It is never a good idea to pause between a 194-degree sauna and the mind-bending frigidity of Lake Superior in February. As sweat cools on skin, the rational mind kicks in. Why submit the body to such unrelenting shock, it asks. I know this voice well. Yet here I am, on a cobblestone beach in Grand Marais, Minn., with precious heat steaming off my head, pausing to contemplate the wave-sculpted ice that appears to be growing toward the sky like stalagmites.

Map locates Lake Superior, and in Michigan: Keweenaw Peninsula, Eagle Harbor, Copper Harbor, Houghton and Ironwood. Bayfield, Wisconson, and Duluth and Grand Marais, Minnesota are also shown.

CANADA

50 MILES

ONTARIO

The prime minister and the billionaire business leader have bonded over the years. They share concerns about artificial intelligence and declining birthrates in Western countries, which Mr. Musk has called an existential threat to civilization.

Eagle

Harbor

Lake

Vermilion

Grand

Marais

Copper

Harbor

Lake Superior

MINNESOTA

Keweenaw Peninsula

Duluth

Houghton

26

Bayfield

Ironwood

MICHIGAN

35

53

8

Minneapolis

45

94

WISCONSIN

Lake

Michigan

By The New York Times

By the time the lapping waves hit my calves, my feet are already numb. The air temperature is 30 degrees Fahrenheit, a heat wave for February. So, I take the plunge, submerging myself into the 34-degree water long enough to feel the full-body electric tingle before hurrying back to the warm embrace of Sisu + Löyly Nordic Sauna (its Finnish name translates to “Grit +Steam”). With a red exterior and a dramatic perch on a jagged rock ledge above the lake, this 90-minute, $86 private experience makes me feel like I’ve been transported to a spa on the Baltic Sea.

ImageWater is poured onto the rocks at Sisu + Löyly Nordic Sauna, in Grand Marais, Minn., whose Finnish name translates to “Grit and Steam.”Credit...Jenn Ackerman for The New York TimesImageAfter getting hot in the sauna, guests jump into Lake Superior for the one-two punch of hot and cold that many sauna enthusiasts love.Credit...Jenn Ackerman for The New York Times

Back in the sauna I ladle water onto the electric stove, which is a pile of rocks in a wire basket, and wait for the löyly to wash over me, relaxing every muscle. As I take in the bruised sky above a slate-gray winter lake, framed like a painting by the picture window, I realize that if I’m going to make it through this 750-mile-long, sauna-hopping road-trip, I’m going to need to drink more water.

The sauna boom

The culture of sauna — the only commonly used Finnish word in the English language — is exploding in the United States. The U.S. sauna market is projected to grow to $526 million by 2028, up from $390 million in 2023, according to the market research firm Technavio.

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