New Phone Number and New Rates: Two of Several Changes in the BWCAW Reservation System

NEWS RELEASE
US Forest Service
Superior National Forest

Duluth, MN - As part of our ongoing service to the public, managers on the Superior National Forest have been working with a contractor over the past few years on several changes to increase efficiency of the wilderness permit reservation system.One of the outcomes is a reduction in the reservation fee charged by the contractor to process Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) permits.  Effective March 1, 2011, the fee to reserve a BWCAW permit will drop from $12.00 to $6.00. 

The reservation fee is separate from the user fee.  User fees are utilized by the Forest Service for improving and maintaining portages and campsites in the Wilderness as well as for educational activities.  There is no change in the BWCAW user fee.

Some of the changes that contribute to a more stream-lined service include:

        Merging the BWCAW reservation service with the National Recreation Reservation System, which is the one-stop on-line reservation service for all federal lands in the United States.

        Reduced paper work by eliminating requirements for printing, mailing and carbon copies.

        Increased efficiency in operating the annual BWCAW permit lottery.   For example: It now takes about 30 minutes to run, versus an entire day previously, and confirmation letters are emailed instantly.  

        Ability of Forest Service staff to now enter information directly into the system rather than involve contract staff.  

        Eliminated “no pays” equaling thousands of dollars each season through instant credit card processing.

        Cooperator access to issue walk-up permits (formerly “quick permits”) via computer.

        Customer ability to cancel reservations on-line, change group size, and make payments prior to permit pick-up.

Another change merged the BWCAW call center and customer service numbers into the centralized National Recreation Reservation System number.  This actually extended the hours of operation significantly.  

National Recreation Reservation Service:  877- 444-6777
March 1 to October 31, from 9:00 am to 11:00 pm, Central time
November 1 to February 28, from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm, Central time

WolfTrack Classic Sled Dog 130 Mile Race Champion J. Ross Fraboni

I just returned from the finish line of the WolfTrack Classic Sled Dog race.  This photo shows the 10 dog race winner, J. Ross Fraboni of Duluth, arriving at the finish line in Ely this morning.  Fraboni took first place in the 130 mile race, followed closely by Jennifer Freking of Finland, MN, in second place.  Congrats to all of the race participants!

Lake Surfaces Have Firmed Up Around Ely, MN

After a winter season with lakes of all sizes mired in deep and sometimes impassable slush, conditions have suddenly changed.  Last week's warm temps reached almost 60 degrees F and settled or melted the the fluffy lake snow that had insulated the slush.  Then, some solidly cold and windy weather froze over the slush.  I've seen the results while guiding dogsled trips this week.  The lakes are quite fast for dogsledding, skiing, and walking now.  While there are some patchy spots of bare ice that is difficult to ski or walk on, there is plenty of excellent snow-covered surface for skate skiing.  These are the conditions that one can skate ski almost effortlessly for miles and miles. 

This photo shows a family from Apply Valley, Minnesota, dogsledding with me on White Iron Lake near Ely, MN, on February 22.  Their four-year-old daughter is tucked into the sled bag with barely her pink hat showing. 

Lac La Croix First Nation Motor Use in Quetico Provincial Park

The Ojibway members of the Lac La Croix First Nation village are allowed special privileges to use motorized boats on certain lakes within Quetico Provincial Park, and to use float planes to access certain lakes in Quetico. These designated lakes may vary annually.

The 2011 season lakes the Ojibway guides may use motors on in Quetico are: Roland, Middle Roland, Beaverhouse, Poohbah, Cirrus, Minn, McAree, Quetico, Tanner, and Wolseley. The designated fly-in lakes for the Ojibway are Beaverhouse and Quetico Lakes.

It is extremely rare, but possible, to see motor usage on these lakes in Quetico Provincial Park.

Ely Winter Festival Snow Scuptures

These are just some of the examples of amazing snow sculptures exhibited by some wonderfully talented artists in the park in Ely now as part of the Ely Winter Festival.

Ely Winter Festival - February 3 - 13, 2011

We celebrate winter in Ely, Minnesota.  The Ely Winter Fest is February 3 - 13.
 
I snapped this photo in 20 below Fahrenheit temps this morning.  The massive snow cubes are set up in the park in Ely.  The next step is for the snow carvers to start there work beginning on Feb. 3.  They will be wonderful artistic creations by this weekend.  We're in suspense to see what the artists create to top all the great ones done last year.  Check back here for photos of the snow sculptures.

For full Ely Winter Festival details go to www.elywinterfestival.com.

Dog-Sled-Mobiling?

Much of the country has been getting record amounts of snowfall. While Ely itself may not be breaking records just yet, we are enjoying a real winter this season. Every few days or so, it snows another couple inches or more. Unlike with cars, extra snow while dog sledding is not too problematic, normally. More snow gives us more padding on our trails and generally freshens things up.

