Ely Minnesota - Wolves and Bears and Nature

Our reroute caused by a cancellation of our reservation in Ranier MN resulted in a stop in Cooke MN near the resorts at Lake Vermilion.  It is a 45-mile drive to Ely which is known for its northern location and frequent displays of aurora borealis, or Northern Lights, large native populations of wolves and brown bears and the nearby underground iron mine at Soudan MN now a State Park.

So we spent a day and drove to Ely to visit the International Wolf Center and also the North American Bear Center.  Both facilities exhibit the animals in natural settings, but the animals are captive and are fed and cared for by the respective staffs. Visits afford the visitor an opportunity to observe the animals at close hand and to learn of their stories with respect to co-existing with humans.

The Wolf Center is a modern facility with indoor exhibits relating the wolf's history and habitat. The Bear Center is similar in its purpose but there seems to be too much to absorb from row upon row of bulletin boards with photos, anecdotes, history and statistics.  Nevertheless we enjoyed our time at both and were able to get a few pictures I will share here.

This is an older female which was in estrus but playing hard to get for the males. She obliged the visitors by romping in the pond.

This younger male got chased by the female as we were watching, but the camera was not going at the time!

The wolf display area was  very natural looking and pictures without electric fences or wire mesh in them were possible.

I believe the lighter colored wolf is the alpha male of the group.

The wolf center also had a large display of Northern Lights photos and information about the cause and occurance of the phenomenon. The photos were mostly taken by a local photographer, Heidi Pinkerton, and carry some hefty sale prices. Her website is here:  

http://www.rootriverphotography.com/blog/about/

I snapped this one from a video display since I did not think we would encounter any natural displays ourselves.

Heidi Pinkerton Image

Another oddity in town is known as Pillow Rock.  From the town museum's webpage, "The Historic Pillow Rock is an excellent example of an ellipsoidal lava flow said to be 2.7 billion years old with peculiar masses formed when dark lavas flowed under water. One of the few specimens of its kind in the world; the rock is an outcrop of Ely Greenstone, volcanic origin."

Pillow Rock, Ely MN

We ended our day with a nice late lunch at a local restaurant, Rockwood, where our service was good despite a large wedding crowd on hand. Excellent burgers. And fries "the way Cathy's Grandmother used to make them for her"! What could be better?