If you happen to be visiting the Wolf Ridge Organic Farm this summer, you might see some new critters stalking about. Pigs, thats right. We have 3 pigs in each of 4 pens (12 pigs total) rooting around the scrub land that was cleared a year ago. When they get moved to a new piece […]
Read Full PostI’ve had the wonderful opportunity to intern here at Wolf Ridge for the past five months. The experience was part of my undergraduate studies at University of Minnesota Duluth. This internship has taught me so many things it’s going to be hard to cram them into this small post, so I’ll focus on my top […]
Read Full PostSpring is finally ~actually~ here on the ridge! New little ephemerals such as marsh marigold, bloodroot, and ramps (wild leeks) are sprouting all about the ridge! Beavers were seen in the pond in the wetlands, as well as many new waterfowl. Recorded so far are trumpeter swans, hooded mergansers, common mergansers, red-breasted mergansers, buffleheads, pied-billed […]
Read Full PostSpring is finally ~actually~ here on the ridge! New little ephemerals such as marsh marigold, bloodroot, and wild leeks are sprouting all about the ridge! Beavers were seen in the pond in the wetlands, as well as many new waterfowl. Recorded so far are trumpeter swans, Hooded Mergansers, Common Mergansers, Red-Breasted Mergansers, Buffleheads, Pied-billed grebes, […]
Read Full PostRamps, also known as wild leeks, are a wild onion species and one of the first spring ephemerals in the Wolf Ridge woods. Spring ephemerals are ground plants that sprout after the snow melts but before the trees leaf out, taking advantage of the increased sunlight hitting the forest floor. Ramps are more commonly associated […]
Read Full PostEvery day at Wolf Ridge Summer Camp is unique in its own way. With that in mind, here’s a tour through what one of those days might look like. 7:00 AM “Rise and Shine everyone!” (…yawn…) Time to wake up and get ready for the day… 7:30 AM “This is a repeat after […]
Read Full PostThe 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 […]
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