Wilderness Outfitters Closed

We are super sorry to hear the doors of Wilderness Outfitters in Ely, Minnesota have been closed. According to newspaper reports the business was shut down by the IRS for failure to pay taxes.

“A search by the News Tribune found at least five active federal tax liens against the business and its owners, Gary and Marcy Gotchnik of Ely, filed with the county recorder’s office. The state of Minnesota has two liens against the business and its owners.  The liens are for tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid taxes.”

We met Gary when we first bought Voyageur Canoe Outfitters in the early 1990’s. We used to travel all  winter to attend Sport and Travel Shows and Gary attended the same ones.  He was super kind and friendly to us, the new outfitters on the Gunflint Trail.  I enjoyed hearing stories about all of his family’s wilderness adventures in the BWCA before it was ever the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

We never like to hear about the misfortune of others and hope Gary and Wilderness Outfitters will be back in business again soon.