Women Exploring the Northwoods: an Interactive Experience

June 23-30, 2012

Introduction | Details & Tuition | Schedule | Registration | Course Leaders | Recommended Reading

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Saturday

3-5:00pm - Arrival and registration.   Wintergreen Dogsled Lodge will be our home base this week.  Located on a rocky peninsula in 3200-acre White Iron Lake, the serenity here in the towering pines will provide perfect backdrop to this week of learning.  Most meals, lodging, and gatherings will be in the lodge built by polar explorer, Paul Schurke, and his polar clothing designer wife, Susan. You will also have ample opportunity to meet the resort’s other explorers…over 70 Inuit sled dogs!  http://www.dogsledding.com/

6:00pm - Welcome.

6:30pm - Dinner. Unless otherwise noted, this will be the week’s dinner hour.

7:30pm - Introduction to the region. Located on the Canadian Shield, crystalline heart of a continent, this land was created in volcanic fire, endured the weight of repeated ice sheets, played home to some of man’s oldest North American cultures, and is now entrusted with the beauty of a boreal wilderness. Travel with us as we open our program with an overview over 2 billion years in the making.

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Sunday

8:00am - Breakfast.  Unless otherwise noted, this will be the week’s breakfast hour.

9:30am - Overview of the week’s activities

10:00am - The Boreal Forest.  Two of Earth’s major terrestrial biomes, the eastern temperate and boreal forests, dance in transition in northeastern Minnesota.  Here, glacially carved, pristine lakes serve as southern gateway to the majestic boreal forest, where it begins its circumpolar domination.  This is the forest of the Ojibwe, the voyageur, author Sigurd Olson, and modern day polar explorers -- with all the legends they inspire.  Beyond that, it is home to the largest population of gray wolves in the Lower 48, as well as moose, loon, and black bear. It attracts and captures outdoor adventurers and naturalists with its biodiversity, sheer vastness, and unparalleled solitude. 

Additionally, this year we have the opportunity to study a major chapter in boreal forest ecology…the forest fire.  A fast moving fire will sweep through, leaving old trees untouched while clearing the understory for new growth.  Many species of this woodland promote fire with agents in the bark while others depend on it for seed dispersal or germination.  Catastrophic fires such as Pagami Creek are beginning to be recognized as the result of years of human fire suppression.  This 2011 fire rewrote current history as it engulfed 100,000 acres, racing 16 miles in just a few hours.

Noon - Lunch

1:00pm - Trees and Shrubs. The key to beginning the understanding of the forest is learning the basic components of its structure. We will be in the field with local naturalists indentifying the woody species of the various communities…ranging from upland pine assemblages to the quintessential north woods element: the bog.

4:00pm - Free time

6:30pm - Dinner

8:00pm - Journaling.  For many, the art of observation is a lost skill.  Watch the deer, study the wolf, observe the hare….all are consistently in complete synch with their environment.  Now think of yourself in the forest, how often do you experience total awareness?  Journaling channels energy and thoughts into focusing upon that which you are writing about or illustrating.  Journals will be provided.    

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Monday

8:00am - Breakfast

9:30am - A Tradition of Women in the North.  New and ongoing research on Knife Lake, a magnificent border lake, seems to indicate that the first peoples to visit and utilize the resources of this region were here just after the last of the Pleistocene Ice Age glaciers retreated.  They began the human tradition whose journey more recently included Ojibwe, naturalists, and artists.  Some left faint footprints upon the land while others made major impacts.  This morning, we will discuss woman and the Great North Woods.

10:30am - Inuit Sled Dogs.  This breed, the original sled dog of the high Arctic is considered to be the "Sherman Tank" of the mushing world, evolving with the Arctic cultures that employed them as draft animals. These dogs absolutely live to pull. In fact, the pulling instinct is so strong that they need little training.  Wintergreen's breed stock was secured from four main sources. They purchased the first team from an Inuit hunter on the island of Igloolik (near the mouth of Hudson Bay). Then, in 1992, Wintergreen was selected by the Australian government as their kennel of choice to provide a new home for the last team of working dogs still in use at an Antarctic research station, originating from Inuit dogs brought to Antarctica over 50 years ago. The transition was the subject of an award-winning National Geographic film called "The Last Husky." In 1993, the lodge received a team of Inuit dogs from a family in Baffin Island and most recently, a dozen Inuit dogs back with Paul from a trip with the Polar Eskimos of northern Greenland.  You will visit the kennel near your lodge to experience these magnificent animals first hand.

Noon - Lunch

1:30pm - BWCA canoe Trip. One of North America’s oldest modes of travel is still the one that will allow you to most closely connect with Mother Earth and her waters.  With competent instructors from Spirit of the Wilderness, no experience is necessary as you either continue your journey via canoe, or begin an entirely new experience.  Canoes and all equipment will be provided.

