February 11, 1926 Weather from the Hill, Olaf Thorvaldsen | Cook County News Herald

The coming week will bring continued mild conditions for mid-February. Daytime temperatures are expected to hover near the freezing mark, with Saturday’s high reaching approximately 38 degrees. Snow and mixed precipitation are likely to accompany the warmer air on Saturday, with an estimated inch and a half of accumulation, followed by another inch on Sunday. Inland areas will remain colder and may receive slightly heavier snowfall. The remainder of the week should be clear, with temperatures dropping below zero overnight but moderating during the day.

Town affairs were quiet this past week. Captain J. F. Johns has taken up his fishing nets at Hollow Rock and returned to Duluth for the season. Looking ahead, the Grand Marais Light and Power Company reports plans to convert to diesel engines in the spring, a change expected to provide more reliable service next winter. Until then, I will continue feeding the wood stove and keeping the lantern trimmed and burning.

I did, however, take advantage of the calm weather to make a walk into the interior. Snowshoeing up the Gunflint, I visited with Mr. and Mrs. Joe Thomas, who kindly offered me space by their fireplace for the evening and a place to unroll my bedroll. It was my first extended journey inland since arriving in Grand Marais, and the miles gave me a better understanding of the country I’ve been tasked to forecast. When the radio is installed later this year, such knowledge should prove useful, though I am not yet certain how forecasts will reach those beyond the power lines.

In the course of the journey, covering more than fifty miles all told, I was reminded of a line by Thoreau: “I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude.” After long days of travel, it seemed a fair observation. And yet, I found myself wondering whether I was truly alone. Even in the depth of winter, tracks of moose, timber wolf, fox, snowshoe hare, and what appeared to be a woodland caribou bounding up the trail ahead, kept me company along my passage in the interior of the county.