The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1921-02-18

morning at dawn when we were
awakened by an explosive "whoofp'
from copious lungs, followed by a
violent tug at the flap of our tent
door. "a bearp whispered my wife
as she reached fbr our large iron
batter spoon that lay within reach.
"a grizzlyw | replied under my
breath. Summoning back my courage
from where it had taken refuge, /
carefully crawled from my sleeping
bag and with every muscle tense as
piano wire, and ready to jerk me
this way or that at the slightest sug-
gestion from headquarters, | reached
the tent door. Picture to yourself,
gentle reader, the effect of it all upon
my mental state when, upon caut>
iously and quiveringly tit seemed so
very chilly that morning) 'thrusting
my face between the tent flaps, |
looked squarely into the double-bar-
relied, highly polished muzzle of a
wild-eyed but lawabiding COW. Yes,
! we had been discovered. We had ex-
perienced a new phase of camp life.
A pleasant illusion had been broken.
My wife burst into tears. Hence
forth large part of our ,firewood was
reduced, not by the axe, but over the
heels of departing bovine visitors.
With my last vacation came the
opportunity to return to the region
of my choice, the wonderland of
Northeastern Minnesota. / had in
previous years spent much time here,
but this had served only to increase
my enthusiasm. The memory of those
camping days clings with the fresh
ness of yesterday. This last time /
took my wife with me to visit my old
camping places.
We started out from the well
known City of Ely on the Iron Range
But what direction one takes from
here matters little. Should one be
particular as to that one may find
here an efficient and accommodating
Forest Service that will cheerfully
point way We lost ourselves in a
paradise of lakes, forest and streams
for a number of weeks. The last
few days of our stay were largely
taken up with plans for our next
visit to the same region; the time
fixed was my next vacation.
Oh! yes; forgot. You asked me
why keep returning to, this region?
| did not realize that you have never
been there. There are many reasons
but l will take time to mention only
a few of them. I find here most
happy combination of number of
highly attractive features: There
is a great variety as well as beauty
of natural scenery. There is an alb
undance of wild animal life land abb
solute immunity from the domesti-
Gated cow, fish in the waters that
are actually spelling for the sight of
hook; birds in the air and in the
tree tops to delight the eye and the
ear of the nature lover; and in the
forest stalks big game worthy of the
efforts of the. most ardent camera
hunter. Because at my starting-out
point | can obtain all the necessary
provisions (hams are not necessity
where fish that crowd one another to
get to your hook are measured in feet
instead of inches) and equipment for
real outing trip And these provis-
ions let me add are ola quality that
reaches right down into the soul of
healthy individual leading an active
life out of doors. They are not like
the daintily packed waters and other
delicacies that once had to fall back
upon to re-enforce ham-but to re-
turn to the subject. Because of the
accessibility of the region and the
remarkable advantage it offers by its
many waterways which permit me to
load my entire outfit into canoe and
set off to explore thousand of ma
lures hidden places with the mini
mum of expense and effort.
! And last, though by no means least,
because this region enthralls me with
its mystic spirit and stirs in me
desire to return that is irresistible.