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Playtime in Ely

At the edge of the wilderness, fun starts when the snow falls.

A yawning mouth is made of snow in Ely's Whiteside Park.

The snow sculpture "All Thought Flies'' was one of many made in Ely's Whiteside Park during Winter Festival 2008.

Around Ely, beauty is stripped down to essentials.

There's little but water, stone, spruce and sky in the northern Minnesota wilderness, what conservationist Sigurd Olson called "the naked grandeur." Still, it enthralls visitors from all over the world.

In winter, snow, ice and silence settle over the forests and lakes, and stars plaster the inky night sky. For many, Ely's pull is even stronger then.

"Most of us who live here do find winter to be our favorite season," says Jo Kovach, proprietor of the Blue Heron B&B, on the edge of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. "It's peaceful, tranquil and beautiful — I often talk about how noisy it is when the trees first leaf out in the spring and you hear the roaring of the millions of acres of trees around us. But the only sound you hear in winter is the birds and this wonderful silence."

Ely is famous for being the favorite destination of such celebrities as Charles Kuralt and the chosen home of photographer Jim Brandenburg, Sigurd Olson and polar explorers Will Steger and Paul Schurke. People who see it tend to love it — but not always.

One winter, a Seattle family of four landed in Ely, the first winners of a reality show called "The Vacation You Need," produced for the Travel Channel. The family thought they'd won a beach vacation but ended up with a sled-dog camping trip from Schurke's Wintergreen Lodge, a well-known outfitter to which people flock from all over the world.

The first impulse of the family from Seattle, however, was to flee.

"It was a real eye-opener for us to realize there are people out there for whom this is truly, absolutely not their cup of tea," Schurke said. "The father was angry. The mother was upset. The daughter had an iPod in one ear and a cell phone in the other, and I don't think they came out the whole trip."

But Ely was at its most dazzling, with sun sparkling on a layer of new snow, and eventually the family came around. They learned how to use a compass, and the mother and daughter won an orienteering challenge. The daughter was first to jump through the ice after a soak in the sauna, and the son asked if he could apply for an internship with Schurke.

And while most clients fall in love with the sled dogs, Schurke said, these fell in love with the stars.

"We take this for granted up here, but they were absolutely enchanted with the night sky," he said. "They were out on the lake most every evening, wanting us to identify the various constellations."

Dream trip

Sometimes, people arrive with the stars stuck firmly in their eyes.

When Torsten and I were in Ely one February, we stayed at Blue Heron with four people on a Wintergreen trip, including Barbara Hillary of New York City, who said she'd been dreaming of such a trip for years.

"I want to be the oldest person to go to the Arctic," she said. "I'll be 75. I've talked to Paul (Schurke); he knows I'm serious."

Hillary had injured herself falling off the sled the day before and had to sit out the last two days of mushing, but she still was enjoying the scenery.

"See, the snow here is so clean and beautiful," she said. "In New York, it's beautiful in the morning, and then it's all downhill from there."

The other guests were more enthralled with the dogs: "They're so wonderful," said Lynne Olds of Campbell, Calif. "They have such personality, and they work so hard, it's just a pleasure."

In the morning, we watched them help guides Chris Maher and Mark Schurke harness teams of Canadian Inuit dogs, each capable of pulling 550 pounds.

"If people are fit, we can take them on a crazy wild ride," said Schurke, Paul's nephew. "If they just want a leisurely ride through the woods, we can do that, too."

After watching the sleds hurtle across South Farm Lake and into the forest, with Schurke flying ahead on skis, we borrowed some of the Blue Heron's snowshoes and headed to the North Arm of Burntside Lake, where Dave and Sue Wright of Buffalo, Minn., had just finished skiing on trails that had turned sticky in 40-degree temperatures. In Ely, people know how to handle the cold, the snow and the ice — but warmth is a little tougher.

"Ely is wimping out on us," Dave Wright said. "Here I brought my cold-weather clothes — and I should've brought short pants."

From the parking lot, we snowshoed through a magnificent old-growth forest and up the ridge above Slim Lake until we reached Old Baldy, a quartzite outcropping where we sat in a warm breeze, a panorama of forests and lakes spread beneath us.

It was our second snowshoe trek of the weekend. Every year during Winter Festival, the Ely office of Outward Bound leads a trip to the pictographs on North Hegman Lake.

With three leaders and 17 other people, we trudged up from South Hegman Lake, the slushy lake ice slurping at our snowshoes, until we were standing in front of the ancient red figures. Drawn on rock 500 or 1,000 years ago, they depict a moose, an otterlike animal, a figure that may be human or superhuman and perhaps some constellations — no one knows for sure.

