Winter's End

Winter's End

Late afternoon dusting on weathered moose skull

Lynx wanders through the courtyard at Jim's north woods home called Ravenwood;  

photo was shot through the window. 

It has been an exceptionally long cold winter with many record breaking low temperatures and snow depths here in the Northwoods.  But we live in Minnesota and we, as most northern states, claim the saying, 
"if you don't like the weather just wait a minute."

A week ago, I made the two-hour drive down to Stoney Point on the north shore of Lake Superior.  This time of the year, during our last days of winter, ice chunks are pushed into the shoreline creating small Arctic type ridges of glistening chunks of ice of all sizes.  The scene brings back fond memories of my time living with the Inuit on Bathurst Inlet in the Canadian Arctic in 1970 and working with the white wolves on Ellesmere Island while covering the Steger North Pole Expedition for National Geographic Magazine in 1986.


On this particular day, it was in the mid 50's.  The crunching, grinding sounds of shifting ice, and the suns radiant spring light melting the blue ice sheets made us feel that we are finally getting close to the end of winter.   But within a few days, winter came back to remind us that it's not done with us yet. Within a two week period the temperature recently ranged 80º F -30 to +50.

Jim on ice ridge - photo by Anthony Brandenburg

Stoney Point I

Stoney Point II

Stoney Point III