With all this repeated snowfall, our packed dog sledding trails get covered anew. Recently, during a day of dog sledding, it snowed about eight inches, a hefty amount for us. Here, Otok and Patches pull Nancy and Colleen through the collecting snow.

The day after this eight inches of snow, my dog sled group was out breaking open the same trails from the day before. Two Wintergreen staff also headed out that morning on snowmobiles to pack down some of the trails for us. As we were leaving our lunch spot on Saturday, we got word from one of those staff members saying he'd got the snowmobile pretty well stuck in slush and thin ice and thought he needed the help of our dogs to get it out.

We gallantly headed on over, with the "Here We Come to Save the Day!" theme in our heads. We found the snowmobile on a trail over a small creek. The weight of the snowmobile had pushed through some wet snow and down into the ice above this beaver creek, where it's not uncommon to have thinner ice because of moving water underneath. Because the snow had not been well packed down earlier in the season, the left side of the snowmobile had dropped down through thin ice. Despite attempts with logs to give it traction, our valiant staff member could not get the machine up and out.


So we removed the team of six dogs from our sled, backed them up (easier said than done!... sled dogs pull forward), and attached them with a tow strap to the sled. We revved up the snowmobile and gave the dogs the "Hike!" command while another guide prepared to lead in front.

The dogs didn't hesitate to jerk forward and pulled it right out of its hole. Success!


In the next instant, though, after the snow-go had made it out by a few feet, the tow strap came loose of the dogs.

They went running like mad without any weight behind them, taking over the front guide. She heard our yells, saw that the dogs were in fact entirely loose though attached to each other, and tackled some of them. Two more of the guides ran up as fast as possible and got the lead and wheel dogs held down. We held tightly until the dogsled could be reattached to the gangline, and we got people standing on the brake again.

Our group thought it was great! That hole in the ice, now exposed to the cold air, froze promptly. To ease the minds of those yet to be dog sledding this year, the snowmobile punched through because of its weight. The dogs are individually light enough to run right over that trail, and the sled's weight would be spread across its runners evenly.

There's never a guarantee, but here's to hoping the next snowmobile run goes smoothly! This was a meeting of technologies that doesn't occur terribly often.

Severe Slush Continues on Ely Area Lakes

The ice road on Shagawa Lake has been shut down due to slush, and advanced dogsled camping trips are making major reroutes due to severe slush on Ely area lakes.  While guiding dogsled trips, I am virtually always staying on previously used trails to avoid the slush.  This photo shows an example of what happens when you're off packed trails and in slush.  The dark spots are boot prints.

Lily the Black Bear Gives Birth to Two Cubs Near Ely, MN

Lily the black bear, one of the research bears studied by the Wildlife Research Institute near Ely, MN, gave birth to two cubs on Friday.  This is the second year in a row that Lily gave birth on the Institute's live webcam.  To see what's going on in Lily's den and try to spy a glimpse or sound of the cubs, see the webcam at http://www.bear.org/livecams/lily-hope-cam.html.

"Very Nice Weather"

I'm wrapping up guiding a four-night dogsled trip and Jan, with utmost sincerity, says, "We've had very nice weather this week." 

You'd never know Jan experienced the coldest week this year - with lows dipping to 38 below zero Fahrenheit.  That's actual air temp.  Another morning hit 27 below.  While this wasn't a camping trip, we dogsledded every day and experienced high temps that never reached the zero mark.

It is a wonderful thing to be prepared and feel comfortable while enjoying the outdoors on an otherwise cold winter day when most are hunkered down, avoiding the cold.

This photo shows Jan and her husband, Gordon, dog sledding on White Iron Lake. 

Moon Halo over Ely, MN

I spied this moon halo last night as I drove home from our canoe trip outfitting shop in Ely.  Moon halos are created when millions of tiny ice crystals high in the atmosphere reflect light.  The shape of the ice crystals results in a focusing of the light into a ring around the moon.  Because the ice crystals are six-sided, they reflect light at a 22 degree angle, creating a ring that has a 22 degree diameter.

Though moon halos are certainly more common during the dogsledding season than the canoe tripping season, people are already reserving canoe trips now for the best selection of permits for their desired entry points and dates.  Please contact us and we'll happily talk you through some canoe trip options.  We make BWCAW trip planning fun and simple, and we enjoy sharing stories about our region and the natural world.

Winter Travel Routes Wind Through Labrador Tea

Our winter traveling world varies dramatically from summertime.  During summer, paddling and portaging in the wilderness, we mostly avoid wetlands - for they harbor masses of mosquitoes.  Plus, the prospect of stepping into a particularly mucky spot and going in up to your knees or (gasp!) waist is not most peoples' idea of summer fun.

