Into the Wild with a Friend

Things have been really busy here at Tuscarora in recent weeks between having a group of 50 middle schoolers come through and the 4th of July festivities. The result of all this has been that I am a bit behind on blogging about my trips (I have actually done two since I last blogged now!). So now I am trying to rectify that by blogging about a trip I did last week with Randon Ruggles (a college buddy from Wartburg).

Way earlier this year (back in January) I told Randon that I would be working up in the BWCA over the summer. He told me that he in that case might just have to come up for a trip. So throughout the spring and early summer we talked and eventually were able to find a time that would work for both of us. We settled on Monday June 27th to head out and our trip lasted through July 1st. Normally I only get one day off a week but I had already banked two days off so far this year so between using those extra days and agreeing to work a late shift on the day we came back we were able to take a trip that spanned over parts of 5 days and 4 nights!

Our Route (Click to Expand): American Point on Lake Saganaga to Tuscarora Outfitters on Round Lake (35 Miles). The first and last markers are the start and finish points and the four in-between mark our campsites on Hansen, Ogishkemuncie, Little Saganaga, and Tuscarora Lakes respectively.

So at 3:00 pm right after work on the 27th Randon and I quick finished up our packing and then headed for our entry point. We actually cheated a bit as we took a Tow Boat across Lake Saganaga to American Point. This allowed us to get a head start on our route and explore some different areas within the BWCA. Our overall route was a one way trip from American Point on Lake Saganaga to Tuscarora on Round Lake. That first evening it was raining a decent amount so a lot of the campsites were already taken (people trying to stay dry!) so we ended up canoeing a lake further then we originally planned and camped on Hansen Lake. Our site was not much to write about but none the less it served its purpose and our trip was officially underway.

Randon and I about to head out on our Tow to American Point

On the 28th we got up, cleaned up our camp, and hit the water early in the morning. Our route that day took us through Knife Lake (which is gorgeous). There in addition to enjoying the large channels, old growth, and rolling hills around the lake we found a large waterfall pouring into Knife right by our exit portage. While it would of been fun to stay longer on Knife we pressed onward to our final destination that day of Ogishkemuncie Lake. There we found an awesome campsite that sat on a high rock peninsula that overlooked the main part of the lake. In camp that day we spent the afternoon enjoying some sun, our first campfire, steak & potatoes, and a beautiful sunset.

Randon Canoeing on Knife Lake

Waterfall into Knife Lake

Looking out over Knife Lake

View of Ogishkemuncie Lake from our Campsite

Sunset over Ogishkemuncie Lake

June 29th took us from Ogishkemuncie to Little Saganaga Lake. The highlight of this day was that throughout the entire day we saw absolutely no one. This made for a peaceful paddle and an enjoyable relaxing camp experience on Little Saganaga. To boot the entire day was perfectly sunny with almost no clouds in the sky. Similar to the previous day we spent the morning paddling to get to our campsite (an amazing Island site overlooking the main portion of the lake) and the afternoon relaxing in camp reading, sunning, swimming, and eating.

Our trusty stead, a 15 foot Aluminum canoe

Sunset over Little Saganaga

The 30th was our final full day of our trip so our goal was to get near to Tuscarora Outfitters so our final morning would not be too difficult or long a paddle. So we headed out from our Little Sag campsite and made for Tuscarora Lake. There we grabbed the famous Island campsite (a common place for Tuscarora employees to go on their days off). While the weather was not quite as nice as the previous two days we stilled enjoyed hanging out and relaxing in camp.

Sunset over Tuscarora

July 1st we decided to get up early and paddle out with the sunrise. While we did get up around 5:00 am, it was a cloudy morning so we missed seeing the sun come up. Still our effort was not in vein as it proved to be an extremely hot day and very humid so by getting up early we missed the worst of the heat. While we were only two lakes away from Round Lake we still had to transverse the Tuscarora (425 Rods) and the Missing Link Portages (a steep 140 Rods), so needless to say we worked hard that final morning. None the less we managed to finish up our canoe by 8:00 am that morning leaving me time to recover before work and Randon plenty of time to make the long drive back to the Twin Cities.

Randon double packing on a portage

Overall we had an amazing trip. Yes our trip like all others had lots of problems such as a rainy first day, a seriously slooooooow water filter, ineffective propane burner, and sometimes less then appetizing dehydrated foods but the upside of good companionship, remote and pristine wilderness, peaceful solitude, beautiful sunsets, and much more easily overcame any hiccups our trip encountered.

