northern wilds oct - nov 2013

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Oct-Nov 2013 VOL 10, ISSUE 5 For Folks Who Love the North

MakingWaves

The Red Coats are Coming

Trail Cameras

2 NORTHERN WILDS OCTOBER - NOVEMBER 2013

NORTHERN WILDS OCTOBER - NOVEMBER 2013 3

Many people say autumn is their fa-vorite season in the Northern Wilds. They are enraptured with the autumn foliage—bold swaths of gold and orange that grace craggy hills and reflect in bril-liance from mirror=still lakes. They like the way you can be outside and not en-counter biting insects. Or how you can hike or paddle in comfortable temps. Some even like the stormy weather, es-pecially the way it creates big waves on Lake Superior.

We like all of that stuff, too, as do our writers and photographers. In this issue of Northern Wilds, we join them on some of their favorite fall adventures. Photographer Mike Furtman takes us into the marsh, which is alive

with wildlife at this time of year. We join hunter Gord Ellis in the woods to learn about how to use trail cam-eras to record not only game move-ments, but also comings and goings of all manner of wildlife.

Kayak guide and photographer Bryan Hansel teaches us what makes a wave, while Elle Andra-Warner explains likely happened when the legendary Edmund Fitzgerald went down on a storm-tossed Superior. Be sure to check out the North Notes section for a spectacular photograph of an angry wave racing up the cliff

beneath Split Rock Lighthouse.

We also have some news for our readers and ad-vertisers. Beginning in December, Northern Wilds will be a monthly publication. We will merge it with our sister publication, North Shore Highway 61, which covers arts and entertainment and contains our Ultimate Real Estate Guide. The new Northern Wilds will continue to be available free on over 200 locations from Duluth to beyond Thunder Bay, as well as being mailed to all Cook County households.

We are excited about this transition, because we can now create a magazine that truly reflects everything this wonderful place has to offer. Folks who live and visit here love the North Shore and the wilderness beyond for many reasons—the scenery, the wealth of outdoor fun, the vibrant arts scene, good restaurants, interesting people and friendly communities. You’ll find a little bit of all of that in our next issue. We hope you like it.—Shawn Perich and Amber Pratt

Where did you find us?: _______ __________________________What was your favorite article in this issue?: _________________ __________________________

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from the editors

December Advertising Deadline:Nov. 6, 2013

What Makes a Wave? 10

Canadian Corps— Bringing History Alive 13

The School Where Kids Play Outside 14

Ice Gear 2014 19

North Notes 5

Events 7

Events Calendar 9

Through My Lens 17

Canadian Trails 18

The Accidental Gardener 20

Taste of the North 21

Dining Guide 22

Strange Tales 26

Book Reviews 24

Product Reviews 25

Northern Sky 25

Classifieds 22

DEPARTMENTS

FEATURES

About our cover:In autumn, Lake Superior herring are

netted to make caviar sold interna-tionally. Photographer Bryan Hansel captured this image of a fishing boat

heading out to check the nets.

www.NorthernWilds.comPUBLISHERS: Shawn Perich & Amber Pratt

Copyright 2013 All rights reserved

Copyright 2013 by Northern Wilds Media, Inc. Published six times per year. Subscription rate is $15 per year or $28

for 2 years. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part requires written permission from the publisher.

Northern Wilds Media, Inc P.O. Box 26 Grand Marais, MN 55604 (218) 387-9475 (phone / fax)

CONTRIBUTORS: Elle Andra-Warner, Gord Ellis, Joan Farnam, Michael Furtman, Bryan Hansel, Deane Morrison, Javier Serna

Advertising rates and publishing schedules are available.

Join us on Facebook

EDITORIAL Shawn Perich, Editor • [email protected]

Jayne Richards, Editorial Assistant • [email protected]

ADVERTISING Amber Pratt, Advertising Manager, [email protected] Shinner, Sales Representative [email protected]

GRAPHIC DESIGN Katie Viren • [email protected]

OFFICE Bev Wolke • [email protected]

Autumn Splendor and a Glimpse of What’s Coming


The supplemental draft Environmental Impact Statement for PolyMet’s project is scheduled to be released for public review in late November. The report details the plan to open Minnesota’s first copper, nickel, and other precious metals mine near Hoyt Lakes. We look forward to moving toward what everyone in Minnesota wants – a healthy environment and a healthy economy.

A MODERN, SAFECOPPER-NICKEL MINE FOR THE IRON RANGE TAKES ANOTHER STEP FORWARD

STAY INFORMED ABOUT THE UPCOMING PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD AND MEETINGS.

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Participation in outdoor recreation reached a six-year high in 2012 with 142 million Americans ages 6 and older enjoying the outdoors. That is an increase of about 800,000 out-door participants since 2011 and equates to a participation rate of 49.4 percent. The findings are part of The Outdoor Foundation’s 2013 Outdoor Recreation Participation Report, the leading report tracking American participation trends in outdoor rec-reation with a focus on youth and diversity.

The seventh annual report is based on an online survey of more than 40,000 Americans ages 6 and older, and covers 114 different outdoor ac-tivities, making it the largest survey of its kind. The study, which provides an in-depth look at youth, shows mixed results about outdoor partici-pation among America’s youngest generations. While youth and young adult participation remained steady since 2011, adolescent participation dropped. The low participation rate can be attributed to a 6 percent loss in participation among adolescent girls. On the other hand, adolescent boys’ participation continued to rise, adding 3 percentage points since 2010.

Some of the additional findings in-clude:

• While 13 million Americans started participating in outdoor activities in 2012, 12 million stopped. This is a net gain of 1 million total outdoor participants and a churn rate of 6.8 percent.

• The number of total outdoor out-ings increased, reaching an all-time high. Americans took 12.4 billion outdoor excursions in 2012, up from 11.5 billion excursions in 2011.

• Adventure racing grew the most

over the past five years. The sport increased participation by 211 per-cent.

• Stand-up paddling had the highest number of new participants in the past year. More than half of stand-up paddling participants tried the sport for the first time in 2012.

• Almost one-quarter of all outdoor enthusiasts participate in outdoor activities at least twice per week.

• Running, including jogging and trail running, is the most popular activity among Americans when

measured by number of partici-pants and by number of total an-nual outings.

• Youth who do not participate in outdoor activities say they are not interested in the outdoors. For young adults, lack of time is a big-ger barrier than lack of interest.

• Introducing outdoor recreation and physical activities early in life has a lasting effect. Among adults who are current outdoor participants, 75 percent had physical education and 42 percent enjoyed outdoor

activities in elementary school.

• As seen in previous reports, out-door participation is highest among Caucasians and lowest among African Americans.

• Although Hispanic Americans have one of the lowest outdoor participation rates, those who do participate go outside as often as Caucasians, who have the highest participation rate.

Participation in Outdoor Activities Hits Six-Year High

DNR offers fewer wolf licenses, lowers 2013 harvest target

A smaller Minnesota wolf population means fewer hunting and trapping licenses will be available when the wolf season opens Saturday, Nov. 9. The Minnesota DNR set the statewide target harvest of wolves at 220, 180 fewer than last season.

Hunters and trappers applied for 2,000 early-season and 1,300 late-season licenses issued by lottery. That’s a reduction from 3,600 early-season and 2,400 late-season licenses in 2012.

“The changes are a management response to the most-recent wolf population estimate,” said Dan Stark, the DNR’s large carnivore specialist. “As with other game species DNR manages, adjustments are made to regulate hunting pressure and harvest to en-sure long-term population sustainability and provide hunting and trapping opportunities.”

Minnesota has the largest wolf population in the lower 48 states. The DNR’s 2013 wolf population sur-vey estimated 2,211 wolves last winter compared to 2,921 in the winter of 2008. The most-recent estimate does not include the birth of as many as 2,600 wolf pups this spring, some of which will survive into win-ter and be counted in next year’s population.

The DNR manages wolf harvest, in part, through a system of hunting zones. The target harvest in the northwest zone is 145, down from 265 in 2012. The target harvest in the northeast zone is 65, down from 133. The east-central zone target harvest is 10, down from 18. With the possible exception of the east-cen-tral zone, those harvest targets will be split between the early and late seasons. The statewide bag limit is one wolf, and licenses are not zone specific.

Wolf licenses cost $30 for residents and $250 for nonresidents. The early season purchase deadline is Friday, Nov. 1, with surplus licenses going on sale at noon on Wednesday, Nov. 6. The late season purchase deadline is Friday, Nov. 22, with surplus licenses going on sale at noon on Wednesday, Nov. 27.

The DNR sets wolf seasons and quotas based on long-term sustainability, as it does with more than 50 other game species, including many other furbearing mammals. The DNR received strong direction from the Minnesota Legislature to conduct a wolf season and manage wolves as a prized and high-value fur species by setting the season when pelts have value.


