Sunday, December 4, 2011

Appalachian Trail - Harper's Ferry

So today I decided to take a break before my next round of finals and go to Harper's Ferry in West Virginia to check out the Appalachian Trail! As someone who has spent a lot of time in the Wilderness of Northern Minnesota the Appalachian Trail had always interested me, so I decided there was not time like the present to go check it out.

Obviously the Appalachian Trail is probably most famous for the infamous attempts at "Through hiking" it. Meaning hiking the 2,100+ miles from Georgia to Main all at once. Doing so takes between 4-6 months and only about 25% of those who start it manage to successfully finish it.



As I just had one day I did what many other people do which is go to one of the many trail heads and do a day hike on the Appalachian Trail. So I headed to Harper's Ferry which is only about 60 miles from DC. Harper's Ferry is a neat area because in addition to being in the Appalachians it is also the location of the intersection of the Shenandoah and the Potomac Rivers.

I hiked North on the trail up to the Weverton Cliffs which overlook Harper's Ferry and the two rivers there. While the area was quite scenic I must admit that it was a bit "busier" than I would have preferred. The Cliffs had a nice overview of the rivers, mountains, and the surrounding areas but also of a major highway and railway which were constantly busy. Also there were a lot of people out on the trail, a function no doubt of the fact that it was 50 degrees and sunny out in December! 
Weverton Cliffs
Hiking down the Appalachian Trail
After enjoying the cliffs I decided to hike further North along the trail to get a bit further away from everything. As I went further along the trail I ran into fewer people and the noise of civilization dissipated. Later down the trail I discovered one of the many shelters that exist along the trail. Apparently they build and maintain actual backwoods structures or cabins for people to camp in. I thought this a bit over the top based on my time in the BWCA (which is 100% traditional tent camping) but at the same time having a more sturdy structure to stay in from time to time I imagine could be nice. When I got to the structure it was already claimed for the night with a number of tents already sent up nearby (I guess there is no 9 person maximum rule here).

Shelter on the Appalachian Trail
Goat!
Back at the Weverton Cliffs for Sunset
I imagine that like most wilderness places the Appalachian Trail would be best if you had several days that way you could get away from the more populated areas and day hikers (like me!) and thereby find more solitude. While this section of the trail might not exactly be what I am used to in Northern Minnesota or the BWCA it still was really nice to get outside and hiking on a warm sunny day in December before getting back to hitting the books once again for finals!

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Pagami Creek Fire

Earlier this summer I blogged about a small fire in the BWCA not too far from Tuscarora Outfitters. Ultimately not much came of the fire as it stayed small and eventually went out. Well since I left Tuscarora a new fire started in the BWCA and has grown to somewhat staggering proportions. In one day alone it more then doubled in size from 4,500 acres to 11,000 acres and is very much still burning and growing thanks to generally dry conditions and plentiful wind in the area. Whats more the fire has been large enough that people not only can smell (and be bothered by) the smoke in most of the BWCA but also as far south as the Twin Cities!

While the fire is a fair distance away from Tuscarora Outfitters (around 35 miles away) its affects are more then visible. Below are several pictures taken by Rachel Swenson, a co-worker of mine from Tuscarora. Needless to say the pictures are quite impressive.










Saturday, September 10, 2011

Working in the BWCA: A Summer in Review

This past summer while working at Tuscarora Lodge and Outfitters I cannot tell you the number of times I was talking to clients and had them tell me how lucky I was to spend my summer living on the Gunflint Trail on the edge of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Often Clients will admit wishing they had done something similar when they were younger and/or tell their children that they should consider working on the trail when they are old enough.

In response to these types of comments and my desire to simply give a final blog summing up my experience working in the BWCA I have decided to write a type of review of my summer job. I hope it proves to be both interesting to those simply curious what a summer working up north entails and informative for those who might be interested in doing it themselves in the future!

