BWCA June 2021

The BWCA was a place I got to experience for the first time when I was young back in the 1980's. It's a unique and special place that is experienced by very few. A successful trip to the BWCA takes planning, good gear, and some mental toughness. Some good luck comes in handy to avoid uncomfortable weather conditions.

ARRIVAL TO ELY

We wanted to be sure to have some time to explore Ely, MN and do a bit of shopping for some last minute gear. Our best purchase was a camping knife, spoon, fork set that was a metal material that magnetized together and came with a tough plastic sheath to carrier them. They weren't cheap, but they were really cool and worked well.

To back up slightly, we left Joplin on Tuesday, June 1st and drove to Duluth, MN which I've heard is referred now as the "San Francisco of the Midwest". We drove out to the beach first to see Lake Superior. It was certainly much cooler on the beach than more inland. We gave everyone the option to eat at a unique beachside restaurant, but they settled on the Olive Garden. I guess they had "carbo load" on their minds for the canoeing ahead.

We got up early the next morning and knocked out the last 2.5 hours travel to Ely. We first stopped at the outfitter and met with Jason, the owner, at Ely Outfitting Company. Nevada and I have known Jason for about 10 years since he first opened his outfitting business. His business has really grown of the years and they had more construction going on again this year with a new gear storage building, new office, and a new bunk house for guests. We did any necessary paperwork and payment which is entirely online now. We purchase a couple maps, one for each canoe, and Jason began to discuss fishing areas on the map and potential day trips etc. I also rented a couple Duluth packs in addition to the Seal Line packs we brought with us.

Once we were geared up and had our permit, we went shopping along the main drag in downtown Ely. After spending a bunch of money we drove over to a nearby lake and beach and explored some islands connected by some bridges. I think everyone was impressed by the natural setting of the trees, lakes, and trails we were hiking. "Is this what the BWCA is like?" I would be asked, and yes trees, lakes, and trails for miles!! Chris found a restaurant to checkout that was also recommended by Jason. They specialized in burgers and had like 30 different kinds. It was a beautiful, calm, warm afternoon and we sat outside on the deck. These burgers were great, but they were $20 a piece.

International Wolf Center

Lauren's favorite animal is the wolf, so we certainly set aside some time to check out the wolves in Ely at the International Wolf Center. We watched a 15 minute live presentation on wolves and Lauren correctly answered the lecturer's question "What is a herbivore?" The family had fun watching the live wolves that live on site and appeared to be very curious about the guests watching through the large, hopefully strong, windows. They seemed to be focused more on the little kids when I heard their mother raise concern with the lecturer. To help put the mother at ease I suggested she have her kids wear red capes and hoods and carrier a picnic basket through the woods! Just kidding.

Bed & Breakfast

While the family lives in the woods with wolves, bears, snapping turtles, northern pike, an lots of mosquitoes! Chris opted instead to sleep indoors with a king size bed and served breakfast each morning. We got to check out her new digs for the next few days while we suffered. One morning she had breakfast with the kicker of the Minnesota Vikings and his family.

At our "Last Supper" we ate at the Insula Restaurant. We had a nice time and good meal while we talked about our trip ahead. Tomorrow was the day that six months of planning was going to be all about! God speed voyageurs! Want to watch a cool video on the Voyageurs in the early 19th century fur trade? Nevada and I would watch this video in Ely when we came north in the 1980's.

DAY ONE & TWO - WE ENTER THE BWCA

Lauren, Vivian, Madeleine and myself slept in a bunk house the night before we left. At 6:30 am we woke up and begin getting ready and packing our gear. Chris arrived at 7:00 am to meet us out and drive us the 30 min trip outside Ely to the entry point 25 on Moose Lake. Our packs and paddles were loaded in a flat bottom boat with a 25 horsepower motor and the canoes attached on top. At the entry point it was a light sprinkle, but no wind and spirits were high. We said our goodbyes to Chris and boarded ready to go. We road backwards to keep the wind and rain out of our faces. We had our rain gear on and otherwise were quite comfortable.