Thunder Bay Holds Second Deer Hunt

The City of Thunder Bay is holding its second Deer/Bow Hunt, according to Northwest Ontario Sportsman’s Alliance. The hunt was initiated last year and considered a success. Hunting is allowed only on private land where the hunter has previ-ously obtained written permission. Traditional bows and crossbows are allowed. Baiting is allowed from Nov. 1 to Dec. 15. Hunting is only al-lowed from elevated stands at least 3 meters above the ground. Hunters are encouraged to limit shot dis-tances to under 30 meters and only take “vital” shots to minimize wound-ing. Maps of open hunting areas and hunting rules are available on the city website, www.thunderb ay.ca.

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On Nov. 10, 1975, the Great Lakes freighter Edmund Fitzgerald was lost with her entire crew of 29 men near Whitefish Bay at the eastern end of Lake Superior. Every Nov. 10, at dusk, the beacon at Split Rock Lighthouse

is lit in memory of those men, the fa-mous ship and all the sailors lost on other Great Lakes shipwrecks.

A 30-minute film, “The Edmund Fitzgerald Investigation,” will show

continuously in the Visitor Center Theater through the afternoon. A second, hour-long film on Great Lakes shipwrecks will be shown con-tinuously on a small monitor in the exhibit gallery of the Visitor Center.

The Fog Signal Building and Lighthouse will be open to the pub-lic from 11 a.m.-6 p.m. with costumed guides on duty to greet visitors and provide historic site and shipwreck information. At 4:30 p.m., the light-house will be temporarily closed to allow for a ceremony on the light-house steps. The ceremony will in-clude the reading of the names of the men lost on the Fitzgerald and the ringing of a ship’s bell. At the conclu-sion of the ceremony the lighthouse beacon will be switched on, the lighthouse will be reopened and visi-tors may climb the interior stairs for a rare, close-up view of the lighted, third-order Fresnel lens.

The lighthouse and fog signal building will close at 6 p.m. The bea-con will be on until approximately 7 p.m. The special, reduced, historic site admission fee for this event is $7. Children ages 5 and under are free. Visitors are urged to bring flashlights for use after sunset and to dress warmly.

Annual Split Rock Lighthouse Beacon Lighting

Angry waves strike the cliff beneath Split Rock Lighthouse, just visible above the trees. | SPLIT ROCK LIGHTHOUSE

http://www.thunderb


Thunder Bay Holds Second Deer Hunt

Crossing Borders Studio Tour 2013

Sept. 27-Oct. 6Enjoy the fall colors while participating in a free

self-guided tour of a select group of professional artist studios located along the North Shore of Highway 61. Learn about the process each artist goes through to create a masterpiece. Artwork will also be available to purchase. A wide ar-ray of art will be featured this year such as pot-tery, weaving, jewelry, glass sculptures, leather, wood carving, metal works and more. Visit www.crossingbordersstudiotour.com for more info.

NHFS Family WeekendOct. 17-20

The North House Folk School is offering a line-up of family friendly courses. More than a dozen courses will be offered, including wooden toy making and baking. Minimum ages vary for each course. There will also be a dance, pizza bake and stories around the campfire. For more details, visit www.northhouse.org.

Moose Madness FestivalOct. 18-20

Moose Madness is taking over Grand Marais with moose-related activities that are fun for the whole family. Signs of moose are all over town; follow the clues to find the Hidden Medallion. Drury Lane Books will be hosting a Full Moose Reading with Tom McCann on the Lakeshore and Murray-the-Moose will be around town for photo opportuni-ties. Don’t forget to check out last year’s Northern Wilds Moose Madness Poetry Contest winners. Visit www.grandmarais.com for more info on moose-related activities.

Fall Food & Wine Lover’s Weekend

Nov. 1-2Enjoy a full-course meal and wine tasting with

the annual Fall Food and Wine Lover’s Weekend at Bluefin Grille in Tofte. Start off with a four-course dinner on Friday at 7 p.m. for $75 per person. A wine tasting will be held on Saturday at 1 p.m. for

$35 per person and a five-course dinner will be served at 6 p.m. for $85 per person. Visit www.bluefinbay.com for more details.

Empty Bowls and Silent Auction

Nov. 14The Grand Marais Art Colony presents the an-

nual Empty Bowls and Silent Auction fundraiser for the Cook County Food Shelf. For a $10 dona-tion, guests can pick out a handmade bowl and fill it with soup made by local restaurants. The silent auction opens with lunch at 11:30 a.m. and ends at 6 p.m. Soup will be served from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and again from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Empty Bowls will take place at the First Congregational Church in Grand Marais. Visit www.grandmaraisartcolony.org for more details.

Family Weekend- Oct 17-20, 2013 -

hands on coursework • pizza bakecontra dance • storytellingwww.northhouse.org

North House Folk Schoolin Grand Marais, MNwww.northhouse.org

Guests inspect bowls created by local potters for the annual Food Shelf fundraiser in Grand Marais. | JOAN FARNAM

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Girls Gone North WeekendNov. 15-17

Need a weekend away from the family? Bluefin Bay presents a weekend retreat just for girls with numerous workshops to attend. Activities include yoga, hiking, music, a spa, a guest speaker and more. For more info, visit www.bluefinbay.com.

Winterer’s Gathering & Arctic Film Festival

November 21-24, 2013Celebrate the crafts, customs, landscape, histo-

ry and stories of winter travel and traditional life in the North. The weekend event features speak-ers, workshops, a winter tent camp, gear swap, community dancing, evening films and more. Featured speaker is Paul Schurke, the founder of Wintergreen Dogsledding Lodge in Ely, who will share his story of retracing Shackleton’s har-rowing 1916 journey across Antarctica. Garrett Conover, author of “Beyond the Paddle” and co-author of the “Snow Walker’s Companion,” will offer sessions on wilderness travel, winter provi-sioning and writing. Visit www.northhouse.org.

AMSOIL® Duluth National Snocross

Nov. 29-Dec. 1Duluth’s Spirit Mountain ski area is host to the

biggest snowmobile event of its kind: the AMSOIL Duluth National Snocross. Sanctioned by the International Series of Champions (ISOC), pro riders compete for the prestigious C.J. Ramstad Memorial Cup. Part of the AMSOIL Champion Snocross Series, it’s bright lights, big city, triple

jumps and it all plays out on tons of man-made snow. You can view all of the action from either outdoor bleachers or from inside the cozy chalet. www.VisitDuluth.com

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CALENDARSEPT. 27-28Lake Superior 20/20 Studio Art TourArtist studio tour in Lake Countywww.lakesuperior2020.copm

SEPT. 27-OCT. 6Crossing Borders Studio TourArtists’ Studios along Hwy. 61Grand Maraiswww.crossingbordersstudiotour.com

OCT. 4-5Dinner aboard the North Shore Scenic RailroadDuluth, 6 p.m.www.northshorescenicrailroad.org

OCT. 11, FRIDAYSocial Dance with Ole Olsson’s Oldtime OrkestraLog Building. Cook County Community Center7:30-10:30 p.m.Grand Marais

OCT. 11-12OktoberfestCanadian Lakehead ExhibitionThunder Bay, ONwww.thunderbay.ca

OCT. 12, SATURDAYNight Sky of the NorthwoodsSoudan Underground Mine State Park, Tower, MN7:30 p.m., www.ely.org

Scandinavian Dance WorkshopLog Building. Cook County Community Center10 a.m. to noonGrand MaraisInfo: 763-566-8255

7th Annual Fitger’s Harvest Fun & Harvest RunFitgers, Duluthwww.fitgers.com

OCT. 17-20Family WeekendNorth House Folk SchoolGrand Marais, www.northhouse.org

OCT. 18-20Moose Madness FestivalGrand Marais, www.grandmarais.com

OCT. 19-20Wild Family WeekendInternational Wolf CenterEly, www.wolf.org

OCT. 31, THURSDAYHalloweenNOV. 1-226th Annual Gales of NovemberCanal Park, Duluth, www.lsmma.com

Fall Food & Wine Lover’s WeekendBluefin Bay, Toftewww.bluefinbay.com

NOV. 2, SATURDAYA Wine AffairCommunity AuditoriumThunder Bay, ON, 5 p.m.www.tickets.tbca.com

NOV. 10, SUNDAYBeacon Lighting to Commemorate Edmund FitzgeraldSplit Rock LighthouseTwo Harbors, 12 p.m.www.splitrocklighthouse.org

NOV. 14, THURSDAYEmpty Bowls and Silent AuctionFirst Congregational ChurchGrand Marais, 11:30 a.m.www.grandmaraisartcolony.org

NOV. 15-17Girl’s Gone North WeekendBluefin Bay, Toftewww.bluefinbay.com

NOV. 16-17Art & fine Craft ShowValhalla Inn, Thunder Bay, ONwww.artisansnorthwest.ca

NOV. 21-24Winterer’s Gathering & Arctic Film FestivalNorth House Folk SchoolGrand Maraiswww.northhouse.org

