The Outward Bound Flapper has enough calories to keep you warm and get you through your afternoon adventures in a tasty, chewable-even-at 20-below bar you can make yourself. Used by expedition students and instructors at the Voyageur Outward Bound School in Ely, these are handy any time you are hungry and don’t want to prepare…
This piece is excerpted and edited from “Summer at the Lake” by John Huston, originally published in the 2006 Ely Summer Times. The above image features Edna & Paul at a cabin in their resort. Log cabin lodges dot the green shorelines. Motorboats full of tourists from Chicago and Minneapolis criss-cross the water. Floatplanes…
For Jacki Fisher cross country skiing is a lifestyle. A way to “get out there and play!” And when one lives in the northwoods, a ‘get out there and play’ mentality is essential to doing anything more than simply surviving the winter. Consider any children you know. Consider their drive to be outside, playing.…
The following article was written by Libby Fena, and originally featured in the 2004-2005 Ely Winter Times. The six of us skied quietly. Behind us, two teams of dogs followed. We had been following the trapper’s tracks for hours. The creek under our feet wound back and forth, creating oxbow after oxbow. Whereas the…
This article originally appeared in the 2008-2009 Ely Winter Times. In 1961, the Ely Ski Club punched a road through the woods on the east end of town, cleared slopes and trails by hand, installed ski jumps and tows, and built a first-class chalet. An amazing amount of work went into creating this ski…
This article was originally published in the 2008-2009 Ely Winter Times. 2008 editor’s note: The following is a blog entry I stumbled on when I was Googling something else. Better written than 90% of the blogs I’ve read, it stuck with me. I joined the blogspot (my first!) in Albuquerque where it originated – Duke…
It’s 6:30 am on a January morning. Granite, the sled dog, pulls his tail away from his nose to look over the dog yard in hopes that his human is bringing soup. Chris, a dogsledding guide and Granite’s human for the season, has just arrived at the mushers’ shed and is mixing up 10 gallons…
Books for Blizzards: Land of 10,000 Lakes by Patrice Johnson Land of 10,000 Lakes mixes recipes and stories with Minnesota heritage to cook up a book that’s equal parts sentimental and practical. Although she gives a nod to the bland Scandinavian style of Minnesota traditional food, author Patrice Johnson steps boldly into “seasonings outside the…
No-Can Tater Tot Hotdish Serves 9-12 (depending on hunger levels & how blustery it is outside) This recipe comes from Land of 10,000 Plates by Patrice Johnson, one of the featured books from our Books for Blizzards segment in the 2020-2021 Ely Winter Times. For the sauce: 2 Tbsp butter 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour 1…
This article was originally published in the 2009-2010 edition of the Ely Winter Times. In 1970 a group of ambitious Ely citizens put together a winter event that was to become as big a draw in winter as the Blueberry Festival has become in summer. The booklet for the first race explained, “It is…