The annual Boundary Waters Trip.

Each spring/early summer we are among the privileged people who take advantage of the amazing wilderness area in our very own State-and drive to the BWCA.

Each year is a little different….often just us two….until we added Sage to the mix. We cut his first wilderness trip extremely short after a night of doggy vomit and diarrhea I can only hope to forget (and obviously never will). The following year was just a few weeks after my ACL repair surgery. We kept that trip short and closer to home. This year though….we were ready. We had a great location planned, a knee in way better condition and a pup with a now mature stomach that could handle pond water and whatever random junk he always finds to munch on.

We opted for our earliest put in date yet-May 14th. We wanted to go early, preferring to beat the bugs and the crowds. But believe me when I saw I was SWEATING watching for ice out dates along The Gunflint Trail. Many lakes didn’t have full ice out until May 6th or 7th.

Water that cold (even when air temps are warm) is what I refer to as ‘lethally cold’. If you can not get out fast enough, it will kill you. In fact a paddler had already perished on the Ely side of the wilderness the week before our departure. Despite our paddling skills and our level of preparation, looking at the size of some of the first lakes, considering the weather and taking into account a dog with his own agenda would also be in our boat….water temp was in the forefront of my mind. In the end, that anxiety did detract a bit of the fun for me.

We also decided for the first time to portage with DRY feet. Given how cold the water would be, we had little desire to jump into knee deep water and travel for 3-4 hours with soaked and frozen feet. Clunking numb body parts with heavy packs on rugged trails is fun and all but… We opted for knee high Xtra Tough boots and daaaaaaang were they nice! We already owned these boots. Using them in the shoulder seasons for sloppy snow and cold rain conditions. They are not cheap-but we agree worth every penny. It was a challenge for us to keep tabs on water depth, and make sure we could get out of the boat without hitting bottom or rocks and without swamping our boots-once we got the hang of it we were delighted with the comfort.

We packed up our gear, following our trusty packing list-find it in our ‘Packing’ post here; and headed north! One thing we have since added to our list? Extra Go-Pro batteries. The video abruptly ends and missed the entire last day as the camera died….again…..we’ve got backups now.

Our first day, we spent about 4 hours traveling to camp. We had 4 pretty decent portages, many with actual canoe landings-big perk. We had a little bit of wind, but after traveling on a rather large lake at the put-in we had smaller, more protected lakes for easier paddling.

We set up camp on a point, and settled in for a hearty dinner.

This trip we wanted to try several new recipes and also use up any freeze dried meals that were taking up space or expiring. Yes….they do expire. Night one we enjoyed Dinty Moore beef stew over egg noodles for a delicious stroganoff style meal. I vacuum sealed the soup before we left, as well as some sour cream that I froze on a whim. The sour cream looked a little more sour than cream after the freezer so we skipped it and barely missed it. Dessert was nearly expired freeze dried cheesecake bites that were a little lack luster and very crumbly…. you can’t win them all.

That night after a breath-taking sunset, we had a chilly sleep snuggled in our down with Sage to keep us warm!

Breakfast the next morning was the real hero of the trip-let me tell you! Avocado toast!! I brought the avocado in my trusty gelato container so it wouldn’t get crushed, mixed it with a guacamole seasoning packet, tossed it on a toasted bagel with bacon crisped in the pan and shizzaaammm! Delicious….best ever.

The day continued as many do in the wilderness, rain, sun, clouds, calm…..cold, hot, swim, fish…

That night after an incredibly disappointing meal of mac and cheese with hotdogs (I had Mountain House Mac and Cheese-I don’t remember buying it, I would have just brought Kraft…..but I’m not gonna waste it) we listened to the weather as we do each morning and night. We planned to keep tabs on rain in the coming days, wind direction the next day and the dropping temps. When we heard that the area just 20 miles away was under a severe storm watch and tornado warning we bomb-proofed camp as much as we could and tucked into the tent to do the only thing you can do….wait it out.

That night was the most severe weather we have ever experienced under nylon and more severe than I care to experience again. Hail in a tent-is just not fun. Thunderstorms in a tent with a dog sensitive to sound-also not fun. In the time that we sat that, I contemplated a lot of things. Bringing a dog on a spring trip (since severe weather is more prevalent in the spring), the likelihood of me perishing under said nylon (still low) or if there were better options available to me (I decided there wasn’t). We sat there while stakes were pulled right from the ground, and fixed them. We sat while the water pooled all over camp since the ground had been so dry prior (fires and firebans were active in the BW at the time) and couldn’t soak up the water fast enough and ran towards our tent. We sat that there and didn’t speak, because the thunder and lightening crashes were so load we couldn’t hear each other anyway….

After hours the storms finally passed and we allowed ourselves to give over to sleep. The next morning was cold…..like low 40’s high 30’s cold….the storm having pushed the warm air away, replacing it with a low pressure system of cold, wind, rain and even snow.

We opted to pack up and head for indoors. Assessing camp proved nothing had been damaged (except our nerves) a small miracle; and the days weather was calling for more rain and continued dropping temps with high winds making fishing and camp life difficult. Having nothing to prove we headed home.

We paddled back in rain the entire time. At times I would think ‘oh it’s really raining now’ and then it would always rain harder. We traveled in full rain gear allllll day, so thankful for our boots, and given the cold temps didn’t even over heat under all the Gore-Tex.

We unthawed the next day in Grand Marais and the following morning the North Shore was blanketed in snow. We love snow, and we love the BW in snow….you can read/watch about our last trip, but that wasn’t what we were going for in May. We were very happy with our decision to come out warm, safe and dry excited to plan the rest of our summer adventures!

In all, our trip (like any other trip) taught us lessons, gave us some things to evaluate moving forward and still offered an opportunity to soak up all the wilderness has to offer; the beauty, the calm and the strength and power.

Thats all for now. If you enjoy reading/watching-please interact/like/subscribe with this blog on Youtube so I know if anyone actually gets anything from these posts!

We’ve had a busy summer of adventure and you won’t want to miss out on what happens next!! Thanks for reading-now get out and enjoy some Days Off!