NOV. 23, SATURDAYHoliday Bazaar & Quilt Drawing in SchroederCross River Heritage CenterSchroeder, 10 a.m.www.crossriverheritage.org

NOV. 23-DEC. 28Bentleyville “Tour of Lights”Bayfront Festival Park, Duluthwww.bentleyvilleusa.org

NOV. 24-25Banff Mountain Film Festival 2013Duluth

NOV. 28, THURSDAYThanksgivingGobble GallopDuluth, 9 a.m.www.gobblegallop.com

WEEKLY EVENTSTHURSDAY, FRIDAY, SATURDAYWilliam A. Irvin “Haunted Ship Tours”Duluthwww.duluthhauntedship.com

North Shore Scenic Railroad’s Fall Color TourTwo Harbors10:30 a.m.www.northshorescenicrailroad.org

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By Bryan Hansel

T he most devastating storm on the Great Lakes happened in early

November, 1913, when two storm fronts converged. High waves, report-edly 35 feet tall, and winds sunk 19 ships and stranded 19 others. More than 250 people lost their lives. On Nov. 10, 1975, a storm with hurricane-force winds on Lake Superior sank the 728-foot Edmund Fitzgerald and killed its entire crew of 29. Waves that night could have reached 45 feet. There are at least a half a dozen more November storms that caused significant shipwrecks on the Great Lakes, and many of those wrecks

are because of waves. An astute lake watcher may have noticed the correla-tion between wind and waves, but what exactly creates those waves?

In the fall, two opposing forces create storm systems that meet on the Great Lakes. The dry, polar winds send strong storms south, and the Gulf of Mexico sends warm, moist storms north. The storm fronts meet over the Great Lakes where the waters are still warm from the summer’s heat. Just as over the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic during hur-ricane season, warmer waters feed the storm systems, causing them to grow in intensity and in some cases become an extratropical cyclone.

These fall storms generate strong winds, often blowing at gale force levels or above, and winds are one of the three factors in wave formation and growth. The other two factors are fetch (or the distance the wind blows over water) and the duration of the blow. Winds that blow longer generate larger waves, so if there’s a gale force wind or above blow-ing over several days, the waves will grow as long as there’s a long fetch for the wind to blow over. Sailors and kay-akers often use the Beaufort wind force scale to help predict the wave height based on the wind speed. The Beaufort scale tells us a Force 8 wind, also known as a gale, blows at 34 to 40 knots and given enough fetch and time can gener-

ate waves averaging from 18 to 25 feet.

When weather reports give the di-rection of winds, it’s the direction that the wind is blowing out of, and to ex-perience big waves, you’ll want to be on the downwind side of the lake. For example, if the wind is blowing from the northeast at a gale on Lake Superior, then the best place to experience big waves is Duluth, which sits on the southwest corner of the lake, downwind of 300 miles of fetch. That doesn’t mean you won’t see big waves elsewhere, be-cause the Apostle’s will be hammered on a northeast blow, too. Shovel Point in Tettegouche State Park is an amazing place to watch the waves.

What Makes a Wave?Lake Superior’s legendary storms create ocean-like waves. | BRYAN HANSEL


ate waves averaging from 18 to 25 feet.

When weather reports give the di-rection of winds, it’s the direction that the wind is blowing out of, and to ex-perience big waves, you’ll want to be on the downwind side of the lake. For example, if the wind is blowing from the northeast at a gale on Lake Superior, then the best place to experience big waves is Duluth, which sits on the southwest corner of the lake, downwind of 300 miles of fetch. That doesn’t mean you won’t see big waves elsewhere, be-cause the Apostle’s will be hammered on a northeast blow, too. Shovel Point in Tettegouche State Park is an amazing place to watch the waves.

Beaufort Wind Force ScaleForce WMO Classification Wind Speed (knots) Wave Height (feet)1 Light Air 1 to 3 Ripples2 Light Breeze 4 to 6 Small wavelets3 Gentle Breeze 7 to 10 Large wavelets4 Moderate Breeze 11 to 16 1 to 45 Fresh Breeze 17 to 21 4 to 86 Strong Breeze 22 to 27 8 to 137 Near Gale 28 to 33 13 to 198 Gale 34 to 40 18 to 259 Strong Gale 41 to 47 23 to 3210 Storm 48 to 55 29 to 4111 Violent Storm 56 to 63 37 to 5212 Hurricane 64+ 45+

From: http://www.spc.noaa.gov/faq/tornado/beaufort.html

The wind speed, duration and fetch aren’t the only factors that shape a wave. When a wave contacts a beach, it breaks and creates either a spilling, plunging or surging breaker. The impressive break-ers are the spilling and plunging types. A spilling breaker results from a shallow, gradually slopping beach. As the wave approaches the shore, it touches bottom and gets steeper until it breaks, sending the crest down its face. These types of breakers are gentle and appear as multi-ple foam-crested waves washing ashore. Many sand beaches on Lake Superior’s south shore have this characteristic. A plunging breaker happens on steeper beaches or at places where the depth changes abruptly; the entire energy of the wave breaks at once and its weight smashes into the beach. Many north shore beaches have this type of breaker.

Perhaps the most exciting breakers to watch occur when a wave meets a cliff or breakwater. The wave reflects back out to sea and can create a chaotic mess

of pyramidal-shaped waves that look like the inside of an egg carton. In some cases, when the incoming and outgoing waves meet it causes an explosive wave that sends breaking water vertically. On other cliffs the waves can break verti-cally and splash up the cliff face.

This fall, to get into the right place at the right time, check the near-shore marine forecasts on Lake Superior for the downwind sides of the lake (The Weather Underground makes it easy: ht t p://w w w.w underg round.com /MAR/LS/141.html). NOAA’s forecasts give the predicted wave height for each day. When the waves look good, espe-cially when they get above 10 feet, it’s time to make a road trip for a little wave watching.

Bryan Hansel is a writer, photographer and sea kayaking instructor who lives in Grand Marais. During the fall, you can find him either behind the camera or launching his sea kayak into the waves on Lake Superior. His website is www.bryanhansel.com.

STORM FESTIVALNot everyone looks fearfully at huge waves. | BRYAN HANSEL

http://www.spc.noaa.gov/faq/tornado/beaufort.html

http://www.wunderground.com/MAR/LS/141.html

http://www.wunderground.com/MAR/LS/141.html


More of what you love...More often.

• • • • •

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For the love of the North.


By Elle Andra-Warner

Ever wonder what it must have been like to be in the voyageur militia about 200 years ago, or being on the battlefield during the War of 1812 as a redcoat (British) soldier? In Thunder Bay, you can go back in time and ‘’live’’ that history with members of Canada’s lon-gest continuous historical re-enactment group, the Canadian Corps of Voyageurs.

Bert Winterburn and Chris Mills are two of the Corps’ long-time members. Winterburn became involved in 1979 after he purchased a flintlock mus-ket at the Hudson’s Bay Company store in Winnipeg and the Canadian Corps of Voyageurs at Fort William Historical Park taught him how to use it. In 1981, Mills’ interest in Canadian history led him to join the corps after first being a junior interpreter at Fort William Historical Park, the re-constructed inland headquarters of the North West Company (NWC) located on the outskirts of Thunder Bay.

The group gets its name from the original Canadian Corps of Voyageurs formed in October 1812 by NWC’s chief director William McGillivray. He was given the rank of lieutenant colonel and instructed to form a company of about 500 NWC voyageurs in Lachine, Quebec, with officers to be selected from the Scottish gentlemen partners and clerks of the NWC. The historical corps was disbanded in March 1813, al-though voyageurs remained active in the war.

The modern-day Canadian Corps of Voyageurs was founded in 1976, with their “home” being Fort William Historical Park. Today’s corps is a group of about 40 men, women and children volunteers who re-enact the military history of Canada during the War of 1812 and the early 1800s in North America, in particular the NWC voyageur militia, De Meuron’s Regiment and British infantry. In addition to events at the fort, the corps takes part in re-enactments in United States and other parts of Canada.

Throughout the year, the corps assists the fort with

different school programs that fo-cus on life at Fort William and Upper Canada during the early 1800s, as well as providing inter-pretive activities in soldierly skills including drilling, musketry and artil-lery. And during the fort’s annual Voyageur Winter Carnival, visitors can shoot a musket at the corps’ shoot-ing booth for a small fee.

The corps par-ticipates in about a dozen special events and demon-strations each year, both at the fort and in the community. You’ll see them at Thunder Bay events as an honour guard; providing heritage colour; fir-ing salutes to start races, golf tournaments and charity events, and wel-coming ships, including Canadian warships and inter-national tall ships (like the HMS Bounty in 2010).

For the past few years, they have provided dramatic re-enactments at the fort of the historic Siege of Fort William and the fictitious Battle of Fort William during the War of 1812. It all seems real when you smell the gunpowder, observe the grey haze, see the red coats, hear the shouted commands and watch the

military discipline.

