Breakfast with the Bears?
Minnesota - you just keep on delivering! One of our MB Friends suggested that we head to Northern Minnesota and visit the Vince Shute Wildlife Sanctuary that is run by the American Bear Association. If you haven’t figured it out yet, Kim is enthralled with ALL animals and especially the babies. We have been wanting to spot a bear on our drives through the back country and to this point had only seen the big rump of what we believed to be a Grizzly Bear. So, we adjusted our plans a bit and headed to Northern Minnesota.
History of the Vince Shute Animal Sanctuary (from their website): Born in 1913, Vince Shute grew up on a small dairy farm. When he was in the ninth grade, his father suffered a debilitating stroke and Vince quit school to assume his father’s responsibilities on the farm. To support the family, Vince took a second job, working in the woods. Vince and his loggers lived in the remote north woods with wildlife as their only neighbors. Black bears, attracted by the smells of food preparation and disposal, became a nuisance. Out of fear, the men solved this problem by shooting the bears, but after three decades, Vince began to question the killing. Having observed the animals he came to the conclusion that “The bears weren’t mean – only hungry.”
Bears continued to visit the logging camp as a food source during their foraging season. What began as an act of survival slowly evolved into a labor of love. A special relationship developed between Vince and the bears. By the mid-eighties, Vince had become something of a local celebrity and was often referred to as “The Bear Man.”
As the years went by, Vince’s health began to deteriorate and he was concerned about what would happen to the bears after he was gone. In the fall of 1993, at the age of 80, Vince approached three friends who shared his interest in the bears. To help secure the bears’ future, he donated his interest in the land for the formation of The American Bear Association, which was established as a nonprofit organization in January 1995.
Vince Shute passed away on July 4, 2000 at the age of 86. The Vince Shute Wildlife Sanctuary is his legacy to us and to future generations: a special place where humans can learn to coexist with bears.
Voyageurs National Park was a sweet surprise! We did not even know it existed or that we were near this beautiful national park. We were driving around one day and saw signs directing us to Voyageurs. It happened to be chill day and we had some time to go and explore. We were so glad that we took this opportunity! The photos hardly do it justice.
From Voyageurs National Park Facebook Page: Voyageurs National Park lies within the heart of the North American Continent. Here you can see and touch rocks half as old as the world, experience the life of a voyageur, immerse yourself in the sights and sounds of a boreal forest, view the dark skies, or ply the interconnected water routes.
And then, last but not least, we camped at Cabin O Pines in Orr, MN. What a fantastic privately owned campground. This Northern Minnesota fishing resort on Pelican Lake in Orr, Minnesota allows you to take advantage of world class walleye, bass, northern, and pan-fishing. Located just South of Voyageurs National Park, Cabin O' Pines has authentic Northern Minnesota lodging, cabins, camping, large sandy beach, wood stove sauna, solar generated power, and amazing fishing off our 500' main dock! We did not stay nearly long enough. We will be back!
We absolutely love getting out there and meeting new people. We encourage all of our Mountain Beaches friends to shop small, shop local and to always be on the lookout to give a helping hand to those in need!
~Tomorrow is Never Promised~