Weather

We were very lucky to enter the BWCA (Boundary Waters Canoe Area) just behind a passing thunderstorm on Thursday, June 3rd. We took a tow boat from entry point 25 on Moose Lake at about 8:00 am to a light sprinkle but calm and warm conditions. We all wore our rain gear and felt very excited if a little nervous about our 5 day 4 night trip ahead. The temperature was expected to be in the mid 80's to low 90's which is very unusual for the BWCA as we were at the northern end of Minnesota near the Canadian border. The days were warm to hot with calm to light breeze conditions.

Portage

After about a 25 min boat ride we arrived at our first portage where we took down the canoes and unloaded the 6 packs on a rocky shoreline. Still the light rain came, but it actually felt quite good and kept the temperature down. We had to "wet foot" at the portages, meaning you don't get the luxury of stepping out onto dry land when entering or exiting the canoe. The water approaching the portage was too shallow for the flat bottom boat, so we loaded the packs in the canoes and pushed the canoes the remaining 20 yards to the portage. Vivian volunteered to carrier a canoe while the rest of us each carried a pack and something in our hand like the camera bag, paddles, or fishing poles. We had to double portage, which really means we tripled portage because you have to walk the portage 3 times in order to make two trips with gear. It was a short portage, I've done several over the years that were a mile long. Carrying a 42 lbs canoe and a heavy 50-60 lbs pack for a mile will make you really appreciate a short portage. On those trips we single portage as you only want to go across one mile and not 3 miles as you would on a double portage, OUCH! Vivian carried the second canoe and Lauren also carried a 50 lbs pack which was impressive seeing that the pack was more than half her own weight, she did that twice! Safely across the portage we reloaded the canoes and begin our short trip across Splash Lake. It was easy paddling and Lauren was a great canoe partner. Vivian and Madeleine did a great job as well and kept up without issue.

Portage II - Up Stream

There is a very short portage from Splash Lake to Lake Ensign, our final destination. However, I read that many people go through the narrow creek rather than taking the portage. A canoe had just passed through that way and they confirmed it was deep enough to go via canoe up the short creek. The water was too quick to paddle through, but we got out and pushed the canoe in knee deep water and then reentered and kept going. It was a lot easier than portaging.

Lake Ensign

Lake Ensign is a popular destination in the BWCA as it's easy to get to with a tow boat and known for good fishing. Unfortunately, this can make finding a good campsite difficult. There was little wind so the paddling was easy but we covered a lot of lake before finding an "okay" campsite further down the lake than I was hoping for. I would give the site only 2 out of 5 stars. The best part of this campsite was our camp mates, the turtles. One evening we had six turtles hanging out with us while they dug holes and laid their eggs and buried them. It must be a real hoot to see the little turtles hatch and dig themselves out and make it down to the water whenever that time comes. Future campsite guests will get to see that miracle.

Mosquitoes, Black Flies, and Bugs!

Hands down the biggest drawback of the BWCA is the bugs. Mosquitoes are the worst, but black flies can have a really powerful punch when they bite. The girls used there bug head nets and lots of bug spray. Lauren used only her bug net and no bug spray, while I just toughed it out without a bug net or bug spray. I was probably stinky enough that the bugs were like "I'll just stay away from him". The girls were still feeling lovely out in the wilderness sporting their bug nets and bug bites.

Fishing

I had given it a lot of thought on how to go fishing with two inexperienced fisherman that would also be in their own canoe. My idea... was to canoe to a spot were we could drop shot a leach while we anchored the canoe with an anchor bag filled with a few big rocks. Eventually we pulled up the anchors and drifted with the leeches. I was able to catch a northern pike, smallmouth bass, and a walleye, none of which were worth keeping. Then Lauren hooks into a fish that was really giving her a fight. When I heard the line drag going off on her reel multiple times I knew she had a good fish on. It took her a bit, but she got it near the surface and I could tell it was a walleye and very big. She really wrestled with reeling it in. When she did get it to the surface, I was going to have to figure out how to get that big fish into our net. It took me a couple of attempts, but I managed to get the fish headfirst with most of his body and tail sticking outside the top of the net. Once safely in the boat we could laugh and show our excitement of the wonderful and very big walleye Lauren caught.

