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