Evergreen Restaurant

A Visit to Listening Point and the International Wolf Center

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Sigurd Olson’s Listening Point Cabin

I named this place Listening Point because only when one comes to listen, only when one is aware and still, can things be seen and heard. Everyone has a listening point somewhere. It does not have to be in the north or close to the wilderness, but some place of quiet where the universe can be contemplated with awe. — Sigurd Olson, Listening Point

Those of you who have read my blog for a while may recall a quote or two from one of my favorite nature writers and conservationists, Sigurd Olson. He lived a couple of hours north of me in Ely, Minnesota. I never met him (he died while out snowshoeing in 1982 when I was in college), but over the years I’ve read most of his books and I admire his way with words and his way of being in the wilderness.

Olson’s home and cabin have been preserved by The Listening Point Foundation. It was formed to preserve his legacy and to advance his wilderness philosophy. During summer, they offer tours of Olson’s cabin and house.

One day last month, Russ and I booked a tour and meandered up to Ely with some visiting friends. It was a drizzly fall day, but that didn’t stop our excitement at finally seeing the places that helped shape Olson’s books.

The man himself as a cutout character in his Ely home.

We met as a small group for the tour of Sig’s cabin at Listening Point just off the highway and caravaned into the cabin parking lot. Our guide was a colleague of Olson’s from when he taught at Vermillion Community College. He gave us an orientation and some background information while standing in the lot, then we hiked a short trail to the cabin, passing Sig’s handcrafted sauna along the way.

You would think the cabin would be on the rocky tip of the point that juts out into Burntside Lake. Instead, it sits sheltered behind a huge boulder dropped by the glacier eons ago, with views of the bay. Sig wrote about his decision to locate the cabin in that spot in his book, Listening Point. Essentially, he wanted the protection and stability of that site, and to preserve the end of the point for contemplation, not living.

The one-story, one-room cabin was originally two stories. It was located elsewhere and moved to the site. There’s no indoor plumbing, only an outhouse. A fieldstone fireplace graces one side of the room. There’s a table for eating and two single beds for Olson and his wife, Elizabeth.

Listening Point

I was surprised to learn that Olson did not write at the cabin. He saved that for his backyard writing shack at his Ely house. You’d think the cabin would be the perfect place for that! Instead, he used it to gain experiences that he could write about.

After we toured the cabin, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, we wandered out to the point. A breeze whispered through the white pines, and I could almost hear the spirits. A low log bench sits atop a rock that offers a good view of the lake. Below it, a bronze plaque commemorates Olson.

We spent many minutes soaking in the peace. Soon, it was time to go. Although we didn’t sign up for it, our guide invited us to visit Olson’s house since he was going there to lead another tour, anyway. We readily agreed!

Ely was about a 20-minute drive away. We parked near a modest gray house with white trim. Upon entering, we were struck by how civilized the house was compared to Sig’s cabin. No wonder he needed a second place to get away. The kitchen has been remodeled since Sig’s time, but the rest of the place is much the same.

The living room serves as an informal museum to Sig’s life and accomplishments. The dining room looks out on his writing shack.

Sigurd Olson’s writing shack in Ely, MN.

We toured the shack, which is also on the National Register of Historic Places. In addition to being a writer and conservationist, Sig was a naturalist. Besides a typewriter and books, the shack is filled with finds from his wilderness travels. Rocks and animal bones line almost every available surface.

We came away with greater understanding and appreciation for this noted author and the land where he lived. We had some time to kill, so after lunch at the Evergreen Restaurant (highly recommended!), we visited the International Wolf Center. I’d been to the center a couple of times (most notably when I was doing research my Eye of the Wolf novel), but it had been many years, so I was interested to see their new educational exhibits and the new wolves in the captive pack.

Now, wolf-lovers, don’t get all up in arms about the term captive. The wolves in this pack have plenty of room to roam, and they aren’t taken from the wild. They function as ambassadors for their species, helping people learn about and appreciate wolves.

During a naturalist program about wolves, we watched in awe as several pack members appeared like ghosts out of the woods. We could see them through the large observation windows. That was truly magical!

Rowan, a member of the wolf pack at the International Wolf Center

We returned home from Ely feeling peaceful and just a bit wilder, with a strange impulse to howl on the next full moon. 😊

Bear Head Lake State Park

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One of the small docks along the shore of Bear Head Lake.