6:30pm - Dinner

Evening - Free Time.  In the North Woods, we can hold wilderness in our eyes, hear it with ears unaccustomed to stillness, touch it with our souls. Spend some time alone, or with a small group to discover the solitude and harmony of the forest.

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Tuesday

8:00am - Breakfast

9:30am - Small Creatures of the Forest:  Birds, Reptiles, Amphibians, and Insects.  While the majesty of the trees is the crown of a forest, it is the network of life that enables its survival.  This region is blessed with rich diversity.  Birds…Think great gray owl, boreal owl, snowy owl, northern hawk owl, barred owl, long- and short-eared owl, screech owl, saw whet owl, great horned owl…just a few of the 427 species of birds that have been documented in Minnesota. Insects…. A bog mat or forest opening can sometimes literally dazzle with the flit of newly minted dragonfly wings in summer sunshine. There have been over 80 species of dragonflies and damselflies reported from around the Ely area, which includes nearly 25% of the Odonate species known from North America.  While only two species of snakes occur this far north, frogs and turtles rejoice in endless aquatic environments.  This morning we will be in the field with naturalists looking for the little guys.

Noon - Lunch

1:30pm - Understory Plants. Of the 3600 species of lichens found in North America, 700 are found in the North Woods -- making it the most diverse lichen community in all of North America. A rich tapestry of wildflowers thrives in the short warm season including 42 species of orchids documented in the state.  Bogs, with their unique acidic habitats, are supported by various species of sphagnum moss and graced by insectivorous plants including sundew and pitcher plant.  We will be hiking this afternoon to explore this diversity.

3:00pm - Free Time.  The small city of Ely has an incredible amount of amenities considering its size and relaxed atmosphere.  The visitor’s center to the newly opened Kawishiwi Ranger District Headquarters is the largest USFS center east of the Mississippi River.   Numerous outfitters support the major tourist industries of wilderness travel via canoeing and hiking, fishing, and winter sports.  Local artisans join nationally known clothing stores featuring gear and keepsakes made right here in the north woods.  Many fine eateries are waiting!  The progressive town offers a well-stocked Farmer’s Market open early evening while later the music in the streets is extremely popular with both tourists and locals.  Be sure to stop in at Spirit of the Wilderness Outfitters, our sponsor, for Dinner is on your own tab tonight.

6:30pm - Dinner on your own tab

9:00pm - Campfire for anyone in camp

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Wednesday

8:00am - Breakfast

9:00am - Connecting with Nature….through meditation, yoga, and relaxation practices.

Noon - Lunch

1:00pm - Canadian Shield Diversity Nature Hike.  The peninsula upon which Wintergreen is sited offers several boreal forest habitats.  Perhaps the most intriguing element of the Canadian Shield, the bog, is right at our doorstep here at Wintergreen.  Black spruce dominates this unique habitat of Labrador tea and sphagnum moss.  Towering, mature red and white pines shade the ridges above the bog.  We will explore these habitats while we learn of a primordial portion of Earth’s 4.5 billion years of history recorded in rocks at the surface, some over 2 billion years in age.  Evidence of volcanoes, lava eruptions in ancient seas, and continental ice sheets over a mile thick etching their mark on the land will be explored in this afternoon hike.

6:30pm - Dinner

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Thursday

6:00am - Bird Walk

8:00am - Breakfast

9:30am - Paddle into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW)   This immense 1-million acre sanctuary preserved within Superior National Forest offers over 1500 miles of canoe routes and more than 1000 lakes and streams. Lying just south of the Canadian border and Quetico Provincial Park, itself well over a million acres, this is the most extensive wilderness complex in the eastern United States.  The entire week will be preparation for this day voyage into pristine wilderness and solitude.

Noon - Sack lunch in the field

6:30pm - Dinner.

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Friday

8:00am - Breakfast

9:30am - Mammals.  The large fauna of this region is well known and studied.  Both the International Wolf Center and the International Bear Centers are located in town.  Moose, seven species of weasel, and beaver all frequent the region.  A wildlife biologist will outline these creatures while we search for signs, sounds, and sightings.

Noon - Lunch

1:30pm - The Majesty of the Mature Forest.  As our final formal program, we will travel to a mature forest to witness the ultimate majesty of forest unaltered by human hand.  Many factors, fire, succession, habitat, network to create this constantly evolving community.  The harmony and beauty enmeshed in this weave will spellbind the observer.

6:30pm - Dinner

8:00pm - Farewell program

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Saturday

8:00am - Breakfast

9:00am - Departure