Resonant words from the archives: Dear Calendar Owners, As I write this it is Memorial Weekend, 2007. I have just returned from working at the Ham Lake Fire on the Gunflint Trail, where sadly we lost homes and witnessed the destruction of wild places that were special to many people. It was perhaps all the…
Let It Snow! was first published in the 1998-1999 Ely Winter Times: Snow is pretty amazing stuff. Did you know that a light powder snow cover is 92% air? It has a higher R-value than fiberglass insulation. Just nine inches is enough to keep the soil from freezing even in sub-zero temperatures. In fact, snow…
From Cache Lake Country by John Rowlands, a 1947 book full of poetic descriptions and practical directions: The Chief and I have been dressing the skin of his first buck which will make fine moccasins later on, although he wants to get a moose, too, for its hide will stand more wear…. A lot of…
The following was originally published as the sidebar text accompanying the above photo for November in the 2017 Boundary Waters & Quetico calendar. It’s time to winterize, and the herps (reptiles and amphibians) of Canoe Country have remarkable adaptations to winter weather. They brumate, rather than hibernate, which means they reduce their metabolism so much…
The following content was originally published in our 2016 Boundary Waters & Quetico calendar. Photo credit: Steve Voiles. Depending on your perspective, aspen trees are pulpwood, weeds, or trees at add beauty and character to canoe country. There are three species here, the most common being Populus tremuloides, or quaking aspen, also called popple in…
The following text was the September 2002 sidebar content in our Boundary Waters & Quetico calendar. Photo credit: Paul Sundberg. Lake Agnes. In the BWCAW and Quetico, peak leaf color is usually from the middle to the end of September. As early as July, single red maple leaves add bits of color to the…
The Outward Bound Flapper has enough calories to keep you warm and get you through your afternoon adventures in a tasty, chewable-even-at 20-below bar you can make yourself. Used by expedition students and instructors at the Voyageur Outward Bound School in Ely, these are handy any time you are hungry and don’t want to prepare…
For Jacki Fisher cross country skiing is a lifestyle. A way to “get out there and play!” And when one lives in the northwoods, a ‘get out there and play’ mentality is essential to doing anything more than simply surviving the winter. Consider any children you know. Consider their drive to be outside, playing.…
The following article was written by Libby Fena, and originally featured in the 2004-2005 Ely Winter Times. The six of us skied quietly. Behind us, two teams of dogs followed. We had been following the trapper’s tracks for hours. The creek under our feet wound back and forth, creating oxbow after oxbow. Whereas the…
This article was originally published in the 2008-2009 Ely Winter Times. 2008 editor’s note: The following is a blog entry I stumbled on when I was Googling something else. Better written than 90% of the blogs I’ve read, it stuck with me. I joined the blogspot (my first!) in Albuquerque where it originated – Duke…