Minnesota ~ BWCA

BWCA~

It seems like a crazy way to do things but I flew to Winnipeg MB on May 1st where I met up with Kurt. He was working there. On Friday the 2nd we drove to Hackensack MN where we stayed at the cabin of some friends. On Saturday the 3rd we drove to Isabella MN where we met up with our crew and stayed the night on cots in a house owned by the forest service. Then on Sunday morning the real adventure began!

This trip was supposed to be a canoe trip but because the lakes in the area were still frozen that didn’t work out. Instead we backpacked. We headed out to Lake Isabella and began our trek into the wilderness of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA). We were a group of six: Derrick (our fearless leader), Vic (our friend from back East), Mike and Don (from Ohio) and Kurt and me. We were carrying our backpacks and tools for clearing trails and set out on the Pow Wow trail. A half hour into our hike we came to a creek (small river really) to cross. It was raging from the ice and snow melting in the area. There was nothing to do but take off our boots and wade through. The water was a little more than knee deep for me. Take a look at the pics. There’s not one of me crossing because I was the one with the camera. As you look at these remember that the reason we are walking is because the lakes are frozen. That water was COLD! We put our boots back on and continued our trek with our frozen feet. Fortunately my boots are Gore Tex and I had just put waterproofing on the outside so my feet stayed dry and comfy inside (for a while anyway). We hiked across several beaver dams, which was really cool! I had no idea that they were sturdy enough to walk on. Again, take a look at the pictures. Besides the beaver dams the trail was quite wet. Full of what Derrick called “puddles”. In Virginia we call them swamps. Well, we got to one swamp that was deeper than my boots. So, the water went through my gators and over the tops of my boots. Yuk! My feet were now good and wet and staying that way because not only does Gore Tex keep the water out, it keeps the water IN once it’s inside the boots! So, we slogged away with wet feet. 3 ½ hours into our hike we came to our campsite just above Pose Lake. We set up camp and then went to work clearing trail. We cleared the spur trail to the campsite and called it a day. At the campsite we built a fire to dry out wet boots and ate our dinner. It started to rain so we called it a night and got into our tents around 7:00 pm! Then looking out the rain turned to snow. Good Grief; it’s May! The next morning was cold, but clearing, so we ate a quick breakfast of oatmeal and coffee and got to work. Clearing the trail for me was using a pair of loppers all day. A thankless job. We covered maybe 2 miles. That night at the campfire I told Kurt that I was done. “What?” he asked. “Yes”, I said. “I’m done; I’m heading out in the morning.” He couldn’t believe it, but that’s exactly what I did! I hiked out Tuesday morning, deserting my crew. Life is too short to be miserable when you don’t have to! Back through the swamps and across the beaver dams and through the ice cold river (with my boots on this time since I was heading to the car and it didn’t matter that my boots would be wet) I went. I saw a wolf crossing the road on the way out in the car. Sorry there’s no picture, but he was fast! I went back to the forest service house in Isabella where I showered, and then drove to Ely about 40 miles away. I explored Ely (there’s an awesome coffee shop there : ) I went to the visitor center and found that there’s lots of good hiking in the Ely area. After spending the night in the car in the parking lot of the visitor’s center I went for a beautiful hike on Wednesday morning. I hiked around Bass Lake, Low Lake, Dry Lake and Little Dry Lake. Lots of pictures posted from this hike. It was gorgeous! After my hike I headed back to Isabella for a nap and a shower. Then I went back out to Lake Isabella to pick Kurt up. He was right on time coming out of the wilderness. I don’t know how he timed that so well! I brought him a Subway sub and a sixpack of IPA hoping he wouldn’t be too mad at me for deserting him in the wilderness! He wasn’t anyway, but really appreciated the food and beer : ) We spent the night at the forest service house again and then headed to Ely for more hiking on Thursday. We hiked around Angleworm Lake (a long 14 miles!). It was beautiful. I was exhausted at the end of the hike. We drove to Virginia MN ( I had to keep explaining to people that I was from the state of VA and not the town) for a pizza dinner and then on to Hackensack to the cabin again. We’re now in Walker MN at an internet café. Ahhh, civilization; I love it! We’ll be driving back to Winnipeg tomorrow. I fly back to Virginia (the state that is!) on Monday.