Today is the last Father's Day ever before I become a dad. As I prepare for the upcoming birth of my first child, I call to mind a man who is both father and fisherman––a man who took me on a fishing adventure last fall on legendary Lake Gitchi Gumee.
Dave Williams and his bride Cathi visited Grand Marais some 40 years ago during a winter that wasn't much better than this year's. "It was below zero with the wind blowing snow everywhere, and I said to Cathi, 'Do you want to move here?'" Williams recalls.
Apparently Cathi said yes. The pair of teachers quit their jobs and headed to the far north woods near Lake Superior to start a small guiding and outfitting operation in 1972 that, over the past four decades, has become a staple in Grand Marais. Bear Track Outfitters have given Dave a chance to fill his life with both his passions: his family and the outdoors.
The Williams family worked hard to turn their dream into a reality––building cabins, guiding fishermen, outfitting kayakers and campers––and then worked even harder to keep that reality afloat amid recessions, down-turns in fishing's popularity and, tragically, a fire to their camp years ago.
"To make a living up here, you gotta work hard when the sun shines," said Williams. You also have to be resourceful. Dave and Cathi re-built cabins after the fire, and expanded their offerings to include canoe lessons, birding outings, scenic dinner cruises and skiing. They were the first outfitter in the area to use Kevlar canoes. Many a cross-country ski team has rented out their remote cabins to hold camp for practices, and more than one Olympic skier has stayed at Bear Track's year-round cabins on North Shore Mountain Ski Trail at Bally Creek Camp.
What I discovered is that Williams treats everyone like an Olympian. "I really like taking Veterans out fishing," he said. "I took one guy out who was close to 90, who used to be in the Navy during World War II, and he just had a ball being on the water. And it was great listening to his stories."
Military vets get a discount on guided trips with Williams. Then again, so do children 13 and under. Kids under 5 are free. You get the sense Williams isn't in this business to get rich.
His grandfather had a little place near Cascade River that Williams used to visit every summer as a boy. Eventually, he fell in love. "It sort of grows on you, this area," he said.
