This frisky Pine Marten is hanging around the cabin, eating birdseed from the feeders and chasing wildlife. I photographed him today. Recently I watched him chase a Red Squirrel up a spruce tree, and then give up on the chase to await an easier ambush. Then I spotted him bounding through the fresh snow after…
Most folks had their motorboats winterized by the end of October. Virtually all other boats were tucked away by mid-November. But, this photo shows how one motorboater can lay claim to the title of last boater on Shagawa Lake in 2009. To say the least, it’s unusual to be boating on an ice-covered lake. But…
Tomorrow Chris and Lisa start driving north. The accompanying photos show the sparkling new 14′ sledge which they will christen once arriving in Inuvik. Why do they do this, and why is this expedition unique? This is nothing less than an epic journey. Chris and Lisa will face the extremes of adversity: bone-chilling cold of…
Note: This is part one in a series about Chris and Lisa’s Northwest Passage Dogsled Expedition. Chris Maher, of Ely, and Lisa Strom, from Sweden, are making final preparations for an epic dogsled expedition of the Northwest Passage – from Inuvik (near the north end of the Northwest Territories of Canada) to Churchill, Manitoba. Chris…
To those of us who have spent what feels like an overly significant part of our lives attempting to scrub every speck of pot black from our camp cookware – let today be the beginning of a new era! Let this be the end of soot covered “mechanic’s hands” stained from carbon that outlines one’s…
Wolves are generally not dangerous to people, and I’m unaware of any human injuries related to wolves in the BWCAW. Instead, if we see wolves on a Boundary Waters canoe trip, we feel especially lucky and pleased. The same can’t be said for domestic dogs and their interactions with area wolves. Wolves are probably one…
Kerry McNally is a Twin Cities television personality and former Discovery Channel host. I guided him this summer on his first trip into the BWCAW. He found the Boundary Waters so inspiring that he’s featuring footage from our canoe trip and scenic plane ride prominently in his new movie. It’s called Lakes, A Love Affair.…
Tamarack trees are ablaze in golden yellows now. After a summer innocuously blending in with spruce and fir trees, they are bursting with color. They are particularly striking against a backdrop of evergreens. The photos show Ely-area Tamarack trees this week. Once the dogsledding season arrives, the tamaracks will be totally barren. Tamaracks are the…
As soon as October 1 rolls around, I’m ready for snowflakes that don’t stick to the ground. Once the dogsledding season starts on December 1, I’ll be ready to wake up to several inches of snow. However, it is just plain premature for two inches of snow to be weighting down the tents of late-season…
Western poison ivy leaves are not a celebrated fall color, but they can be as crimson as a red maple leaf. The above photo shows poison ivy recently at the sand beach campsite on the west end of Mile Island on Fall Lake. Some Northwoods guidebooks gloss over or fail to mention western poison ivy.…