You can see Lauren's walleye she caught vs the walleye I caught. I threw my walleye back in the lake, but we filleted Lauren's and had him for dinner that night. Lauren called fried walleye "Chick-fil-a of the BWCA" and it was her favorite meal. That walleye fed all four of us with walleye to spare. GREAT CATCH, LAUREN!

Camping

We setup our camp. We had a large screen tent that you can stand up in and would easily allow all four of us and our gear to spread out and keep the bugs away. We called this screen tent our "porch". Lauren and Vivian shared a 3 person tent, while Madeline slept in a hammock. I also stayed in a hammock as I did on our 2019 trip. On this trip, however, I was attacked by mosquitoes who could bite through the bug net and hammock material. Because it was so warm I didn't sleep in my sleeping bag as I had done in the past which was a good protective barrier from the mosquitoes. Now that I know that downside, I'll keep it in mind on future trips.

Okay, so bugs are the worst part, but add in the fact that the bathrooms in the BWCA although spacious, they have their fair share of bugs too. Madeleine gives the bathrooms in the BWCA a big thumbs up!

Madeleine posing next to the toilet at campsite I

Swimming

Nearly every trip to the BWCA I venture into the water for a quick and I mean quick swim. Typically you can expect air temperatures to be around mid 70's in early June. Ice out in the BWCA may be only 30 days before, so the water is cold. On this trip the water was still cold, but the days were so warm that it really wasn't that bad and we did a lot of swimming for extended periods of time. At our first camp we walked over to a nearby rocky point to swim from.

The girls at the rocky point near campsite I

DAY 3 & 4- Camp Site II

Not being impressed with our first campsite and the fact it was a decent paddle away from our portage on exit day, I decided to move campsites after discussing it with the girls. This would give the girls the experience of tearing down and then setting up camp again. We found the first campsite when entering Lake Ensign available and it was a much better campsite than the first. It did not have the turtles lying eggs, but it was bigger, more open, great swimming and fishing as well. The only downside was it is a busy traffic area as a number of canoeist went by our camp as we were in the same bay as the portage. To me, that was a small price to pay for an upgraded campsite.

For all you folks a bit older who can remember the Nestea Plunge commercials. I did my own classic take, off a rock near our campsite.

The girls had fun sliding on the flat steep rocks along the shore into the deep water. I tried it myself a few times. Fortunately, no one fell and busted their head on a rock. 🙂

Everyone caught a fish, but the fishing wasn't great. Madeleine and Vivian went out for a bit in the canoe one evening in our bay at campsite II and Madeleine caught a walleye with a leech. Vivian caught a smallmouth bass on a leech using a bobber on our last full day fishing from shore at campsite II.

Swimming off the big rock at campsite II was fun and relaxing. We would fish from shore and sit our chairs in the water and let our feet stay cool in the water. It really was a fun day at camp those two afternoons.

Madeleine standing on a rock off campsite II

Lauren jumping off a rock at campsite II.

I got my nice camera out one afternoon and started taking some pictures. All were taken in a short span of time at campsite II.

Loon fishing for crawdads just off campsite II.

DAY 5 - EXIT THE BWCA

We had scheduled to meet the tow boat at the same location he dropped us off at noon on the 5th day. Like all the other days, we woke up to warm weather and calm conditions. My fear of having to paddle in the wind turned out to be of no concern. The girls slept in while I started packing some things up. I cast out the last leech on a bobber off camp and had a fish on when my line broke. Bummer.. fishing was officially over on this trip. At both campsites I saw smallmouth bass guarding their fish beds as they do at this time of year.

