Trekking with Wolves - New York Times Travel Section

Check out the following article in the New York Times Travel Section from Sunday, February 21, 2010:

TREKKING WITH WOLVES
By GREG BREINING

Published: February 21, 2010

WINTER strips the wilderness of color: white snow, gray ice, the Dalmatian spots of paper birches. The somber green of pine and spruce and claret stems of red osier are vivid in comparison. Simple forms stand in high relief: a black pool of open water flanked by snow, daggers of ice plunging from slaty rocks, low sun, long shadows. The effect is striking, as austere and beautiful as an Ansel Adams print.

My wife, Susan, and I and our friends Steve and Karen Lucas had driven up from the Twin Cities to snowshoe and bushwhack the trails and lakes of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in northern Minnesota. We arrived in Ely, departure point to the wilderness, in late afternoon. Were it summer, cars and trucks carrying Kevlar canoes would have jammed Sheridan Street. Campers just arriving would be stalking outdoor stores for maps, freeze-dried food and bargains in camp clothes. Canoeists on their way home would wait for a table at the Chocolate Moose. But in late January, tourists were few. Townsfolk scurried about on errands, bundled against raw, subfreezing weather.

We had rented a cabin on the edge of the wilderness area. We drove now through town to rendezvous with one of the owner’s employee, Brian Klubben. He led the way down the Fernberg Road and swung onto a snowy trail to Kempton Lake. We loaded gear onto plastic toboggans and crossed the small lake in waning daylight to a log cabin on a rocky point. Dragging sleds up the shore, we stashed snowshoes and ski poles on the porch and gear in the cabin — warm clothes, mainly, and two coolers of steaks, vegetables, eggs and chorizo, a box of red wine, trail lunches and other essentials. Brian had already started the wood stove and hauled in drinking water in plastic jerrycans. He showed us how to light the auxiliary propane heater and gas lights, and then pointed out where he had drilled holes through the lake ice to draw wash water.

Click here for the entire article

We would be happy to help plan your next northern Minnesota or BWCA Wilderness Vacation! Moose Track Adventures is a 4 season resort just 7 miles outside of Ely Minnesota - the gateway to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. We have a total of 8 rental cabins available during 'soft' water season and 2 Remote Cabins available during the winter season. We also have a Guide Service available during the spring, summer & fall for overnight canoe camping trips into the BWCA, guided day fishing trips in the BWCA and other Ely Area Lakes and guided day and 1/2 day Eco-Tourism Trips in the BWCA. Both Complete & Partial Canoe Outfitting available with kevlar canoes & only the best camping gear - Marmot & The North Face tents & sleeping bags, Kondos canoe packs, etc.

We would be happy to help plan your northern Minnesota or BWCA wilderness vacation!

Sunday, February 21, 2010