-
-
-
Recent Posts
ADS
Our Favorites
Monthly Archives: November 2010
Holiday Gift Guide 2010
Here are our choices for holiday gifts for your family, friends, and, well, you too.
MORE
Discover Ely Ski Trails
With 20″ inches of snow reported up north, its time to head out and ski.
Which has us day-dreaming about trails. Here are four trails we think you’ll enjoy exploring, all within a stone’s throw of Ely, MN.
“In the Company of Moose”
Why didn’t my high school guidance counselor tell me I could do this for a living:
Biologist Vic VanBallenberghe has spent more time living with wild moose than anyone in the world. His son, filmmaker Jonathan VanBallenberghe, follows him over the course of a year in Denali National Park, Alaska, showing the passion behind Vics research as well as the growing intimacy of their relationship.
Catch North House Folk School‘s special screening of “In the Company of Moose” this Sunday at noon. Better yet, bring an aimless, undermotivated teen with you for half price admission (just kidding, it’s free.)
Via Boreal Video Labs.
Sauk River Canoe Library
Paddle a scenic river and borrow a new canoe for free? Yep, you can.
Friends of the Sauk River, a non-profit organization, have worked diligently to clean-up, protect and monitor the Sauk River since 2004. Now they want everyone to enjoy paddling this scenic river that flows 100 miles before it merges with the Mississippi.
After recently receiving a well-deserved grant from The North Face, they are establishing The Canoe Library. Beginning the 2011 season, members of the Friends can use a canoe, paddles, and pfd’s at no cost. Their goal is to get more families, youth and children into the outdoors.
So, a one-year $10 family membership with the Friends of the Sauk River gets you a canoe. Pretty good deal, we think.
Via Canoeroots Magazine.
Emily Gray Koehler: Printmaker
We discovered these lovely woodcuts created by Emily Gray Koehler, an artist who hails from Minnesota. They are careful studies of nature. Her prints of soft sedges, quiet bays and painted turtles remind us why its so good to live here.
Find one for your wall here.
Klymit Inertia X-Frame
How well do you sleep in the woods? We think Klymit’s Inertia X-Frame sleeping pad might just bring us some more zzzz’s.
Ultra-light at 9.1 ounces, this space-style sleeping pad was designed by engineers in the outdoors industry. Yes, it looks unusual because it is designed to hit the areas of your body that require support and padding. No less, no more. Just right.
The top of the pad is made of light weight 30D ripstop nylon and the bottom of 75D polyester for durability on rough terrain. But can you glide down a slope with it? Only time, and maybe a few kids will tell.
Packing down to the size of a soda can has us betting that its going to open up some space in the pack.
Buy here.
Noopiming: A BWCA-Inspired Music and Photography Collaboration
So, what does “Noopiming” mean? We’ll get to definitions in a minute, but here’s what it means to you: 1) Beautiful, timeless images of the Boundary Waters. 2) Hauntingly ethereal a capella choral composition inspired by the Boundary Waters. 3) Both of them, coming to a theater near you… or at least, to one in Minneapolis.
Composer Mike Olson and photographer Dale Robert Klous have recently finished “Noopiming,” a unique audio-visual collaboration, and have furthermore taken the project on the road. After several showings in Northern Minnesota, they’re now taking it to the Open Eye Theater in Minneapolis, Thursday November 18th.
Photo Friday: “Little Island, Lake Agnes – Boundary Waters”
This great photo caught our eye recently; we think it’ll do the same for you.
“Little Island, Lake Agnes – Boundary Waters” is just one of several lovely shots taken by Matthew Hart on his first trip to the BW. And by his account, the image came at a cost:
Me, my little brother and my father paddled out past this little island where I found a rock to set up my tripod on. After I’d spent about 30 minutes on that rock, my companions thought it would be SO funny if they left me stranded for a while, since they knew I wasn’t going to wade through the … leech infested water.
Well worth it, nonetheless. Check out more of Matthew’s trip photos in his Flickr set.
Voyageurs National Park Moose Study
While trekking through the woods, we’ve mused about the decline of moose in the Boundary Waters. Like most everyone else, we’re mostly left scratching our heads. Could it be the climate? Is it some disease? Is forest management a part of the issue? In other parts of the country, moose are maintaining or increasing in population. Why not here?
Researchers from the National Park Service, US Geological Service and the University of Minnesota’s, Duluth Natural Resources Research Institute are collaborating together to demystify some of the theories that have plagued them for years. In February 2010, they radio collared eleven moose in Voyageurs National Park and will be monitoring the habits and movements of the group until 2013.
Via Timberjay.
UpNorthica Reviews: Gear Tie
There were times, in the Darker Days of history, when bungee cord technology was available only to parachutists. Or when the now-ubiquitous carabiner was found neither in the daypacks of glampers, nor on the climbing belts of alpinists… but only on sailing ships.
Until one day, a random somebody in a pinch grabbed each of these to serve an unintended purpose. And hey! it worked better than anything else. So much better, that today these simple devices do everything from organizing keys and toting water bottles, to tethering unruly kids at the mall.
For several months, we’ve been testing out Gear Tie, a new product that touts hundreds – even thousands – of uses, on the trail and off. Could this hold a place in your everyday life?
RSS
Twitter
Facebook
Flickr
