I have a small picture that I keep by my desk. It's a cartoon drawing of a tent, mountain bike and canoe. At the bottom it reads, "Home is where you stake it."

I like that phrase. I truly believe it, too. In fact, I often say that I judge the quality of my life by how many nights I spend in tent. Maybe that's why I like doing expeditions so much. I am more comfortable in my sleeping bag than in a bed.

Still, there is something to be said about home. The North Woods and Grand Marais is mine. It feels good to be back after nearly two months on the road. Settling into my life here, I realize why I have chosen this place over so many others. Lake Superior, the Sawtooth Mountains and a nearly infinite wilderness right past my doorstep, I hardly want for more.

But, I do and soon after I arrived I was out the door and heading for a short winter camping trip in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. In the summer, this is the most popular wilderness area in the lower 48. In winter, it is as empty as it is vast. Seeing Grand Marais after so long was great, but leaving my car and skiing toward the portage into Swamp Lake was incredible. I love this place.

An unusually warm and humid wind condensed frosty over nearly every tree and shrub along our route. Following the bottom arch of Horseshoe Lake, the pines, firs and birch looked completely whitewashed. And quiet - our skis soft swoosh, the only sound.

"Moose tracks," Kate observed quietly. "I was hoping to see some." Moose tracks, wolf tracks, otter slides, pine marten prints, the hatched pattern of a grouse walking. Snow is magic. It reveals the habits and foibles of every winter resident.

"Here is where a one fell through the ice. There is where they danced in circles," she speculates. Follow the trail far and long enough and you will understand its creator better than if you had seen it walk by.

Is it any surprise to you that I love this season here?

In related winter news, The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has officially listed the polar bear as a 'threatened' species, due to the meltdown of its sea-ice habitat caused by global warming.

This is a huge victory for polar bears and comes in response to a lawsuit filed last December under the federal Endangered Species Act by Greenpeace, Center for Biological Diversity, and NRDC. Our summer expedition to the North Pole helped garner 200,000 signatures to the petition for this historic action.