MARK HENNESSY

Hello, my name is Mark Hennessy, and I serve as the Executive Director for the Gunflint Trail Historical Society. I have a decade’s long connection to the Gunflint Trail, starting when I served as a canoe guide for YMCA Camp Menogyn on West Bearskin Lake. Over the years, I have taken over 100 canoe trips into the BWCAW and over 40 winter camping trips there. My educational background is in secondary Social Studies Education with an emphasis in history and geography. I have spent a career working with nonprofit organizations, helping them with planning, fundraising and board governance. My passions include skiing, biking, exploring wilderness areas and doing just about anything outdoors. I look forward to seeing you at Chik-Wauk!

BONNIE SCHUDY

Bonnie and her boyfriend at the time (Dave) moved up to the Gunflint Trail and have been year-round residents since 1991. It was Dave’s love of the area that inspired Bonnie to move up to the Gunflint Trail with him. Bonnie grew up in central Wisconsin and was a manager at the local Shopko store. She has worked at various resorts through the years and was thrilled to be hired by the GTHS in 2015. Bonnie has paddled throughout the BWCAW and the Quetico Park in her 30 years living in the area. One of her memorable experiences was taking a 18-day canoe trip with her friend Sheryl, across the Quetico Park. Another memorable experience was shooting a bull moose in the Boundary Waters in 1994. On her days off you can bet she is out fishing, hiking, or snowmobiling.

Sandra Hisakuni

Hello! I’m Sandra Hisakuni and I’m very excited to work at Chik-Wauk this summer!

I am a Minnesota native and first fell in love with the BWCA as a high school student. I have a BS degree in Social Work from Bemidji State University and a Master’s degree in Teaching English as a Second Language from Hamline University.

I love traveling and lived and taught English in Japan, China, and eventually back to the United States.

Now, recently retired from teaching, I’ve started a new career of writing children’s books. I’m thrilled to come full circle and be back in the north woods of Minnesota again!

EMMA ADAMS

Hi there. I’m Emma Adams and I am so excited to be spending the summer working at Chik-Wauk where I’ll be joining the Museum and Nature Center staff and volunteers to create a great experience for our visitors and community. I have a BS in Environmental Education and Interpretation and a minor in Sustainable Energy from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. I love spending my spare time hiking and exploring Minnesota’s various parks and green spaces. I have a huge passion for plants. I love reading and trying out different medicinal and culinary recipes from things I find in the forest. I have lived in 5 different states and Australia. I feel very grateful to call the Gunflint Trail my new home.

Caroline Urban

My name is Caroline, and I will be working as the Program Director at Chik-Wauk in the Nature Center.

I grew up in Plymouth, MN and a good chunk of my childhood was spent going on walks at the local park and finding toads and snakes. Not much has changed, as I continue to do those things as an adult. I have held a variety of jobs that all have in common that they take place mostly outdoors, including being a naturalist, tour guide, and field technician. I enjoy canoe trips, swimming, skiing, photography, and knitting, and am particularly passionate about birds.

During the off-season, I stay busy as an Environmental Education teacher in Duluth, MN where I try to get my students as excited about random, trivial things in nature as I am. I look forward to meeting you at Chik-Wauk Nature Center, feel free to bring your stories, bird photographs and book recommendations!”

Chad & Kris Kieper

Chad and Kris both grew up in Minnesota and have been visiting the BWCAW since they were kids. They have owned a cabin at the end of the trail since 2017 and made the move to full-time residents in 2022. Chad has a background in ‘biology’ and spent most of his career in research and biotech. He now works as a wilderness guide and is a self-proclaimed nature ‘geek’ who spends most of his time fishing. Kris has a degree in environmental studies but forged her career in the software/web space. She started her own company and now works as a private consultant. Her free time is spent pursuing her love of creating fiber art.
Chad will be in the Watercraft Exhibit Building on Wednesdays, and Kris will be filling staffing gaps on campus as needed. Both are incredibly excited to be a part of the Chik-Wauk team, and to help share the history, ecology, and culture that makes the Gunflint Trail such an amazing place!

