at 100% capacity.

Laketrails Base Camp has partnered with Goodsearch

Laketrails Base Camp is happy to announce that it has partnered with search engine "Goodsearch" to provide you a way to do internet searches using Yahoo's search capability and donate to Laketrails at the same time. 

All you have to do is go to www.goodsearch.com and select Laketrails Base Camp as your charity of choice.  Each time you make a search on this site, a small donation is made to Laketrails. 

You can also use "good shop" to make your online purchases.  Up to 30% of the purchase price would then be donated to Laketrails.  The percentage varies by supplier, and there are hundreds of suppliers to chose from.   So now each time you shop online at such places as:  Barnes and Noble, Bloomingdales, Best Buy, Lands End, Office Depot and many more, you can make a donation to Laketrails!

Please visit www.goodsearch.com and start donating to Laketrails!

Laketrails Offers a $210 Discount to Qualifying Campers

Laketrails Base Camp is offering its own economic stimulus package.  If you book between now and May 15, and pay your fee in full, you will receive a $185 discount reducing your camp fee from $710 to $525 for the nine day experience.  If you bring a friend or two along with you, we will give each of you an additional $25.00 discount bringing each of your camp totals to $500.     Laketrails was founded in 1952 and has offered thousands of teens the opportunity to experience the wilderness of Lake of the Woods for almost 60 years.  Campers are picked up in a variety of location between Rogers, Minnesota and the Northwest Angle of Minnesota.  Once the bus arrives at Young's Bay, campers are loaded on boats and motored across the lake to the island which hosts Laketrails Base Camp.  Once there, staff will help campers find their way to their cabins and complete their initial health screening.  The first day closes with a fine dinner in our dining hall and a welcoming campfire. Day 2 starts bright and early as campers will learn the skills needed to embark on a 5 day canoe trip into the Canadian wilderness on Lake of the Woods.  This training includes swim tests, canoeing instruction, tent set up, ecology, and low impact camping techniques.  Day two closes with campers picking their trip and meeting with their new groups to go over their routes and prepare for a morning departure. After breakfast on Day 3, campers will depart on their trips and will return late on day seven or possibly even day eight depending on their route.  On day eight campers will experience an ultimate challenge event  and will end with a closing campfire. Day nine starts bright and early with a light breakfast and shuttling of campers from the island back to the bus waiting in the Northwest Angle.  Many campers will find their departure from the island difficult as they have made many new friends and have become part of the Laketrails Family. Book now and reserve your spot on the island with us this summer.  See you there! REGISTER NOW!

Online Registrations!

Laketrails has gone digital!!!!!  As of April 1, 2009, the registration process for attending Laketrails has gone online.  A secure link set up through Campwise Software and MinsistryLINQ has enabled Laketrails to set up an online registration process that will enable campers and their families to streamline camper registrations and have immidiate processing of their payments. Laketrails will now have the ability to process Visa/MasterCard/Discover or take electronic checks.  Campers will also have the option of mailing in a check.

Families will have the ability to make additional payments by entering back into the software with their unique username and password.  All transactions are secure and financial information is not stored on laketrails computers or at campwise, but is able to be accesed through secure transaction numbers at MinistryLINQ.  Your payment is 100% secure!. 

Another aspect of this software that is nice, is that parents only have to enter the information one time.  They can enter additional children without having to enter their contact infomration in again, and in 2010, all they will have to do is select the session that they want to attend! 

Parents will also know right away if they are on a waiting list for that session and can choose to reamin on the list, or select a session that has openings.  Parents will also select the bus pick up and drop locations, making that process a bit easier and less confusing.

Sign Up today, as camp is filling up fast!

Donate to Laketrails

As most of you are aware, Laketrails is feeling the effects of the economy. In 2008 over 50% of our campers received some level of financial assistance. In 2009 the demand is even greater! Unfortunately, many of our past donors have had to decrease the amount of their gifts due to the economic conditions. For those of you who have attended Laketrails in the past. For those of you who have benefited from living the Laketrails Idea.  For those of you who are reading this, the time has come for you to help make this experience available to a new generation of campers. As was proven in our last presidential election, no donation is too small. Please consider donating to the Laketrails Campership Funds. Contact Wade at 800-450-6460 to make a one-time donation or better yet set up a small  monthly contribution(we can process Visa/MasterCard/Discover or set up electronic fund transfers).