Bryan Hansel
@bryanhansel.com
Photographer and photo workshop leader specializing in seascapes, landscapes & nightscapes. Fav place: Boundary Waters. A good Minnesotan. Grand Marais. Learn more at www.bryanhansel.com. I write at bryanhansel.substack.com and at paddlinglight.com.
The BWCA’s Bear Aware Food Storage Order is back for 2026. Here’s how to hang your food when perfect trees don’t exist and when bear canisters make more sense.
How to Bear Hang Your Food When the Trees Suck: A Guide to the New BWCAW Bear Aware Order
Superior National Forest reissued its BWCAW Bear Aware Food Storage Order effective February 1, 2026. The order requires visitors to either hang all food, food containers, and scented items or store them in an Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee–certified bear-resistant container. The reissued order remains in effect for an additional five years. The requirement runs from April 1 to November 30 of each year, which is one fewer month than the previous order. The last order required food storage from March 1 to November 30. New FAQ Questions with the New Order…
www.paddlinglight.com
January 15, 2026 at 7:30 PM
The BWCA’s Bear Aware Food Storage Order is back for 2026. Here’s how to hang your food when perfect trees don’t exist and when bear canisters make more sense.
As a Minnesotan, hearing Trump threaten us with the Insurrection Act makes me even angrier about what he is doing to this country and this state. If he thinks that we're going to kiss his ring because he sends in tanks, he, like the Russian warship, can go fuck himself.
January 15, 2026 at 4:48 PM
As a Minnesotan, hearing Trump threaten us with the Insurrection Act makes me even angrier about what he is doing to this country and this state. If he thinks that we're going to kiss his ring because he sends in tanks, he, like the Russian warship, can go fuck himself.
Reposted by Bryan Hansel
If we can have an election during the heart of the US Civil War, then we can sure as hell have an election now.
January 15, 2026 at 4:40 PM
If we can have an election during the heart of the US Civil War, then we can sure as hell have an election now.
Reposted by Bryan Hansel
The latest from Olaf Thorvaldsen, Grand Marais' official weatherman from 100 years ago.
January 14, 1926 | Cook County News Herald
weather.leaflet.pub
January 14, 2026 at 6:46 PM
The latest from Olaf Thorvaldsen, Grand Marais' official weatherman from 100 years ago.
I'm teaching an online course about using the PhotoPills sunrise/sunset and photography planning app. It's on Jan. 26 at 7pm.
Sign up at the link.
www.bryanhansel.com/shop/master-...
Sign up at the link.
www.bryanhansel.com/shop/master-...
Master PhotoPills Online Class ⋆ Bryan Hansel Photography
Master PhotoPills Online Class Learn to confidently use PhotoPills for landscape and astrophotography planning. This live online class covers essential
www.bryanhansel.com
January 14, 2026 at 6:43 PM
I'm teaching an online course about using the PhotoPills sunrise/sunset and photography planning app. It's on Jan. 26 at 7pm.
Sign up at the link.
www.bryanhansel.com/shop/master-...
Sign up at the link.
www.bryanhansel.com/shop/master-...
Being in the Cook County News Herald for writing a fictional story about the Cook County News Herald feels very meta.
January 10, 2026 at 8:19 PM
Being in the Cook County News Herald for writing a fictional story about the Cook County News Herald feels very meta.
When apps show us a nonstop stream of adventure, such as sea kayaks in the surf, pristine wilderness canoeing, or winter whitewater, it can feel like that's the norm. It isn't. We define our own norm, and we don't have to be influenced by the paddling clips that the algorithm shows us.
Canoe Your Own Canoe
When apps show us a nonstop stream of adventure, such as sea kayaks in the surf, pristine wilderness canoeing, or winter whitewater, it can feel like that's the norm. It isn't. We define our own norm, and we don't have to be influenced by the paddling clips that the algorithm shows us.
www.paddlinglight.com
January 9, 2026 at 12:31 AM
When apps show us a nonstop stream of adventure, such as sea kayaks in the surf, pristine wilderness canoeing, or winter whitewater, it can feel like that's the norm. It isn't. We define our own norm, and we don't have to be influenced by the paddling clips that the algorithm shows us.
Reposted by Bryan Hansel
Reposted by Bryan Hansel
This is another angle of CBP murdering a woman in cold blood.
January 7, 2026 at 6:30 PM
This is another angle of CBP murdering a woman in cold blood.
Reposted by Bryan Hansel
It's the REI Board Member elections. Last year by withholding votes, we sent a message. The workers trying to unionize made a deal with that board not to say anything this year, and the board seems to be slow-walking unionization. How I voted is in the next post.
January 7, 2026 at 3:55 PM
It's the REI Board Member elections. Last year by withholding votes, we sent a message. The workers trying to unionize made a deal with that board not to say anything this year, and the board seems to be slow-walking unionization. How I voted is in the next post.
Official Grand Marais Weathermen Olaf Thorvaldsen's first 1926 weather prediction in the Cook County News Herald. Grand Marais, Minnesota.
January 7, 1926 | Cook County News Herald
weather.leaflet.pub
January 7, 2026 at 2:10 PM
Official Grand Marais Weathermen Olaf Thorvaldsen's first 1926 weather prediction in the Cook County News Herald. Grand Marais, Minnesota.
The "Donroe Doctrine" seems appropriately named considering they act like the mob.
January 6, 2026 at 2:57 PM
The "Donroe Doctrine" seems appropriately named considering they act like the mob.
Traditional snowshoes look so good.
