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Photos circulated Friday afternoon of canoes submerged in lake waters near Ely. 

The photos were taken by Owen Schlehuber, a staffer at the YMCA camp Widjiwagan. These historic boats are a symbol of the canoe culture of the Boundary Waters area, and Schlehuber says the crew rallied to protect the camp's heritage in a worst-case scenario.

“Almost like we were putting everything on pause, and knowing that they were going underwater was calming for me,” he told MPR News host Clay Masters. “It was nice to put them underwater because, regardless of what else happens, I would be able to pull them up again at some point.”

On Friday, Widjiwagan camp equipment had been loaded into a trailer and staff were ready to head to another location. Ben Hoffman, Widjiwagan’s executive director, said the camp has more than 100 boats and decided to sink those that need extensive repairs.

That doesn’t mean the camp is ready to abandon its home.

“The symbols of our paddles, our canoes, our maps, our sashes and hats that hang in our tripping center, those are all reflective of the amazing things that's happened, and also the amazing things that will continue to,” Hoffman told Masters.

The camp will remove the canoes and continue repairs in the future. 

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Photos are circulating Friday afternoon of canoes submerged in lake waters near Ely. The photos were taken by Owen Schlehuber, a staffer at the YMCA camp Widjiwagan.

In Ely, submerged canoes are symbol of hope

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