outdoors

VOYAGEURS NATIONAL PARK -- Serene and postcard beautiful, with blue lakes, tall pines and foamy waterfalls reminiscent of old-time Hamm's Beer commercials, this region of Minnesota-Ontario border country has a rough-and-tumble history like no other in the state.

Once home, simultaneously, to loggers, moonshiners, commercial fishermen and hookers -- lots of each -- the region has long since given way, gracefully, to a bevy of spring, summer and fall visitors who hail from homes on both coasts, and many states in between.

Some come to fish, jigging for walleyes and casting for smallmouth bass on huge lakes such as Rainy, Kabetogama and Namakan.

How good can the fishing be?

"Three boats of our clients took 180 smallmouth bass Thursday using fly rods, catching the fish on the surface," said Billy Doughterty, one of the Dougherty clan that owns Rainy Lake Houseboats.

Others sojourn to Voyageurs National Park to camp, hike or swim, while still other visitors rough it the easy, and adventuresome, way: by renting a houseboat and tooling up one lake and down another, beaching the big craft at night before rustling up a late dinner eaten amid the comforts of home -- perhaps even while soaking in a hot tub.

"It's luxury camping, is what it is," said Katie Ebel, who with her husband, Joe, owns Ebel's Voyageur Houseboats on the Ash River Trail, jumping-off point for Kabetogama and Namakan lakes.

The Doughertys and Ebels are two of just four houseboat operators in Voyageurs National Park (the others are Voyagaire Houseboats on Crane Lake and Northernaire Houseboats on Rainy Lake). Theirs are multigenerational family operations that represent to a significant degree the grit and determination common to many northern Minnesota tourist operators.

But fewer such operators remain today than was the case a generation ago. Fewer still might remain across the north a generation hence. Many mom-and-pop resorts in northern Minnesota have gone upside-down in recent years, while others -- once dependent on a clientele interested solely in fishing -- have been forced to diversify to attract families and groups who often want nearby amenities such as water parks and golf courses, more so even than plentiful walleyes.

Throw in oddball, unpredictable business distractions in recent decades, such as a "war'' (over fish) with Ontario, high gas prices and now a severe recession, and the challenges to border tourist operators in particular mount.

"In many ways, we've had to reinvent our business over the years," Dougherty said. "We've had to look at different avenues for our customers."

Flourishing on the trail

Gordy Ebel was a Minnesota DNR conservation officer in 1971 when he and his wife, Mary Lou, threw caution to the wind and, with a partner, founded the houseboat business that bears their name.

"He started with six boats," Katie Ebel said. "We now have 20."

Katie Ebel grew up in Orr, Minn., about a 45-minute drive from Ash River. She met Joe in school there, they eventually married, and in 1983 they began managing the family houseboat business, buying it in 1998.

In 2001 the Ebels took on the gargantuan off-season task of constructing custom houseboats, some as long as 61 feet. They put some of the new craft into their fleet. Others they sold to competitors. A few were built for private parties.

"We thought we could build a new style of boat, something sleek and modern, with air conditioning, upper helm steering and hot tubs," Katie Ebel said.

The Doughertys' business on Rainy Lake -- and its fleet -- have similarly changed significantly in the years since Bill and June Dougherty -- Billy's parents -- bought it in 1983.

"My great-grandfather bought the Kettle Falls Hotel [between Rainy and Kabetogama lakes] in 1918," Billy Dougherty said. "He died in 1956, and my grandpa ran the hotel until 1977, when he sold it to the National Park Service."

Bill and June Dougherty began with four boats; now there are 29. The elder Doughertys still own the business, but Billy, his wife, Cathie, and Billy's brother, Tom, run it.

Last year's high gas prices and slowing economy cut into the houseboat rental business on the border. This season also started out slowly, the Doughertys and Ebels say, but their phones are still ringing, and they're still booking trips.

"One difference this summer is that we're getting some calls from people who say, 'We've got four guys and $1,000. What can you do for us?'" Katie Ebel said. "That's almost unheard of in our business. We're almost always booked for the summer ahead of time."

Summer comes north

Thursday morning, Justin Ebel, 27, son of Joe and Katie, was directing a crew of about 10 beneath blue skies and warming temperatures. Nearby, a summer worker, Iowan Jeremy Whittock, was cleaning the windows of a sleek Vista-class houseboat, preparing it for its next trip.

Justin's demeanor seemed to say: So much equipment, so much to do -- all of it part of a business run by northern Minnesotans whose success is tied to a national economy struggling to gain traction. And dependent also on the whims and fortunes of Internet surfers looking for a different kind of vacation, one that can cost a few thousand dollars and more.

Also on Thursday, farther north, Cathie and Tom Dougherty were similarly busying themselves, answering phones and moving houseboats on Rainy Lake.

Billy Dougherty, meanwhile, was up the lake, guiding a boatload of houseboat clients to a day of bass fishing.

"Last year it was gas prices," Billy Dougherty would say later. "This year it's the economy. But we've seen these types of challenges before -- all of us have up here. We'll get through it."