Anne Rykken. one of the founding Board members of the Trail Association and Minnnehaha Academy’s Nordic Ski Coach has an article  in the November issue of Cross County Skier magazine.  The article tells of trip with members of her ski team skiing the Banadad.  The article is not yet on the internet so you will have to go directly to the magazine to view the article.

The several members of the Minnehaha Ski Academy’s Ski Team and parents will be spending this coming weekend working on the Banadad.

There was about an inch of snow last night; still snowing lightly now. More snow is expect this week while Anne’s team is here.  The team should enjoy this!

Banadad Work Day-Volunteers Wanted

In the morning prior to the Banadad Trail Association’s Annual Meeting (BTA), you’re invited to help get the Banadad ready for winter. Weather permitting, we will be clearing the summer’s accumulation of brush and downed trees between the BWCA line on the west end of the Trail and the Dawkins Lake Bridge.

Meet for the Trail Work Day at 9:00 am, Saturday, October 22, at Poplar Creek Guesthouse B&B, 11 Poplar Creek Drive (just off the Lima Grand). Hand tools and lunches will be provided to all volunteers. The North Stars Ski Touring Club will be joining us this day.

After the workday plan to stay-on for the Association’s Annual Meeting and Potluck Get-to-Gather

Greetings from the Association’s President!

Despite the warm temperatures the past couple weeks, it is Fall, which means work crews are on the Banadad Trail preparing for the Winter ski season.  This past year has been an ambitious one—many trail improvements, including replacing the Banadad Bridge.

The Banadad Trail Association continues our work to preserve and maintain this wonderful trail so that skiers will continue to be able to experience the truly unique experience of skiing in the Boundary Water Canoe Area Wilderness!  If you have skied the Banadad, you know what a special experience it is—its single track goes deep into the BWCA. Some days you may not meet another soul while skiing—there are few places that provide that experience.  Whether you are going for a short ski, skiing the entire trail in a day, or breaking up a through ski with a stay in a yurt, the Banadad takes you deep into the woods where your privacy may only be disturbed by a lynx, grouse, or moose. I’ve been skiing the Banadad for nearly twenty years now, but have yet to find another ski experience that equals this trail!

We hope you’ll experience the Banadad this winter—and will love it as much as we do.  We also hope you’ll consider joining the Banadad Trail Association if you’re not already a member.  Volunteers like those of us in the BTA are essential to maintaining the trail and preserving it for future generations.  In addition to volunteering time to work on the trail, members of the BTA write grants and raise funds to support the trail, develop membership, and help educate the public on the Banadad.  We are always happy to have more people involved—please contact me if you’d like to join us and have an idea to suggest or want to join us for a working weekend in the woods.  We’d love to have you!

This has been a great year for the BTA and a special thanks to all our many members and friends who have supported us again this year!  Have a great ski season—see you at the annual meeting and on the trail!

Happy Skiing—Linda Bosma

BTA Applies for Grant to Solve West end Easement Problem

The Banadad Ski Trail was built by the United States Forest Service during the summers of 1981 and 1982 at the urging of the Gunflint Nordic Ski Resorts. This 31-kilometer trail serves to connect the Central and Upper Gunflint Nordic Trail Systems.

The Banadad’s western trailhead, since opening, has passed through private land on an old logging road. The previous owner had no interest in this land or where the trail was located on their land. Another party has now purchased this land. The new owner is willing to sell deeded easement to the Banadad Trail Association for the trail provided the trail is moved east of its present location. The new owners plan to build a home on this land and will be using the existing trail as an access road to this home.

The only other place to relocate the Trail’s western trailhead would be on Federal land to the west. However building a trail on this land would be quite challenging. Any trail built over this land would have to cross a large wetland, bridge a stream and then negotiate a very difficult hill.

The most feasible place to relocate the trail would be just to the east of the old trail on the privately owned land.

With this in mind, the Banadad Trail Association Board of Directors voted to work towards acquiring easement and relocating the west end trailhead. A grant application has been submitted to the Minnesota DNR for this project. If approved the grant is approved the Association will have to raise an additional $2000 as their local share of the grant.