The girls got up and we began packing up all our gear and we hoped to canoe out starting at 11:15 am. Turns out we were a bit early and got started at 11:09. We easily went through the narrow water exiting Ensign into Splash lake. We covered that lake fairly quickly, but encountered a bit of a traffic jam at our final portage. A group was coming out that had only about 3-4 canoes but enough gear to fill 6 or more. There were two individuals in kayaks waiting for this group to load their canoes and move out of the way. The group wasn't able to get organized, so they moved things off to the side making some room for the kayakers and then us. We were in and out of the loading area in minutes. The group still trying to get into the BWCA was sill a long way from organizing all their gear in canoes.

There were several groups at the portage coming and going, but we saw our tow boat captain, Andy, and his flat bottom boat waiting for us. We loaded the canoes and pushed them to an area he could get to in his boat. Once the boat was loaded and canoes secured, we climbed in ready to leave the BWCA and have a good lunch, cold drinks, and air conditioning.

Wham, Pow, Chow

If I have that correct, Wham, Pow, Chow, was a game we played while Andy had to motor slow until he reached some deeper water to go fast. Andy explained the game and it went something like this. Wham was what you enjoyed most about the BWCA. Pow was the worst part and Chow was your favorite thing to eat. It was a fun way to pass several minutes and learn a little bit about what everyone enjoyed and hated. Everyone's Pow was the bugs, hands down!

Conclusion

My Grandfather took my Dad to northern Minnesota on family vacations as my Dad did for my brother Nevada and I. I'm excited to have been able to introduce the BWCA to my son and daughters and I certainly will continue to go back every couple years to enjoy the wilderness and fishing.

The sun, pale and faded, had settled behind a nest of mountains standing strong on the horizon. Darkness crept in slowly from above, shimmer stars trailing in its path. The gray, winter light shone on the endless miles of mountains and blue spruces, the sky a gradient of white to black. Deep below the spruces’ protection, the ground was laden with a freezing layer of snow, sparkling and sweeping into the air like dust. Under the steelblue needles of the spruce, a wolf with silver fur and a frosted muzzle was curled into a tight, warm mound. Her soft breath bellowed a white mist, writhing through the flurries as it dissipated into nothing. Safe from the bitter cold, she dreamt of her surroundings, silent and still, calm and quiet. No burden weighed in her mind. The winter had taken good care of her, snowy rabbits and foolish squirrels bounding directly into her claws, storms avoiding the mountain’s path, nights relatively warm under the thick, fine layers of her ashen coat.

A swift rush of restlessness passed through her, and her misty eyes blinked open, her acute senses slowly coming into focus. Her ear twitched with a sudden echoing noise. A deep, low thunder rattled the sky in the distance as the sun finally dipped below the ground and darkness overtook the mountains. Quick, unsteady flashes of light snapped behind a peak far beyond the wolf’s tree. An uneasy panic set aflame inside her chest, and her heart pounded as she leapt to her paws.
A wolf is wise, knowing, intelligent, and careful. Despite her experience alone and in the cold, she was without a pack. No ravens to guide her to prey, no home to return to at the day’s end. But nonetheless, she pressed on, and her slowly, listening steps quickened into a trot, then to a run. Another wolf’s skill is endurance. She leapt over snow-covered logs and dangerous drifts, the warning thunder and shattering lighting far behind. If the clouds began to rain, it would turn to snow; and fresh, powdery snow was the hardest to traverse. Her heart and breathing soon synced the smooth rhythm of her pace, a pattern she knew too well, a skill she’d perfected with knowledge and time. The key to endurance was consistency, keeping powerful footfalls on packed snow so she didn’t fall beneath the ice where she’d surely freeze to death.
A memory flickered in the back of her mind. An image. It was a deep cavern nestled under deep hills of the white powder, protected from the strengthening breeze that was beginning to stir the mountains. The wolf remembered how crystal icicles hung, cold and sharp, from the high ceiling. She saw this cave when she was trekking down the slopes, scouting for prey. The sparkling moonlit pools still lingered in her mind. It would make the perfect place to stay while the winter storm passed.