1st Solo Trip

Last Friday I had the day off and was ready to do another trip into the BWCA. This time though there was no one else with a day off looking to do a trip, so I decided to embark on my first solo BWCA trip! So Thursday after work I got my permit and headed off into the Wilderness for the night and the following day.

I decided I would head to Long Island Lake as it was a big lake that I wanted to explore and accessible from the entry points near Tuscarora. The important thing to remember on a solo trip is that you need to carry everything, all your gear and the canoe on every single portage. Thus I made sure that I could fit all my stuff in one Duluth pack and then took a single person Kevlar canoe (a Jensen - only 34 lbs) as my boat. The result was that I had no trouble portaging everything all together.

My Route (Click to expand it): The total distance was 16 Miles, the Blue Marker is Tuscarora and the Red Marker was my Campsite

My Canoe, a Wenonah Jensen Kevlar

By the time I made it to Long Island Lake I found that my first choice campsite was already taken (not surprising on a Thursday night) but I was able to find a good alternative site. There I set up camp, made a campfire, and made freeze dried spaghetti for dinner. I found that being in camp by yourself is a very peaceful experience that allows you to relax, take in the beautiful wilderness around you, and listen to nature and your own thoughts. Still by the time I was in my tent and ready to go to sleep it is amazing how your imagination can convince you that every noise you here is a pack of wolves, a giant moose, or a bear in camp, when in reality it was really just a chipmunk running through camp.

My Campsite on Long Island Lake

View of the Sunset from my Campsite

Friday morning I got up, enjoyed the sunrise, had a campfire, and made hot apple delight for breakfast. After eating I relaxed for awhile, read my book, and then headed out for a morning fish. On Long Island Lake I had almost no success. A couple medium Northerns followed my lures but never really struck. After fishing I headed back to camp, had an early lunch, packed and cleaned up camp, and set off back towards Tuscarora. My plan though was to go lazily back fishing many of the lakes.

View of the Sunrise from my Campsite

Me by my canoe before leaving Camp

After Canoeing around the rest of Long Island Lake and then going through Karl Lake I got to Rib Lake where I had my fishing success for the day. The wind was such that I could float across the entire lake while fishing. The result was catching three Northern Pike! The Largest of which was around 32" and had a sizable belly.

My 32" Northern

Me with a smaller Nothern

After Rib Lake I meandered through several more lakes on my way back, taking time to check them out and occasionally tossed a line in the water. At Ham Lake I ran into a friend from another outfitter (who was also out on a Solo Trip) and hung out with her for a couple hours at a campsite that overlooked the lake. Finally we decided it was time for the final push down the cross river and out of the wilderness. When I arrived back in camp, I was just in time for our staff dinner (coincidence, I think not!) of steak fajitas, needless to say it really hit the spot!

Overall I really enjoyed my first solo trip. It was nice and peaceful canoeing around the wilderness by myself. Still I think in general I prefer having company on my trips and at my campfires at night. Nevertheless I am sure I will go on more solo trips before my time up here is done and I do look forward to them.

Harsh Realities of Nature

While the BWCA is renowned for being an amazing wilderness area that offers a beautiful and solace escape from the modern world, it cannot be forgotten that when one enters such a place certain risks do exist.

This fact has been put in stark perspective over the last couple days. Last weekend a young man from Wisconsin disappeared on a solo fishing trip and was found to have drowned in Swan Lake. Another sobering story has been the discovery of a forest fire near Gaskin Lake. While the fire is small and unlikely to spread given current conditions (very green trees and wet weather in the forecast), the fact that smoke can once again occasionally be smelled in the air on the Gunflint does give a foreboding feeling.

I guess the message is that while the BWCA is a great place people need to remain vigilante about safety at all times, as you never know what might happen and help not an easy phone call away.

Duluth News Tribune: On man's death in BWCA

Superior National Forest: On BWCA forest fire

Little Saganaga Trip

So it might not have escaped you that while I have been working in the BWCA for over three weeks now I had not actually been on an overnight trip into the wilderness yet. This was because I spent my first day off in Grand Marais to get some supplies and then banked my second day off in order to take a longer trip later this summer! The time for a trip finally arrived, so last Monday at 3:00 pm after work myself and a friend and co-worker, Andrew, headed off for a one night trip in the BWCA.

Neither Andrew or I had seen much of the area around Tuscarora so we decided the goal of our trips was to "Make Tracks" and see as much of the area in a short amount of time as was possible. I would have to say that we were completely successful in our goal as in 23 short hours (12 of which we were in camp) we covered 21 miles, 22 portages (totaling over 1,300 rods), and over 20 different lakes!

