Since the fire on October 10th that destroyed the main lodge, one thing has remained constant: the grounds, the outlying cabins/buildings and the trails. The 90 km of trails service mountain biking and hiking, in the spring, summer and fall. Come winter time, the trails see skiers of course, snowshoers and fat bikers. As mentioned in the last post, we will be grooming the ski trails for skiing this winter, but no lodging available. (Be sure to check the trails page for frequent updates and photos as we transition to one of our favorite seasons) Thank you to everyone that has purchased season passes for the upcoming winter season. This helps to offset costs for trail maintenance, equipment repairs and preparation and property taxes, to name a few.

The past few weeks has been incredible weather for final fall grooming on the ski and bike trails. Keeping nearly 90km of trail maintained keeps us very busy and we are committed to having the best conditions possible with the available snow, like always, for the upcoming winter. The mountain bike trails have seen good traffic for mountain biking before the trails closed on November 1st. It has been great seeing many of our “team” members out on course riding, many completing the “LagChilada” challenge which is riding the entire 25 mile trail system in one ride. Many personal records and our first female completed the challenge.

We also want to give a shout out to our mountain bike team on another great season. The team numbers nearly fifty riders from all ages across the Midwest. The results aren’t what speak volumes but the commitment many team members have to teaching others. Not only in mountain biking but in track and field, cross country and soccer! These folks are leaders in their communities and represent Maplelag and our core values.

One again we want to thank everyone for their kind words expressed on social media, letters, personal messages and all the overwhelming guests. We know some people have taken time to reach out and the touching messages, cards, photos are so much appreciated.

One our our local vendors, Trophy House recently offered the special Maplelag flannels we had in production to celebrate our upcoming 50th year. Thank you to everyone that purchased one. In an upcoming update, we hope to highlight some memories from years past as we celebrate 50 years of Maplelag. (a few sneak peek photos below)

Also a shout out to Lakeshirts of Detroit Lakes who is graciously selling t-shirts to help out Maplelag. We are not accustomed to receiving monies but will put to good use in debris removal and the firefighting efforts on October 10th and 11th. Lakeshirts was one of the first vendors Maplelag associated with, designing the original Maplelag logo that was used and so popular today on the sweatshirts (we hope to get a order or two to sell the next few months)

Updates related to the actual fire and rebuild: we were informed by the fire Marshall the fire cause was ruled to be of an undetermined origin.

As mentioned in the last post, a decision on rebuilding will take some time. There are matters to sort out from insurance, future contracts, family matters and health issues and clarity on best course of action for how to rebuild. We have been meeting with family and friends to discuss building, drafting, architect and planning. We are gathering as much information as possible and being patient in the process to help make the best decision for all of us.