We did some more exploring on day two as we ventured across several miles of open ice to nearby Massacre Island. The island juts out of the Lake of the Woods, topped by a wooden cross commemorating 21 people slain by the Sioux in 1736. Several winding trails lead to the memorial. The first we came across was a tight, narrow trail nearly enclosed in brush. The Ranger would never fit through, and the Mattracks-equipped quads were too tall and wide to easily navigate the path.
We circled around the island and found a more open trail leading up the island hill. The route crossed several steep inclines covered with snow, ice and bare rock. The Mattracks-equipped rigs climbed these tricky slopes with ease, spinning just a tiny bit on the rock. The tracks worked impressively-a wheeled vehicle would have had serious trouble, and the deep snow-covered trails would have left tire-equipped rigs buried.
After our outing, we did more ice fishing and caught another half-dozen walleyes. As the day turned to night, the eelpout moved in. Eelpout are spineless bottom feeders best described as ugly and foul-smelling, and once they start biting the walleyes are typically gone. After pulling in four of the snakelike creatures, we called it quits and headed back to the cabin.
One thing about eelpout-like most of the world's disgusting creatures, locals swear they taste good. Dirkes was curious about this and filleted the four fish that night. We applauded his bravery and stayed downwind as he sliced the eelpout; they certainly didn't smell appetizing. He later told us they were "good eating" after being boiled and soaked in butter. I'd say the same is true of old shoe leather.
The eelpout nastiness behind us, we went to The Angle Inn Lodge for a couple of pizzas. Debra Kellerman, the head of the Northwest Angle chamber of commerce (and part-time bartender), filled us in on the Angle's somewhat bizarre history.
"When the Angle tried to secede, they flew in all the politicians from Canada and America to my lodge," she said. "We sat 'em down and told 'em we weren't taking them off the island until they settled this thing."
She laughs, remembering the scene, and continues. "They thought we were kidding!"
The incident in question was the infamous attempt of the Northwest Angle to secede from the Union. They ended up sticking with the United States, despite a tempting offer from Manitoba.
She added stories about the Angle's attempt to form America's 52nd state, Moosylvania, in 1953; fruitless fugitive chases in the Angle by the FBI; and a nearby hermit's home blown to bits for unknown reasons in the '70s.
This kind of miscreant behavior is better suited to my people (Wisconsinites-think Ed Gein and Bud Selig) rather than the demure Minnesotans, and I found the Angle a happily wacky aberration in the land of lutefisk and lefse.
Sometimes the best places are right in your backyard. I'll be back to the Angle, hopefully sooner rather than later.
Winter Riding on the Lake of the WoodsNative American legend has it that the 15,000 islands and 65,000 miles of shoreline on the Lake of the Woods were formed by the Wendigo, a spurned deity, in order to create a place that would elicit tribute from the natives and confuse the white man. The Wendigo is said to enjoy popping up now and again to check out his creation, taking the form of a rock when he surfaces and occasionally catching a boater unaware when he pops to the surface.
Whether it's the Wendigo or not, the Lake of the Woods is a treacherous place. Boaters have to navigate narrow, shallow rock-choked channels. Unwary boaters smash into these rocks each summer, and the bays are not much safer in the winter.