Bear Head Lake State Park, January 2011

On the weekend of January 14-16, Cristin and I stayed at a camper cabin at Bear Head Lake State Park, about 20 miles west and south of Ely, MN.  For a description of our epic snowshoe hike that Saturday, please see the related blog "Hegman Lake Pictographs in BWCA, January 2011". 

We arrived very late that Friday as the drive took 7 hours as a snow storm began just as we left the Twin Cities and continued for most of the 225 miles.  The cabins are very nice!  Click here for a virtual tour.    The cabins are new and have electricity, electric heat, lights, 2 bunks where the bottom bunk is a full size bed, a porch, and a very private yard complete with a fire ring and picnic table.  Because we were there in January and there was much snow and it was frigid, we did not use the outdoor amenities.  An outhouse is located a short walk from the camper cabins and cold water is available nearby.

Upon returning to Bear Head on Saturday from the snowshoe hike to the pictographs and dinner in Ely, we were treated with a stunning moon halo and stars like crazy.  We later learned that the temperature that evening quickly dropped below zero and plummeted to -27 degrees F.  We went for about 1/2 hour walk in the campground area, appreciating the beauty and noting that the the cold air was taking our breath away, literally.  We retreated to the cabin, which with the help of a space heater stayed plenty warm all night  - too warm for Jack, actually :) 

Because of the frigid conditions, we did not depart the cabin until after noon on Sunday. We packed up and checked out but then skied right at the park. By then it had warmed up to about 5 degrees.  It was a wonderful experience, the trail a single track classic and freshly groomed.  The trail goes through stands of large pines and snow was clinging to all the branches, a beautiful winter wonderland.

Hegman Lake Pictographs in BWCA - January 2011

Cristin and I snowshoed to the Hegman Lake pictographs in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) on Saturday, January 15th.  I can't imagine a more interesting or more epic winter day hike in all of Minnesota!  The Hegman Lake trail head is off the Echo Trail (Co Hwy 116) about 15 miles north of Ely and is entry point #77 for the BWCA.  There is a sign on the Echo Trail alerting you to the parking lot, which is plowed during the winter.  Click here for a google map link with directions from Ely.

It was a beautifully bright, sunny, calm, and cold day, about 5 degrees F when we started our hike.

The distance from the parking lot to the pictographs is 3K (1.8 miles). From the parking lot there is a portage trail that goes a short distance downhill in the large pines, crossing into the BWCA, and ending at South Hegman Lake.  The majority of the hike is on South and North Hegman Lakes.

This is a popular day hike so there was a well-packed trail in the woods and then on the lake for us to follow as there had been no recent snow. We found it very slushy on the lake when we stepped off the packed trail. With a choice of either slushy snow or a packed snow to traverse, snowshoes seemed to us to be the best mode of transportation, at least for this day. We did see one person walking, carrying their snowshoes. We also saw a couple skiing; they appeared to be struggling a bit.  In total we saw 7-8 people, spread over 3-4 groups along the route.

South Hegman Lake   

We crossed one very short portage from South to North Hegman. We then hiked by an enormous erratic in the lake. It took us about 1 hour to get to the pictographs, as we stopped often for pictures.

Giant erratic in North Hegman Lake. Pictographs just ahead on the left! 

The pictographs are on granite cliff face in a narrows area between North Hegman and Trease Lakes.  We lingered at the pictographs and ate our bag lunch standing in the bright sunshine near them..

Pictographs are on the rock face just past Cristin.

Click here and here to learn more about the pictographs.

We didn't take as long to get back so our total time on the trail was just under 2.5 hours. Given the extreme winter conditions, we did take special precautions. We had a detailed MacKenzie topographic map of the area in case there was not a user-tracked trail, which would require us to navigate independently to the pictographs and it always recommended to have a good map in the back country, anyway.  We had water, food, and some basic survival gear like a whistle, compass, mirror, matches, candle, fire starter, and emergency blanket. We also tried for the 1st time the chemical hand and feet warmers sold at the outdoors store -- they helped.

We then headed back to Ely, for a quick shopping stop at Wintergreen. Then we went across the street to the Ely Steakhouse to watch Cristin's Steelers make a dramatic comeback to beat the hated Ravens in the AFC Conference playoff game.  The game began to turn around when there was shift change at the Steakhouse and Mr. Heinz became our server. No lie. 

Please see the companion blog  "Bear Head Lake State Park, January 2011" for more adventures that weekend, one of my best weekend's ever!