"Gunflint Falling'' tells the drama of the 1999 Blowdown in the Boundary Waters
Dec. 15—Minnesota Author
Cary Griffith
has always been drawn to wilderness drama.
So it's no surprise his arrow smacked this bullseye.
His latest book, "Gunflint Falling: Blowdown in the Boundary Waters" (296 pages,
University of Minnesota Press
) tells the story of this very dramatic event in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Those in the path of the July 4, 1999 Blowdown event knew storm clouds were building, but had no way to anticipate the ferocity of what was coming. Straight line winds cut a path of destruction through 500,000 acres of the wilderness that afternoon, snapping and toppling 48 million trees.
"The
derecho
was not only monumental, it was unparalleled in the annals of known meteorological history," writes Griffth.
Those who saw the destruction it inflicted remain amazed that no one was killed, but there were many who were hurt. "Gunflint Falling" tells the stories of two different camping parties in which individuals were seriously injured by falling trees.
Lisa Naas was struck on the left side of her head by a falling tree. She was tended to by her friends on
Lake Polly
in the remote, south-central area of the BWCA until she could be medevac'd to safety. Vicky Brockman and Sue Ann Martinson were pinned in their tent by a fallen tree. It took the effort of their friends and two young men from another campsite on
Alpine Lake
in the northeast corner of the BWCAW to free them.
"Gunflint Falling" also tells the experiences of many others caught in this storm. A family enjoying a weekend just outside of the BWCAW in a cabin they had just finished building fled for shelter as dropping trees karate-chopped their dwelling. Two United States Forest Service rangers in a boat sped across the storm whipped waters of
Moose Lake
to their pickup truck parked at an access in the nick of time. They motored in their boat back up the lake as the storm subsided and encountered the first of the injured; they were among the first to witness and report the severity of this storm.
Bruce Kerfoot experienced the strength of this storm as it pounded the family's iconic
Gunflint Lodge and Outfitters
buildings on
Gunflint Lake
just outside of the BWCAW. Kerfoot and guide Kevin Walsh jumped in a motorboat to check on the safety of others as the storm passed. They realized as they reached their boat that it floated in four feet of water, not eight feet as it had before the storm. The winds had literally shoved much of the water in the seven-mile long lake to its upper end.
Griffith also offers a thorough look at the response by the Forest Service and other emergency personnel to the storm, based on their first-person accounts. He interviewed scores of people and no doubt, put in long hours to get this right. "Lots of people had dramatic stories to tell," Griffith told the Tribune, while lamenting that it was not possible to tell them all.
The book's story line moves along like a canoe heading into whitewater, picking up speed as the drama unfolds. Readers follow the accounts of campers as they plan their trips to how they responded when the hurricane-strength winds slammed into the forest around them. Forest Service and other emergency personnel enjoy 4th of July events in communities outside the wilderness on a stormy day, but jump into action as accounts from those in the path of destruction reach them.
Griffith's two previous books set in the Boundary Waters, "Lost in the Wild" and "Gunflint Burning," also focused on drama in the wilderness. The latter detailed the
Ham Lake fire of 2007
. A portion of the Ham Lake fire's footprint included the blowdown area where the fuel load from the fallen trees contributed to the intensity of the blaze.
"Gunflint Falling" includes observations from Lee Frelich, director of the
Center for Forest Ecology
at the University of Minnesota. Frelich puts into perspective the profound changes we are seeing in Minnesota's northern forests as severe weather events become more frequent. A warming climate is changing the forest. "The Boundary Waters is the global 'canary in the coal mine,'" Griffith said.
The author said it remains a mystery to him and others how no one was killed by the storm. There is no accurate number of how many people were in harm's way at the time. Estimates vary from 4,000 to 10,000 campers who would have been in the wilderness at the time.
For anyone who appreciates a Minnesota wilderness drama, or wants to learn about the changes being experienced in the Boundary Waters Area Canoe Wilderness, "Gunflint Falling: Blowdown in the Boundary Waters" is a recommended read.