Tiredness tugged at her paws, slowing her down. It would be dangerous to stop now. Instead, she wound under firs and spruces, where the snow was sparser. It took some of the frozen strain off her footing. Soon, she rounded the large drifts and thick forests and was met with the beastly appearance of the cave. The entrance was seemingly consumed by snow, falling like white waterfalls over the gaping hole in the mountain. The wolf glanced at the sky. Gray clouds had covered the stars, roaring and growling ferociously with light and frozen rain. Quickly, she scurried inside, dodging sharp spears of ice and rock. The ground thankfully leveled out to a domed area with flat pools of water. Crouching beside the stillness, she lapped up the precious liquid in furious gulps. Heavy snow began to rain down outside the cave, rugged gale tearing at the forest outside.

Away from the danger, the wolf relaxed her aching muscles and her tail sheltered her from the worries of a frigid land. The coldness and loneliness of the empty wild seemed to fade as she fell into a soundless sleep.

A bright, steady light awoke her, startling her to her feet. But the cave was dark. So dark, in fact, the wolf could only see so far as the pool of water beside her, which had turned to ice. An uneasy sensation lay heavy within the cave as she searched frantically for hold. The stone floor of the cave had a thin layer of ice, where the condensation had frozen. She slid occasionally as she clawed for footing. It wasn’t very long before she found the translucent sheet of snow that lay like a blanket over the entrance. Panic sank into her fur with a fiery feeling. Her muzzle brushed apart the snow carefully. The entrance was blocked, but the storm appeared to be over. Only a still silence remained. The wolf heard a sudden crunching sound and a few heavy flakes of snow rained down from the frozen wall. She whimpered in fear and lept back, fur spiking. The wall would collapse if she continued digging, but she would die if she remained in the cave. Her thoughts focused on her empty stomach and her dry throat. She lapped up some water from the flat pool—she remembered where it was, of course—and wandered over to the frozen wall again. She stared, foggy eyes glistening with concern. Warily, she crept closer, nosing her way against the sharp snowflakes. A few more scattered down from above, but the gray morning light that traced through the snow to the other side was growing gradually brighter. To the wolf’s great relief, the latticework of snow was thinning.

Finally, she burst through the last of the snow with a leap like that of a fox. She crashed into a deep, powdery drift on the other side, the fresh cold burning her pelt. Something rumbled from above, and she struggled out of the drift, darting under a thick fir. She crouched, anxiously studying the shaking trellis of snow. It came crashing down in a heartbeat, white clouds of snow billowing from the cavern, stumbling down the slope and toward her like a landslide. In one cunning, swift motion, she spun on her paws and fled, bolting through the trees and snow. Her gray ears twitched with the sound of more snow falling. She’d caused an avalanche. And now she was fleeing toward life, death snapping at her tail. Wind whipped her left and right, and she finally stumbled into a small glen. Terror loomed in every corner. She shot out, muscles searing with pain, and scurried up a steep hill, where the snow would surely stop. She climbed, icy rocks scraping her paw pads as she clawed her way up the cliffside. Finally, panting out bitter air, she halted and stared down at the bleak landscape that’d almost killed her. The snowslide had foundered to a stop, leaving only the top halves of trees peeking out of the glacial rubble. The wolf shivered as she noticed it. The mountain of the cavern. A whole cliffside had shook free of its snow, now it was just barren rock. Somewhere deep below the white covering lay the entrance to the cavern, cold and lost. She felt a numbing loss as she suddenly forgot where she was. But she needn’t rely on knowledge, rather wisdom (as wolves do). She knew that on the other side of this mountain, prey would be safe and unknowing of the disaster that had happened. She would continue down the other side of the mountain, where she would survive and thrive throughout the rest of the bitter winter. When spring arose, she would prepare for the next winter, and the cycle would continue. It didn’t matter where she was, it mattered where she would be.

She was a wolf, after all.

--
~ Lauren Summer ~
~ 7th Grade ~