RICHARD (DICK) ALLYN

Dick and Margo Brownell have owned a Gunflint Lake cabin for over 10 years. He first set foot on the Gunflint in 1955 and got hooked as a Camp Menogyn tripper. Educated at the University of Minnesota, Dick’s day job for 50 years is as a lawyer in the Twin Cities. He served in the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office for a dozen years, including as Solicitor General and Chief Deputy. Since then, the Robins Kaplan law firm in Mpls has served as his legal home, working on large catastrophic property losses and insurance, and more recently, environmental disputes and representing non-profits and Trusts. He was an elected Wisconsin Lake Protection District Commissioner for 15 years. Wife Margo is a practicing attorney in Mpls. Between the two, they have 4 children and 2 grandchildren + 2 dogs. All 8 are considered exceptional…most of the time.

Ashley Hatchett

Ashley’s first trip to the Trail was in 2000 and from then on she was hooked on exploring everything the Trail could offer. After graduating from the University of Kansas with a BA in History and a Masters in Museum Studies she and her husband Matthew moved to Woodbury in 2006 and they spent as much vacation time as possible at family homes at mid-Trail and the end of the Trail while owning & operating an internet-based business together.

In 2021 they became seasonal Trail residents and regular campus volunteers and are delighted to continue to volunteer at Chik-Wauk. In her free time Ashley is trying to learn constellations and Northwoods plants and enjoys reading, fishing, hiking, and exploring Sag on a kayak or stand-up paddleboard. She wants to thank her aunt-in-law Judy Edlund for getting her involved with Chik-Wauk and the GTHS.

Patti Craddock

Is ecstatic and proud to call the Gunflint Trail her home, now a year-round resident with her husband John Craddock, on the west end of Poplar Lake. Patti and John’s first outdoor adventures together involved the north shore and BWCA while students at Macalester College in the late 70s/early 80s. After time spent in Ann Arbor, MI, College Station, TX, and Walnut Creek, CA in school or working, they ended up back in St. Paul, where Patti worked as a consulting engineer with a focus on “clean water”, planning and designing wastewater and drinking water treatment systems for municipalities, as well as integrated water resource management planning. Over the 30-plus years, there were many excursions to the north shore and Gunflint Trail where they shared their love of the area with their three daughters.

While it has been two years since retirement and moving to Poplar Lake year-round, each morning Patti still pinches herself while checking out the ever-changing lake view, and says, yes this is real and not a dream! Then plan when best that day to ski, hike, bike, swim, or paddle depending on the season or weather. She is also learning to grow a vegetable garden and landscaping practices with native vegetation and appropriate ornamentals. With some downtime forced by Covid but also needed to figure out this retirement thing, Patti is excited to get to know this great community and find ways to share the wonderment of the Gunflint Trail and region with others. Let’s go!

Matt Schuerger

Matt and his wife Anne moved to their home on Tucker Lake from the Twin Cities in 2020.

Always drawn towards life in the forest, Matt spent much of his teen years exploring the wooded hills, wild rivers, and endless ski trails of his native western Pennsylvania. He first came to Minnesota to attend school and gradually settled into the midwest, quickly adopting northern Minnesota as his habitat of choice.

Matt’s 40 year career in the energy industry, as a senior manager, a professional engineer, and a public utilities commissioner, focused on reliably and affordably transitioning electric grids to cleaner, more resilient, more sustainable enterprises.

Matt enjoys all things outdoors including hiking, canoeing, skiing, and snowshoeing (and aspires to catch more fish…). He greatly values the confluence of the rich wonders of the boreal forest and the vibrant Gunflint Trail community.

Matt is a member of the Gunflint Trail Volunteer Fire Department and serves on his lake association Board.

DAVID COLEMAN

David (and Patricia) have owned a cabin on Clearwater Lake for over 40- years; it recently becoming their sole domicile. He has a passion for all-things BWCA, and especially the underlying history. At Chik-Wauk he has contributed his scientific background to development of the evolving Dark Sky Program and the collaborative effort of the SkyCam with the UMD Alworth Planetarium. He also enjoys website and other electronic/video development. He is a native of Duluth, received undergraduate education at Southern Illinois University, and received a doctorate in Analytical Chemistry from UW, Madison. He had a 40-year career in the Chemistry Department at Wayne State University, Detroit, in a wide variety of teaching, research, and administrative roles locally and nationally. In Cook County he serves in roles at CCHE, the Spirit of the Wilderness Episcopal Church, the Clearwater Homeowners Assn, CCCF Board, etc. As a musician he plays jazz and classical trombone with the North Shore Swing Band and the Borealis Brass Quintet. He drives his 98-year-old Model T Ford, and skippers a racing sailboat, whenever he can. They have 4 terrific children and 6 amazing grandchildren. He is pleased and honored to be able to serve the GTHS and Chik-Wauk Museum

