July 16, 2026
Family, Friends, Guests,
As you are probably aware, we have extreme fire danger in the Ely area, and have been directed to evacuate Wilderness Bay Lodge. There are large, rapidly spreading fires to the West of us near Winton, and to the Northeast in Canada.
On Monday, we evacuated all guests and ourselves, and we relocated to Sue’s Winterhouse West of Ely. Jay and Kaley’s house is also in the evacuation zone. We are all safe (including pets) and managing to stay somewhat sane given the stress, smoke and heat.
Jay and John were permitted to return to the resort Tuesday and Wednesday per Lake County Deputy to do more prep work. They ran fire pumps and sprinklers and made final preparations to preserve buildings. Jay plans to continue running the fire suppression sprinkler system each day as long as is allowed, and of course we are just very hopeful that the fires won’t end up reaching Snowbank at all.
We are unsure at this time when we will be permitted to return to Wilderness Bay, and operate as normal. As of now, we have cancelled next week’s reservations. We will keep upcoming guests updated week by week as we know more. Please reach out via e-mail if you have any questions, and we will answer as we are able. Thank you for your patience and understanding as we navigate this situation.
Thank you to all who have reached out and offered support, kind words and prayers. We appreciate you all being part of our “Wilderness Bay Family”.
Love,
The Hotalings
Following a lightning storm on 6 July, the Superior National Forest has 15 active fires with over 70,000 acres burned. On Tuesday, the entire BWCAW was closed and evacuated. Regions of Lake, St. Loius, and Cook counties are under evacuation. If you would like to stay up to date on the current situation near Ely, Please visit the following links:
Wilderness Bay Lodge 