3 Weeks in Minnesota ~ August 2012 ~ Day 8 and 9: Visiting Roger in the Lake Country

Saturday and Sunday - August 11th and 12th:

This past winter when I joined the Tucson Hiking MeetUp Group, I met all kinds of interesting people. One of them was Roger. He stood out from the group. Why? He is a shutterbug! When I first saw him walking around with two digi-snaps taking pictures of damn near everything, I thought, "Who is this nut?!"
Well, I changed my tune when I saw his pictures. And, being fellow shutterbugs, we hit it off instantly.

Roger, Betsy, and I became good buddies that winter. We went on lots of hikes together and swapped photos and stories. I learned about Roger's origins in Minnesota, his career as a Computer Geek and eventual retirement to a gorgeous cabin in White Earth Lake, just a short distance from where he grew up in the small town of Ada.

So, what better excuse to travel to Minnesota than to visit Roger and explore some of Minnesota? Roger and I talked over the months prior to our target departure month of August. Once things were firmed up, we made our plans to head north for our "Three Weeks in Minnesota."

The route to Roger's place was damn near due north from Luverne, where we had spent two days exploring the prairie and land of the Sioux Quartzite. We left Luverne and headed north on US 75, then picked up US 59 at Appleton.
We discovered both US 75 and 59 were closed in places, with detours that threw us off course a bit and got us lost—temporarily.
But, we still arrived at Roger's lake house on time and rolled into his place at 15 minutes before 3:00.

A look at the Land of Roger.
The origin of the name "White Earth Lake" comes from the white clay found in the area.

The White Earth Indian Reservation (or Gaa-waabaabiganikaag (lit. "Where there is white clay") in the Ojibwe language) is the home to the White Earth Band, located in northwestern Minnesota. It is the largest Indian reservation in that state by land area. The reservation includes all of Mahnomen County, plus parts of Becker and Clearwater counties in the northwest part of the state, along the Wild Rice and White Earth rivers. It is about 225 miles (362 km) from Minneapolis-St. Paul and roughly 65 miles (105 km) from Fargo-Moorhead
.
The reservation originally covered 1,300 square miles (3,400 km²). Much of the community's land was improperly sold or seized by outside interests, including the U.S. federal government, in the late 19th century and early 20th century.

According to the Dawes Act of 1887, the communal land was to be allotted to individual households recorded in tribal rolls for cultivation in subsistence farming. Under the act, the remainder was declared surplus and available for sale to non-Native Americans. The Nelson Act of 1889 was a corollary law that enabled the land to be divided and sold to non-Natives. In the latter half of the 20th century, the federal government arranged for the transfer of state and county land to the reservation in compensation for other property that had been lost.

Source: WikiPedia

Our arrival day was the day of the White Earth Lake Association meeting and picnic. Roger is the Treasurer and is here seen collecting dues and handing out the latest water quality report.

Our first look at White Earth Lake from Roger's deck. The lake covers 2,101 acres, and nearly 75% of the 14.5 miles of shoreline is virgin, undeveloped woods, including the island seen here. The deepest part of the lake is 120'—the domain of the sturgeon.
The portion of the lake that is less than 15 feet ( Littoral area) in depth is around 600 acres. The littoral zone is where the majority of the aquatic plants are found and is a primary area used by young fish. This part of the lake also provides the essential spawning habitat for most warmwater fishes (e.g., bass, walleye, and panfish).

Betsy soon discovered Roger's deck is perfect for relaxing.

A look at the back of Roger's nicely landscaped lot. This is the same spot his parents owned and at which the family would spend many of their weekends. The old place is now gone, and Roger's place sits on the same site. And his twin brother Doyle built a place right next door.

Betsy soon discovered Roger's living room is perfect for relaxing.
This is North Woods decorating at its finest!

When we weren't relaxing, we spent some time on advance planning.

Mike soon discovered Roger's deck is perfect for relaxing.

Betsy soon discovered the loft is perfect for relaxing.

Here, Betsy gives Mr. Moose a sip of her Corona. We saw many moose while staying at Roger's place. But, none of them were in the woods....

A look down the steps leading to Roger's dock and pontoon boat. Note the naturalized shoreline. This is preferable to a tightly cut lawn, as it helps control runoff into the clear waters of the lake.

Roger took us out for a tour of the lake. It was calm and quiet.

Even the shoreline, which is developed, is nicely treed.

Ahhh... loons! Their eerie call can be heard night and day. What a lovely sound.

This is the best I could do with my little digi-snap.

Betsy soon discovered the lake is perfect for relaxing and swimming.

Betsy soon discovered the lake is perfect for relaxing and kayaking.
Here she gets ready for a solo paddle.

The unseasonably cool nights made for some foggy mornings on the lake.

But there were some clear ones also.

One morning Roger and Betsy went paddling. See all those gulls in flight? Roger has a little war going with them. They poop all over the swimming deck and make it unusable. He scares them off and they always come back. Go figger...

Roger—man of the North Woods (and Arizona canyons as well!)

Roger and Betsy found a nice beach to relax and have a swim.

Roger lives a two—minute walk from the Cedar Crest Lodge so we went there for breakfast one morning. Check out the big Sturgeon!

Click on the photo to read more about this big sturgeon.

After breakfast Betsy used the ladies' room and got a nice surprise. It was uniquely decorated!

After breakfast we started our hike on the Fish Gut Trail back up behind the lodge.

We saw some nice shelf fungus. (Photo by Betsy)

Photo by Mike.

Whoops! This was what my calf muscle looked like after I got a puncture wound from a pencil—sized stick I kicked up.

This is the piece I pulled out of my leg. OUCH!

About an inch of this chunk was imbedded in my leg. That ended our hike, and we returned to the cabin.

On the way back to the cabin, Betsy spotted this pretty Rue.

And there were many lovely Ostrich Ferns down in the low spot adjacent to the trail.

The bright yellow of the goldenrod and tansy was an eye-popper. The tansy is not native and has naturalized in many of the sunny spots along the edges of the woods and fields.

Next stop—Lake Itasca State Park.
See you then! ~Mike and Betsy.