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A Weekend on the Cross Country Ski Banadad Trail
By Mike Boisvert.
The Banadad Cross-Country Ski Trail is along the Gunflint Trail near Grand Marais, Minnesota. A significant portion of the 29-kilometer trail passes through the Boundary Waters Canoe Area wilderness [BWCA].
Start your journey by snuggling into Little Ollie Cabin near Poplar Lake. The next morning you'll awaken to a quiet, windless, bright white, 10-degree morning and a single-track ski trail before you.
While seeing some large wildlife on this trail is slim, you'll certainly see tracks! On this day you'll ski 20 kilometers pulling a sled to the next two nights accomodation, the Bedew Lake Yurt Camp.
The trail is nearly flat and close to pines. There are two downhill screamers on the western half of the trail.
You'll arrive at the yurt mid-afternoon with your luggage delivered, and yurt warmed up nicely. Experienced 'yurters' know the best bunk is on the bottom. There can be quite a temperature difference between the bottom and top bunk; those on the top often find themselves outside the sleeping bags.
The trip is not so much what you do inside the yurt but what you do outside in the yurt neighborhood. For most fun, leave your electronic devices at home.
You can play "French Fur Trappers"; take the hauling sled and slide down a shallow hill; have snowball fights; and ski all over Bedew Lake leaving footprints and ski tracks everywhere on the previously untouched wilderness lake! You can pile snow quite deep beneath a rock outcrop and jump into the pile over and over again.
As dinnertime approaches, return back to the yurt across the lake and settle down for dinner. After dinner there is board games and after an active day, bedtime is welcomed.
On the final day, you pack up, say goodbye to the yurt, and ski back to your car. Repack your stuff from the sled to the car and then settle in for a long drive home.
One thing is for sure, you'll end up making this an annual trip.
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