After my story ran about the historic National Forest Lodge in northern Minnesota, I was delighted to hear from Bob Hunger, a former longtime owner who pulled the resort back from the brink of death in 1966.
The property, just west of Isabella in the Superior National Forest, had been abandoned after a failed attempt to turn it into a youth camp, and was in need of some serious love and elbow grease.
"Slowly we were able to save it from total ruin," Hunger said in an e-mail, adding that it took "tons and tons of work" and a collaboration between the state and federal agencies.
Hunger owned the property for three decades. During that time he built one of the modern log cabins that is now available for year-round rentals. (The other nine cabins have propane heat, but only one has running water.)
Hunger worked for the U.S. Forest Service, and in the 1970s, helped establish the Flathorn-Gegoka Ski Touring Area, just adjacent to the National Forest Lodge property.
With 18 miles of groomed trails hugging acres of white and Norway pines, it became a cross-country ski-lovers' paradise. The popularity of the trails drew new guests to the National Forest Lodge and helped resurrect the winter-time only resort business.
Hunger and his wife, Peg, sold the National Forest Lodge in 1995 and purchased the Whitefish Bay Camp on an island on the Ontario side of Lake of the Woods, which they still operate.
"Glad that our efforts continue to make the fun at that area available to folks today," Hunger said.
