Support the Timberjay by making a donation.

Welcome!  
Serving Northern St. Louis County, Minnesota

Outdoors
Sort by: Featured Most recent
271 results total, viewing 51 - 75
Send us your hunting stories
REGIONAL—Deer season is a time of tradition, family and fun. It’s also a time for great outdoors stories and we’d like to hear yours— so we can share the best with our … more
Many area aspen were still showing their autumn gold in late October this year, well past their normal peaks. The aspen peak is arriving more than a week later than 40 years ago, a reflection of the changing climate.
Fall leaves are turning, falling later
REGIONAL— It’s not just your imagination. Leaves are changing color later than in the past here in the North Country, and we’re not alone. All across North America, the dramatic … more
|
When a ghost rings the bell on the William A. Irvin
Stephanie Ukkola

 once worked as a manager on the SS William A. Irvin, a retired US Steel ore carrier that sailed the Great Lakes from 1938 until it’s retirement in 1978. The vessel now … more
An unexpected visitor on the midnight shift
NORTHSHORE MINE— Soudan resident, Nate Dostert got the scare of a lifetime back in about 2009 when he was working for Cleveland Cliffs-Northshore at the Peter Mitchell Mine near Babbitt. He was … more
A portal to another world?
SOUDAN—It was a stormy December evening several years ago when Victoria Ranua and her family arrived at their Soudan residence. Snow had been falling for hours and there was nearly a foot of … more
Ghost in the house
BABBITT— Having grown up in Babbitt, with a long Finnish lineage, Brittney Tuura was in no rush to move away from her family. In about 2012, at age 25, she and her husband and two children, … more
The kitchen door at the James St. house where a wispy apparition appeared. It was one of many unsettling events experienced at the house.
Unsettling events on James
ELY—In 2001, I moved to Ely from Hayward, Wis. with my son who was four years old at the time. I was single back then and had rented a house for us on James St. With the help of a girlfriend, … more
Talking to the other side
Editor’s note: This is from a current resident of Soudan, recalling her experiences growing up. When I was kid, I lived in the country, in a big house, on a hill. I didn’t have any … more
Ely-area resident Paul Pelkola found this gooey brown colony of bryozoans growing on his boat lift last weekend.
Bryozoans bring an other-wordly feel to Minnesota lakes
FALL LAKE- If the strange blob that Paul Pelkola found on his Fall Lake boat lift had been green instead of brown, it could have been straight out of “The Attack of the Green Slime,” one … more
|
A snow plow heads out in a winter storm.
OUTLOOK UNCERTAIN
REGIONAL— Seasonal weather forecasting here in the North Country is far from an exact science, and that goes double under an el Niño weather pattern like the one currently taking shape … more
|
The white pine’s remarkable legacy in America
REGIONAL— Earlier this week, PBS aired a two-part Ken Burns series, “The American Buffalo,” that recounted the senseless and tragic destruction of an iconic North American species … more
| | 1 comment
A Quetico lake visited by Frank Davis and Kristin Foster.
QUETICO BOUND
Having paddled across Nym Lake, the trip into the Quetico formally begins with the portage into Batchewaung. No more than fifty yards or so on the portage, the cares and strains of daily life begin … more
|
Jimmy Laine with his giant heirloom tomato with a colorful past.
Homegrown with a story
LAKE VERMILION— Jimmy Laine is no stranger to music fans in the region, but he is perhaps less known for his accidental gardening exploits. As anyone who gardens heirloom vegetables knows, the … more
|
COVID studies exploring human-animal transmission
REGIONAL- The origins of the COVID-19 virus remain unclear, although the most promising theory points to a transfer of the virus from a species of bat in China to humans sometime in 2019. Researchers … more
|
September proved much warmer than average, again
REGIONAL— The North Country’s trend of warming early fall weather bore out once again this year as one of the mildest Septembers in recent history made its way into the record books. … more
|
A colorful shoreline along the Pike River Flowage is reflected on still morning water.
Colors of the season
Students exploring the Ancient Cedar Trail in Tower.
Tower area trails feature four seasons of fun
TOWER- The Tower-Soudan area is home to a remarkably wide variety of trails, and Wagoner Trail Club volunteer Mary Shedd gave a brief overview of all the them at the first Tower-Soudan Civic Club … more
|
An overlook on the North Country National Scenic Trail in northeastern Minnesota. The 4,800-mile trail will pass through Ely and Tower-Soudan.
North Country Trail chapter organized in Ely
ELY- The North Country National Scenic Trail is coming to Ely and you can help make it happen. Area hiking enthusiasts have formed a new local chapter of the North Country Trail Association and held … more
|
Bear harvest could be lowest in decades
REGIONAL— Abundant natural foods and continued warm temperatures appear to have given bears the edge during the 2023 bear season, with registrations off 25 percent from last year. With just … more
|
Ready to launch on Little Rice Lake, at the end of the 60-rod portage from Slim Lake.
DOWN MEMORY LANE
THE BWCAW— It had been at least 25 years since my last visit to Little Rice Lake, the one found at the end of the 60-rod portage from Slim Lake, north of Burntside. It’s a shallow, … more
|
When large predators make a kill, it has ripple effects throughout the ecosystem, benefitting the entire food web.
Study: Predators play key role in ecosystem health
REGIONAL— A new study, recently published in the journal Oikos, has confirmed that predators play an important role in the health of ecosystems beyond their effects on the behavior and … more
|
Recent storm damage on parts of the Laurentian and Kawishiwi ranger districts has prompted the Forest Service to offer free salvage permits.
SNF offers free wood salvage permits in wake of severe storm
REGIONAL— Looking for some free firewood, minus the cost of your labor? The Superior National Forest is issuing free wood salvage permits for several parts of the Laurentian and Kawishiwi … more
Ben Burns, age 16, and his father Steve pose with the nice bear shot by Ben earlier this month as clients of the Udovich Guide Service.
Bear registrations down significantly
REGIONAL—Bear registrations through the first 11 days of the season were down 30 percent this year, as hunters were hampered by plentiful natural bear foods and the record heat that settled in … more
| | 1 comment
With good numbers of drumming grouse this spring and a warm and dry June, the fall ruffed grouse outlook appears strong.
“It should be a phenomenal season”
REGIONAL— The 2023 ruffed grouse season looks to be one of the best in northern Minnesota in years, thanks to what appears to be outstanding reproduction thanks to a warm, dry month of June. … more
| | 1 comment
Butternut squash are ripe when their skin is tan without the mottling apparent in unripe squash. The rind in a mature squash is also hard to dent with a fingernail.
When to pick your cucurbits
REGIONAL—As the North Country’s growing season winds down, local gardeners may be wondering when the time is right to harvest some of the cucurbits, like squash or melons, that … more
|
« Prev | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 … 11 | Next »
Currently viewing stories posted within the past 2 years.
For all older stories, please use our advanced search.