Ice Fishing Mansions

This was another interesting assignment. A glimpse into another culture very different from mine. I am neither a northerner, nor a fisherman, so the "sport" of icefishing is lost on me. But in northern Minnesota, this is good clean fun. And in the case of the people we met, it is also somewhat luxurious. A lot of ice fishermen sit on a bucket with a pole or two in the water. An easy upgrade is some sort of shelter from the wind -some are cloth covered frames, other are more like outhouses with room for one or two inside.

They day we went out was bitter cold. I think the high for the day was -10'. We headed to Lake Milacs in north central Minnesota. A string of very cold weeks had built the ice up to about 16" - just enough to hold the weight of a ridiculously large ice fishing house.

The focus of our story was ice houses that sleep several people, have satellite tv's (multiple usually), bathrooms and kitchens. They are much like a mobile home on ice, but the ones we visited were a notch above mobile home quality. I am not exaggerating when I say that a number of these ice homes were nicer inside than my own home. I do not have a parquet, inlaid wood floor in my home - one ice house did though. My home also does not have holes in the floor with underwater (and under-ice) cameras that can watch the fish come by to inspect the bait on your line and then take it if it so desires. The ultimate fish finder!

So, these are nice places to get out of the wind if you happen to be sitting on a frozen lake. That is the biggest need that they fill however. I'm told that if you really want to catch fish you need to be mobile, able to move where the fish are. These large houses were not mobile. They are pulled onto the ice and lifted onto skids so that the ice does not melt beneath them. Inside they remain toasty and warm with antique rifles above the doors, taxidermy on the walls and your favorite television shows beamed in from space. There might even be a big pot of venison chili warming on the mini-stove. Now you're living the northern Minnesota good life.

I dig this!

I'm not actually a tree hugger, but I am a conservationalist and am quite concerned about caring for the planet we live on. So, that side of me loves this bike. Bamboo bikes have been around for a while - Craig Calfee is most noted for it - but his guy Nick Frey is going to race this bike. It weighs only 16 pounds, which is not crazy light for a race bike, but is decent. Since bamboo is one of the fastest growing plants if it can be used in this capacity, there is great potential for poorer countries to have transportation - without a dependency on oil! Nice.

I found this on Velonews, so go read more if you wish: ( no photo credit available)

http://www.velonews.com/article/72960/more-bamboo-commencal-lands-in-the-us-and-more

Gunflint Trail - Grand Marais, MN

I spent two days in Grand Marais, MN for the NY Times shooting a cross-country skiing article. The area I went to is about 5 hours from Minneapolis and literally on the Canadian border. I looked out my cabin window and could see Canadian soil across Gunflint Lake. It was a beautiful place. I stayed at Hestons Cabins in a very cozy 3 bedroom cabin on the lake. Highly recommend the place to those who like comfort, but with a little rustic flavor. To me it beats a hotel room to pieces.

Skiing was great, despite the warms temps that threatened the snow. Our skiing outing took us up on a high ridge that again, gave us views into Canada and the surrounding wilderness. The trail was "tracked", but not easy. It took dips, dives and switchbacks that sent us rolling in the snow a few times. There were crazy fast downhills where we certainly pushed our XC skis beyond their limits. It was a ball. I think we ended up going about 8+ miles.

Afterwards we dove into a dinner at the Gunflint Lodge. I devoured some antelope, bison, and venison sausage with red souce over some pasta. With our bellies full we went back to the cabin and slipped into our trunks for a visit to the wood-fired sauna. I got talked into jumping into a hole in the ice, then bolted back to the sauna. It was a great trip.

Big thanks to Jake Helmbrecht and Tom Hagerty for allowing me to photograph them for the article. They were good company. Minneapolis based writer, Greg Breining wrote the article and did a fine job as ususal. Go here to see the article. I'll add more images of the town of Grand Marais soon.

http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/02/29/travel/escapes/29gunflint.html