Mike and Bob, very friendly Belgian horses, were quite happy to pull eight people on a sleigh through the trails of Okontoe on Friday, February 26, 2010. The Patten family of Okontoe offer horse-drawn sleigh rides through the woods in the wintertime and wagon rides in the summertime. Summertime wagon rides bring guests to a re-created logging camp where a giant lumberjack breakfast is served.
On a starry warm winter night with the moon almost full, a team of Belgian horses trots through the woods of Okontoe, halfway up the Gunflint Trail. The horses do, indeed, know the way to carry the sleigh through the white and drifted snow.
The ride along the flat stretches is pretty tame, but each hill offers a little treat for thrill-seekers and inspires a little fear in the cautious as the horses put on speed to get up the rise.
…Okontoe entertained three sets of guests late into the evening of Friday, February 26, 2010. Mike and Bob and Jake and Christy took the second shift, Mike and Bob up front with bits in their mouths and Jake (Patten) and Christy (Miller) behind them with reins in their hands and stories on their lips….
With bright moonlight casting shadows all around and lanterns on posts along the way, one might half expect to meet up with the White Witch from the Chronicles of Narnia.
The trail bends around Bow Lake, which according to Christy is next to Arrow Lake or Quiver Lake – take your pick on the name of that one. It takes guests past the teeny log prayer chapel on a wooded hill that marks the spot where Mark and Nancy Patten got married in 1973. Past a re-created logging camp where the horses bring guests for lumberjack breakfasts on summer mornings.
Left: The Kissing Tree where the rides pause for a kiss.
Mike and Bob stop at the Kissing Tree. “We’re not going anywhere until somebody gets kissed,” Jake says. He isn’t lying.
Along the way, Christy tells guests how to find the North Star, identifies the shape of Orion’s Belt, points out the Big Dipper, the Little Dipper, Mars, and Pleaedes – the seven sisters.
When the ride is over, Nancy and her daughter-in-law, Jake’s wife Andrea, serve hot cocoa in their log cabin kitchen, where Mark tells the story of how he and Nancy acquired their first home. It was this room, a log cabin in Finland, Minnesota, which they disassembled, brought here, and reassembled, eventually adding onto it and raising their four children in it.
The property is a special place for Mark and Nancy and their family. Nancy’s parents, Bill and Willie Barr, spent years in India when Nancy was young and after some time in Ohio ended up buying these 100 acres and founding Okontoe Fellowship, a Christian family camp, retreat, and outreach to people who need a loving place to be. Even horses are welcome, with 13 sites set up for equestrian camping.
It’s easy to be thrilled standing under the frosty breath of two friendly Belgian horses, awed cuddling under quilts on a sleigh meandering through the woods on a bright winter night, calmed sipping hot chocolate from a blue speckled enamelware cup while listening to warm-hearted stories.
It’s an evening that deserves repeating at least once a year. It was a wonderful birthday gift for this reporter.
For information on how to enjoy this experience for yourself or arrange it for your friends or loved ones, go to www. okontoe.com/, send an email to okontoe@ boreal.org, or call Pattens at (218)388- 9423 (October 1 – April 30) or (218)388- 2285 (May 1 – September 30).
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