Explore the Northern Wilds
Ely Attraction Tells the Truth About Bears
Visitors to the Ely area can learn the truth about bears by visiting the North American Bear Center. The Center made its debut in May and has been met with a terrific response.
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Visitors to the Ely area can learn the truth about bears by visiting the North American Bear Center. The Center made its debut in May and has been met with a terrific response.
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It’s hard to mistake the chattering of the red squirrel for anything else in our northern forests, whether you’re pleased to hear the sounds of wildlife or want it to be quiet lest it gives away your hiding place. Whatever you think of them, these rodents are a significant part of the forest ecosystem with natural habits that ensure the growth of the woodlands they reside in.
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Grand Marais pilot Dan Anderson offers scenic tours of the Gunflint country where he guarantees you will see a moose. On a recent flight, he made good on that guarantee within minutes of getting into the air.
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When weddings take place on Lake Superior’s shoreline or in the boreal forest, no artificial prop rentals, arches, or tents are required, because the attendants and guests are standing amidst a backdrop green pines, blue water, and lichen-adorned boulders.
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Myra Theimer of the U.S. Forest Service has some advice for folks who are concerned about the loss of the forest cover resulting the Ham Lake Fire. Don’t panic and watch what happens. The forest will grow back.
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How Would You Leave No Trace?
Leave No Trace is about using your best judgment to apply these seven principles in a way that’s good for the land and makes sense for the situation at hand.
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Leave No Trace is about using your best judgment to apply these seven principles in a way that’s good for the land and makes sense for the situation at hand.
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Kakabeka Falls: Historic Wilderness Jewel
If you can’t get to Niagara Falls this summer, come and visit another of the world’s best natural waterfalls, Northwestern Ontario’s spectacular Kakabeka Falls, only a 20-minute drive west from Thunder Bay on Highway 11-17. Known as the Niagara of the North (it’s the second largest waterfall in Ontario), it has a distinctive landscape that is steeped in legends and history.
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If you can’t get to Niagara Falls this summer, come and visit another of the world’s best natural waterfalls, Northwestern Ontario’s spectacular Kakabeka Falls, only a 20-minute drive west from Thunder Bay on Highway 11-17. Known as the Niagara of the North (it’s the second largest waterfall in Ontario), it has a distinctive landscape that is steeped in legends and history.
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The 67-foot Kawishiwi Falls, located off the Fernberg Road near Wintonis now accessible via a new foot-trail and viewing area.
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A more southern species, gray fox were first noted near Duluth in the early 1980s. They are now found throughout northern Minnesota.
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How Do You Leave No Trace?
Question: You’re settling into a nice lunch spot away from the trail when you notice a tiny bird flitting around, close, and chirping like crazy. What do you do?
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Question: You’re settling into a nice lunch spot away from the trail when you notice a tiny bird flitting around, close, and chirping like crazy. What do you do?
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From my home on Lake Superior’s North Shore, I’m within day-tripping distance of more trout streams, ponds, and lakes than one angler can explore in a lifetime. The following patterns originated in or were adapted to the north country.
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The simple answer to the title question is: to better their chances for reproduction. In nature, one sex (typically the male) displays to potential mates that it is the fittest of its species. Females then select the fittest male for breeding, because they want their young to carry the best genes possible, thus increasing their chance of survival.
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Why does snow make different sounds at different temperatures when it is walked on?
Your boots can be a good indicator of just how cold it is outside in the winter.
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Your boots can be a good indicator of just how cold it is outside in the winter.
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Barrier Falls of the Devil Track River
Barrier Falls, in winter, is an awesome 25-foot tall confection of ice and snow, stalactites and mites.
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Barrier Falls, in winter, is an awesome 25-foot tall confection of ice and snow, stalactites and mites.
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Although the North Shore State Snowmobile Trail is marvelous—approximately 150 miles of wide, well-groomed trail with awesome glimpses of Lake Superior and snow-covered ridges along the way—there are dozens of spurs off the main trail. And they are all worth exploring.
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A Superior Winter
Anyone who is familliar with Lake Superior knows that this inland sea behaves as if winter air temperatures measured in negative numbers are of no consequence.
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Anyone who is familliar with Lake Superior knows that this inland sea behaves as if winter air temperatures measured in negative numbers are of no consequence.
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Glen Avon Falls is a gem–an Elizabeth Taylor-sized gem—little-known to the casual North Shore traveler, but apparently very well-known to anglers and yellow swallowtail butterflies. Park and walk about 40 yards across exposed red rock outcrop to the river’s edge.
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Frogs and Toads get Ready for Winter
Slowly but surely the long, hot days of summer give in to the shorter, cooler days of fall. This results in a change in activity for our local frog and toad populations.
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Slowly but surely the long, hot days of summer give in to the shorter, cooler days of fall. This results in a change in activity for our local frog and toad populations.
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Late Summer and Fall Pests
I recently spent two days at a Home Insect Control workshop led by Jeff Hahn, associate professor and extension educator. We learned some really cool things like--there are 11 common ant species in Minnesota; termites occur only in a few counties in the southern third of Minnesota; and the most common spider bite you might encounter in northeastern Minnesota would probably be from a yellow sac spider.
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I recently spent two days at a Home Insect Control workshop led by Jeff Hahn, associate professor and extension educator. We learned some really cool things like--there are 11 common ant species in Minnesota; termites occur only in a few counties in the southern third of Minnesota; and the most common spider bite you might encounter in northeastern Minnesota would probably be from a yellow sac spider.
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One of the first sure signs of spring in the Northern Wilds is when the sap starts to run in the sugar maples. Don Mount of Two Harbors has made maple syrup for 30 years. He says it varies somewhat with weather conditions, but the middle of March through the first two weeks of April is when the sap flows in the sugar bush. Usually, the run doesn’t begin until snow has melted away from the base of the trees.
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