“We are always looking for new members and invite them to come out to the Fort, be a voyageur and expe-rience the Corps. Take some time, a year or so, to see how you like it,” says Winterburn.

The Canadian Corps of Voyageurs are a dedicated group of volunteers, passionate about Canadian his-tory and enthusiastic about portraying life, both do-mestic and military, as it was about 200 years ago.

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The School Where Kids Learn Outside

By Shawn Perich

Veteran rescue team and ski patrol member Pete Smerud of Finland has a story about an unusual call for assis-tance he received at the Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center, of which he is the executive director. He was told a young student was complain-ing of a lower leg injury after returning from a hike. But talking to the boy, he learned it wasn’t really an injury.

“When I examined him, it turned out he was sore. He had never been sore before,” Smerud said.

The boy was a victim of ex-ercise. The 2½-mile hike was the most physical activity he had ever experienced. Smerud tells the story to illustrate the challenge of delivering environmental education to kids who

have spent little or no time in the out-doors. The challenge applies not only to 12-year-olds, but also to college stu-dents pursuing master’s degrees in en-vironmental education or families par-ticipating in naturalist programs held at North Shore resorts.

Smerud told me about these challeng-es as we hiked around the dramatically scenic Wolf Ridge property. The center began 40 years ago in Isabella and moved to its present location on a high ridge above Lake Superior in 1988. Through acquisitions and land exchanges, Wolf Ridge now has 2,000 forested acres containing a trout stream, two lakes and a couple of ridges high enough to be called mountains. We climbed to the top of one of them, Mount Marshall, named for the late Duluth philanthro-pists Caroline and Julia Marshall, who helped acquire much of the property.

Standing on a rocky knob, we could look one direction for a sweeping view of Lake Superior and then another di-rection toward Wolf Lake and forested hills beyond.

“When the bugs aren’t too bad, we’ll take kids out here to spend a night camp-ing without a tent,” Smerud explained. “They wake up the next morning to the sun rising over Lake Superior.”

While such an experience would be a great way for just about anyone to start the day, for many kids visiting Wolf Ridge, it may their first chance to con-nect with nature. Some kids may have never before been outdoors at night, and some, coming from urban environ-ments, may see stars for the first time. Many kids haven’t experienced what today is called “unstruc-tured time.” In the not-so-dis-

tant past, we called it “playing outside”

Smerud said Wolf Ridge has offered an art class called “Earthworks,” where students go outside and use natural ma-terials to create art intended not be per-manent, but to rot or wash away, like a drawing in beach sand. Basically, it’s an opportunity for kids to discover nature through play. Some might build a fort; others might make a decoration with rocks and moss. All get some hands-on time with nature. Along the same lines, a popular resort naturalist program is a two-hour agates class where kids and their parents wander on a Lake Superior beach and pick up rocks.

Wolf Ridge also teaches kids out-door skills such as paddling and rock climbing. In winter, they have a chance to learn what goes on beneath the ice of a frozen lake, including spending


time inside a dark house on Wolf Lake watching perch through a large hole in the ice. If they choose, they can even try ice-fishing for perch at the end of the class. Nordic skiing is popular, too. Every winter, 6,000 kids are introduced to cross-country skiing at Wolf Ridge.

Indoors, the center offers classes that have changed with the times. Environmental education began with the ecology movement of the 1960s as a way for kids to learn about nature and science. By the 1980s, classes included a cultural history of how people have lived on and used the land. Teachers, who attend Wolf Ridge with their stu-dents, often incorporate what the kids learn at Wolf Ridge into the lesson plan for the entire school year in topics such as Minnesota history.

In 1988, the center held its first in-tergenerational environmental educa-tion programs, inviting grandparents to take classes with their grand-children. Although some edu-cators questioned whether the classes would work, Smerud said they’ve been tremendously successful.

“The grandparent-child bond gives

kids an entry into nature,” he said. “Grandparents see the need for kids to make that connection.”

The concept of sustainability was added in the 1990s with a class called Conservation Lifestyles, where stu-dents learned how aspects of their daily lives affect the environment. By the 2000s, climate change, renewable energy and even the relationship be-tween food and farming were included in lesson plans. In case you were won-dering, children also learn about the roles hunting and trapping play in wild-life management.

A forest ecology class applies the con-cept of sustainability to a real-world situation. The 12-year-old students go into the woods and learn about forest management activities, including tim-ber harvest and reforestation. Back in the classroom, they are given a map of the forest, with instructions to design a timber harvest. Some of the students play the roles of foresters; others are wildlife managers, water resources spe-cialists or ecologists. All are told they need to protect water quality and habi-tat while meeting the forester’s harvest goals. Before the exercise is complete,

12-year-old foresters and ecologists may be shout-ing at one another as they

attempt resolve issues. After the class, students are asked how they think adults deal with the same

issues when setting up timber sales. They are sur-prised to learn adults may start shouting, too.

If there is any evidence that environmental edu-cation makes a difference, it’s that 12-year-olds often return during their col-lege years for part of their coursework for University of Minnesota Duluth’s master’s pro-gram in environmental education. Smerud can name many former stu-dents and interns who have gone on to careers in natural resources or similar fields. Wolf Ridge provides education to about 15,000 annually, including 12,000 school kids. This has a no-ticeable ripple effect on the North Shore, which parents often discov-er for the first time when their kids attend the center.

“We introduce thousands of families to the North Shore every year,” Smerud said.

While a few days of environmental education can’t replace what previous generations learned simply from play-ing outside, it’s about the best option

for giving kids an introduction to the outdoors. In an era when we won-der what the future holds for out-door activities, it’s good to know kids still have chance, at least once, to see the nighttime stars

and play outside.

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Wolf Ridge executive director Pete Smerud stands on a high point overlooking the mountainous terrain where many Minnesota children have their first outdoor experiences. | SHAWN PERICH

tant past, we called it “playing outside”

Smerud said Wolf Ridge has offered an art class called “Earthworks,” where students go outside and use natural ma-terials to create art intended not be per-manent, but to rot or wash away, like a drawing in beach sand. Basically, it’s an opportunity for kids to discover nature through play. Some might build a fort; others might make a decoration with rocks and moss. All get some hands-on time with nature. Along the same lines, a popular resort naturalist program is a two-hour agates class where kids and their parents wander on a Lake Superior beach and pick up rocks.

Wolf Ridge also teaches kids out-door skills such as paddling and rock climbing. In winter, they have a chance to learn what goes on beneath the ice of a frozen lake, including spending


AutumnAutumnAutumn

In the MarshIn the MarshIn the MarshThrough My Lens BY MICHAEL FURTMAN


Hunters know that one of the best places to be in autumn is in the marsh.

Why? Because in the fall, marshes provide migration stops for birds, are favorite haunts of predators, and are a hotbed of activity for many other creatures preparing for winter or fleeing ahead of it.

Here in Northern Wilds country, with a landscape often dominated by rocky shored lakes and rivers, shal-low marshes are a magnet for wildlife. This is true year round, but in autumn we see an influx of nonresident species, adding to the abundant resident wildlife. In September, warblers and other songbirds often utilize brushy perches along the shores because many depend upon insects for food, and while the large summer hatches of bugs are largely gone, the birds know there are always hatches occurring right up until freeze-up. Mallards and other ducks, as well as sora rails, look for patches of wild rice, and migrating tundra swans root in the shallows for tubers. Even species not so com-mon in our area, like sandhill cranes, pause here dur-ing migration. It is the best time of year to see the rusty blackbird, which of its kindred is the most beautiful. And since marshes are typically connected by streams, they are choice areas of travel by many non-migrating, local wildlife. White-tailed deer frequently move along these corridors, and I’ve noted that big bucks of-ten choose a wetland’s dense stands of grass, brush and cattails as safe havens.

For all these reasons, I hang out on marshy ponds and creeks in the fall, ready to photograph whatever may come my way. Rarely do I come away without a full flash card, and the photos are frequently not of the critter that I had intended to photograph.

Last September, I went to a marsh in hopes of photo-graphing the handful of handsome drake wigeon -- a species not often seen in our area -- that had appeared a day before. The light had been awful that day, so I returned the next morning. Although the ducks were there, what drew my attention instead was a mink hunting the opposite shoreline. It would slip into the water, disappear below, and emerge with a leopard frog nearly every time. What surprised me is that instead of eating the frogs, it was scampering to a hollow stump and stashing them. I’d never heard of such behavior.

I moved around the shoreline quickly and quietly each time it disappeared beneath the surface, until I reached the spot where it would emerge on its way to the stump. It spotted me and hid, but not before I was able to get a few shots as it carried a frog like a Labrador retriever fetching a duck.

On a foggy October morning, I was wandering up a shallow creek that led to the shores of a marsh. I could hear the distinctive call of sandhill cranes but couldn’t see them over the tall cattails. Fortunately, the marsh was formed by a tall beaver dam, and when I climbed up it, I could see the handsome cranes waded back

and forth feeding in their stark gray winter plumage. No doubt they had roosted in the marsh overnight, a favorite means of avoiding predators. I quietly took photos while they fed, then backed away to let them do their thing.

