On January 14th the "Friday Ski" group set out from Ely for our weekly cross-country ski outing. This week's group was one of our largest ever at eleven members (and three dogs), and meant that we would have plenty of folks to take turns leading the way as we did a lot of breaking trail throughout the day. We headed east on the Fernberg road and parked at the Wood Lake parking lot. With eleven skiers we were too large a group to enter the BWCA but luckily we had planned a route that remained outside the wilderness.



We crossed the Fernberg and started out in a southeasterly direction looking for a trail that we knew intersected the road to Madden Lake. We have had a lot of snow lately and the trees and shrubs are covered with a beautiful, thick, white frosting. The big trees can handle it fine but the smaller ones, as well as many shrubs, get bent every which way under their fluffy burden. This makes for a beautiful forest, but a challenge when trying to navigate a narrow forest trail. As a matter of fact, it can make it quite a challenge to even find a narrow forest trail. After a few false starts, we just started bushwhacking thru the brush in the general direction of the road. Bushwhacking is a good name for it because we basically whack the snow off of anything in our way trying to free up an easier route while following a path of least resistance. After about a half hour of slow going, some backtracking, and checking our compasses, we broke thru to the Madden Lake road. After that we had easy going all the way to the lake, mostly downhill. Occasionally we ducked down and skied thru a beautiful tunnel created by arched, snow covered branches.

Once on Madden we had frozen, snow covered, snow machine tracks to follow a short ways to the other side where we picked up the road to Greenstone Lake. We knew the lakes we planned on traveling this day had been snow machined and we planned on staying on their trails as much as possible. As many of you have probably heard, we have lots of slush on the Ely area lakes this year because of all the snow we received before the ice was thick enough to support it. For the most part the lakes are safe to travel on. The problem lies in the fact that that most of the larger lakes have a layer of water on top of the ice, covered with snow, which can make for an icy foot bath for cross-country skiers, ice fisherman, sled dogs, or anyone unfortunate enough to venture into these areas. If you happen upon an especially deep layer of slush, snow machines and dog sleds can even get bogged down and the icy water can reach over the top of ski boots! Usually what happens on skis and/or snowshoes is that the slush starts to build up on the bottoms and you have to get out of the immediate area as quickly as possible, remove your skis and scrape off the slush before it freezes solid and makes it even more difficult to remove. What we need is a cold, windy stretch of weather without any new snow buildup so that the ice thickens and the water on top can freeze or drain back into the lakes.

Read the rest of Steve Schon's Adventure here

Stop in the store at 105 North Central Avenue or call today to make winter gear and tent reservations and to plan your winter camping trip.

Please email us with your gear and tent reservations today. Include the items you need, the number of days and dates for which you'll need the gear. Stop in at Piragis at 105 North Central Avenue in Ely if you want to rent something spur of the moment. Call Michelle for reservations: 1-800-223-6565.

Hi Fellow Paddlers, Bert Heep here.

This year at Piragis Northwoods we have tried to create some new opportunities for our Guided Group Trips. In addition to our tried and true trips...Howl with the Wolves, Women in the Wilderness, Autumn Colors and the Smallmouth Fishing Trip, we have added some new trips.

A few days ago Drew (that Chicago Bears fan) told you about our Bear trip in conjunction with the North American Bear Center. I would like to tell you about a great opportunity to take a Kayak trip across the span of Basswood Lake with Dave Maynard,the former Assistant Park Superintendent for Quetico Provincial Park. Dave will also be guiding a canoe trip to the heart of Quetico.

We are very excited about being able to welcome Dave Maynard to the outfitting staff here at Piragis Northwoods Co. Dave will be joining our Guide Staff and will be leading trips into Quetico Provincial Park this summer. Not only will he be leading two of our Guided Group trips, but will be available for those who want to book a trip and employ his services as a Quetico Guide.

First some background on Dave. Dave is 57 but you would never guess that by looking at him. He is in great shape and stays active with all sorts of outdoor activity. He is a big game guide in Canada, and has paddled every lake in Quetico park that has a portage to it and even some that don't. He even speaks Canadian, "eh".

Dave started paddling when he was 4 years old and he got his first job with the park in 1973 as a member of a seasonal portage crew. That was the beginning of a long career with the park that culminated with him becoming the Assistant Park Superintendent in 1997. Dave just recently retired from service with the park and we are fortunate to be able to tap into his skill, knowledge, and love of Quetico Park.

For More about these fantastic Quetico Park Trips click here:http://piragisnorthwoodscompany.blogspot.com/2011/01/quetico-trips-with-dave-maynard.html


REMEMBER LAST WEEK WE SPOTLIGHTED THE LILYPAD PICNIC IN THE PAWPRINTS OF BEARS TRIP:

See our webpage about the trip here:
http://www.piragis.com/outfitting/lilypadblackbeartrip.html

If you plan on coming to Ely for the Lilypad Picnic, why not spend the entire week here with a BWCA canoe trip that helps out the Bear Center. Call 800-223-6565 to reserve your spot today!

And speaking of bears, Go Chicago Bears!!!

Drew (originally from Chicago :-)

Here are some cool links!

ALSO OF NOTE IT LOOKS LIKE LILY WILL SOON BE GIVING BIRTH SO YOU'LL WANT TO CHECK OUT THE DEN CAM ON A REGULAR BASIS!

Live Den Cam featuring video of Lily and Hope our favorite bears.
http://www.bear.org/livecams/lily-hope-cam.html

Lynn Rodgers on his Research (informative video)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UH2h89I2-jc

We're passing the savings on to you.  Here's a list of the paddles that you'll save money on.  Click the links below to find them and more online at The Boundary Waters Catalog.

Loon    B0040031  $49.95  NOW $34.97

Beavertail    B0040002  $69.95  NOW $48.97

Arrow    B0040033  $74.95 NOW $52.47

BB special    B0040040  $79.95  NOW $55.97

Espresso plus straight    B0040035  $109.95  NOW $76.97

Espresso plus Bent    B0040042  $119.95  NOW $83.97



Bending Branches Blem Paddles on Sale Here