Getting the Trail Ready for Skiing- It is a big job!

• Banadad Bridge Rebuilt-The Big News is the on October 17 and 18 eight volunteers rebuilt the Trail’s old dilapidated thirty-six foot bridge over the Banadad Creek between Banadad and Rush Lakes.  The bridge was in such bad shape that when the crew arrived at the bridge a portion of it collapse as Lowell Johnson was walking across it. The old bridge certainly would not have support the grooming equipment this coming winter. In addition to Lowell the crew consisted of Tom Rice, Steve Lenius, Lee Wenzel, Karla Miller, Len Voit, Pete Harris, and Ted Young. Funds to help support the project were provided through a grant from Arrowhead Electric Coop.   For more information concerning click on bridge.

• West end of the Trail Cleared – Again this year five members of the Minnesota Conservation Corps widened one and half miles of the trail’s west end and then walked the entire eight miles of the west end trail clearing down trees as then went.

• Half Mile of East end Widened, – BTA’s regular trail maintenance crewmember Jim Raml and his dog Blanca “ATVed” up to the BWCA line at the Meads Lake Portage from there he hiked-in three and one half miles, clearing downed trees as he went. Jim camped on the trail and spent four wet-buggy ten-hour days widening about three-quarters of a mile of the brush-blocked trail. Great job Jim!

• Lace Lake, Tall Pines and Knapp Trails – Located outside the BWCA where mechanical equipment is allowed, chainsaws were used to clear all the summers accumulation of down trees. Later this fall the center brush will be mowed with a-brush hog equipped track Bobcat on the trails outside the BWCA. “The swampier” sections of these trails we plan to clear by hand with a brushsaw.

Get Set For Winter – Join the Banadad Trail Association

Peter Spink, Membership Chairperson -Just like squirrels storing nuts for the winter, we have been feverishly working to get set for another ski season on the Banadad! Trail clearing has continued to widen overgrown sections, a bridge in the middle of the trail was totally rebuilt in September (see photos), and plans are continuing to improve and reroute the western end of the Banadad Trail where it connects to the Gunflint Trail. These efforts are funded both by DNR, federal grant funds, and a special grant from Arrowhead Electrical Coop for the bridge and by membership dues along with significant volunteer labor. To continue maintaining the Trail in excellent fashion requires more members, more donations and grants and more volunteers.

Just like squirrels storing nuts for the winter, we have been feverishly working to get set for another ski season on the Banadad! Trail clearing has continued to widen overgrown sections, a bridge in the middle of the trail was totally rebuilt in September (see photos), and plans are continuing to improve and reroute the western end of the Banadad Trail where it connects to the Gunflint Trail. These efforts are funded both by DNR, federal grant funds, and a special grant from Arrowhead Electrical Coop for the bridge and by membership dues along with significant volunteer labor. To continue maintaining the Trail in excellent fashion requires more members, more donations and grants and more volunteers.

Please join us in membership to support the Trail that you love. Membership categories range from $15 upwards for annual membership. Please see our website at http://www.banadad.org/ for more information and to sign up to become a member. We need your support, your muscle, and your pocketbook! The Banadad Trail Association is a 501 (c) (3) organization and your donations are tax deductible.

Support the Banadad Ski Trail by Joining the Banadad Trail Association!

Click on membership to join

The replacing of the Banadad Bridge on September 17 was noted in a recent article on Cook County’s own public radio’s website- click on BWCA Bridge to veiw.  An article on the project  also can be found on the Midwest’s  leading Nordic Ski websites - Skinny Ski.

This fall we are looking for a crew to assist in rebuilding the Banadad Bridge. The bridge is located eleven miles out on the east end of the Banadad Ski Trail. To get to the bridge the crew will canoe into Rush Lake early Saturday, September 17 then spend that  day working on the bridge, camp on Rush, finish the bridge the next day Sunday return.  Tools, canoes and camp food furnish. If interested call  218-388-4487.