Our Route (Click to expand it)

After setting out Monday afternoon Andrew and I left Round Lake and headed to Tuscarora Lake, where we originally had planned to camp for the night. On our way we got to do the legendary Tuscarora Portage which depending on which map you consult is anywhere from 360-425 rods (anyway you look at it, that is long and over a mile!). To boot I carried an aluminum canoe over the entire portage! When we got on Tuscarora it was still early and we had favorable winds so we decided to keep going instead of making an early camp. The result was we were able to make it to Crooked Lake and find a suitable campsite by 6:15 pm. In camp we enjoyed the delights of expired dehydrated foods (which we get for free from Tuscarora Outfitters as they cannot sell it to clients), a campfire, a beautiful sunset, and starry night (complete with loon calls and beaver tail slaps).

Me at Tuscarora Lake (After the big Portage)

Camp Site at Crooked Lake

Tuesday morning we were up at sunrise (around 5:30 am or so) and had packed up camp and were canoeing again by 6:15 am. As there had been decent winds the day before we decided we wanted to get out early in order to get to Little Saganaga before any major winds camp up (Little Sag is a big lake, despite its name, and unfavorable winds would make canoeing it very difficult). When we arrived at Little Sag the wind was just getting going for the day, but lucky for us it was mostly at our back. As the wind increased we decided that we would take a chain of smaller lakes back to Tuscarora Outfitters in the afternoon as opposed to going into other big lakes such as Gabimichigambi and Peter Lake. The result of this decision was a lot of portages! Despite our aluminum canoe though we only had one big pack and a small backpack so there was no double portaging for us.

Sunrise at Crooked Lake

Portaging away from Little Saganaga to Virgin Lake (Senic Overlook of Little Sag)

While Tuscarora, Crooked, and Little Sag Lakes were all beautiful a lot of the lakes on our way back were not quite as scenic. The area was heavily hit by the Cavity Lake Fire in 2006 that burned a lot of the blown from 1999. Gillis Lake though was still in pristine condition. After crossing Gillis we stoped for a quick lunch around 11:30 am on Bat lake before completing the last leg of our journey back to Tuscarora Outfitters by 2:15 pm on Tuesday.

View of Gillis Lake from Portage to Bat Lake

Overall it was a great trip! We managed to see a big portion of the BWCA that is right in our backyard. Now when I take clients to different entry points around here I will be able to tell them a bit more about some of the lakes in the Area, if they are interested.

Lakes I would Recommend From this Trip: Missing Link, Tuscarora, Crooked, Mora, Little Saganaga, and Gillis Lake.

Lakes/Areas I would Not Recommend: The Northern Portion of my route, Virgin through Brant Lakes (Gillis Excluded). This is due to it being a burn zone which was less then scenic and the fact there are a lot portages connecting a bunch of very small lakes (I prefer larger lakes that you can canoe longer distances as opposed to constantly getting in and out of your canoe to portage every 200 yards).

Blackflys 1 Fashion 0

Last Christmas I received a number of different items from my family in anticipation of spending my summer working in the boundary waters. These items ranged from tents and maps to sleeping blankets and water-bottles. One item that I received made me roll my eyes and sarcastically say that I never thought I would use the item as it represents a major fashion faux pas...this item of course is the horrific bug head net!

Bug Head Net: a major fashion faux pas

About a week ago here on the Gunflint Trail there was a major hatch of the dreaded black flies! While myself and other staff members armed ourselves with long sleeve shirts, pants, hats, and glasses and fought back valiantly with liberal amounts of bug spray and other long-shot remedies, ultimately our efforts were for naught as the black flies continued to grow in number and thereby were able to eventually overwhelm us by being a general nuisance that drove us to the brink of insanity and consequently threatened to bring our work to standstill. Thus several of us, myself included, in our desperation have brought out our secret weapon against these bugs.

I would like to tell you that when I wear the headnet I make it look good, but that would be like telling you that socks and sandals are a good combination....and we all know that is far from the truth (no matter how much certain fathers protest). As a result you will not find any photos of me wearing a headnet on this blog, instead you will just have to make due with the displayed google image rendition.

On the bright side we have projected lows of 28 and 22 degrees the next too nights, and while that is not great news when you live in an unheated dorm room without any type of insulation, it means the bugs may succumb to the cold and we could be granted a reprieve from their reign of terror, thus allowing us to put this embarrassing fashion trend behind us (for at least the time being).