BWCA Location & Employer – The first major decision I (or anyone) had to make before the summer was deciding where to work. As the BWCA is a large Area one can work in a number of different locations ranging from Ely, to the Sawbill Trail, to the Gunflint Trail. I choose the Gunflint Trail as it is more remote and less touristy then the Ely side. This is not to say that Ely would not be a fun place to work, but the culture and experience would be extremely different given the presence of a larger town (at least in comparison to Grand Marias), for example many of the outfitters in Ely expect you to live in Town as opposed to on site. For me the Gunflint Trail provided a more unique and genuine Northwoods experience for the summer.

Beginning of the Gunflint Trail in Grand Marais Minnesota

Another big thing to think about is who you work for? Do you want to work for an outfitter, a camp, the DNR, a resort, or somewhere else? Each place has its own kind of culture and different work that you will be doing. Also as you will be living there all summer, think carefully about the owners and your potential co-workers as you will be with them 24 I worked for an outfitter because it allowed me to work with people speifically interested in doing BWCA trips and because it gave me great access and supplies for doing my own BWCA trips throughout the summer. If you want to be in the BWCA guiding trips most of the summer, a camp (such as wilderness canoe base or one of the YMCA camps) would probably be a better option. The downside to guiding or working at a camp is that you are always doing someone else's trip, as opposed to going on your own trips. Working for the DNR also can get you into the BWCA a decent amount doing campsite and portage maintenance. Resorts have a different sort of feel as you do more cleaning, restaurant service, and other more general summer job tasks.

Tuscarora Lodge and Outfitters Logo

Outfitter Work Duties – There are two major positions at many of the outfitters, housekeeping and outfitting. As one might expect housekeepers tend to spend most of their cleaning bunkhouses, cabins, showers, bathrooms, and other facilities around camp. Outfitters on the other hand spend most of their time scrubbing and cleaning outfitting gear such as canoes, Duluth packs, cook kits, tents, life jackets, sleeping pads, tarps, and much more. Regardless of whether you are a housekeeper or an outfitter the truth of the matter is most of your time at work is spent cleaning or scrubbing something, any allusions of these being easy jobs where one spends most of their time in BWCA canoeing or simply chatting with customers are misplaced.

Raking and cutting down trees as a part of general camp maintenance (also notice the black flies get so bad that it is even necessary to resort to head nets at times!)

All that said while these can be physically tiring jobs, they are more than doable and the staffs are often filled with college and graduate aged students that are a lot of fun to work with. Furthermore Outfitters do have several jobs which are quite enjoyable, specifically shuttling clients to the different entry points along the gunflint trail and tow boat driving on Lake Saganaga. Once again though these jobs make up only a minority of the work we do throughout the summer.

Getting ready to go on a Tow to American Point

A final comment relating to jobs, at most of the outfitters and lodges it tends to be (but is not always the case) that outfitting staffs are made up of men while women make up most of the housekeeping staffs. This is what it is (whether it is sexist or simply occurs due to the nature of the work I will leave for others to decide).

Social Life – When work finishes for the day (for me this was normally at around 3:00 pm) there is always plenty to do. Fishing, swimming, tanning, and afternoon day trips in the BWCA are just some of the things we did after work. In addition every week the majority of the staffs on the gunflint trail meet up for different social events. Every Saturday evening we had bonfires at Seagull Lake’s Blakenburg Landing while Tuesday evenings were normally spent at a local establishment (this past year we normally went to Hungry Jack Lodge) enjoying a few drinks while playing pool, darts, and other games. It was also common for people to meet up to play volleyball and Ultimate Frisbee most weeks throughout the summer.

Staff members from all over the Gunflint Trail at Bearskin Lodge

In addition weekly social activities a number of larger events occur throughout the summer on the Gunflint Trail and in Grand Marais. The 4th of July and Fisherman’s Picnic (a local festival) provide great chances to go into Grand Marais to enjoy, among other things, good food, games, parades, and fireworks. The other major event of the summer is the Gunflint Canoe Races in which all the different outfitting staffs (and some adventurous tourists) compete in a number of canoeing races ranging from long distance paddling to gunnel pumping.

Gunflint Canoe Races at Gunflint Lodge in mid July

Needless to say a summer on the gunflint trail, while away from civilization is still full of fun social activities.