I had been so intent sneaking up on them that I hadn’t realized until I turned away that I had walked by a handsome whitetail buck bedded in marsh grass. He startled me as he lifted his regal head, but did grant me a couple of photos as the sun, now burning off the fog, painted the grass and the buck with its warm rays.

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Opposite page: A northern harrier floats above a marsh at dawn. Above: Reclusive whitetail bucks bed in dense marsh cover. | MICHAEL FURTMAN


For most of my life, when I saw a moose trail, paw print or buck scrape, I had to use my imagination to picture what had been there previously. Was the buck a huge racked brute, or spin-dly spike? Was the moose trail used only occasionally, or quite regularly? There is something to be said for mystery and imagination. However, seeing an actual picture of a bull walking down that very same trail in the middle of the night, is pretty cool. In 2013, that type of picture is possible thanks to the modern trail camera.

Trail cameras are an incredible tool for the hunter. However, they have also been adopted by biologists and conser-vation groups around the globe. Several years ago, the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources used them to help document the presence of wolverine near Red Lake and elsewhere. The trail cams were set up near bait sites, and sev-eral wolverine were caught on camera.

If you have ever played around with a trail camera, you likely know how ad-dictive they can be. If you have never bought a trail cam, but are considering it, there are a few things to consider.

Battery LifeTrail cameras can be bought for as lit-

tle as $50, and some are even less online. In the vast majority of cases, these cheap units are powered using C or even D

batteries. Cheaper cam-eras can drain these types of batteries in just a week or two. In cold weather, it may be just days before the units are dead. Some units do allow you to at-tach an external 12 v bat-tery power source, and that can help. These ex-ternal batteries are bulky and heavy. I’ve found trail cameras that use eight AA alkaline bat-

teries to generally be more reliable and better in cold weather.

Flash/Infra RedWhen trail cameras first appeared,

all but the most expensive models used an old fashioned camera flash for night shots. Today, the opposite is true. Most trail cams now use infrared flash tech-nology. Not having a flash blasting ani-mals in the middle of night is a good thing. Infra red also uses less battery power, and the night shots also seem marginally better with infra red. There are still trail cameras out there that use old-school flash, and for the most part, the critters do seem to get used to it.

Picture ResolutionAs is the case when buying any digi-

tal camera, the better the resolution of a trail cam, the more money you spend. Higher pixel counts allow for a larger and more detailed image. Camera reso-lution is measured in mega pixels (mp). So a 12-mp trail camera would be on the

high resolution side, while a 1 or 2 mp resolution would be low. Unless you ex-pect the picture to end up in a magazine format, or printed as an 8x10, you don’t need to break the bank here. A quality image is usually found somewhere be-tween 3 and 6 mega pixels. Many trail cameras allow you to alter the resolution as well, so you can dial it back or im-prove it, depending on the situation. A 4-mp resolution trail cam is usually fine.

Trigger SpeedFaster is better, right? When it comes

to trigger speed, that is generally the case. In my experience, this is the main problem with lower-priced trail cams. A slow trigger speed means the animals may be out of the picture before the shutter fires. Or the subject of the pic-ture may be ultra blurry. I’ve seen cam-eras that will only capture a decent pic-ture if the animal is standing stock still. The faster the trigger speed, the better the chance of capturing Mr Big dash-ing by your stand. Once again, many units today allow you to turn up or slow down the trigger speed, depending on the game you are recording.

Trail Cam PlacementMost trail cams recommend a range

between 10-15 feet from the area you want to focus on. While getting the camera back a ways might give you a better view of the entire area -- a field for instance -- it’s possible you may end up with a lot of shots of birds, squirrels and waving grass.

It’s also a good idea to keep the cam-era as scent free as you can. Bears will try and eat a camera that has any food smells on it. I’ve had them bite the cas-ing. The nose of a whitetail is so sen-sitive they can smell even the smallest amount of human odor. A simple pair of gloves will reduce the transfer of smells to a camera when you pull the SD card.

When you check your trail cam, spend as little time as possible actually in the area you’re monitoring. Save the picture browsing for the truck or home computer. This is easier to do, thanks to removable SD cards. Carry extra

batteries as well, as sooner or later you will find them dead. Having a trail cam unit with dead batteries is very frustrat-ing but extremely common.

Use a trail cam in one place for long enough, and you will see patterns emerge. You’ll see deer activity increase during the rut and decrease as winter approaches. Since I’ve started using my trail cams, there have been pics of bucks fighting, owls grabbing mice, and bears sniffing the camera. All very cool stuff. Trail cameras really do open up the wilderness world in a unique and enter-taining way.

A Trail Camera Primer

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A trail camera strapped to a tree can photo-graph passing wildlife day and night.

A Mama moose and calf…going away.

Whitetail bucks spar under the cover of darkness.


By Javier Serna

It’s never too soon for hardcore hard-water anglers to start thinking and talk-ing about their favorite pastime, and now is the season that many of this win-ter’s new offerings are released.

Every year, companies that specialize in ice fishing try to outdo themselves and their competition, and this year is no exception.

Here’s a sampling of some of the new gear available this winter.

ElectronicsAfter a couple of

quiet years in the new offerings de-partment, Vexilar is launching a couple of products sure to get the attention of ice anglers.

The most in-triguing of the two is the Fishphone ($189.95), which turns your smart-phone (iPhone or Android) into a un-

derwater camera monitor. The software is smart enough to allow you to record video or take still images and send them along to friends via e-mail or text. Cell phone coverage isn’t needed for it to function either.

V e x i l a r also is releas-ing a new flasher unit, the FLX-28 ($639.95 with an Ultra Pack; $599.95 with a Pro Pack). This

new unit has three digital layers, includ-

ing the outer ring that marks fish, lures and depth, as always. The middle layer digitally marks the depth increments depending on the setting, while the middle layer tells you what range set-ting you are at. New to this device are five color palettes. The device also has an auto range mode, that will automati-cally select the best range, though it can be overridden.

AugersClam, known for

its high-quality ice shelters, is spreading its wings into other areas of the ice fish-ing game. Its gift to the ice auger world is an auger conver-sion kit and auger ($149.99), which converts most 18-volt cordless drills, of many brand types,

into an ice auger that can drill 35 holes through 20 inches of ice on one charge (depending on your drill and battery).

Strikemaster launched its first four-stroke engine auger last year, and this sea-son will add a 10-inch ver-

sion ($599.99) to its auger, powered by a Honda 35cc Lite engine. It’s the lightest 10-inch auger on the market, weighing in at 26 pounds.

ShelterClam was thinking about the mo-

bile ice angler when it designed its new Warrior model ($529.99). Not only does it come with a custom travel cov-er, keeping snow out while travelling, especially for those tugging it at high

speeds behind a sled. But is also has a special mount on top that keeps your auger securely fastened while moving. It’s a roomy shelter,

with 20 square feet of fishable area.

Otter has re-designed its line of shelters and introduced the Pro XT1200 ( $ 6 7 9 . 9 9 -$1,099.99), a ful-ly thermal line that is made in four sizes from a wide one-man

model to a three-man size. Also new is the XT650 ($599.99 - $799.99), a ther-mal top model available in three sizes, from one man to three man.

BaitsVMC has long held a high reputation

among soft water anglers for provid-ing high-quality, chemically sharpened hooks. There’s been little of that quality available to ice anglers.

Now VMC is launching itself into the ice fish-ing lure mar-ket, with a set of spoons and jigs featuring their incredibly sharp hooks. There

will be four types of spoons (Flash Champ, Tingler, Tumbler and Rattle spoons, $3.69-$4.99) and five jigs (Minnow, Tear Drop, Pug Bug, Larvae and Wax Tail jigs, $1.99-$3.29) that come in a variety of sizes to tackle ev-erything from panfish to pike.

Northland Tackle has a handful of new offerings tailored towards walleye anglers, including a tweak to its popular Buckshot Rattle Spoon. The Buckshot Glider Spoon ($5.99) has wings, giving it a different, more horizontal action, especially on the fall.

Also of interest to walleye anglers will be a couple of new soft plastic offerings under its new Spoon Dippers ($3.49) line using its impreg-nated Impulse technol-ogy. As the name sug-gests, these are designed to be tipped on spoons. The Perch Eye will give Minnesota anglers an

edge they can’t legally have otherwise, as it’s illegal to use an actual perch eye for bait. The soft plastic imitation will keep you legal. The other offering is called Minnow Head, giving anglers a non-perishable live bait alternative to the common practice of tipping spoons with the pinched off head of a minnow.

Clam has also jumped into the ice fishing lure game, with several new baits, including three designed for wall-eye including the Bomb Spoon ($3.99), Blade Spoon ($3.99) and Pyscho Shad ($7.99).