January 6, 2026 at 3:03 AM
Traditional snowshoes look so good.
A map that official Grand Marais Weatherman Olaf Thorvaldsen would have used in 1926.
Map of Lake and Cook counties in the Minnesota Arrowhead Country. 1926
weather.leaflet.pub
January 5, 2026 at 7:50 PM
A map that official Grand Marais Weatherman Olaf Thorvaldsen would have used in 1926.
The Minnesota Border to Border Touring Route map that I made today. This is the route that I took when I rode my gravel bike across Minnesota. Here are a few photos from the ride.
January 5, 2026 at 5:30 AM
The Minnesota Border to Border Touring Route map that I made today. This is the route that I took when I rode my gravel bike across Minnesota. Here are a few photos from the ride.
I started reading the Dungeon Crawler Carl series, and I wasn't expecting anything from it, but I read book one faster than anything that I've read in a long time. It's funny and fast paced and dark in exactly the right way for the times. It is a good escape.
January 5, 2026 at 12:00 AM
I started reading the Dungeon Crawler Carl series, and I wasn't expecting anything from it, but I read book one faster than anything that I've read in a long time. It's funny and fast paced and dark in exactly the right way for the times. It is a good escape.
I had the weather data, so I thought it would be interesting to see if the length of the frost-free (growing) season changed in Grand Marais, Minnesota over the last 100 years.
January 2, 2026 at 5:48 PM
I had the weather data, so I thought it would be interesting to see if the length of the frost-free (growing) season changed in Grand Marais, Minnesota over the last 100 years.
I added another image to my New Year's Day Project this morning. These images show the sunrise over Lake Superior from 2018 to 2026. Grand Marais, Minnesota.
January 1, 2026 at 4:48 PM
I added another image to my New Year's Day Project this morning. These images show the sunrise over Lake Superior from 2018 to 2026. Grand Marais, Minnesota.
I think I found a home for the writing project that I'm working on. Here's the first post. The Cook County News Herald published once a week on Thursdays in 1926. I'm going to keep the same schedule for this project. I'm committing to this project until at least the end of Feb. Here's the 1st entry.
Cook County News Herald
December 31, 1925
weather.leaflet.pub
January 1, 2026 at 3:56 PM
I think I found a home for the writing project that I'm working on. Here's the first post. The Cook County News Herald published once a week on Thursdays in 1926. I'm going to keep the same schedule for this project. I'm committing to this project until at least the end of Feb. Here's the 1st entry.
I have a small writing project that I'm planning in 2026. I need an online place to hold it. Are there any good free online platforms that would hold a small writing project?
This is the first entry.
This is the first entry.
December 31, 2025 at 3:39 PM
I have a small writing project that I'm planning in 2026. I need an online place to hold it. Are there any good free online platforms that would hold a small writing project?
This is the first entry.
This is the first entry.
One of the last freighters sailing on Lake Superior in 2025, MV Paul R. Tregurtha, the current Queen of the Lakes, passed Grand Marais on December 29th. The Queen of the Lakes designation recognizes the Paul R. Tregurtha, at 1,013.5 feet, as the largest ship of the Great Lakes fleet.
December 31, 2025 at 2:50 PM
One of the last freighters sailing on Lake Superior in 2025, MV Paul R. Tregurtha, the current Queen of the Lakes, passed Grand Marais on December 29th. The Queen of the Lakes designation recognizes the Paul R. Tregurtha, at 1,013.5 feet, as the largest ship of the Great Lakes fleet.
This is one of my favorite things that I wrote this year.
He Was an Expert Kayaker: How Reporters Get Paddling Fatalities Wrong
www.paddlinglight.com/articles/he-...
He Was an Expert Kayaker: How Reporters Get Paddling Fatalities Wrong
www.paddlinglight.com/articles/he-...
He Was an Expert Kayaker: How Reporters Get Paddling Fatalities Wrong
As we move out of winter and into the early paddling season, we’re bound to see reports of deaths of paddlers due to cold water and not wearing life vests. This happens every year. Journalists will of...
www.paddlinglight.com
December 26, 2025 at 5:13 PM
This is one of my favorite things that I wrote this year.
He Was an Expert Kayaker: How Reporters Get Paddling Fatalities Wrong
www.paddlinglight.com/articles/he-...
He Was an Expert Kayaker: How Reporters Get Paddling Fatalities Wrong
www.paddlinglight.com/articles/he-...
I failed my 2025 goal of reading a book a month. I ended at seven and a couple that I wasn't able to finish because they were interlibrary loans.
1. The Art of Illustrated Maps
2. Pushing the River
3. The Serviceberry
4. Soul of the Outdoors
5. Where We Walk
6. Woodcut, Bryan Nash Gill
7. Sisu
1. The Art of Illustrated Maps
2. Pushing the River
3. The Serviceberry
4. Soul of the Outdoors
5. Where We Walk
6. Woodcut, Bryan Nash Gill
7. Sisu
December 26, 2025 at 2:07 AM
I failed my 2025 goal of reading a book a month. I ended at seven and a couple that I wasn't able to finish because they were interlibrary loans.
1. The Art of Illustrated Maps
2. Pushing the River
3. The Serviceberry
4. Soul of the Outdoors
5. Where We Walk
6. Woodcut, Bryan Nash Gill
7. Sisu
1. The Art of Illustrated Maps
2. Pushing the River
3. The Serviceberry
4. Soul of the Outdoors
5. Where We Walk
6. Woodcut, Bryan Nash Gill
7. Sisu