Days off – Days off if spent right will be the highlight of your summer. This is your chance to explore the BWCA. While many places only give their employees one day off a week it is possible to stretch them and make them count. One option is to “bank” days off and then take several days off in a row for a longer trip. Another option is to ask for a late start the day after your day off in order to increase your trip another night. Otherwise many people choose to simply leave after work the day before their day off and spend one night and the following day in the BWCA. No matter how you want to do it, if you are motivated and able bodied it is possible for you to see a large portion of the BWCA. While clients and guests may only do 5-10 miles a day on trips, it is more than possible to do 20-30 miles of canoeing and portaging in a 24-36 hour period and see large sections of the BWCA.

On top of the Seagull Palisades during a trip on a day off

All that said some prefer to take it easy on their days off in which case there are tons of nice easy day trips in the BWCA, places to go fishing, hiking, swimming, or the possibility to go do to Grand Marais for the day.

Canoeing Seagull Lake

Compensation – From time to time people do ask what you make working in the BWCA. My normal response is that I did not come up here for the summer to get rich but I do not think you do that bad either, especially once you consider the other benefits you get. Specifically free food and lodging are two huge benefits that save you tons of money. Not all employers offer these so make sure to check when talking about compensation. Also it is worth know what the housing situation is as the quality of staff housing also varies from place to place. At some employers you may have a roommate while at others you may have a ton of space to yourself. A final major benefit most outfitters provide their employees is permission to use any of their gear free of charge (canoes, Duluth packs, cook kits, water filters…etc.). Once you consider all these extra benefits that you receive when you work at an outfitter, plus what you are actually getting paid I personally think it is more then a fair deal.

The guys dorm at Tuscarora Lodge and Outfitters

My room (you do not have roommates at Tuscarora), while nothing spectacular it was more then enough for me as I spent most my time outside doing other things (such as swimming, fishing, hiking, canoeing etc...)

From my perspective working on the Gunflint Trail on the edge of the BWCA is a great job and life experience. If you are willing to put up with some hard and sometimes monotonous work and are not focused solely on making tons of money, working in the BWCA provides you a great opportunity to meet some great people and have an amazing experience exploring the BWCA. If you have any questions about working at Tuscarora or at an Outfitter in general please feel free to contact me (carl.hoeg@gmail.com).

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Two Final Adventures

The end of my Summer at Tuscarora turned into quite the whirlwind. After helping the Ahrendt family move down to Stillwater Minnesota (Sue Ahrent is working as a professor of Math Education this winter at Wisconsin River Falls), I had earned several extra days off for all the overtime work I had done. So naturally I was planning to use the extra time off to do something really adventurous such as potentially canoeing to Ely and back solo! But it was not to be as during my last week at Tuscarora my Grandmother passed away. The extra time off proved helpful as it allowed me to leave early to go to her funeral while still fulfilling my full work commitment to Tuscarora, and to be honest it was really nice to have some extra time to spend with all my family and friends before I headed out to DC for classes the following week.

So while there was not final great adventure during my last week of the summer I did do two other trips in August that I have failed to blog about previously. The first was a solo canoe trip from Poplar Lake to Round Lake and the other was doing the Caribou Rock Hiking Trail which goes from the trail center area of the Gunflint Trail all the way out to Rose Lake and Stairway Falls.

My trip from Poplar Lake to Round Lake is one of the more common routes we sent clients on throughout the summer, so it was fun to finally do the route and get to see the area for myself! Below is a map of my route and some pictures from my trip. Enjoy!

My Route: 25 Miles. I started from Poplar Lake and went to Otto Lake the first night where I camped. The second day I went to Long Island Lake where I stopped early in the day to relax and make camp (and get out of the huge headwinds). The final morning (I had a late start for work that day) I got up and canoed back to Round Lake.

On my first portage, a 300 rod portage from Poplar to Meeds Lake, I came across another trail, the Banadad Ski Trail! A couple winters ago my brother and I XC skied this entire trail which is over 30 km long.