The Bomb Spoon has an epoxy- and gem-adorned treble hook that allows lots of water to be covered ver-tically. The Blade Spoon flutters and is more of a horizontal offering. Both of these spoons are available in 1/8- and ¼-ounce sizes. The Psycho Shad is a lipless hard water crankbait that gets its name from its un-predictable nature. Drop it on a slack line and it slowly quivers down the water column.

Ice Gear 2014

Vexilar Fishphone

FLX-28

Clam Ice Auger Conversion Kit

Clam Warrior and Auger

Clam Warrior

Otter Lodge

VMC Pug Bug

Northland Buckshot Glider

Clam Bomb Spoon


Joan Farnam

Gardeners got a taste of what climate change can mean to their vegetable pro-duction this year. They also had lessons on micro-cli-mates and how diverse they are on the North Shore. Both played a role in what David Abazs of Round River Farms in Finland calls a “weird year.”

It sure has had its ups and downs.

At this writing, in late August, it’s hot and humid in Grand Marais. Hot being 75 degrees with 80 percent humidity. Over the hill on the Gunflint Trail, it’s in the mid-80s with similar humidities.

In short, great weather for growing tomatoes and squash.

But this weather didn’t kick in on the North Shore until mid-August, two

weeks ago.

Up until then, the grow-ing season has been a puz-zler.

In late May and June, for example, it was cold and rainy with very little sun. At one point, I start-ed to think about nuclear winter. Everything you planted just sat there and didn’t grow at all, even the cool-loving vegetables like broccoli and peas. They

need sunlight, and they weren’t getting any.

The ground was really cold, too, so germination was an issue for many.

Peas, which technically can be planted as soon as the ground can be worked, didn’t even germinate for some garden-ers, and they had to replant, sometimes more than once.

And when the peas finally came up,

they didn’t start really growing until sometime in late June. Carrots strug-gled, too.

And the stories people tell about their gardens are so different, depending on where they are. Close to the Lake Superior, it’s always cooler, but this year, that meant that highs were in the 40s rather than the 50s. That does not make a tomato plant very happy.

But, over the hill that surrounds the Big Lake, gardeners reported temps in the high 50s and 60s, good for every-thing. But they also almost got nipped by frost in July.

And then there are those, like Jay Andersen, who gardens in what we call the Banana Belt, a micro-climate a few miles from Lake Superior just below the crest of the hill, who said he didn’t notice any anomalies in his garden this year at all. Everything was growing as usual.

Meanwhile in Hovland, which is clos-

er to Lake Superior, spinach was still growing like crazy until this heat spell in mid-August. No one there can usu-ally depend on eating spinach or lettuce out of their gardens in August, but this year they could.

Flowers have their stories, too.

Louise Kondakow, who works at Vanderwees Home & Garden in Thunder Bay and is an experienced and passionate gardener, said she has never had day lilies in full bloom at the end of August.

“It’s been a very, very strange year,” she said.

The irony is that that as soon as it warmed up and the sun came out, many crops just exploded. At Round River Farm, for example, which has a CSA (Community Sustainable Agriculture), they filled their members’ boxes with 15 different kinds of vegetables over the Labor Day weekend, including peas and beans. Their sweet corn was ready, as

the Accidental GardenerBY JOAN FARNAM

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Help Prevent The Spread Of Invasive Plants And Animals.• Arrive with clean gear.• Burn local or certified firewood.• Use local or weed-free hay.• Stay on the trails.• Before leaving, remove mud and seeds.

STOP INVASIVE SPECIESIN YOUR TRACKSGive Invasive Species The Brush Off

A Strange Year in the Garden


Venison Mushroom SimmerFrom Best of the Best from Minnesota Cookbook

This recipe originally came from the “Maple Hill Cookbook”, published in Hibbing, Minnesota in 1992.

2 pounds venison steak, cut into thin strips2 tablespoons shortening1 medium onion, chopped1 clove garlic, minced 1/4 cup soy sauce1 (4-ounce) can undrained mushroom pieces 2 beef bouillon cubes1/2 teaspoon saltDash of pepper2 1/2 cups water1/4 cup cornstarch

In large skillet or wok, brown meat in shortening. Add onion and garlic; cook until tender. Add soy sauce, mushrooms, bouillon, salt and pepper, and 2 cups of water. Cover and simmer until tender, 30-40 minutes. Combine cornstarch with 1/2 cup water and stir into meat mixture. Cook and stir until thickened. Serve over rice or noodles. Makes 6 servings.

Taste of the North

Best of the Best from Minnesota CookbookSelected Recipes from Minnesota’s Favorite Cookbooks

Quail Ridge Press, Copyright [email protected], www.quailridge.com

www.GrandMaraisStateBank.comwww.GrandMaraisStateBank.comGrand Marais 218-387-2441 • 800.835.1293 Tofte 218.663.7891 • 877.709.0117

Member FDIC

it usually is this time of year, but the tomatoes and squash are three weeks behind.

These stories of a strange year in the garden can be repeated by everyone on the North Shore, and we’re just going to have to get used it, Kondakow said.

Climate change is here, and what that means is that the weather won’t be predictable. “We’ve got to roll with the punches,” she said. “It’s going to put garden-ers to the test.”

Row covers should be ready all season, and plant-ing different varieties of the same vegetable could help gardeners hedge their bets a little, said Diane Booth, a gardener and Cook County’s extension agent.

In short, we don’t know what’s coming down the pike—be ready for anything. But I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a late frost this year—my winter squash could really use a little more time.

Finally! A decent harvest. | JOAN FARNAM


South of the BorderC · a · f · e

Breakfast Served All Day Lunch • Homemade Soups

Open 5 am - 2 pm Everyday!

We’re Open Before the Fish Bite!

Located at the stop light in Grand Marais

218-387-1505

111 Wisconsin Street Grand Marais, Minnesotawww.GunFlintTavern.com

218-387-1563MENU

- Eclectic & Ethnic Menu, Many Vegetarian Choices • Craftmade Soups • Organic Product Used Widely

LIVE MUSIC YEAR ROUND - Blues, Jazz, Reggae & Rock

SPIRITS - Over 40 Micro Brews • 16 Micros on

Draft • Fine Wines • Fine Spirits Available from the “Raven”

3719 W. Hwy 61

www.cascadelodgemn.com

CASCADE RESTAURANT&PUB

(218) 387-2911

Homemade, handcrafted

breakfast, lunch and dinner, open

year round.Join us for Happy

Hour, 3-6pm!

Year Round Lodging Eats & Saloon • 24 hr Gas

Trail CenTer lodge

7611 Gunflint Trail, Grand Marais, MN

218-388-2214 •trailcenterlodge.com

Steak, Seafood, BBQ Ribs and more!!Fish Fry Every Friday

_______________Located in the heart of Two Harbors_______________

612 7th Ave, Two Harbors MN 218-834-3846www.blackwoods.com

Lakeside Lodging & Restaurant

Dining Room serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. Pub Opens at 4:00 pm

218.663.7212 · 800-258-8736 www.lutsenresort.com

Located at Crooked Lake ResortScenic 16 miles from TofteOpen all year, 11 am daily

Serving full menu

www.trestleinn.com 218-830-0523Fri - Fish Fry Sat - Rib Special

West Branch Bar & GrillOpen 11 a.m. daily - Year Round

Serving homemade Apollo pizza since 1941Daily lunch and dinner specialOn-Off Sale Pull Tabs

6701 Hwy 1 Finland218-353-7493

Four Seasons Supper Club

Open Daily 11am - CloseFull Menu Available PLUS

Homemade Specials, Desserts, Salad Bar, Grilled Burgers

Friday Fish Fry218-353-7371 6538 Hwy 1, Finland

On-O�Sale!

NearATV

Trails!

Two Harbors

Lutsen

Lutsen

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Finland

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– HWY 1, 6 MI NORTH OF HWY 61 –

TWO HARBORS’ ORIGINAL IRISH PUB!

Two Harbors’ largest variety of Bottled Beers, Tap Beers, Irish Whiskeys, and Top -Shelf Spirits!