We did, however, know what had made the tracks in the snow that crossed and meandered past our own tracks — thanks to Laura Prugh, a biologist from Vancouver, British Columbia, who earned her doctorate tracking coyotes in Alaska.

"That's the great thing about winter; everything leaves a trace," Prugh said.

In Ely's Whiteside Park, teams of sculptors were trying to make their mark in the snow, too, but the warmth was taxing their patience.

Anne DesLauriers of Ely was one of three women working on a piece called "Going With the Flow," and "yesterday, it was almost literally flowing," she said.

Grant Harrison had made a piece he dubbed "Mountain Lions Don't Like Warm Weather." "I completed it at 12:50 a.m., and it collapsed at 12:51 a.m.," he said. "It was awesome."

In the professional categories, one of the most striking pieces was "Ravenous," a classical sculpture of a raven picking at a tipped-over basket of fruit.

"We're all artists in regular life, so it's nice to do something fun," said Penny Perry, owner of Perry Framing in Duluth.

Picture perfect

The warm temperatures were good for roaming Sheridan Street, however, and shoppers were hopping from sale to sale, perusing the northwoods goods at Steger Mukluks, Piragis and Wintergreen Designs. Even the Brandenburg Gallery was having a White Sale, 25 percent off any print or card that featured snow or ice.

In Ely, Jim Brandenburg's spectacular assemblage of photographs is right up there with the International Wolf Center as a town attraction. Somehow, Brandenburg is able to capture moments in nature that most people have never seen, much less photographed — northern lights in a tie-dyed sky, a baby snowshoe hare yawning in the sun, a timber wolf sitting in a pool of light on the side of a shadowy mountain.

"He's so good it's annoying," Torsten said. "I'm sure that if I lived here, I'd go in once a week, just to learn."

After mingling with the mukluk-shod, parka-clad crowds on Sheridan Street, we headed for the International Wolf Center, home of three generations of real wolves. After scrutinizing a map that showed the whereabouts of the local wolves — one of them, a 78-pound male, was last pinpointed around the Blue Heron, and two young females were nearby — we watched a film about the reintroduction of wolves at Yellowstone. The subplots — about a submissive "Cinderella sister" and an outcast male — were fascinating, a story of playground politics on a life-or-death scale.

"The roles in the pack are never stagnant," said International Wolf Center naturalist Erin Albers. "They're always being reinforced, they're always being tested."

To those who watch, the latest news on Brad and Angelina is a snoozer compared with the goings-on in the pack. Shadow, born in 2000, was the dominant male but likely to be challenged by Malik, also born in 2000. Maya and Nyssa, born with Grizzer in 2004, vied for the dominant female role.

"I would have bet money that Nyssa would have become the dominant female, but sometime this fall, she and Maya totally switched roles," said Albers, as we watched the younger wolves during the daily Wolf 101 program. When workers were building a rock wall for the habitat, she said, normally feisty Nyssa showed fear of the wheelbarrow, and the others likely perceived it as a weakness.

"Maya saw an opening," Albers said. And that May, the wolf may have dealt with her larger sister for good: Six days after she and Nyssa were spayed, Nyssa was found with injuries from an attack so severe she had to be euthanized.

In a wolf pack, attitude matters more than size. Grizzer is the biggest wolf but can be the most laid-back, Albers said.

"He has the weight, but he has to have the personality to back it up, and right now, that's not on the agenda," she said. "Grizzer is one of the most entertaining ones to watch; in the summer, he was in the pond chasing his own tail — now how can you compete with that?"

We were lucky; we got to see all of the wolves, sometimes nearly nose-to-nose but for the plate-glass wall that separates the small auditorium from their home. And in 2008, two pups were added, Aidan and Denali.

"Winter is, for sure, the best time to see the wolves," Albers said. "In summer, they're more likely to be in back in the shade during the day, and the grass is higher."

Ely may be best known for summer canoeing and sky-blue waters. Blue is good, in its time. But in winter, white is the welcome color.

Trip Tips: Ely

Getting there: It's about four hours from the Twin Cities. The easiest way to get there is via Minnesota 33 from Cloquet, U.S. 53 through Virginia, then Minnesota 169 east.

When to go: January, February and March are peak for winter sports.

Accommodations: Blue Heron B&B, eight miles east of Ely on South Farm Lake, is a cozy inn on the edge of the Boundary Waters. Breakfasts are delicious. There's an outdoor sauna and snowshoes to borrow. Often, guests can visit with Wintergreen sled dogs tethered outside, and the inn's four feeders attract many birds. Five attractive rooms go for $120-$175, 1-218-365-4720, www.blueheronbnb.com.

