Steve Fernlund and The Long Way Home

Carl Madsen’s first trip to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA) as part of a group from Iowa State University was in the fall of 1989. They stayed at Rockwood Lodge and Outfitters on Poplar Lake. You could say he fell in love with the place. Returning over the years for vacations, eventually with his wife Stephanie Lightner and virtually his entire family. Stephanie’s sister Carol and her husband Mike Seim also visited Rockwood regularly. Carl and Mike worked with the Lodge’s owners, Mike and Lin Sherfy, to help open the seasonal cabins and make general repairs. When the Sherfy’s decided to move on and sell the resort, the Madsens and Seims stepped in to buy it. Now in their seventh year of ownership, Carl says, “We have experienced 15% business growth each year.” But not without challenges. 2021 was a tough year. “With the fires closing the BWCA and Gunflint Trail, along with Covid, we had almost no business in August,” he said. The business gets 60% of its revenue from wilderness o...

When our oldest daughter was entering the fourth grade, we moved the family from East Bloomington, MN to West Bloomington, MN. To understand the cultural ramifications of this move, think about moving from Hovland to Lutsen. Or maybe think about the Jeffersons moving to that deluxe apartment in the sky. As young parents with four kids, we were hyper-alert to their happiness and safety. Other than an occasional night away from us, staying with siblings and grandparents, our kids had never been away from their doting parents. So when we heard that fourth-grade teacher Mr. Porter was planning a several-night field trip at a camp in Northern Minnesota, I had many questions. Attending the information meeting at the school I quickly raised my hand when question time was called. First, if I am paying taxes in Hennepin County to fund parks and nature centers, why do we have to send kids on an overnight trip to a nature center? Murmurs were heard in the crowd. Next, what about kids like mine w...

  Big Bear Lodge and Cabins on Poplar Lake, up the Gunflint Trail, operates a reduced season in winter with only three cabins in use. “It gives us time for ourselves,” said owner Andy DeLisi. Not one to enjoy just sitting around, and unable to do resort maintenance and construction during the winter, Andy decided he had to come up with a hobby. Ice fishing was off the table, so he is building a Northshore themed model railroad layout in an old outbuilding on the property. As the 2021 resort season came to an end this fall Andy spent some time repurposing a small building on the property that was originally built in 1935. “We really have not used it for any real reason for the 10 years we have owned the place,” Andy said. They referred to it as “The Shack” or “The Curmudgeon Cabin.” Andy now considers it “Andy’s Hobby Shack/2nd heated workshop/man-cave/all-around cool shanty.” Consistent with it being a “Hobby Shack,” DeLisi says it is, “Perfect for a model train area.” Andy and Id...