Boundary Water Canoe Area (BWCA)

Monday – Aug. 25th

We woke to freshly made steel-cut oats, which were heavily discussed the night before. Of course, the oats were mixed with blueberries from Bayfield, WI. We some goodbyes to Mary, we were off heading north on Hwy 61 to Grand Marais and the Gunflint trail. The BWCA permit was picked up at the gunflint Trail Rangers station. The news was that there were no fires allowed in the BWCA due to the dry conditions over the summer. This would turn out to be actually a good thing.

We got to The Way of the Wilderness Outfitters at the end of the Gunflint trail shortly before noon. Picked up our We-No-Nah Minnesota III canoe along with “Duluth” packs and headed to the waters edge. All the gear was loaded by around 12:30pm and Dad, Kristen, and I were off for +4 days of canoeing and camping.

The weather was great that day with clear sunny skies and little wind. Traditionally, wind in the Boundary Waters equates to white capped swells on the lake and more than likely it will be against you. Good if you are surfing – bad if you are in a loaded canoe.

We made it to our campsite by around 3:30 – 4:00 pm. With a quick tutorial on how to erect the Sierra Designs tent, we had made a nice home for the evening. Now it was time to filter water, swim, and relax. Dad and Kristen went out on the lake to filter enough water for the night while I donned by swim cap, goggles, and went for a great swim around a near by island. One important thing for me throughout the week was to get some good workouts in as I had a triathlon on Sept. 7th.

Dinner was the traditional bratwurst (No Kraut!) and a few handfuls of trail mix. We all enjoyed sitting together that night, drinking hot chocolate, and watching the sunset. This became the evening entertainment. We did not even miss having fire.