My dad will be taking my brother Courts and his kids Grant and Luke along with my brother-in-law Chris Taylor and his son Samuel and me and my son Will to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in July. I thought I might post a little bit about how our last trip went in 2011. The boundary waters are a group of natural lakes on the Canadian and Minnesota border where you have to hike in and they do not allow engines or boats. It is beautiful and the water is so clear and clean you can drink it right out of the lake.
Dad by himself in a canoe one evening
What the rules mean is that you have to carry everything you need for the week including your canoe. Our first hike or what they call a portage was a 280 rod jaunt (about 8/10 of a mile) into the Boundary water Canoe Area (BWCA) from the road. It took each of us two trips to get both canoes and all the food, equipment and gear to the water. I carried our 64 pound canoe on my shoulders with a food pack on my back for my first trip then I jogged back and strapped two packs on the front and back of my body with several other things in my hands. Needless to say that was a good workout, but I was pumped up and full of energy with all the excitement of getting there.
Map of put in spot and canoe route to campsite
We then paddled all the way through three big lakes to our campsite. It was about a 4 mile trip, which was another good workout. First, there was Little Gabro, then Gabro, then into Bald Eagle. There were some rapids going into Bald Eagle and with all our gear in the canoe we had to get out and carry it over a few rocks and into Bald Eagle Lake. Of course once we got to our campsite and unloaded everything we decided we didn’t like it, so we scouted around and found a better one and had to reload everything and transport it over to the new site. All in all, it was a full day of hiking, paddling and loading gear.
It is a long drive from Missouri to the Boundary Waters. We stayed in Ely, MN the first night and woke up early the next morning to do the portage and set up camp. The 2011 trip included dad, Courts, Grant and me.
Courts, Grant and Dad ready to head to the camp site.
Dad and Courts on the drive up to MN.
Here is a short video of us in Ely, Minnesota.