Canoeing into the sunset to make it to Otto Lake the first night

Me after a portage

Campsite on Long Island Lake

A small northern I caught on the trip

The full moon rises over Long Island Lake

My final morning and sunrise of the summer in the BWCA

My last day off (I did not realize that it would be at the time) I did not end up going on a trip into the BWCA as I was a bit exhausted from both work and from all the long trips I had done. So instead I stayed in camp and slept in on my day off. Not wanting to waste the day though I went down towards trail center and hiked the Caribou Rock Trail. Round trip the hiking trail is about 7 miles long, in addition it goes up and down some huge ravines so it is definitely a more challenging hiking trail. The other interesting thing about this trail for me is the fact that I actually went on a BWCA trip years ago with my Church to Rose Lake to see Stairway Falls. The funny thing is we spent 4 days going out to Rose and back and never saw the falls, now in one afternoon I managed to make it all the way to the falls and back. I guess I am just a bit more fast (and efficient) then we were back then.

The Hiking Trail (approximately) round trip way 7 miles

Bearskin Lake

Duncan Lake

Stairway Falls

Me at Stairway Falls

Monday, August 8, 2011

Frost River Loop

Last week in addition to my normal day off of work I also had a late start the following day (meaning I did not have to be at work till 1:00 pm). This allowed me to have almost 48 hours off in a row and as a result do a two night trip into the BWCA.

Once again I ended up doing this trip solo, as no one else from my outfitter had the exact same time frame off. As I had longer off then normal I decided to pick a longer and more challenging route then I had done in the past. I choose to do the Frost River Loop. Advisable in the early spring when water levels are high, by early August it can be a bit more difficult to navigate. While the route does not have too many long portages (although I did do the 428 rod Tuscarora Portage for the 7th time this summer) it still had over 30 portages total and that does not include the 15-20 beaver dams I had to portage over as well. As I was also going down a river I opted to bring an 15 foot aluminum canoe on this trip as opposed to a single person lightweight Kevlar canoe, which I brought on my previous two solo trips. So needless to say by the time the trip was over I was quite exhausted. None the less it was a fun and challenging route through a very beautiful area of the BWCA.

Below are some pictures that illustrate my trip, enjoy!

My Route: 30 Miles, I started on the Cross River and camped on Frost Lake the first night. The second day I canoed the Frost River and made my way all the way to Tuscarora Lake where I camped for the second night before going back to camp.

The view from my campsite on Frost Lake

The Frost River (although creek, swamp, or brook would all be more appropriate terms)

Canoeing down the Frost

One of the many beaver dams I had to get over

Canoeing a lake at the end of the Frost River



Turkey Vultures eating a dead moose I came upon on Mora Lake

A small northern I caught on Tuscarora Lake

Sunset over Tuscarora Lake

Friday, July 22, 2011

515 Rods

Portages, love or hate them are a big part of the BWCA experience. You really cannot get anywhere without at least hiking some in-between lakes. Sure you can choose to stay on one lake your whole trip or simply go down a river, but such trips miss out on so much more that the BWCA has to offer. These days though people are increasingly doing shorter trips to only the periphery of the BWCA and not working their way into the interior as much (Forest Service latrine cleaning statistics back this fact up, specifically periphery lake campsites have a lot more you know what in their latrines!). Reason being is that doing so requires a lot more canoeing and a lot more portaging, people would rather set up camp a couple lakes in and relax as opposed to pushing themselves to see a larger portion of the wilderness.

While I have done some trips this summer that have been a bit more on the lazy side, my most recent solo was definitely not! While I did not cover as much mileage as some of my past trips my trip did take me through a route that is traveled by only a handful of daring souls each year. While my route was not exactly deep in the BWCA, people avoid it for a completely different reason.....a dreaded 515 Rod portage! Not only is this portage 1.60 miles long, but the elevation change is brutal as one is constantly going up and down over huge rolling hills.

