Dogsledding in the FALLING SNOW!

While we've fortunately had adequate snow for dogsledding this winter, we sure haven't had the typical piling on of the white stuff.  This week I guided a couple of families from the Twin Cities area.  They arrived from the brown landscape of the Cities and enjoyed the fresh falling snow on White Iron Lake.  About four inches have fallen, and there are "snow globe" flakes still gentling falling this morning.  We don't typically pile four people on a dogsled, but this made for a fun family photo opp.  Mishka is the dog with the white face smiling at the camera above.

 And there's Otok (the dog) smiling as he runs by, above.

Kent, above, held on tight as his dogs launched with a great burst of forward speed... or he was just hamming it up for the camera as he passed by.

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Photos of Basswood Lodge on Basswood Lake

One of our canoe trip outfitting guests shared some historic photos from the old Basswood Lodge on Basswood Lake near Ely, MN.  The photos are from the collection of her late father, Harold Rosencrans, of Lebanon, Ohio.  Harold vacationed with his family on Basswood Lake.  The photos may be from the 50s or 60s.  Above is a color postcard of Basswood Fishing Lodge, and the two images below appear to be photographs.

Basswood Lodge was known in part for exceptional log craftsmanship.  After the federal government bought out all of these old resorts, some of the log cabins were disassembled, moved, and reassembled outside of the BWCA.  One example is the Ely Chamber of Commerce - which was formerly one of the log cabins at Basswood Lodge.

Some of the locations of old lodges are now sites of BWCA campsites, and an excellent campsite is now near the location of this historic resort.  But tent campers today won't see the human-made structures shown in these photos.  The lodge, spectacular dock system and bridge shown in these photographs live on only in photographs and memories.

If you have historic Boundary Waters photos and an interest in sharing them, please let us know and we're happy to post them with your stories on our blog. 

Map of Massive BWCAW Closures Due to Pagami Creek Fire

We just received this from the USFS at about 5PM.  Brown is the closure area.  The red outline shows the burned area as of yesterday at 7PM.

Pagami Creek Fire Update - Sept. 13

TODAY’S MESSAGE: Yesterday, a finger of the Pagami Creek Fire made an unprecedented 16 mile run to the east, reaching the edge of Polly Lake. The fire became a plume-driven event and reached in excess of 60,000 acres. The fire is now under Unified Command with Lake County Sheriff’s Office as full partners of management of this fire. Residents were evacuated from 36 addresses along the portion of the Cramer Road/Lake County Road 7 from Kawishiwi Lake south to the Wanless Road (Forest Road 172) and along the Wanless Road west from the junction with the Cramer Road to Homestead Lake. Public Safety crews continue to range the wilderness, moving visitors out of areas where they may be at risk. A town meeting held in Isabella was attended by about 100 concerned residents. Winds are expected to be strong and out of the northwest and west again today with little or no precipitation expected.

ACTIVITIES TODAY: Hand crews on the north side of the fire will be patrolling lines and monitoring for any fire spread Airplanes and helicopters are being used to drop water to slow the spread of the fire. Areas around the fire within the BWCAW are being assessed to plan for visitor evacuation and closure. A Community Meeting will be held at the Vermilion Community College in Ely, Minnesota tonight, September 13, 2011 at 7:00 p.m. Daily public meetings will be held in Isabella Community Center at 11:00 a.m. A Joint Information Center has been set up in the Kawishiwi Ranger District Office for answering both Superior National Forest and Lake County questions.

BWCAW CLOSURES: Closures will be added soon. A complete list will be sent out soon. ROAD CLOSURES: All roads north of the following route are closed: Highway 1 from Forest Road (FR) 1468 east to Isabella; Wanless Road (FR 172) east to Lake County Road 7; Lake County Road 7 north to FR 354; FR 354 north to BWCAW boundary at Kawishiwi Lake. Highway 1 is still open. Road blocks staffed within Lake County will be at the intersections of Wanless and Cramer, Highway 1 and Wanless, Hwy 1 and Tomahawk Trail. Road blocks within Cook County will be Hwy 3 just west of Sawbill Road. Additional closures may occur.

