Piragis Northwoods Company
105 North Central Avenue
Ely, Minnesota 55731
1-800-223-6565
www.piragis.com
March 18, 2009
Your Friends in the Great Northwoods

News from Piragis Northwoods Company and the BoundaryWatersCatalog.com:

Questions from our outfitting clients:

?: Hey, what's the difference between the Boundary Waters and Quetico. Rules, I mean?

Boundary Waters

There is a per person user fee per trip (not per night)
Lottery entry is December 1st – January 15th, after that first come, first served.
Must camp at designated camp sites
Each site has a Forest Service steel fire grate
Each site has a latrine in the woods
Maximum of 9 people and 4 canoes
Canoes/kayaks must be registered

Quetico

There is a per person per night fee
Permits can be reserved 5 months in advance
Camp anywhere, use Leave No Trace practices
No live bait
You can only use barbless hooks (ok to pinch the hooks that you have now)
There are no fire grates or latrines
Maximum of 9 people
RABC permit needed for entry, call for details about this
No firearms allowed

Call Bert or Drew today for help planning your next wilderness canoe camping trip.
1-800-223-6565 to reserve your permits, canoes and gear today.

Chocolate Moose Restaurant For Sale


Turn-key Business for Sale
Highly successful well-known Ely restaurant located on the busiest corner in town. Features include a hand crafted log building with a loft, 4-season porch and extensive decks & awning which provide for al fresco seating in warm weather. This business is an Ely landmark with a well-established reputation of quality and creativity. Price includes furnishings and equipment; most of which is recently updated. Sited on a large lot with close to half a block of Sheridan Street frontage.

Please contact Owner/Agent Trish Bulinski
218-365-3619 $399,000

Just how great does a Guided Group Wilderness Trip make you feel?

"Howdy Folks,

I just came back from a nap on our lake. Stressful living.

11 years ago, I took my first trip with Piragis. Since then I have traveled many places and have made great friends with your company. The friendliness that is shown when I come to Ely makes me want to just keep coming back. I’m not a great fisherman thus I learned so much [on the Smallmouth Bass Guided Trip] and bringing 25 nice fish into the canoe ain’t bad. You have top notch guides but don’t tell them that :). They made the trip and truly love what they do.

Thanks for everything especially the friendship." Tom Kulesza

Call Bert Heep or Drew Brockett to join one of our fully outfitted and fully guided group trips today!
1-800-223-6565

Special Piragis Prints Available on a limited basis


We're proud to offer on a print-on-demand basis from our private digital photography studio here in the heart of Ely, Minnesota a beautiful print titled "Winter Seliga" by Steve Piragis. One of Steve's long time passions is photography and it meshes very well with paddling. He has taken some amazing shots over the years and this one features the beautiful hand craftsmanship of our friend Joe Seliga. The contrast of the snow and reflected treelines against the darkness of the water is very cool in this shot. The open water points towards adventure and many trips that lie ahead.

Prints the approximate size of 11x16, mounted on durable gatorboard are $35 each plus shipping. For sizes larger than this the cost is $75 plus shipping. Get your limited edition print today, just call Steve and tell him what size you'd like.

Call Steve Piragis to get your Winter Seliga print today!
1-800-223-6565

New Stove Burns twigs, pinecones, and "found fuel" and packs up flat.

Vital Stove: Perfect for 1-2, packs flat, burns natural fuel from around camp.

The Vital Stove is a unique survival stove especially designed for extreme situations. Two AA batteries run a powerful fan that shoots air into the flames. It is so light and compact that you can carry it with you and be prepared wherever you go. Use any dry biological material as a source of fuel: pieces of wood, ecologic log, paper, cardboard, twigs, straw, natural fibers, moose droppings, charcoal and combustible waste. It will never let you down, even under extreme conditions, because the flame produces up to 20,000 btu of sheer heat.

Our canoe trip guide Steve Johnson tried out the vital stove and had this to say "I can't believe how fast this gets hot and stays hot with such little fuel!"

In the next few weeks we'll feature new items from our online Boundary Waters Catalog with all the new items in our 2009 edition of our paper catalog.

Winter Trip Journal, "Sounds of Ice" by Tim Stouffer

Boom, Boom da Boom, Crack. Lying in my warm sleeping bag with my little dog, Cisco pressed tight against me I tried to tune out the deep sounds that were evident of the falling temperatures. My wife, Jen, and our larger dog, Pepper, were fast asleep and their breathing was relaxed. Inside our tent, my bearded face was cool, but not uncomfortable -- our winter bags were keeping us warm enough and so were our two canine companions, an added benefit, although they had come along originally to add to the fun...

Camping in the Boundary Waters during the winter months can be exciting and full of adventure, laden with opportunities to walk and camp on frozen waters where one can normally only paddle. One of my favorite trips found us camping on Hegman lake the day after Christmas some years ago with our two dogs. Winter camping has a few basic essentials that are similar to their summer counterparts and many other tools of the camping trade cross over. We had a four-season tent, winter sleeping bags, a reliable campstove that would start in very low temperatures, fast-drying clothing that layered and insulated well, and a pulk, for starters. Skis, snowshoes, dog-booties, skijoring equipment and high-energy food made our trip successful, as did my ice-fishing kit.