Our first major snowfall of the season on November 13 dumped 5 inches on the trail. Since then we added another six to seven inches of snow. And it is still snowing.  Trail crews are out rolling the Banadad and removing any remaining down trees. When this is completed we will start tracking. While the east end trails should be tracked and ready to ski within days, the remainder of the Banadad we anticipated to be open by mid-December.
Please get your ski pants and boots on and head to the mailbox to renew your membership in the Banadad Trail Association. Form are available on our website at www.banadad.org. If you have not joined the Association before- Now is your chance!

Your membership funds this year supported extensive clearing of the trail along with keeping it in tip top shape through the winter season (we also were able to purchase a  wonderful new snow grooming machine with a DNR grant). This summer and fall work crews from the MCC (MN Conservation Corps), the USFS and North Stars ski club along with groups of Association members cleared most of trail’s 41 Kilometers.

Key projects for 2011 include:
- rebuilding the ____ bridge
- finishing clearing the final __k of trail needing attention
- rerouting the west end and parking area

The Banadad Trail is in its best shape in years thanks to you. Let’s keep it that way! Join today.

Gunflint Trail -Banadad Trail Association members and volunteers were out in force clearing the Banadad Ski Trail this past weekend.  Twenty-five volunteers, worked 250 hours, clearing over thirteen miles of trails, including the seven miles within the Forest Service’s Mead and Dawkin prescribed burn areas. Trail clearing work was coordinated with the Forest Service.  Volunteers report only one 2000-foot section along the trail suffered any major fire damage. On the remainder of the trail, only a few scattered small spot burns were found. The trail for the most part is in excellent shape.

However, one crew did report that along side the trail a large beautiful area of old growth cedar just north of the 2000-foot burned-over area was destroyed by the fire.

Burned Old Growth Cedars Burned in the Meads Lake Burn

In addition to the Banadad Trail Association members, work crews included several local residents, business members, and members of the Twin Cities North Star Ski Touring Club, who have helped maintain the trail for many years.  Joining the volunteers on Saturday were two Forest Service crews charged with the responsibility of removing the down trees across the trail within the burn areas. Ten miles of the Banadad, the one-mile Tall Pines Trail and most of the three-mile Lace Lake Trail were cleared and pronounced ready for skiing.

The Banadad Trail Association’s Second Annual Meeting was held at Poplar Creek Guesthouse B&B  in conjunction with the trail clearing.  Officers elected at the Annual Meeting were Linda Bosma, Minneapolis, President, Andrew Jenks, Stillwater, Vice President, Kate Kelnburger, West Bearskin Lake, Treasurer, and Barbara Bottger, Hungry Jack Lake, Secretary. Rounding out this year’s Board as At-Large members are: John Bottger, Hungry Jack Lake; Wayne Monsen, Stillwater; Chris Matter, Hudson, Wisconsin; Peter Spink, Poplar Lake; Tom Rice, Minneapolis, Anne Rykken, St. Paul and Karla Miller, Duluth. Association members thanked Karen Monsen, the Association’s first president, for leading the organization through its initial two years.

Banadad Trail Association Board of Directors

As part of the Annual Meeting’s program the Association’s web manager, Tom Rice, treated those presented to a slide show on the weekend’s trail clearing. Ending the meeting was an outrageously hilarious skit entitled “the Loony Divas” staged by two members of the Association. Following the meeting a potluck dinner was held.

The Banadad Trail Association formed two years ago to preserve, maintain, and protect the Banadad Ski Trail, the longest tracked ski trail in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.  The Association’s growing membership is made up of skiers, businesses, and individuals who want to ensure that the Trail continues to be a resource for skiers into the future.  According to Bosma, the Association’s new president, “I look forward to working with all our neighbors and partners in the coming year to implement the Banadad’s Trail Plan, increase our membership, and continue the work of the Association.  We are very grateful to all the volunteers who worked on the Trail this weekend.  The Banadad is in great shape!  We are ready for the snow and this year’s ski season.”