Grand Ely Lodge is a newer resort/conference center a mile north of downtown, on a ridge above Shagawa Lake. 1-800-365-5070, www.grandelylodge.com.

The Miner's Inn on Chapman Street downtown rents four bedrooms, $65-$75 with access to a fully equipped kitchen and sauna, or the whole inn, which sleeps 10, $250. Proprietor Donna Frana provides coffee, juice and muffins. 1-218-365-5118, 1-800-688-0218.

Dining: Cranberry's on Sheridan Street has a new brew pub. A block over, the Chapman Street Market sells panini, soups and salads in addition to artisan breads and cheeses.

Near Whiteside Park, Sir G's serves pizza and other Italian food and is smoke-free.

For breakfast and lunch, try the Front Porch coffeehouse on Sheridan.

If you're arriving from the west on Minnesota 169, stop in Tower at SuLu's Espresso Cafe, a delightful new spot owned by two sisters who grew up in Tower, moved away for 25 years and returned. Brenda (Sue) Winkelaar and Linda (Lou) DiCasmirro preside over the sunny, modern space, serving justly renowned raspberry-white chocolate scones, homemade pasties and soup made by Brenda's husband, Karel.

2009 events: Feb. 6-16, Winter Festival (formerly Voyageur Festival). In Whiteside Park, the region's most accomplished snow-sculpture artists whip up whimsical figures; there's also a fur-trade encampment, skiing, art walk, craft fair, bake sale and blues dance. Outward Bound staffers lead a free snowshoe hike to the Hegman Lake pictographs, snowshoes included; call 218-365-5761 to register. For a complete schedule, check www.elywinterfestival.com.

Feb. 27-March 1, Wolf Track Classic Sled Dog Race, with eight-dog teams racing from Ely to Tower and back and six-dog teams racing to Tower, www.wolftrackclassic.com.

Visitors may want to plan ahead for the biggest warm-weather events — Blueberry Arts Festival the last weekend of July, the Boundary Waters Blues Festival the fourth weekend of August and the Harvest Moon Festival the weekend after Labor Day. See Dreaming of Ely.

Snowshoeing: Ely is surrounded by Superior National Forest and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (free day-use permit required), so possibilities are endless. Good trails include the flat 3 kilometers to the Hegman Lake pictographs (park off the Echo Trail or County Road 116, 15 miles north of town) and alongside the user-tracked, hilly North Arm ski trails, reached by turning onto North Arm Road or County Road 644 from the Echo Trail.

Skiing: Near the International Wolf Center, the Ely Nordic Association maintains the 15-kilometer Hidden Valley system, groomed for striding and skating, www.elynordic.org.

The Hidden Valley trails connect to the Silver Rapids trails, 8 kilometers that are groomed for striding only and have overlooks of Farm Lake. A Minnesota Ski Pass is required. East of town, the Jasper Hills trails have 36 kilometers groomed for striding, $5-$8. The North Arm's 30 kilometers are user-tracked but very scenic. There are many other trails; check www.ely.org.

Dog-sledding: Paul Schurke's Wintergreen Lodge offers three-night lodge-based dog-sledding trips for $650-$825 and four-night lodge-to-lodge trips for $775-$1,375. Cuisine, provided by distinguished French chef Bernard Hermann, is way, way above the usual. 218-365-6022, www.dogsledding.com.

International Wolf Center: It's open Saturdays and Sundays in winter and daily from mid-May through mid-October. Admission is $8.50, $4.50 for children 3-12. Films and presentations are given throughout the day; be sure to catch Wolf 101. The wolves' weekly feeding of roadkill at 6:30 p.m. Saturdays is an additional $6, $3.50 for youths; register by calling 800-359-9653, Ext. 21, www.wolf.org.

North American Bear Center: Opened in 2007, the visitors center just west of Ely is open daily in summer and during Winter Festival, Saturday only January through March, while its three bears are hibernating. Admission is $6 in winter; in summer, it's $8.50, $4.50 for children 3-12. 218-365-7879, www.bear.org. See Ely and the three bears.

Information: Ely Chamber of Commerce, 800-777-7281, www.ely.org.

Last updated on November 14, 2008

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Other stories in "Outdoors towns"

Playtime in Ely

At the edge of the wilderness, fun starts when the snow falls.

Dream trip

Picture perfect

Trip Tips: Ely