It's important to make sure you have the clothing and equipment that will keep you warm and allow you to travel in a variety of snow/ice conditions. Safety, is key as always when out in the wilderness, so items like safety ice picks can mean as much as a lifejacket in the summer in the case of misadventure. Wall tents and super lightweight titanium woodstoves can make your winter camping experience a wonderful home away from home, as can fish finders. Food choices and meal plans should provide enough energy to compensate quickly for energy expended during skiing, snowshoeing, skijoring and those inevitable snowball fights. If you're bringing your four-legged friends, they could use some pet energy bars or homemade meal supplements in addition to their regular fare. If snow is plentiful, it can be melted, boiled and used for water. If not, take plenty of water for drinking and cooking.

Some of the highlights of our trip included finding a wolf kill site, a huge brownish ring on the ice with matted fur and minimal remains of what had once been a deer in the very reddened center. Our dogs were very interested in that as well. Skiing and skijoring, we visited the pictographs around Hegman lake and discovered huge icicles that hung from overhanging cliff faces to form makeshift caverns that looked like large toothy mouths. We made our camp right on the ice and as it turned out we began our adventure on the coldest day of winter to date that year. The booming sounds continued through the nights that followed as we approached the turning of the new year. It was great fun and a challenging way to spend the holidays!

For rental and retail sales of winter camping equipment including tents, stoves, sleeping bags, pulks, skis, and snowshoes, call us at 1-800-223-6565. There's still plenty of snow left in the woods and no doubt we'll get some more before May 1st. We also sell our winter rental gear at the end of every winter season and that is a fantastic way to build your own winter camping kit. Call our retail store today to reserve your used winter gear at great prices: 1-800-223-6565.

Your feedback, stories and pictures are welcome! Please send!

 
We would love to get your help with our e-newsletter.  Please send a picture or two from your trips from the past and this year's trips after they happen, too.  We will probably feature them in upcoming e-newsletters.  Write a story about your entire trip, about a specific event, your favorite lake or route, how your kids enjoyed their first journey, how the wilderness makes you feel, what you like to cook in camp, or any number of things that make you want to share with other fellow paddlers.  Send pictures of wildlife, scenery and big fish! Keep ‘em coming!  Everyone likes to see pictures and read about other’s adventures up here.  It will only fuel your fire to get back up here and take another canoe trip.
 
 
The 2009 season is coming quickly.  Call Bert or Drew at 1-800-223-6565 to help you plan a trip, reserve a canoe or two, and get the permit for your journey.  Remember the earlier the better so you have a better chance of getting the entry point you desire.

Plan your next canoe camping vacation now. Call us today to rent canoes, gear and reserve permits.
1-800-223-6565

Stay Informed with News from the Boundary Waters and Ely

Environmental news. Copper Nickel Mining Near Ely

In Northwoods environmental news the time is upon us when a Canadian mining company will issue its draft environmental impact study for a copper nickel mine south of Ely. This mining company known as Polymet would like to open up a large open pit mine near the divide that separates waters running north to Hudson’s Bay and those flowing south to L. Superior. This particular mine lies totally in this Superior drainage through the St Louis River. As Polymet nears the point of permitting there are also at least three other mining firms doing test drilling on the other side of the divide very near the Kawishiwi River and the edge of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. In a very small nutshell the eco issue with copper nickel mining is the possibility of this sulfide ore and waste rock getting wet from rain where it will be stored on the surface and leaching sulfuric acid and heavy metals into the watershed. The waste rock from a big open pit mine will need to be protected from rain in perpetuity or the water that does get at the waste will have to be treated in perpetuity. The State of Minnesota regulatory agencies will be tested by this first ever case of permitting a sulfide ore mine. This is not the relatively innocuous type of mining that we have seen with iron mining and taconite. The sulfide ores can stay in the crust and be safe or we can take a risk and bring it up and expose the waste rock to the weather where it could cause problems literally - forever.

I hope all of you who love the Boundary Waters will do more reading on the issue. Polymet’s application to mine comes to a head soon as the much delayed EIS will be released in March or April. At that time there will be 6 weeks for the public to submit comments. At the same time there is legislation proposed in St. Paul to force all sulfide ore mine planners to submit plans that do not include perpetual treatment and to require large financial assurances that will be left behind when the mines close. This legislation will be discussed during this session ending in June. It is opposed strongly by our own northern Minnesota delegation based on the need for more jobs on the iron range and trust in the present regulations. Of course we need jobs here in Ely. School enrollment is shrinking and threatening our schools independent existence. These obvious facts make opposing new mines that could employ hundreds of new people very difficult. But, risking acid pollution of the Kawishiwi watershed is potentially damaging to the ecosystem and the wilderness resource that also employs many people in and around Ely. Modern controls, state regulations and monitoring may be adequate to prevent pollution. The more stringent standards proposed in the legislation may force mining companies to abandon plans in Minnesota as opponents argue or they may simply cost the companies more to comply.

If you are concerned about copper nickel mining near the Boundary Waters, please do more reading. You can find reams of information by searching under sulfide ore mines or Polymet. The answer to what will happen lies with the Minnesota legislature and the regulatory agencies involved DNR, PCA and the Army Corp of Engineers. The Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy is leading the technical review of the draft EIS and is promoting the new regulatory legislation. You can read more at their web site www.mncenter.org. If you feel it is important please consider supporting their work with a donation. If the Polymet mine is permitted by the state in the next few months there will be several more companies looking to follow in their footsteps on the BWCAW side of the laurentian divide. There is not much time now to ponder these issues. I fully appreciate that there is a very legitimate reason to encourage mining now but we all have to consider the long term implications and decide if the risk outweighs the benefit.

Steve Piragis