The Banadad Trail Association’s Annual Meeting  is scheduled for 5:00 PM,  Saturday, October 23 at the Poplar Creek Guesthouse B&B, 11 Poplar Creek Dr. Following the meeting a Pot Luck dinner is planned. Everyone interested in the Banadad is  invited.

During the day on Saturday a volunteer work day will be held on the Trail. For this meet at the Guesthouse at 9:00 AM.

For more information on the Annual Meeting and Trail Work Day call 218-388-4487.

Five members of the Minnesota Conservation Corps canoe into and camped on Rush lake this August.  From their camp the crew was able to access the Banadad at the Rush- Banadad Portage. Over the eight days the crew worked on the trail two and one half miles of this remote section of the trail was cleared and widen including clearing several areas where the trail was nearly block with years of accumulation of brush.

In appreciation for the great job done by the MCC Crew the following letter was sent off to Len Price, Executive Director Of the Conservation Corps of Minnesota and Iowa:

“On behalf of the Banadad Trail Association, I would like to express my appreciation to the Minnesota Conservation Corp for the outstanding job done by the crew that worked on the Banadad Ski Trail this summer.  The Banadad is 21-mile ski trail must of which passes through the BWCA. Because of the trail’s length and wilderness location maintenance is very difficult – especially in the trails remote interior section where your crew worked.”

“The crew lead by Brennen Collins and included Adam Zantello, Dan Bach, James Hann and Micheal Kruempel canoed into and camped on Rush Lake. From their camp they were able to access a remote interior section of the Banadad we have not been able to adequately maintain for years.  Over the course of eight days the crew was able to clear some 2 1/2 miles the trail including widening several sections where the trail was nearly block by many years accumulation of brush.”

The Crew did a great job in re-opening this neglected portion the Banadad.

Also I would like to acknowledge Peter Lande from your Duluth Office for the great assistance he gave to me in coordinating this project.

Thank Much, Ted Young, Banadad Trail- Maintenance Supervisor.

Greyling Brandt (USFS), Ted Young (BCT), Steve Schug (USFS), Barb Bottger (BTA)

Forest Service Unable To Offer Financial Assistance For Banadad Trail in 2010

Barb Bottger, Gunflint Trail- Jim Morrison, Ted Young and I met with Steve Schug and Greyling Brandt from the Gunflint Ranger District, USFS, on April 23 to discuss the 2010 Banadad Trail Work Plan.  Steve commended the BTA for the excellent report/plan that was submitted and stated that none of the other trail associations they work with have even submitted a plan yet. (Jim Morrison was paged out on a fire call before we took the photo!)

The tough news from Steve was the fact that they have no funds to offer this year.  In past years, the USFS contributed up $1500 toward the maintenance of the Banadad through the Forest Service’s Cost Share program.

Schug said the only aid would come through the Minnesota Conservation Corp crew (MCC) whose budget comes from federal stimulus funds.  The MCC would work on the interior widening project near the Banadad Bridge with the Forest Service providing two canoes for MCC to travel to the work site. The possibility of another MCC crew for some additional work was left open.

Greyling agreed to assist the Association in preparing large trail maps and to provide map display posts and boards (called “bird cages”) for along the trail.

Schug also informed us that the USFS would no longer be able to provide liability insurance for our volunteer trail crews.

According to Ted Young, “Without finance assistance from the USFS we are confronted with about a $2000 deficit in this year’s $9000 projected maintenance budget. (See Trail Plan- section IV. Projects and Plans)

Ted Young, Trail Administrator t- Last week I had to attend an important but boring state tourism conference; I was gone four days. When I returned I discoved that the weekend’s rain followed by twelve inches of snow had devastated the Banadad. The ice/snow covered brush and small trees had caved into the trail making it impassable. I have since hired two local guys and who along with Jim Raml and I are working to get the trail opened. Thus far we have now spent fifty-seven hours (two or three people each day) on the trail. We now  have approximately 25kms of 39 kms open. We expect it will take another thirty hours or so to complete the job. I have requested supplementary funds from the DNR but not sure if they will come through.