Blinker Lake
Could "blinker" refer to the leather shades used to cover the eyes of skittish horses?
If you have made it this far out into the Drag Lake Primitive Management Area, Blinker Lake is probably not your destination. Blinker Lake is a small, shallow lake and the last stop on the way to Starlight Lake. If you are this close to Starlight Lake, Blinker Lake is probably just a passthrough.
The forest fires of 1885-1889 affected the area from Fire Lake up to Disappointment Lake.
A fire in 1910 burned a swath of forest from the Horseshoe/Wilder Lake area and move north, burning the forests around Parent Lake and Disappointment Lake.
Fire burned the region in 1916-1917 centered on the Drumstick Creek drainage and forest just to its east.
Approach to Blinker Lake
Beginning from Delta Lake, follow Drumstick Creek up to Quartz Lake. From Quartz Lake, continue up Drumstick Creek, which flows into the eastern end of the lake. Stay with Drumstick Creek until it turns to the north. At this point, another small creek enters from the southeast. It may be helpful to have this location marked on your GPS if you are using one. Coordinates are 47.939747, -91.373712. The bushwhack to Blinker Lake begins at this small creek mouth where it empties into Drumstick Creek. The rest of the way is much harder past this point.
Bushwhack to Blinker Lake
This is a long, complex bushwhack around a mile in length. From the mouth of the unnamed creek where it enters Drumstick Creek, proceed for a bit over half a mile. The creek will at times be navigable, at other times with require bushwhacking and most assuredly will have several beaver dam obstacles. Most of the way is through open peat bog, with a few very short sections of forest. Eventually, you arrive at a good sized pond that is heavily vegetated. This pond runs southwest-northeast and is less than 200 feet wide and maybe 600 feet long. Head directly to the northeast end of the pond and follow the creek into the forest continuing northeast. This will be the hardest section but it is only about 25 rods. Coming out of the forest brings you to another pond. The outlet to your right leads into Blinker Lake.
Exploring Blinker Lake
There is little to tell about this small lake. The bay on the south end of the lake extends into peat bog. The lake is shallow. Most of its shoreline is forested and there appear to be some rock outcrops along sections of its shoreline to make it interesting. The real goal of this part of the Drag Lake PMA lies just one short bushwhack to the east; Starlight Lake.
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