SAFETY: The Superior National Forest and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources are enacting additional fire restrictions for areas outside the BWCAW. Go to the MNICS.org and the Superior National Forest websites for further information.

DATE OF DETECTION: August 18, 2011
CAUSE: Lightning CURRENT SIZE: in excess of 60,000 acres
LOCATION: Township 63 N, Range 9 W, approximately 14 miles east of Ely (within the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness) in the Pagami Creek area between the South Kawishiwi River, Clearwater Lake, and Lake One.
AGENCY: Superior National Forest, Kawishiwi Ranger District
SMOKE CONDITIONS: Smoke may be heavy and wide spread depending on wind direction. RESOURCES: Nearly 200 personnel are assigned to the fire.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Phone (218) 365-3177

Lily the Black Bear and Her Cubs Welcoming Spring Near Ely, MN

It is a sure sign of spring when our local black bears become more and more active. This video shows some wild research bears and cubs near Ely, MN, this week. The North American Bear Center is studying them in their natural environment. This den cam gives us a great look at what is happening in the woods right now.

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!

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.

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.

Ely, MN - The Coolest Small Town in America

Ely, MINN - National travel magazine Arthur Frommer’s Budget Travel has named Ely, Minn. as its 2010 “Coolest Small Town in America.” The magazine received 147 nominations, then selected 21 American towns that stood out from the crowd to open up to public online voting. In online voting, 439,411 votes were received, and Ely captured 118,899 of those—27 percent of all votes.

A feature on the city of Ely will be included in the magazine’s September 2010 issue.

Ely is located in the Boundary Waters region, on the US-Canada border between Ontario and Minnesota, and is a popular destination for campers, as well as canoe and fishing enthusiasts, and those looking for natural scenery and relaxation.

The magazine defined what they sought for 'Coolest Small Town' as a town with a population under 10,000. According to the original solicitation for nominations, the magazine wrote, “we're talking small towns, not big cities. It's also got to be on the upswing, a place that's beginning to draw attention—and new residents—because of the quality of life, arts and restaurant scene, or proximity to nature. And cool doesn't mean quaint. We want towns with an edge, so think avant-garde galleries, not country stores.” The runner-up cities were Cloverdale, Calif. and Brevard, N.C.

See the original competition details here: http://www.budgettravel.com/bt-srv/coolestsmalltowns/CST2010.html.

“People have long recognized that Ely’s a town full of eccentric people and interesting cultural offerings, but also a land of beautiful wilderness,” says Linda Fryer, director, Ely Chamber of Commerce. “We may be at the end of the road, but once you get here, there’s a lot to see and do.”

The magazine summarized Ely in an introductory article in January: “Also called the End of the Road, Ely sits in Minnesota's scenic extreme north, where it once served as an iron-mining hub. But Ely has come a long way since her unglamorous mining days, now playing host to a number of renowned wilderness facilities like the International Wolf Center and the North American Bear Center. The city is a perfect base for camping, canoeing, and fishing, as the nearby Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness offers an untouched expanse of lakes and bogs straddling the U.S.-Canadian border. Ely has become notorious for the annual April Fools’ jokes that city leaders play on the eager-to-be-fooled citizens. In 2008, a press release announced that Ely was being sold to Canada to boost tourism. The mayor commented on the subject in a local newspaper, and cheeky ‘Say No to Canada’ signs were displayed along the highway. The following year, Ely began a mock-campaign to secure the right to host the 2016 Olympic Games.”

In 2010, Ely once again engaged in April Foolery with an announcement on April First that it, in conjunction with the Forest Service, had signed a multi-year deal with a nationally known corporation  for naming rights to the legendary Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW).

Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel magazine is published monthly except for combined issues in December/January and July/August by Intellitravel Media, Inc. BudgetTravel.com is the website for Budget Travel magazine, which receives approximately 1.8 million unique page views per month.

For more information on Ely, Minn., and to book a Boundary Waters canoe trip vacation that’s less than four hours from the Twin Cities, please visit www.BorderLakesOutfitting or call 218-343-7951.