Milan Huard has plans for August. The avid deer hunter from Duluth is going to build a wooden bow at the North House Folk School in Grand Marais, courtesy of Northern Wilds. Huard won $500 in North House class credits as the first place prize in our 2012 Northern Wilds Adventure Awards contest. When contacted by phone, he was surprised, as in “I never win anything,” and very happy. He said he’d entered the contest shortly after visiting the North House last summer and learning about the bow-building class. Lori Young of Duluth is going on an adventure. She won our second place prize, a half-day winter or summer adventure from Stone Harbor Wilderness Supply in Grand Marais, which means she can try just about any outdoor activity from dog sledding to sea kayaking. Taking our third place prize was Mary Brett of Eveleth, who will spend her $50 gift certificate at the outdoor store of her choice. Our other winners were picked by you. Adventure Awards entries listed your favorite places in the Northern Wilds. The top choices are shown here.

Category	First	Second	Third
Park	Tettegouche	Cascade	Gooseberry
Scenic Overlook	Palisade	Hawk Ridge	Mount Josephine
Hiking Trail	Superior Hiking Trail	Oberg Mountain
Waterfall	High Falls/Pigeon River	Gooseberry	Devil's Kettle
Beach	Park Point	Paradise	Brighton
Rock Picking Spot	Agate Bay	Temperance River	Thompsonite Beach
Campground	Tettegouche	Split Rock	BWCAW
Ski Trail	Banadad	Pincushion	Korkki
Fall Color Drive	Caribou Trail	Honeymoon Trail	Heartbreak Hill
Festival	Grand Marais Fisherman's Picnic	Grand Portage Rendezvous Days	Ely Blueberry Festival
Bike Trail	Mesabi	Gitchi Gami	Munger
Fishing Hole	"I'll Never Tell"
Day Trip	Grand Marais	Grand Portage	Gunflint Trail
Wild Food	Blueberries	Raspberries	Wild Rice

We’d like to thank everyone who participated in the 2012 Adventure Awards. We plan to have another reader participation event this summer. But for now, pour a cup of coffee and sit down to enjoy this issue of Northern Wilds. You won’t have to leave your favorite armchair to find plenty of adventures. —Shawn Perich & Amber Pratt