Russ and I had only used our Scamp trailer once this summer (to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore), so, we decided to get one more trip in before the snow began to fly. We chose Bear Head Lake State Park in northern Minnesota for several reasons: it was nearby, and we had passed the turnoff for it several times and wondered what it would be like to stay there. We were also intrigued because we’d heard that in 2010, it won the America’s Favorite Park contest. It must have something going for it!

We pulled into our site on a Friday evening. We chose a site on a loop that bordered the lakeshore. One thing that impressed us was that all campers have equal access to the shore. No sites are directly on the lake (they’re across the road from it), but there are several trails off the road that lead down to small docks that are perfect for fishing or lake-gazing.

The beach at Bear Head Lake State Park.

The air was warm for mid-October and the wind was calm. After our Spam and eggs supper, we took a walk on trails along the lake. The tamarack trees and aspens were still clothed in their splendid yellows. The trail ended at a beach surrounded by tall red pines. We’d find out later that these pines were spared during logging times because they were too small to be of interest. Good thing the place is a state park because they’d certainly be of interest to loggers now!

A Trail Center building nearby offered bathrooms and a warm place for hikers to gather before heading out on any one of the park’s 13 miles of paths. I discovered later that the impressive center was built thanks to the park’s standing in the 2010 contest, which was sponsored by Coca Cola. The park won $100,000, which they spent to build the center.

At the time, the park staff credited their win to Facebook and the power of social media because a popular bear frequented the park and people wanted to help draw attention to the bear’s home. The bear is no doubt long gone, but the Trail Center stands as a testament to the good will of social media strangers.

After our hike we enjoyed a fire (firewood is for sale at the park office). Our plans to hike the next day were disrupted by a steady drizzle. We opted to drive to Ely, Minnesota, instead. One of our stops was the Dorothy Molter Museum, which I described in my previous post. We also ended up getting a private tour of the Pioneer Mine Museum. Like the Dorothy Molter Museum, it was also open past Labor Day, contrary to its publicized operating season.

We didn’t intend to visit the Mine Museum. We began walking on a paved trail around Miner’s Lake but the steady drizzle and my failing health (I was catching the flu or something from Russ) made us turn around after a short jaunt.

As we neared our car in the parking lot of the Mine Museum, a man called to us from a building atop a nearby hill. He said the museum was open and he’d gladly give us a tour. Having nothing else better to do on a rainy day, we took him up on his offer.

The Pioneer Mine closed in 1967 and its payload was iron ore. The museum featured a plethora of artifacts and photos from its hey day. Our guide was Seraphine Rolando whose grandfather and other relatives had worked in the mine. Seraphine was a great storyteller and regaled us with tales of memorable rescues and descriptions of what it was like to work in the mine. Unlike the nearby Tower-Soudan Mine, the Pioneer Mine was wet, dirty, and much more hazardous.

Seraphine is a legend in his own right. I found this profile of him in the local Ely paper after I returned home. I easily remembered his name because one of my ancestors was named Seraphina, which must be the female version of his name.

Seraphine Rolando in the mine museum. Image courtesy of Trip Advisor

After our tour, we stopped at the Evergreen Restaurant in the Ely Grand Lodge for lunch. Interestingly, the lodge is built on a pile of mine tailings. The restaurant featured a beautiful view of Shagawa Lake and more golden trees.

Rain featured heavily on our next camping day, too. We ended up leaving for home a few hours early because I was now fully engulfed by the flu. But I recovered and am now ready for more meanderings.

Staying at Bear Head Lake State Park is like staying on a lake in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, but with more conveniences. Electric sites are available but not water hookups. A pump well is in the park and civilized toilet facilities are also available. They were closed during our visit, however, so we had to make do with an outhouse.

A final thing I wanted to mention was that one of our camping neighbors employed was using a leaf blower as they were packing up to leave. I suppose they were cleaning leaves off their outdoor carpet, or something. That was a new one on us – hearing a leaf blower at a campground. It’s bad enough hearing them at home, much less in a natural space. I sure hope this doesn’t become a trend!

The view from Evergreen Restaurant in Ely, MN.