Magic of the North
Published 7:10 am Saturday, July 28, 2018
- An enchanced panorama looking south over Bad Axe and including the Milky Way.
Photos and Text by Eric Johnson
photodesk@austindailyherald.com

One of our amphibian neighbors outside the cabin our family rents.
For years my family has taken the first week of July off and returned to a second home of sorts.
That second home is a small resort in north central Minnesota, north of Park Rapids called Isle O’Dreams. Situated on a peninsula jutting into the lake Bad Axe, the resort is as familiar as my birth home, as familiar as Austin.
It’s also a haven for fantastic scenery and a frequent target for my camera.

A family of loons spent much of their time just off of our cabin. This is one of the parents letting me know I was getting a little close.
Whether its the resort itself -— day or night — or nearby Itasca State Park, this area tends to take me away from everything else, everyday problems.
It’s a gorgeous environment that almost makes it impossible to come back to the rest of the world again.
These are just some of the shots I came away with this year.

A trail of trees and stars leads the way to Isle O’Dreams resort north of Park Rapids.

Even the storms take on a different look when they come in over a lake.

One final sunset before we headed home.