White Sky Rock above Caribou Lake is a quick hike with big impact.  Park at the Caribou Lake public landing and head straight up a spur of the Superior Hiking Trail.  The views of Caribou Lake, Bigsby and Superior in the distance are soothing.  Good to know so much wild country stretches out in all directions.     

 John Oberholtzer

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There are lots of wild foods that are fun to eat simply because you find them out in the woods.  Truth be told, most are really not that tasty compared to our cultivated foods and taste-charged modern foods.  Ramps, or spring onions, are the exception.  Sort of a cross between smoky garlic and a scallion, ramps are yummy.  The best news is that they grow in the maple woodlands above Lake Superior.  Like many plants in the maple forest, ramps leaf out, flower and go to seed before the dense canopy of sugar maple leaves develop.  By mid summer, ramps are hard to find.  Graham, my three year old, and I went on a hike recently in search of ramps.  They are not an uncommon plant, but they are patchy and you have to know where to look.

Sometimes, if the wind is calm, you can smell the plants before you see them.  We found a sunny patch a mile or so in on the Superior Hiking Trail.

Predictably with a there year old, there was much debate about who could use the trowel, and I fended off about a thousand "why" questions.  "Daddy, why are they called ojions?"  On the way out, Graham claimed his three year old right to ride the backpack and soon his snoring was close by my neck.  I was grinning ear to ear - glad to be out in the springtime Northwoods, with my boy, and a bag full of ramps trailing their oniony perfume.

John Oberholtzer

Snowshoeing is part of the Real estate agents' life on the North Shore! It is a great job - a mixture between learning new things every day, exploring nature and HAVING FUN! By Silviya Duclos

Picture by Nancy Iverson

Winter is the time to explore the rivers, creeks and canyons that lead into Lake Superior.  Most years good ice forms on the river beds, sometimes three foot shelf ice runs right alongside open water.  Its exciting to hear the running water on a 10 below day!  This year the lack of isolative snow entirely locked the Onion River in thick ice. The kids and I ascended the Onion a few weeks ago, discovering even the steepest drops encased in ice.

With our ears to the ice we could just make out the rumblings of water seeking the Big Lake.  Always on the look out for fun, the kids saw giant slides in the frozen waterfalls. It was Dad herding cats to be sure kids veered away from the more precipitous drops! Then I got in the spirit and made a few runs - fun, but bumpy.  Our recent dump of snow buried those Onion slides. That's okay, we need the moisture and powder days at the ski hill.  Also, my sore rump did not relish a return trip! 

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John Oberholtzer

I looked over and saw a thick neck and pointy ears. A bobcat was on our patio! Its sudden appearance was as if from a dream. This animal, known for its stealth and shyness, was nonchalant sitting below our windows surveying the birdfeeder. It is sweet this life up here - one moment you're clearing the lunch dishes and the next an ambassador from the furry winter realm. I never get used to it, "Surprise, you just won the wildlife lotto!" We barely breathe when a beauty like a bobcat shows up, you freeze, wondering how long it will last. This guy sniffed around a bit, strutted its stuff down the runway of the patio and then slipped back into the woods. A true "Local." I stood stunned, smiling with luck.

John Oberholtzer

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I never would've imagined how mesmerizing it could be to simply sit with a nice strong cup of coffee and watch these incredible birds in action.  Who needs TV??!!!!!

 By Linda Garrity

This is how we get our workouts done Lutsen style!  Pull a 55 lb. child with an 8 lb dog behind you in a sled and feel the burn.

By Linda Garrity

There is so much to do here during the winter months – ice skating, sledding, down hill skiing, cross country skiing, snowball fighting or just playing with the snow! Therefore I decided to make time to enjoy some of the adventures outside with my family. My husband Steve skated as a child, so he remembered how to skate again very quickly. Our 5 year old daughter Ali is a natural – it was only her second time on the ice and she was trying to do twirls and circles!  I on the other hand needed a lot of help, so I pushed a chair and did pretty well, considering I am not the best at balancingJ We skated for an hour and I declared that I was done, I didn’t want to push my limits too far. May be next time, as I am definitely going on the ice again!

Silviya

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       I know many of you have asked me about Fletcher “our” Raven.  Yes, Fletcher is still around and with it being winter, he is at our house each morning and sometimes in the afternoon if he doesn’t have anything else going on.  You may recall that last summer his regular perch (an old dead standing spruce) blew over, so he has been trying to find a new comfy place for him to hang out where he can still see us when we are in the kitchen.  I had the opportunity to be working from home on year end stats this week, and Fletcher decided he too would stick around and watch me.  After having a ham and bread sandwich for breakfast, he hung out and napped for a while and then preened himself for at least an hour.  All outside my home office window, making for easy pics.  There are multiple pics for him eating his breakfast…only because even after feeding him for nearly 6 winters now, he still is very methodical on examining what he is going to eat…dancing around it for several minutes, then brushing the snow back and forth before finally picking up the piece of ham and promptly dropping it and watching it for movement.  Yes, bird watching is a nice distraction from year end paperwork, especially when it is subzero temps outside!!

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