MN Fishing License Changes

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) reminds anglers that their 2007 fishing and shelter licenses are good through April 30th, 2008. The State legislature changed the statute last session, so it was not reflected in the 2007 Fishing Regulations Handbook, already in print at the time of the change. The statute now states that the license year begins on March 1st and ends on April 30th of the following year.

We do issue fishing licenses. It is much easier to issue a fishing license if you have your DNR number from your previous year license. So, don't throw that old license away, bring it with you when you get a new one.

The warmth of the fire

We just had a beautiful day yesterday. The temperatures were in the 20's with no wind, the flakes were falling lightly all day and the sun was warm, well, as warm as the sun gets in February. But around 3 to 4:00 pm the winds started howling. By 4:30 pm the temperature had dropped by 20 degrees to 4 above. Our guests, who had been out snowshoeing most of the day were just heading out to supper when.........the power went out in the entire county.

Power outages in the summer are a mild inconvenience, in the winter, they can be really rough and thankfully, I have experienced very few winter power outages. We have enough back up heat to keep the temperatures above freezing in the lodge but in my case, with high winds and dropping temperatures, just above freezing is what I can do with back up propane heat, wood and no electricity.

After an hour with no electricity and the temperatures still dropping, the large propane stove was running at full blast in the dining room, the guests built a large fire in the fire place and I hooked up the emergency heat in the well house to keep the water pressure tanks and pump from freezing. I figured I had still a couple hours before I needed to fire up additional emergency propane heat in the basement of the lodge.

The electricity came back on after about 4 hours (thank you Arrowhead Electric!) and I breathed a sigh of relief. Our guests had settled in for a 'winter campfire' as close as you could get to the fireplace enjoying the warmth and cozy flickering lights. When the lights did come back on, it is such as surprised that we went around the lodge and turned them all off to continue to enjoy the winter evening.

The temperatures continued to drop during the night and it is now 20 below outside. The winds haven't let up yet and continue to move around our snow and beat at our windows. My intrepid guests are strapping on their snow shoes to venture out again.

Snowmobile to the cabin

When our neighbors come up during the winter, it is sometimes hard to get all the way back on South Clearwater Road (summer home road). The best way is often to leave your car up near the lodge and take the snowmobiles to the cabin for the weekend.

Wolves on the Trail

As I was driving to Grand Marais in the snow today, I was hoping to see a moose and had brought my camera along. No moose, but as I glanced in my rear view mirror I saw a wolf come out of the woods behind me. I stopped but didn't bother to turn around or try to get a picture since they were a little far away and would be long gone before I could circle back. However, I sat there for about 10 minutes and watched the activity in my mirror as two more wolves came out of the woods, played on the road for a few minutes and then took off back into the woods.

I have lived up here now 6 years and I am still fascinated by the wildlife we can see on a daily basis. Growing up in Indiana almost all our vacations were camping in MI or IN but I never remember seeing any wildlife other than deer, rabbits, raccoons and opossums. The only larger mammels I every saw were in a zoo or some sort of controlled park or on the farm (moo). It makes you think about how far we have gotten away from nature in our city lives.

How lucky we are up here to share the natural habitate with such varied creatures and they give us a glimpse into their lives and play.