However, the onset of winter means the mucky bogs and wetlands freeze, and the bugs have vanished.  Now these wetlands make for excellent travel by dogsled, ski, and snowshoe because they are flat, protected from biting winds, and not subject to slush. The fallen snow makes for lovely enchanted forests of black spruce, weighed down with white, in the wetlands.

Although not as eye catching as the trees, a look under the black spruce or tamarack trees in the frozen bogs will likely discover a common wetland shrub called Labrador tea.  While guiding, I pause and point it out along the dogsled trail, encouraging dogsledding guests to pocket a couple handfuls for later back at the lodge.

The shrub often carpets the ground and grows one to three feet tall, with leaves one or two inches in length. Fragrant, elongated leaves have a leathery green top (or, often a brownish top in winter), with edges that roll downward.  The special part of these leaves is the underside.  Flip them over to see the densely hairy copper-colored bottom.  Naturalist and author Mark "Sparky" Stensaas calls them the "hairy armpit" leaves.  I know of no other north woods plant with such a similar characteristic, and it is an excellent identity clue.

The most commonly confused similar plant may be leatherleaf, another common wetland shrub - but one that lacks the hairy underside.  Also, leatherleaf leaves typically angle upward, whereas the Labrador tea leaves often droop downward or point out horizontally.

 In late May through June, once the mosquitoes have returned and the dogsleds are stored, Labrador tea blooms with dime-sized white flowers - each with five petals.  If you are not in the wetlands at that time of year, you may see the flowers while paddling along boggy shorelines.

With such a name, it is no surprise that people steep the leaves in hot water for five minutes or so to make a hot beverage.  I've found that placing a large handful of leaves into a coffee filter, and dunking them in a hot mug of water for five minutes is a simple way to prepare the herbal  drink with easy cleanup.  The concoction can taste quite woodsy and few people claim it to be particularly pleasing straight up.  However, a healthy dose of cream and sugar, perhaps not surprisingly, makes for a delightful occasional beverage.  

Labrador tea is sometimes called medicine tea, Indian tea, swamp leaf, muskeg tea, or Hudson's Bay tea.  The reference to medicine probably relates to the fact that Native Americans, such as the Chippewa, used the tea to treat a range of maladies including colds, digestion issues, asthma, kidney problems and fever.

Although the beverage may provide some health benefits and is commonly referred to as a desirable tea drink, it is important to know that the leaves contain a potentially poisonous compound.  That's probably why you won't find this tea on supermarket shelves.  Thus, the tea should only be consumed infrequently and not in large quantities.  To limit your intake, maybe only drink Labrador tea while you're on a dogsled trip, unless, of course, you're a dogsled guide.

Slush alert for Ely area lakes!

After almost a foot of snow in the last several days, many lakes are mired in slush. This pic shows the bottom of my skis slushed/iced up after trying to ski across White Iron Lake today.

Winter's Arrival in Ely

Last week's spring-like weather has given way to winter. Yesterday it started snowing and today, we woke up to about four inches of the fluffy white stuff. We have buttoned up all of our summer gear and are getting ready for another Northwoods winter. Bring on the dog sleds!

Final Canoe Repairs of 2010

Above average temps in the fifties today allowed me to do some maintenance on "Lilly," a cedar strip canoe I built several years back.  She took the 2010 season off while I worked on some fiberglass and epoxy repairs to the turn of the bilge.  I put the first coat of varnish on the hull exterior today, and hope to complete the second coat tomorrow.  She'll be ready for the 2011 season!

Moose Brains

Today's Halloween, so here's a moose brain.  It's about the size of a grapefruit. 

While this post is a lighthearted holiday entry, the brain shown here is undergoing important scientific research that may help people better understand the moose population in Minnesota.  I helped extract this brain from a bull moose harvested up the Echo Trail near Ely, MN, earlier this month.  At the time, I was assisting the MDNR with the moose check-in and sampling station in Ely. 

Scientists know that a brain parasite fatal to moose is causing moose mortality, and that the parasite is carried by white tailed deer.  The full extent and effect of the brain parasite issue is still being researched.

Garrison Keillor, Eat Your Heart Out

Lake Wabegon is Garrison's fictitious community on the edge of the prairie. It's full of Norwegian Lutherans and colorful characters.

Here in Ely, Minnesota, we live on the edge of the wilderness with plenty of colorful characters, and some Norwegian Lutherans.

Today we're driving south to see the live performance of Garrison's radio show, A Prairie Home Companion, at the Fitz in St. Paul. When I'm driving south, I usually stop at SuLu's Espresso Cafe a half hour south of Ely in Tower.  I typically order a skinny latte (fufu, I know, but SuLu's are my favorite).

You'll see the second drink listed on the menu behind the owner, Brenda, is the "Lutheran."

