Kenora, ON

This weeks excursion was a trip to the top of Lake of the Woods - Kenora, ON.  The drive - notwithstanding the part through International Falls and Fort Francis - was a beautiful drive on two-lane roads that reminded me of what the US would have looked like if there were no interstates.  While you may think that's a nostalgic thought of better times in the past, think more of country economically stuck in the 1950s and 1960s.  Literally.  When talking at lunch with Big Greg over the winter, I told him about ours thoughts of traveling from International Falls to Glacier via Canada.  His response: "Why?"  I fully comprehend his question now.

In all fairness, there's not a lot in this part of Canada.  Scenic nature and sport fishing & hunting.  Nestor Falls and Sioux Narrow's are just gorgeous areas.  RV parks appear nice & basic.  Resorts defined in this area are places to sleep and go fish/hunt.  Look elsewhere if you want a hotel with full amenities. (OK.  Maybe one hotel at the waterfront in Kenora probably meets that criteria.)

Few if any big name stores.  Unless you're into burgers and fried chicken, there's no chain restaurants here.  Food's great though.  We had lunch at the Second Street Bakery in Kenora and would go back again if it weren't three hours drive to get there.  Be a shorter drive if the speed limit didn't drop to 60 km/h every time you passed through a First Nation area.  Other than it's a First Nation community, it looked just like everywhere else the speed limit was 90 km/h.  Same road.  Same road access.  Don't understand.

Of course, if it's scenic nature, then it's also walking, hiking, and biking friendly and Kenora is.  The pictures here are from the Vernon Nature Area at the top of Lake of the Woods, and it's a perfect getaway into the woods.  We really enjoyed ourselves there.  Trails were easy and long enough that you could make it an hour's walk or spend all day.

But I'll end with  our conversation with customs when we returned, yesterday.

Customs agent:  "Place the truck in park and take off your sunglasses. Where do you live?"
Me: "Emery, SD"
Customs agent: "Where'd you go?"
Me: "Kenora."
Customs agent: "Why'd you go there?"
Me (thinking): "Good question."

But Donna had a fantastic time.  Later, David

A visit to the International Wolf Center

The summer season at Voyageur NP kicked in over Father's day weekend.  Not everything is quite routine, but it's gettin' there.

Yesterday was a day off for all the volunteers,

and we took a trip down to Ely, MN for some shopping, dining, and a visit to the International Wolf Center.  If you're unfamiliar with wolves, this is the place to learn about 'em.  The place is set up for teaching with two theaters, one good diorama to teach about the interaction between humans and wolves, an auditorium, and one side with windows to allow everyone to view the wolves' enclosure.

The highlight of the day is when the pups are brought out for viewing.  I wanted to play with 'em so bad!

Anyway, that's our week.  Later, David

Visiting Voyageurs NP on our own

 Yesterday was our first day out visiting on our own.  We took a trip down to Ash River to meet up with our volunteer counterparts for an afternoon visit and have a great evening meal at Ash Trail Lodge. The pictures above and to the side are of Lake Kabetogama from the overview near the Ash River Visitor Center.

Earlier in the day, Donna took a walk along the new bicycle path at Rainy Lake.  This time she had her camera and got some great pictures of a fox, deer, and the sky.  Posted a few below.  If you live near a suburban/woodlands area, this probably isn't new to you but it's exciting for us.

Anyway, the visitor center's getting a little busier.  Tours start tomorrow and we've been entrusted to open, close and even run the visitor's center on our own.  Scary isn't it?!  Later, David

Ranger Training Day 6

 

Lake Kabetogama (Lost Bay)  from Cruiser Lake trail

This week continues our training at Voyageurs Natl Park.  Yesterday's training took us to Ek Lake (an interior lake just off Lake Kabetogama) for field experience on habitat, invasive species, climate change, etc.  The second half of the day was a crammed course of Geology 101 on Voyageurs Natl Park.  I think I retained about Geology 0.025 - it's a bunch of history stuffed into half a day.  Great stuff, but a lot.

That's Ek Lake in the background

Today was all employees day of training.  I thought the conference room was packed with a huge crowd (75 to 100) of interpretative rangers, park rangers, maintenance staff, etc.  The lady setting next to me commented on how small this year's staff was for the park.  After talking with a few people at lunch, most think it's a small staff this year.

A better view of Ek Lake

The leaves are finally out.  We can no longer see the truck when it's parked in the volunteer site next to us.  Temperature wise, we're getting lows in the 50s and highs in the 70s.  Rains every few days.  There's so little soil here that if it doesn't get rain that often, the forest turns into a fire hazard. 

Anyway, we finding it an awesome experience to be working here & recommend it to everyone. 

We believe this is a Columbine

Don't know the name of this flower plus I had a hard time getting the white balance correct so you could see its colors.  We'll have to get back to you on it.

Later, David

The Turtle

A turtle scurries up to a park ranger and yells, "Help, help, I've been mugged!"

The ranger looks down at him with that confused look and goes. "What?!"

Turtle:  "I've been mugged by a bunch of snails!"

Ranger: "Snails?!"

Turtle, "Yes! Snails!  It was just awful!"

Ranger, "OK. OK. Just try to calm down.  It'll be OK.  Now just tell me what happen."

Turtle, "Oh, I don't know.  It all happened so fast!"

Yep, been that kinda week.  And don't worry.  The story gets funnier as time passes.

David