Our guest cabins are heated with propane, but the lodge itself has a wood stove. Over 25 years ago when our friends first came out here and started Caribou Lodge they had the 400 lb wood stove flown in here and then had to start gathering wood immediately. It wasn't winter so they hiked down into the trees, gathered what was manageable, and then proceeded to strap the pieces onto their backpacks. The military pack boards that Mike, Pam, and their son Aaron used to haul firewood on their backs are still here today. I would have to verify with Mike to be 100% certain, but I believe they bought their first snowmobile the first or second year they were out here. That 1 machine helped a lot in gathering firewood in future years. We still use that 1992 Yamaha Bravo out here every winter, along with the 1994 model that Mike and Pam bought a couple years later. They both still run great and have a lot of power for such small machines.
Skip forward to recent years...We have owned the lodge since 2014 and have acquired 4 more snowmobiles (we have 6 total now). Thankfully we have never had to pack firewood home on our backs. We have snowmobiles and some sleds that carry heavy loads, and have gathered firewood for the lodge this way now ever since.
Watch this video we made about one of our firewood cutting outings. HOPE YOU ENJOY!