Geographical Index > United States > Minnesota > Cook County > Report # 18221
(Class B)
Submitted by witness on Tuesday, March 13, 2007.
Snowmobilers find several sets of large tracks on the Gun Flint Trail (w/photos)
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YEAR: 2007
SEASON: Winter MONTH: March DATE: 3/11/2007 STATE: Minnesota COUNTY: Cook County LOCATION DETAILS: On Little Iron and Poplar Lakes NEAREST TOWN: Grand Marais NEAREST ROAD: gun flint trail OBSERVED: march 9 2007,
Me a freind and his Dad were snowmobiling in the boundry waters area of minnesota. when I came across prints in the snow that I could not explain. We drove our snowmobiles through 2 portage trails and onto the second lake where I spotted the first set of tracks. The strides in the tracks and depth of the snow convinced us that they were not made by man, but were similar to man's walk. We took pictures and proceeded to the first lake that we portaged too. Here I had found similar tracks on the 1st lake as I did on the second lake. I did not take any pics of these prints at this time.
march 10 2007
We had another couple come up to snowmobile with. They were skeptical of what we had seen and I proceeded to take them with me to show them the prints and found another set I had missed from the day before. We took more photos and they were very convinced we had found something unusual.
March 11 2007.
I then proceeded out with my buddie from the first time out to look for more tracks and found a trail on the north side of the lake that appeared to be more heavily used. We took more photo's and found something even more unusual in one of the photo's.
It appeared there was an infered lite coming from a tree in the distance that I did not notice till investigating the pictures I had taken at home on the computer. It's possible someone else was monitoring the area for activity. OTHER WITNESSES: freinds, snowmobiling OTHER STORIES: I beleive there was an incident of a road grader finding prints on a gravel road.. TIME AND CONDITIONS: full sun/cloudy/ mid afternoon ENVIRONMENT: pine forest/lake/ camp ground
Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Andy P.:
I spoke with the witness and have the following to add to his report:
- The witness and his friends found four separate sets of tracks in the area. Each set of tracks crossed the lakes they were on.
- The snow depth varied from about six inches on the lake to about four feet in the woods.
- Each track was approximately sixteen inches long, six inches wide at the ball, and three inches wide at the heel.
- They could only clearly see toes in one track, but it was a double or even triple imprint. It appeared that there were five toes.
- The heel to heel stride length was approximately six feet long.
- One interesting note about these tracks is that the toes appear to fan outward, making the tracks appear to be curved toward the out-step.
- The witness sent me the following photos of the tracks:
I found the witness to be very honest and credible.
(Update February 9, 2010) A reader familiar with the area sent us the following comment which should be considered in this case:
Regarding the sighting report # 18221; I was born and raised on the Gunflint Trail of Minnesota, and my mother-in-law owns a resort on Poplar Lake. I thought it might be helpful to point out that the tracks found by the snowmobilers in the report look very much like moose tracks. The width and length of them can be explained by the possibility that the back feet of the moose stepped into its own front tracks as it walked. I don't know how to explain the appearance of toe prints except to guess that the tips of the cloven hooves could have been imprinted multiple times if the trail was used by two or more moose. Moose in this area are common, more so than most of the rest of the state. Moose wandering around the edges and across Poplar and Little Iron would leave tracks similar, if not almost identical, to the ones shown in the photos.
About BFRO Investigator Andy P.:
Andy P. lives in Minnesota. He is a professional writer with a degree in English and Biology. His interest dates back to his first sighting in 1985.
He attended the following BFRO expeditions:
- 2006 Wisconsin I
- 2007 Michigan
- 2008 Michigan
- 2008 Minnesota (private)
- 2009 Wisconsin
- 2009 Minnesota (organizer)
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