Yes, the sounds of canoes snapping branches from downfalls on portages, the curses as one sinks into a bog along a portage trail, the slap of hand on arm to smash a deer fly are missing from the Woodland right now.
Awhile back I wrote Claire about a trip>>>"...I wonder what it would be like if we weren't here...it would be like this only we wouldn't know this...." It was aimlessly referring to mid afternoon along a lake shore watching the waves on rock, dragonflies scouting shorelines, wind in popple leaves, clouds growing in the west. So all those little things that grow into one's trip are happening and we miss them deeply.
Like you, we're headed at sometime into the BWCA for a brief time: wonderful place, a home for us in the late fall when the leaves drop and the snow rides the northwest winds down the lakes. But, those bogs, lake trout, portages blocked by downed spruce or snapped jack pine, big lakes, and no roads north of the horizon have been home to us for a long time and we ache for them.
We certainly understand the border closure and realize that our canoe trip pales to the health needs of others. The BWCA is grand country and the last months have shown that the need for open spaces, public lands, and quiet time out of doors is vital to the make up of all citizens.
Enjoy your trip north, the bugs appear to be peaking! The new greens of the forest should be a delight and the waters cold enough to keep the lake trout near the surface. Good travels.
Birch, Carol, Tom/Hayward, Wisconsin