602 1st Avenue / Two Harbors, MN / 218.834.2300 www.twoharborspub.com [email protected] · facebook

Enjoy our Carved Moose Antler& Lake Superior Agate Collections

“Finland’s Family Restaurant”

ATM • 24-Hr Gas CardsOn & Off Sale Liquor

Full MenuBreakfast, Lunch & Dinner

218-353-7343 6 mi N of Hwy 61 on Hwy 1

Try us once - You’ll be back for more

Serving the North Shore since 1928Lockport

MarketpLace & GriLLLockport

MarketpLace & GriLLA true Northwoods Cafe

Breakfast and Lunch ServedHomemade pasties, pies, baked goods

Gas - Groceries - Gifts 7 a.m. - 9 p.m. Daily5362 W Hwy 61 Lutsen, MN 218-663-7548

TM

TM

Downtown [email protected]

218-663-7915Use this coupon to

Buy One Specialty Drink& Get One ½ OFF

Expires November 30, 2013

Daily Lunch SpecialsSoup and Sandwich Specials

Bridgemann’s IcecreamFree Wi-Fi

open at 7 a.m., 7 Days a week

TM

MARKETFISH

Sandwiches Fish & Chips Smoked Fish

Chowders Herring Caviar

Gifts

On the Harbor in Grand Marais218-387-2906

Open Daily at 9 am


Located on Highway 61 just 15 miles east of Grand Marais

www.naniboujou.com 218.387.2688

Breakfast (7:30-10:30) Lunch (11:30-4)Dinner (5:30-8:30) Afternoon Tea (3-5)

Naniboujou Lodge and Restaurant

3065 Hwy 588Silver Mountain, ON807-475-4406

www.SilverMountainStation.com

Menu featuring all-you-can-eat Prime Rib buffet.

Find us on Facebook and Twitter.

Thunder Bay

Kakabeka Falls

Kakabeka Falls Grand Marais Grand Marais

218-387-1915 401 E. HWY 61, GRAND MARAIS, MN

Sun-Thurs: 11am - 8pmFri & Sat: 11am - 9pm

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$3 OFF Any Large PIZZA

Take Out or Dine InExpires 3-31-13

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Daily SpecialsFull Service BarBreakfast SpecialsFri BBQ Chicken Special

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about our

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7 am - 8:30 pm | 4756 Hwy 11/17 | 807-473-9211

Homemade Pizzas, Panzerottis, Burgers, Fries and more!

807-473-94464789 Hwy 11-17, Kakabeka Falls

Cascades RestaurantOpen 8 am Daily, Year RoundFull Menu • Breakfast Anytime

Home-made PiesFull Liquor License

4807 Hwy 11/17, Kakabeka Village • 807-473-9012

Serving “Old-Fashioned” Meals for 41 Years

Near Falls and

Trails!

Gluten Free & Vegetarian

Metropolitan Moose Beanery & Cafe

· Specialty Coffee· Full Bakery · Awesome Food

807-473-5453

Downtown Kakabeka Falls

In the area? Try our NEW

ordering app!

– 30 K FROM THUNDER BAY –

Individual, groups and family dining.

218-387-1597Located downtown on the harbor

It’s tIme to go to Blue Water and eat

Blue Water Cafe“The Meeting Place in Grand Marais”

Breakfast • lunCh • Dinner ChilDren’s Menus

• “Broasted Chicken” • Dine in or Take Out

• Open Daily • Fish Fry on Fridays

RETAILLake or Pond? Aeration is your first step toward improved water quality. Complete Systems $169-$369. Waterfall? 11,000 gph Water Pump only 3.6 amps! 2 year warranty! Just $399.95. www.fishpondaerators.com 608-254-2735

WEDDING SERVICESLicensed wedding officiant celebrating diversity of people, love and spiritual traditions. Personalized wedding ceremo-nies performed in Metro area or Minnesota’s North Shore. Contact Jean at 651-600-0169 or www.vitalityandjoy.com

CLASSESPHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOPS Learn to photograph the storms on Lake Superior during the Gales of November Photography Workshop or photograph beauty of winter on Lake Superior during award-winning, pro photographer Bryan Hansel's Winter Photography Workshop. Learn more at www.bryanhansel.com.

MUSEUMSExplore area history with a trip to the Ely-Winton Historical Society Museum. Located at Vermillion College, 1900 East Camp Street, Ely. Open Tues.-Fri. 12 noon - 4 p.m.

For information about placing your classified ad, contact Amber at

[email protected]

5000

$698.95!

LAND OWNERS

North Shore Menu Guide

NorthShoreHwy61.com


Open Year Round Monday-Saturdaywww.amethystmine.com

400 Victoria Ave E, Thunder Bay ON

Located 30 miles E ofThunder Bay off Hwy 11-17

on East Loon Rd

AmethystGift Centre

AmethystGift Centre

Amethyst Jewelry, Souvenirs and more, Handcrafted on-site

listen online: www.wtip.org

WTIP The only local radio station

* Local information and events

* Local music and entertainment

* Programming that reflects area

on Minnesota’s North Shore

North Shore Community Radio

arts, history, and culture

90.7 FM Grand Marais

89.1 FM Gunflint Trail 90.1 FM Grand Portage

• Pool with 110 ft. Figure 8 Waterslide• Breakfast Buff et with Waffl e Bar

• Rooms and Suites with Whirlpools and Fireplaces

• High Speed Wireless Internet• Near State Parks and National Forest• Snowmobile Trail Access from Our Lot

150 Mensing Drive Silver Bay, MN 800-634-3444, 218 226-4300

[email protected]

AmericInn Lodge and Suites of Silver Bay

Family Owned Since 1947

218-475-2330www.rydensstore.com

Money Exchange

Duty Free Liquor

Cafe/Motel10,000 U.S. and

Canadian Souvenirs

Gas

BWCA ReaderVOLUME 1Edited by Barry J. Johnson

The BWCA ReAdeR L.L.C.,

2013, $11.99

Editor Barry J. John-son has collected a range of essays about the canoe country from amateur and profes-sional writers. Most are engaging tales about the adventures that occur on canoe trips,

including the memories of people who traveled there before it was designated by Congress as a wilderness area. Interspersed throughout the book are BWCA triv-ia quizzes and historical information. All told, the book is a great read for any canoe tripper on your Christmas list. It’s available at a handful of outdoor stores and at BWCAReader.com.—Shawn Perich

Dutch Oven BreadsBy Mark Hansen

hoBBLe CReek PRess, 2013,

$14.99

If you thought the bread machine was a modern invention, guess again. You can bake bread in your backyard with traditional cook-ware—a Dutch oven. The author has written and blogged extensively about Dutch oven cook-

ing. The book explains how to bake various breads with a “black pot” and has recipes, too.—Shawn Perich

Gut It Cut It Cook ItBy Al Cambronne and Eric Fromm

kRAuse PuBLiCATions, 2012,

$24.99

This is one of the best instructional books for home venison pro-cessing, because Cam-bronne is an experi-enced technical writer and the author of

training manuals. Well illustrated with color photos, the book offers clear, do-it-yourself instructions for skin-ning, butchering and packaging a deer. It also includes a companion CD that contains 50 venison recipes not found in the book. While a novice may still want the assistance of an experienced mentor when cutting up a deer for the first time, with this book, you can do it on your own.—Shawn Perich

Pow Wow SummerA FAMILY CELEBRATES THE CIRCLE OF LIFEBy Marcie Rendon Photos by Cheryl Walsh Bellville

MinnesoTA hisToRiCAL soCieTy PRess, 2013,

$7.95

Following an Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) family through a year of winter preparations and then a summer of attending pow wows, this book gives a fascinating glimpse into culture of northern Minnesota’s native people. Color photographs breathe life into the book, which is written for both young and adult readers. Very likely, most readers will consider attending a pow wow next summer.—Shawn Perich


Shimano Spinning Rod and Reel

I spent the sum-mer fishing for bass and walleyes with a Shimano Saros 2500F spin-ning reel matched with Shimano’s 7-foot Compre CPS W70 MC two-piece rod. It’s bal-

anced, medium-light outfit well-suited to light tackle fishing. The rod was sensitive, yet had the backbone to handle a 3-pound smallmouth. Like all Shimano reels, the Saros 2500F has a smooth action and consistent drag. Alas, I’d didn’t catch any whoppers to give the rig a real workout, but I have no doubt it is up to the task. It’s a welcome addition to my fishing tackle arsenal.—Shawn Perich

www.www.RavenWordsRavenWords

.com.com

Books, Cards,and Journals

by local artists and authors

PaddlingtoWinter

LIFE LOVE & NEGOTIATION ON THE VOYAGEUR’S HIGHWAY

JULIE BUCKLES

and the BW Calendar

Find at your favorite stores,call for a free catalog, or

visit our website

P.O. Box 188, Ely, MN 55731218-365-3375

All Minnesota Made!

By Deane Morrison UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA STARWATCH

October - November 2013

This fall the astronomy world eagerly awaits the spectacle of Comet ISON’s maiden voyage through the inner solar system.

ISON is speeding in from the far-thest reach of the solar system, a home for comets called the Oort Cloud. On Oct. 1 it sails above Mars in the eastern predawn sky, an event that will, if we’re lucky, be imaged by the Mars rover

Curiosity. In early November it slices down through the plane of Earth’s orbit and passes Mercury and Saturn low in the east as it plummets toward the sun.

The comet makes a hairpin turn around the sun on Nov. 28, rising steeply into the northern sky as it begins its return journey. It’ll slice its way up through the plane of Earth’s orbit and appear straight above us in December.

