Michael Olson
The Muir/Marshall cabin and Highland Lake. The cabin was built by Bill Muir. Muir took his last trip to the cabin in 1985. He died in his beloved wilderness getaway that summer. (Steve Foss for MPR) The number of cabin owners in Minnesota has dipped down a bit from 125,000 in 2005, to 122,000 in 2012, according to Jeff Forester, Executive Director, Minnesota Lakes and Rivers Advocates.
But time at the lake is still an important tradition for many Minnesotans.
MPR News reporter Dan Kraker writes:
Inside a simple, brown cabin that overlooks a narrow bay of an isolated lake, Peggy Marshall pulls open the door of a cast-iron wood stove to start an annual rite.
“We’ll build a little fire in here, and take the chill off,” said Marshall, who has come to the cabin every summer for more than 40 years.
Outside, a giant old-growth red pine towers overhead and a loon pops to the lake’s tranquil surface.
Every Memorial Day weekend, the postcard-like scene and the memories it evokes draws families like Marshall’s to clogged highways, as they head for summer cabins.
With the long winter and late ice-out on many lakes, for some this could be their first visit since last fall.
Today’s Question: Is owning a cabin part of your Minnesota dream?
Read how the replies have changed over the last three years.