What is the "Lutheran?"   Every Sunday after church, ladies from the Lutheran church stop by SuLu's for coffee. But the SuLu "Coffee" is just too strong for them. They asked to cut it with a little water. And should they pay full price for a coffee that has extra water? Of course not. Thus, the "Lutheran"coffee is a nickel less.

Garrison Keillor, eat your heart out, and be sure to stop at SuLu's on your way to Ely for a Boundary Waters canoe trip.

Pine Marten Breakdown

I awoke to a Pine Marten peering from an overturned canoe outside my bedroom window this morning.  Then a second one appeared.  Then they loped around the cabin to the deck.  Once on the deck, one of them took up residence in a flower pot, and the other one decided that looked like a fine idea.  This video shows what ensued.  Keep an eye on which one starts in the planter and which one ends up in the planter.

Pine Martens are about the cutest creatures in all of the North Woods. They are typically chocolate-brown, have a golden throat patch, and a 12 to 18 inch body followed by a seven to ten inch tail. They are smaller than the related fisher (30-47 inches long, including tail). As omnivores, they subsist on Red-backed Voles, squirrels, rabbits, mice, chipmunks, birds, insects, seeds, worms, and berries. They reportedly particularly like raspberries. Pine Marten are excellent climbers, freely jump between trees, and can rotate their back hips to run headfirst down a tree trunk.

They are active all year. In winter, you may see their paw prints in the snow. Their tracks are less than two inches wide and show five toe pads around a rounded heel pad.

The Pine Marten stick to high ground and loathe water that mats their unoiled fur. In summer, you may seem them on portages. However, the brown cat-size creature dancing along the shoreline rocks is more likely to be its water-loving relative with a contrasting white throat patch, the Mink.

Women in the BWCA Wilderness

I recently guided two all-women's camping trips. What a blast! Both groups of talented, smart and go-get-em women sought out a female guide for their Boundary Waters camping experience.

I have guided canoe trips over ten summers for teenage and adult women in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and Quetico Provincial Park, working at the Northern Lakes Girl Scout Canoe Base and here at Boundary Waters Guide Service. I have become a believer in the truly different and remarkable experience that is possible with a group of only women.

I haven't seen the statistics for travel by men versus women, but what I have noticed personally is that there are substantially more men traveling in this wilderness area. By far, the majority of groups are exclusively men, with a fair amount of groups with one or two women. This reality underscores just how unique an all-women's trip is in the Boundary Waters.

As much as I tried to deny it when I first started guiding canoe trips in the Great North Woods, women really don't have the muscle mass that men do. The canoe that men (of many ages) can pick up without any technique does not go on my shoulders without teamwork or some real practice. That applies big-time to groups of first-time women to the Boundary Waters. Teamwork really becomes key.

During an orientation before getting out on the water, we tackled portaging technique, which is typically the most intimidating aspect of a BWCAW trip. Each group learned how to use three people to flip the canoe upside-down, and then each person took a turn carrying the lightweight Kevlar canoe. The task was surprisingly conquerable to most, even a breeze to a couple of the stronger women!

After our first few hours of paddling, everyone discovered, despite their trepidation, that the portaging was actually quite do-able, though still a workout. Both groups of women smiled with accomplishment (and maybe a little tiredness) at the end of their first long portages. Everyone was definitely appreciative a little while later of a campsite where we could rest and relax.

The eight ladies of the first group were friends since having their children involved together in Girl Scouts or Boy Scouts, and boy, were they a get-er-done kind of group. They gathered armloads of firewood, found time to relax, and shared much laughter. Some felt a little nervous about the physicality of a canoe trip, others just looked forward to relaxing and not having to cook. These ladies were all made for this kind of canoeing adventure, amusingly calling themselves "Kate Plus Eight."

My second group of ladies, four this time, were nurses or nurse practitioners with numerous stories about the many babies they had delivered. Lovely women with great stories, also quick learners and very capable in a canoe in the gusty conditions we experienced. These four ladies had worked together in their profession for years and were absolutely great at working with each other in this new environment.

These two trips in the late summer season had lovely weather -- highs up toward 70 degrees and low temps in the 40s, sometimes dipping down to the 30s. Since women typically tend to feel colder, I used another trick for our ladies: we filled everyone's water bottle with hot water overnight to keep our sleeping bags toasty warm. It proved to be a delightful surprise.

It seems to be true no matter the woman's age: after experiencing an all-female canoe camping trip, there is a definite sense of empowerment. I believe these already intelligent and accomplished women were no exception. Being "out there" for three or four days and relying only on each other for forward movement tends to build trust, make a lot of fun moments, and create an experience that will not be quickly forgotten.

Boundary Waters Autumnal Colors

Fall colors are here! In fact, they are at peak already. If you've got the time, head on up to Ely and enjoy the beautiful colors. Here, two photos from recent guided canoe trips. These beautiful light purple flowers really complement the yellows, oranges and red of the autumn woods.