This is one of two snowshoe hares I’ve seen this week. Both of them have recently changed color from a snow-white winter coat to their summer camouflage brown. They know it’s spring and they’re blending in with the brown and nibbling at the green.
I photographed this cow moose and her calf today while paddling near Lake Four in the BWCA. As I paddled past a narrow inlet, I glimpsed what looked like an upturned tree root. I twice backpaddled against the wind to get a better look, then used my camera zoom to confirm they were moose. As…
We picked up new Wenonah kevlar ultralight canoes at the Wenonah Canoe Factory in Winona, Minnesota, this week. Owner Mike Cichanowski (above, left) greeted us. He grew up in Winona, on the banks of the Mississippi. He’s a paddler at heart and has inspired innovation throughout the canoe industry. His company is now the largest…
People often ask what we Boundary Waters guides do on our days off. My response is that our days off look a lot like our days on. For example, Kate and I are in DC visiting friends (it’s the Ely “mud season,” after all). But, you can’t keep us away from getting our paddling fix…
We’ve returned happy and healthy from our Hudson Bay dogsledding adventure. Every spring, after the Minnesota dogsledding season ends, Wintergreen Lodge leads dogsled adventures to various destinations such as the North Pole, Greenland, Svalbaard, other Arctic locations, and the Rocky Mountains. Eight of our Wintergreen Dogsled Lodge guides left Ely by truck and dog trailer…
It’s a Wintergreen tradition to buy the dogs soft serve ice cream cones when returning from long trips. This is Daisy enjoying hers after we crossed the border back into the US today.
As we arrived in Churchill, we dogsledded to the Polar Bear Jail. It is where problem bears are taken, on the edge of town. These photos show the polar bear traps used for the problem bears.
We spent our day dogsledding and skiing with our heads down and noses angled away from the wind. Sustained winds blasted us as we traveled along the coast of Hudson Bay to the Churchill Northern Studies Center. Wind speeds peaked at about 30 mph, with an air temp of about 0 degrees F today. The…
We are in the midst of an all out gale. Winds blowing upwards of 35 mph have stopped us in our tracks. Air temps are about 10F, but the wind chill has pushed temps into the deep freeze. Blowing snow is piling up in drifts around the dogsleds and we have hunkered down at an…
The weather has remained ideal. The sun continues to shine brightly and we are slathering on sunscreen. The wind has calmed today. The scenery is changing rapidly. As we move further north, the trees are getting smaller and smaller, and fewer and fewer. The efficient traveling conditions allowed us to log 25 miles today. Our…