Hugh Magill

Hugh Magill first learned about the Boundary Waters in the early 1970s through Sigurd Olson’s writings. My first BWCA canoe trip came in 1980, paddling the Granite River, Saganaga, and Seagull. My wife, Nancy, took her first trip out of Ely in the early 1970s.

Following our marriage in 1982, with very limited funds for travel, we could only afford to visit in-laws or come up to the BWCA, so we spent a lot of spare time up north, bringing young adult groups, volunteering at Wilderness Canoe Base and Adventurous Christians, deepening our passion for the BWCA with every trip.

We lived in Chicago for many years, building our vocations (Hugh as an attorney in the trust business and Nancy as a music educator and conductor), raising three children, and making annual trips to northern Minnesota. We began to search for a place to park our canoe around 2000, which led to the acquisition in 2006 of a quirky cabin on Clearwater Lake with views of the Palisades.

We’ve launched many canoe trips off our dock, lots with our large extended family, others with Boy Scouts I led as a Scoutmaster. We laid our old cabin to rest in 2018, rebuilding and moving in in 2020/21.

Our children, have all landed in Minnesota, as we did in 2020, and we now divide our time between Clearwater and Minneapolis. Nancy is fully retired, and I work with families and attorneys through my consulting company, Granite River Consulting. We also make music together as church musicians at Trinity Lutheran in Hovland and around a 1934 grand piano at Clearwater.

We are huge fans of Chik-Wauk and are so grateful to all who have labored to chronicle the marvelous history of this area we all love.

SUE MCCLOUGHAN

Sue McCloughan and her family have owned Bearskin Lodge on East Bearskin Lake since 2007. Before that, Sue and her husband Bob lived on a hobby farm in Plymouth while teaching in the Twin Cities area. They canoed extensively in Minnesota, Alaska, and Ontario, including a trip to Hudson’s Bay. That interest in paddling was passed along to their son Quinn, who runs Bearskin Outfitters with his wife Kate, and to their daughter Kaitlin, who is a dragon boat paddler. Sue and Bob have two young grandkids living right next door, and that’s what life is all about these days.

Larry Roepke

I first came to the Gunflint Trail as a young boy in 1958. I never stopped. Nine years ago my wife Marcia and I built our cabin on Loon Lake. Three years ago we both retired and moved in full-time with our dog Ursa.

In 1972 I enlisted in the USS Navy and spent most of my time on the aircraft carrier USS Midway as a photographer. From 1976 to 1979 I attended the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and graduated with a BA in photography. I spent the next decade running my own studio and photographing editorial, advertising, and corporate assignments. I retired from photography in 1990 and began my building and remodeling career. During the 90’s I owned and operated Roepke Renovations doing building projects in the Minneapolis / St. Paul area until 2008 when I closed shop. I then became general manager of a roofing & exteriors company helping customers navigate their insurance claims and making repairs to property from storm damage. In 2015 I made my last career change and became an independent Adjuster, jumping the fence from the contracting side to the Insurance side of the claim process. As an adjuster, I made inspections of property for storm damage and created claims for the insured.

Living on the Gunflint Trail is a dream come true. I treasure the place and the people who live here and also those who travel here as I did to be in and near this beautiful forest. I am honored and look forward as a trustee to serving the GTHS.

JOHN FREDRIKSON

John and his wife Mindy have owned and operated the Gunflint Lodge since 2016. John grew up on a farm in eastern North Dakota and attended North Dakota State University.

For their first trip into the BWCAW in the 1990s, John built a cedar strip canoe. The varnish was still drying on the drive to the entry point. That trip was the start of a deep appreciation for the BWCAW.

John worked in telecommunications in the twin cities for about 15 years before moving to Georgia. After nine years in Georgia, John and Mindy were ready to get back up north and purchased the Gunflint Lodge from Bruce and Sue Kerfoot. They feel blessed to be a part of the Gunflint Trail community.