My Route: Seagull Lake to Round Lake. I originally planned to just spend my entire day off on Seagull relaxing, but when morning came I decided I wanted something a bit more challenging (and perhaps insane). The Entire route is around 15 miles, the first marker (going North to South) is my starting point, the second my campsite, and the third was my final destination of Tuscarora Outfitters on Round Lake. The large portage is from Seagull Lake to JA Paulson Lake

Of course 515 rods and massive elevation change was not enough for me so I decided to do this portage solo (meaning I got to carry all my gear and my boat) and I did it on one of the hottest days of the summer (90+ degrees, sunny, and very high humidity). Needless to say by the time I finished it I was exhausted (although I did find a bit more strength to filter some more water to drink!). Unfortunately the long 515 rod portage was only my first portage of the day and I still had 10 more to go in order to make my way back to Round Lake and Tuscarora Outfitters.

So after a quick rest I was on my way cutting across more lakes and portages. Surprisingly by the end of the day the dreaded 515 Rod portage was not my least favorite of the day. Upon arriving on Fay Lake I was unable to locate the portage to Flying Lake. I searched several deer trails and other potential paths and was completely exasperated. Finally after about 45 mins of searching I went back to where I thought it should be (according to the map at least) and bushwhacked around in the woods a bunch. Finally I discovered what appeared to be a small path heading off in the right direction. I had not found it earlier because there were tons of trees down by the lake so it did not look like a portage from the water. While I had finally found the portage my trials and tribulations were far from over. As hardly anyone does this route the portage was extremely poorly kept up. Trees had overgrown the portage everywhere and there was barely any room to walk. The result of this was that I got to spend 100 rods literally ramming my canoe through brush and trees the entire way. There were many times during the portage where I wondered if I was actually on a portage at all or if I had just followed some deer path into the woods and would never reach a lake on the other side! Needless to say when I finally arrived at Flying Lake I was greatly relived (and tired).

The rest of my trip was mostly uneventful as I worked my way through a handful more lakes and portages, all of which I had done before on previous trips, before finally arriving back at Tuscarora mid-afternoon.

The trip from Seagull Lake to Round Lake, via JA Paulson Lake (also called Jap Lake), is not one I would generally recommend. I loved the challenge and the remoteness of it, but it is not for the feint of heart. Campsites are few and far between and portages are frequent and long. Still if you are up to the task and want to take on a fun challenging route, go for it, just do not say you were not warned!

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Granite River

Last Monday and Tuesday I went on another trip during my day off. Myself and another staffer, Rachel, decided that we would go down the granite river route which goes from Gunflint Lake to Saganaga Lake. While the area is still quite burned from the 2007 Ham Lake fire it still is a great route that offers a lot of cool things including good fishing, river rapids, fairly easy portages, and scenic views.

Rachel actually already blogged about this trip for the Tuscarora Blog, so instead of writing my own blog post about it I am simply posting the route we did (below) and the link to Rachel's Blog Post. Enjoy!

Gunflint Lake to Saganaga Lake (21 Miles) via the Granite River. We camped Monday night on Larch Lake

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Seagull Rendezvous

After a bunch of trips in which I spent a lot of my time paddling and portaging long distances to see large sections of the BWCA I decided it was time for something a little different (and more relaxing!). Lucky for me a lot of other people had the same idea. Staffers from three different Outfitters (Tuscarora, Seagull, & Voyager) all had last Thursday off and decided that we would do a short group trip on Seagull Lake. The great thing about Seagull is that it is a large entry lake in the BWCA and thus requires absolutely no portaging and only some paddling but still allows one to get into the wilderness.

Our trip was full of good weather (minus a few isolated thunder storms), good food, fun people, an amazing stary night, beautiful wilderness, and while the fishing was not great we still enjoyed ourselves and did not get skunked completely! Below are some pictures from the trip, enjoy.

Seagull Lake and our brief (and easy!) route

Maggie and I Canoeing on Seagull Lake

Dylan and I soaking up the sun after an afternoon swim

Sunset on Seagull Lake

The Palisade on Seagull (if you look closely you can see people climbing it)

Part of the View from the top of the Palisade, we took the hiking trail up (as opposed to scaling the 50-80 ft cliff faces)

Picture of Maggie, Dylan, Alyssa, and I on top of the Palisade

Watching a storm approach from across the Lake