Grant and Christina Hopke are the new owners of the iconic Seagull Outfitters and Cabins at the end of the Gunflint Trail. Since 1984, Seagull has been an indispensable part of the BWCAW experience and an inspiration to its fellow outfitters on The Trail.
The Hopke’s are from central Minnesota. When Grant was a student at the University of Minnesota in the Twin Cities, he spent a season working for Debbie Mark and Dave Trueheart at Seagull as a towboat driver and trip planner. Although he’d made several canoeing and camping trips as a teenager, this was his first experience of the Gunflint Trail and the BWCAW.
He was hooked and visited Grand Marais and the Gunflint occasionally with Christina and their young family.
“It was always a place I loved coming back to,” Grant said.
On their website, seagulloutfitters.com, the Hopkes express their deep commitment to Seagull. They wrote, “For us, this isn’t just a business. It’s a return to the place that shaped us. Grant worked here back in college, primarily as a towboat driver and trip planner. Now, we’ve returned with our family to continue the legacy Debbie and Dave built over decades.”
Grant and Christina are friendly and outgoing. Their three young children are a delight, and they’ve heard many comments from guests about how nice it is to see children there.
Both Hopkes grew up in the agricultural center of Minnesota, just south of St. Cloud. Christina grew up on a farm, and Grant has operated a feed store there. So both understand a seasonal business that requires hard work, long hours, and the patience of Job.
Grant says that Debbie stressed to him a business and life lesson that he’s carried throughout his career. “Answer calls right away and get back to the callers in a timely manner,” he said.
Debbie and Dave were on hand in April to help the Hopkes get up and running for the beginning of the season, the first week of May. “Having lived and worked here (in the past), I knew what to expect,” Grant said. “Deb and Dave ran a really fantastic business,” he added. Their attention to detail, commitment to customer service, and love for the BWCAW set a high standard that the Hopkes are determined to maintain. “It was easy to step in.”
With a couple of months under their belt, it is evident that repeat customers are having the experience they expected, and new visitors are having a grand time.
The business operates four stand-alone cabins and a bunkhouse lodge for paddlers, along with a fleet of canoes and boats.
Seagull currently has six staffers to share the workload. A couple of them are college students, and one is a recent graduate. The other three are twenty-somethings who can work the entire season from May to September. There is on-site housing for employees, which is a critical feature for outfitting businesses in the remote area of the BWCAW.
Grant and Christina have felt the love of the Gunflint Trail community, both residents and other businesses. “We were blown away and are grateful for how the community opened their arms to us,” Grant said. “Lots of people stopped in to welcome us. We think it is nothing short of fantastic.”
An article on the website penned by Johnse Bushlack sums up how Grant and Christine feel about their new business. “The expense of a trip to the Boundary Waters is purely physical. But the return on investment is emotional, spiritual, and relational…and those are the things that matter in this life.”