BILL DOUGLAS

Bill Douglas and his wife Sue left city life for the Gunflint Trail in 1972 when they worked for Janet’s Seagull Outfitters. In 1973 they purchased land around the public landing on Saganaga from the Blankenburg’s to start Tip Of the Trail Outfitters. They operated Tip of the Trail until 1986 when it sold to the US Forest Service. In 1987 they moved back to the city to purchase a company importing consumer products from around the world. They have owned a cabin on Saganaga since 1985 where they have enjoyed summers since retiring in 2015. Bill has served on the GTHS BOT from 2016 – present.

Chris Wilson

Chris Wilson is a retired co-founder of Split Rock Studios, a design and build exhibit company. He served four years in the United States Air Force, including assignments in Korea, Thailand, and two years at the airbase in Duluth. Chris attended college starting at UMD and received a BA in Design at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design in 1981.

He immediately got a job in the exhibit industry working for a very well-established trade show company, DisplayMasters. Within a few years, much of Chris’ design work was focused on interpretive exhibits in museums and nature centers. Interpretive exhibit work soon became the nucleus of a design group within DisplayMasters, doing business as Deaton Museum Services. In the year 2000, Chris and a business partner decided to create a new company dedicated strictly to museum, nature and cultural center work. That company was and is Split Rock Studios. Chris’ exhibit work includes three projects for Chik-Wauk, the Duluth Aquarium exhibits, several Lewis and Clark exhibitions across the country, the Heart Mountain Internment Camp exhibits, and many others. Chris retired from Split Rock Studios in 2018. He is currently a member of their board of directors.

In addition to his professional work, Chris has had a longstanding interest in Minnesota’s Arrowhead region. He first camped with his father and brother on the Gunflint Trail back in the mid-1950s, and has experienced many, many BWCA trips since then. He has also been a long-time guest of Heston’s Lodge on Gunflint Lake, and currently spends two months there each year with his wife, Jane.

Keith Randa

Keith had his first BWCAW trip in 1972 into Northern Lights lake out of Saganaga Outfitters which was run by Don and Carol Germain. Since that time he has made many trips into the BWCAW – as a canoe guide for Camp Vermillion out of Cook, MN and later as a guide for ISD 196 Community Ed canoe trips out of Gunflint Lodge outfitters. He also led many church youth group trips and family/friend trips to the BWCAW.

He is a proud graduate of the University of Minnesota – “Go Gophers” with a BS and M.Ed in Science Education and a Specialist degree in Ed Leadership from Minnesota State-Mankato. He spent 40 years teaching Science, mainly Earth Science but also taught Biology, and Aquatic and Terrestrial Ecology courses. Thirty seven of those years were at Apple Valley High School where he also coached Women’s Soccer. He has served on multiple boards in different leadership positions throughout his time as an educator.

In 2019 Keith and Deb bought a cabin on Gunflint Lake and when they retired in 2021 they were able to move up to the cabin year round and enjoy time on the Trail. They enjoy getting out for hikes, and out for a canoe or kayak paddle. They feel blessed to live in an area that many people travel to for vacation. They enjoy volunteering at Chik Wauk and also at Ruby’s Pantry in Grand Marais.

Keith also is a volunteer on the Gunflint Trail Volunteer fire department as an Ambulance driver. In his spare time he likes to fish, fly fish, and does some grouse hunting in the fall. He also does some woodworking in the winter months.

Dr. Ernie Peaslee

My hometown is Stillwater, MN.

My Grandfather had a cabin (the old Forest Ranger Lookout Tower cabin on West Bearskin) since the late 1930s. My first memory of being at the cabin was at age 7 in 1956. My wife Dawn and I honeymooned at that cabin in June 1969, and went on a canoe trip from there, including the Stairway Portage, of course.

After completing my Medical Residency at the University of Minnesota in 1977, we moved to Duluth to be closer to our cabin. I was an Internal Medicine Physician at the Duluth Clinic.

Our favorite family times raising our four children were camping each summer on Saganaga Lake. Our Gunflint cabin life moved to Clearwater in 1985. Since retirement in 2022, we have enjoyed increasing amounts of time at our cabin.

