The Lake People There is one place on the shore of Mother Superior that the Lake People still frequent in peace. there is no black sludge that invades the rolling waves that hit basalt. The Lake People maintain their garden combing through tangles of lichens. With crisp water, they gently spray the tiny […]
Read Full PostWhen the weather starts to warm up and as signs of spring arrive, it is inevitable that I’ll start thinking about getting out on a wilderness trip during the summer. There is just something about the promise of exploration, solitude, and time spent with good friends, that keeps me dreaming about the next outdoor adventure. […]
Read Full PostWhen Spring arrives on the ridge, it is not as Mary Oliver or other poets would write it as. There are no tender tendrils of green peeking through the ground, with song birds chirping happily in boughs of newly leafed trees. No, instead the ground is covered in crystalized, crunchy snow, with earth infused. The […]
Read Full PostAs the Summer Youth & Family Program Director at Wolf Ridge, I get the privilege of talking to many parents each year. One of the biggest things I have learned from all of these conversations is that it is not easy for parents to make the decision to send their child to summer camp. While […]
Read Full PostBeing an adult, I sometimes forget about the magic of nature. I forget about the rolling hills of the eroded Sawtooth mountains, the tiny networks of organisms in lichens, the peeling exposed bark of the paper birch, the tall red pines, and wolf tracks along ski trails. Even as I live here, it can be […]
Read Full PostI often think back to an unforgettable moment on a Wolf Ridge wilderness canoeing trip I guided a few years back. It was the last night of our trip and we had a close to perfect campsite in Voyageurs National Park with a fantastic rock outcropping facing west. We had just finished dinner and all […]
Read Full PostDedicated to all women and girls finding their place in the environment and the outdoors! You may think that you have no place in the woods here. That you cannot climb, run, and roll in the mud. That you are cold and weak, and full of fear. Little do you know that you are […]
Read Full PostIf you go on a walk through the woods in the spring, you might hear a distinct drumming sound. Looking around, you can see a woodpecker. But alas, which one???? Here at Wolf Ridge, the most common woodpeckers are the downy, hairy and pileated. The downy woodpecker is the smallest of the three at 6-7” […]
Read Full PostSummers are magical. School’s out, the days are long, and free time abounds. Yet after a month or so, boredom sets in and kids start gravitating toward the couch, glued to smartphones, binging on Netflix, and playing video games for hours on end. That’s where summer camps come in. Camp is designed to let kids […]
Read Full PostIt’s been a chaotic week in the North Woods. It reminded us of riding the Wild Thing at Valley Fair. We monitored the weather for a week, from 2-13-18 to 2-19-18. The start of the week was fairly cold with a low of -13 and a high of 11. By Wednesday, Finland experienced a high […]
Read Full PostThe Troll of Raven lake resides in the caves are only accessible on ice, or by canoe by Marshall Mountain. If you have seen a troll before you’ll know that trolls are terrible and unsightly, with a nose like a bumpy carrot, a few hairs on the top of its head that look like algae, […]
Read Full PostWhat animal can withstand -65 degree F temperatures, has a pouch in their esophagus to store food and digs tunnels in the snow? The answer is the common redpoll, a small passerine bird about half the size of your fist. These little, hardy birds spend their winters in the arctic tundra and boreal forest. While […]
Read Full PostWhat is the craziest thing that you can imagine doing? Think about it for a minute, this post can wait. What if I told you that I was offered the opportunity to go to Lake Winnipeg and camp in negative 40-degree weather in order to train to go to the North Pole. Oh yeah, and […]
Read Full PostSam was from the cities, where there were maybe one to ten stars showing up on a clear night. Even so, she loved the sight of the downtown lights across Lake Harriet at night, a reminder of how close nature and humans could truly be. Sam and her classmates arrived on the bus to Wolf […]
Read Full PostThis week in the world of phenology we explored everyone’s favorite winter precipitation, snow! In our exploration we visited several locations along the North Shore. We delved deep, observing multiple strata from the fluffy upper layer to the subnivean zone. At each site, we counted the number of layers, measured the temperature of each layer, […]
Read Full PostThis week the Forest Ecology building had an exciting visitor- a barred owl! Perched in an aspen facing the Northeast side of the building, the bird remained perfectly still observing chickadees flying to and from our bird feeders. Barred owls can be identified by their rounded head (no ‘ears’), black eyes, yellow beak, and by […]
Read Full PostThere is rarely complete silence on the ridge; there are usually gleeful yelps of joy, bickering, and complaints about cold and being tired from herds of sixth graders. Such was the case with birds class on Thursday. As naturalists, we practice classroom management, and usually kids respond well to when they are asked to be […]
Read Full PostEarly in the week we were able to see a phenomenon normally isolated to spring. When soil freezes, the water inside it expands, pushing up and out in all directions. When the ice hits a large rock, it pushes it upward thus deforming the soil around it. This phenomenon is known as frost wedging. But […]
Read Full PostMeg Blogett came to wolf ridge in summer ’95 as a camper, counselor, then an adult chaperone with Hopkins Summer Field Biology Group, and was a student naturalist 2009-10. “The thing that strikes me the most about Wolf Ridge is the way it gets in your bones. I think the people who I know […]
Read Full PostRedtail Ridge Redtail Ridge Elementary came from October 30 to November 3rd 2017, and enjoyed an early snow and some second degree fun in the RVs! As the liaison for this group, I noticed so much gratitude and smiles from the kids throughout the week. The adults were unphased by the RV’s water freezing, […]
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