The holiday season has always been one of the most enchanting seasons on the Gunflint Trail. With snow-capped trees, snowshoe and ski trails winding across frozen lakes, and snowbanks framing the road, a Gunflint Trail holiday has distinct storybook qualities.

One thing that’s sure to be covered during holiday conversations is the weather,  be it snowfall or the recent winter temperatures.

In A Taste of the Gunflint Trail John Patten remembers the early days of Adventurous Christians in the mid-Trail area were especially chilly:

Our first winter in the lodge was an adventure. It wasn’t far into December when the lack of cash flow caused us to abandon use of the propane heater and we relied completely on the wood stove to “heat” the entire lodge. It was no joke among staff members that you’d best hold your fork in your armpit a minute or two before inserting it into your mouth at breakfast, or it would freeze to your lips. We had a neighborhood Christmas Eve service that December, and upon apologizing for the lack of heat to all service attendees, Harry Nolan [owner of Sunset Point on Hungry Jack Lake] responded with an immediate “What heat?!”

On the other side of the spectrum, Florence Page Jaques recalled being shocked to find balmy temps on Christmas day during the winter she  spent with her husband, Francis Lee Jaques, on Gunflint Lake in the early 1940s. In her book Snowshoe Country, she wrote “It is thirty above! Scandalous! This isn’t the Christmas weather we are supposed to endure!”

No matter the temperature, getting the annual Christmas tree remains an important tradition for many Gunflint Trail families.

Florence Page Jaques remembers the search for the perfect Christmas trees  in Snowshoe Country:

At sunset Bruce [Kerfoot] and Lee and I started up the cliff trail to get a Christmas tree. It was a delight to have such thousands to select from, but almost impossible to choose among them. On a ridge we found a beauty, and I begged a tiny one besides. I’ve always wanted to have a Christmas tree for birds. Coming down, the spicy air and the great snowy landscape were so inspiriting that Lee and I surprised Bruce by bursting into carols. The lake was a giant mosaic in pastel colors as the sunset reflected on various surfaces. It was as if a rainbow had been shattered there.

Carlene Soderberg Krumpack, daughter of Carl and Elinor Soderberg who owned Soderberg Cabins, remembered in Taste the Christmas trees her family had in the late 1940s:

Our first Christmas tree had candles in candleholders that my mom bought. It was beautiful. The next Christmas my dad hooked a string of lights up to a car battery.

Marilyn Sly, a seasonal Gunflint Trail resident, remembered the Christmas she and her young family spent on the Gunflint Trail in a interview with the Gunflint Trail Historical Society. During their time on the Trail, the family  made their own decorations, strung popcorn and cranberries, cut down a tree, and attended a Christmas service at Okontoe around a potbelly stove.  “It was one of the most beautiful Christmases,” Sly said.

Do you have holiday memories from the Gunflint Trail? Be sure to share them in the comments.