Our grandchildren are now the 5th generation enjoying the Gunflint. I have admired the Gunflint Trail Historical Society and Chik-Wauk since their inception, and I am honored to now be a member of the Board.

Jim Wiinanen

Jim first came to Cook County in 1965 and moved to Sea Gull Lake in 1975 to work full-time at WILDERNESS Canoe Base. In 1992 he was a charter member and elected as the first President of the Gunflint Trail Volunteer Fire Department serving 10 years. His canoe trips have crisscrossed the BWCA and Quetico Provincial Park as well as the east coast of Lake Superior and Crown Land North of the Quetico. He served as Cook County Emergency Management Director for 9 years. Other experiences included milkman, classroom teacher, gypsy moth trapper, construction, ranger/historian at Grand Portage National Monument, outdoor educator. He worked in the Public Safety Division on the Cavity and Ham Lake Fires. His grandson observed: “Huh, Grandpa could not hold a job.” COVID restrictions provided an opportunity to look back in time and research WILDERNESS Canoe Base and area history.

SUE WEBER

Suzanne (Sue) Weber began spending her summers on the Gunflint Trail in 1969 working for Gateway Lodge and moved to the Gunflint Trail permanently after graduating from college. She has owned and operated several hospitality businesses. As a founding member of the Gunflint Trail Rescue Squad and Boreal Access, she developed a passion for nonprofit work. Suzanne served on numerous Cook County nonprofit boards, from Sawtooth Mountain Clinic to Arrowhead Center for the Arts to the Violence Prevention Center, was co-chair of Gunflint Green-Up, and is a current Gunflint Trail Scenic Byway committee member. She was the administrator of the Gunflint Trail Association for 12 years and is retired from Visit Cook County. She is fascinated by Gunflint Trail history, a QuickBooks nerd, birder, and enjoys identifying wildflowers. This is her 7th contiguous year as a trustee. Yikes!

Staff

Mark Hennessy

Executive Director

Bonnie Schudy

Campus Director

Sandra Hisakuni

assistant campus operations director

Emma Adams

Operations Assistant Director

Caroline Urban

Nature Center Program Director

Chad & Kris Kieper

Watercraft Exhibit Building Operations

Location

57 miles up the Gunflint Trail
28 Moose Pond Drive
Grand Marais, MN 55604

Contact

218-388-9915
info@gunflinthistory.org

EMAIL US

Hours

Chik-Wauk Museum & Nature Center will reopen for the 2026 season, May 23!

Come enjoy the hiking trails!

Support

Learn more about becoming a member here or learn more about making a donation here.

Fall 2008

SPRING 2008

Fall 2007

SPRING 2007

Winter 2006

Stay in Touch

Location

57 miles up the Gunflint Trail
28 Moose Pond Drive
Grand Marais, MN 55604

Contact

218-388-9915
info@gunflinthistory.org

EMAIL US

Hours

Open for the 2024 season, May 25 - October 20!
10am–5pm Daily

Support

Learn more about becoming a member here or learn more about making a donation here.

MARK HENNESSY

BONNIE SCHUDY

Sandra Hisakuni

EMMA ADAMS

Caroline Urban

Chad & Kris Kieper

RICHARD (DICK) ALLYN

Ashley Hatchett

Patti Craddock

Matt Schuerger

DAVID COLEMAN

Hugh Magill

SUE MCCLOUGHAN

Sue Kerfoot

Larry Roepke

JOHN FREDRIKSON

BILL DOUGLAS

Chris Wilson

Keith Randa

Dr. Ernie Peaslee

Jim Wiinanen

SUE WEBER

Staff

Mark Hennessy

Bonnie Schudy

Sandra Hisakuni

Emma Adams

Caroline Urban

Chad & Kris Kieper

Trustees

Richard Allyn

Ashley Hatchett

Patti Craddock

Matt Schuerger

David Coleman

HUGH MAGILL

Sue McCloughan

Sue Kerfoot

Larry Roepke

John Fredrikson

Bill Douglas

Chris Wilson

Keith Randa

Dr. Ernie Peaslee

Jim Wiinanen

Sue Weber

Fred Smith

Stay in Touch

Success!

Location

Contact

Hours

Support

Fall 2008

SPRING 2008

Fall 2007

SPRING 2007

Winter 2006

Stay in Touch

Success!

Location

Contact

Hours

Support