ISON’s brightness is unpredictable, so follow the news as the comet’s saga unfolds. An animation of ISON’s orbit is at http://stereo-ssc.nascom.nasa.gov/comet_ison/, a website of NASA’s twin STEREO spacecraft.

While ISON grabs headlines, Venus quietly climbs a bit higher above the sunset horizon, setting nearly three hours after the sun by Nov. 30. In the east, Jupiter, in Gemini, rises earlier each night as Earth gains on it in the or-bital race. Jupiter glows amid the cluster of bright winter stars as they begin to invade the evening sky.

October’s full hunter’s moon rises, beautifully round, on the 18th. But November’s full beaver moon, shining the night of the 17th-18th, unfortu-nately interferes with the annual Leonid meteor shower.

Through it all, the Great Square of Pegasus dominates the southern sky. The line of stars extending northeast from the Square’s northeast corner marks the constellation Andromeda, and above the line, not quite halfway to W-shaped Cassiopeia, is the faint smudge of the Andromeda Galaxy. Our Milky Way’s closest neighbor, the gal-axy appears almost directly overhead during prime evening viewing hours in October and November.

The University of Minnesota offers public viewings of the night sky at its Duluth campus. For more information and viewing schedules, see: Duluth, Marshall W. Alworth Planetarium: www.d.umn.edu/planet

Sweet Corn SpectacularBy Marie Porter

MinnesoTA hisToRiCAL

soCieTy PRess, 2013, $16.95

We got this book a lit-tle late in the season for a summer review, bet-ter now than never. The author professes to be married to the King of Corn Freaks, a man who can eat corn with every

meal. This has led her to experiment with preparing and cooking corn. The book has over 70 corn recipes, from sweet corn quiche to cream puffs with filled with a sweet corn pastry cream.—Shawn Perich

http://stereo-ssc.nascom.nasa.gov/comet_ison/

http://stereo-ssc.nascom.nasa.gov/comet_ison/

http://www.d.umn.edu/planet


By Elle Andra-Warner

The story of the Ed-mund Fitzgerald is known throughout the world, and, even 38 years after its tragic end, continues to make news whenever there is another investiga-tion into the cause for its sinking, or perhaps a new book, film or exhibit.

Shortly after 7 p.m. on Nov. 10, 1975, the 729-feet bulk cargo vessel Edmund Fitzgerald plummet-ed 530 feet to the bottom of Lake Superior just 17 miles from the entrance of Whitefish Point, Mich. She took with her all of the 29-man crew, including Capt. Ernest McSorley. No distress call was heard, and there were no witnesses.

It wasn’t the largest marine disaster on the lake (more than 45 lives were lost Nov. 7, 1885, when the Algoma wrecked near Isle Royale), but thanks largely to the haunting ballad, “Wreck of the Ed-mund Fitzgerald” by Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot, the Edmund Fitzgerald has become the most famous shipwreck of the Great Lakes.

A marine casualty report by U.S. Coast Guard put blame on the ship’s crew for improperly fastening the hatches, causing her to take on water during the violent seas. A controversial decision, it was rejected by most of the maritime community, many who felt the Fitzgerald, which was long overdue for repairs and refit, should not have been sailing that last voy-age.

What really happened to the Fitzgerald during the brutal blizzard has become one of the great maritime

mysteries. Many theories, books and studies have fuelled the making of the legend and the public’s continuing inter-est. There was even an academic article, published in June 2013, examining why the public continues to be enthralled by the Fitzgerald—“Classical Tragedy and the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald: Why the Legend Lives on” (Jacqueline Justice, Journal of American Culture, 2013).

So, what does keep the legend go-ing and growing? Here’s an overview of some “legend-keepers.”

• One stimulus for the past 25 years – longer than the 17 years the Fitzgerald sailed – comes from the Great Lakes Brewing Company’s award-winning Edmund Fitzgerald Porter.

• An exhibit, open until Oct. 31, at the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum, Whitefish Point, Mich., features images of the Fitzgerald taken by amateur photographers.

• Alongside the exhibit is a unique display—the world’s largest known LEGO model replica of the Edmund Fitzgerald. Measuring more than 12-feet long, it was created by Kalamazoo maritime historian and high school teacher John R. Beck, using 80,000 pieces of LEGOs.

The search to solve the mystery of why the Fitzger-ald sank – and debunk the Coast Guard findings -- was taken on by the famous father-and-son ship-wreck dive team, Mike and Warren Fletcher. For their 2010 TV series, “Dive Detectives”, they con-sulted with experts and used wave-generating tech-nology at the Canadian National Research Coun-cil’s Institute for Ocean Technology to simulate the actual storm conditions faced by the Fitzgerald. Their

conclusion: It was a rogue wave—a massive wall of water perhaps 50-60 feet high – that slammed the already unstable vessel and caused her to go down.

The rogue wave theory researched by the Fletchers was so compelling that Gordon Lightfoot changed a line of his lyrics in “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” whenever he sings it in concerts.

Adding his voice to the ongoing discussions is a member of the original team that designed the Fitzgerald, Raymond Ramsey, a retired naval archi-tect and author of “SS Edmund Fitzgerald: Requiem for the Toledo Express” (2010). He suggests that the Fitzgerald was not seaworthy on her last voyage.

In an Nov. 12, 2009, article in the Grosse Point News, Ramsey said, “After she was delivered, the Coast Guard authorized the ship to carry more cargo. But they did not do any structural modifica-tions. So, you had an already questionable hull com-pounded by carrying another 4,000 tons of cargo. Something had to give.”

And the Fitzgerald story may not be finished. In a March 2013 report by the National Oceanic and At-mospheric Administration (NOAA), the Fitzgerald is listed as one of 87 wrecks that “pose a potential pollution threat” to US waters (she lies in Canadian waters but close enough to pollute American wa-ters). NOAA recommends that ‘’the site be noted in the Area Contingency Plans so that if a mystery spill is reported in the general area, this vessel could be investigated as a source.”

After 38 years, we still don’t know what really happened to the Fitzgerald. Could it happen again? I asked some veteran Great Lakes captains. Their an-swer? “Yes.”

Edmund Fitzgerald: The Great Lakes Legend That Keeps Going and Growing

Strange Tales BY ELLE ANDRA-WARNER

Although the Edmund Fitzgerald went down 38 years ago, the legends surrounding the ship’s fate remain alive. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Simply Northwoods Vacations!

Year-round Cabins & Cottages Year-round Cabins & Cottages Year-round Cabins & Cottages on Minnesota’s Gun� int Trailon Minnesota’s Gun� int Trailon Minnesota’s Gun� int Trail

Ski - Snowshoe - Snowmobile Fireplaces / Sauna • No TV or Cell

Relax!

218.388.4454 · 800.533.5814 www.gunfl intpines.com • 217 S. Gunfl int Lk • Grand Marais, MN 55604

Enjoy a day in the Boundary Waters CanoeArea Wilderness. Paddle the “Kelso Loop” -

three beautiful wilderness lakes in three hours.Lightweight canoe rental, maps, permits, and

instruction available. (218) 663-7150www.sawbill.com [email protected]


Towering Pines Canopy Tour at Gunflint Lodge

is the most exciting new way to experience the

wilderness — get a bird’s-eye view plus a thrilling

ride through the treetops! It’s a two-and-a-half hour

nature adventure led by two sky guides.

Open daily April 26th to November 11th.

$79.00 per person

Call 218-388-2296 for reservations.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner available, too.

Gunflint Lodge is 43 miles up the Gunflint Trail

from Grand Marais.

Minimum age is 10; maximum weight/person is 240 lbs.

Towering Pines Canopy Tour

Edmund Fitzgerald: The Great Lakes Legend That Keeps Going and Growing

Although the Edmund Fitzgerald went down 38 years ago, the legends surrounding the ship’s fate remain alive. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO


Welcome to Golden Eagle Lodge, a family oriented, year round resort located on the historic Gunflint Trail of Northeastern

Minnesota. We are on the north shores of Flour Lake surrounded by the Superior National Forest; as we are the only residents on the lake, you can look forward to the quiet and solitude offered only from the true wilderness setting. We offer modern, housekeeping cabins to ensure comfort during your stay in the North Woods.

Each season has something special to offer; excellent fishing and canoeing in Summer and nationally-

renowned Nordic Cross-Country Skiing in Winter.

Our 4 Seasons page will describe in detail how each season can help shape your vacation.

Try our 9-site campground which offers a quiet and personal service; each site comes equipped with water and electric hookups. We go out of our way to ensure every aspect of your visit will convince you to come back and see us again.

We know much time, effort, and expense is invested in a vacation, and we would be honored if you considered us as your vacation destination. You won’t be disappointed!

800-346-2203 • 218-388-2203 · www.Golden-Eagle.comwww.GunflintCamping.com · www.FlourLake.com

www.GunflintCanoeing.com

Unspoiled and Unforgettable

“Quiet...Spectacular...Solitude, you’ll find it here in any season.”

northern wilds oct - nov 2013

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