Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA) and Quetico Home PageBoundary Waters outfitters provides gear, permits, and guides.Boundary Waters - BWCA - Lodging, Resorts, B&BsBoundary Waters (BWCA) entry pointsBoundary Waters MapsBWCA and Quetico Park Books and MagazinesContact www.BWCA.com


Canoe purchase trip 2004
by woodpecker

Trip Type: Paddling Canoe
Entry Date: 10/05/2004
Entry Point: Other
Exit Point: Other  
Number of Days: 4
Group Size: 2
Trip Introduction:
This trip was a little different than other BWCA trips I've experienced....
Part 1 of 3


It was a trip to Ely to pick up my boat.....a Souris River Quetico 16 LeTigre...purchased from
Voyaguers North.....My wife and I took in all the sites and eateries (I think) in Ely...
including a return visit to Chainsaw Sisters on Mudro...and nearly "ran over" a bull moose
in the road on the way to the sisters place. It was awesome.!
We also traveled down Hwy 1 to 61 and then north to the Grand Portage Monument
staying on the Gitchie Gu'mee with friends in the Schroeder area..
enjoying the wonders of autumn in Minnesota!!

Part 2 of 3


Being in the BWCA brought back memories of trips past....
and I thought I should share a poem written upon my return home after my first BWCA trip in 1981...
Not surprising, these feelings still hold true today.....

Part 3 of 3


North of Ely's where I long to go...Way up North where the white birch grow.

Listen to the wind in the jackpines blow....North of Ely's where I long to go...

Follow U.S. Hwy 169 'bout 50 miles north of the taconite mines...

Soon you'll come to the end of the line, end up in a country that makes a body feel fine.

Grab yourself a paddle and a pack or two, pick out a route and paddle your canoe.

Get back in the woods a day or two...nobody there, just the wilderness and you..

Pitch up a tent on a lakeside site, build yourself a fire and enjoy the night...

Listen to the loons, watch the northern lights glow...North of Ely's where I long to go..

Paddle all day through endless lakes and rivers, catch a mess of fish for your evening dinner.

Keep your eyes and ears open each day...You never know what you'll come upon as
you journey on your way.

Perhaps you'll see a beaver busy at his lodge, or maybe it'll be a skunk along the trail
you'll have to dodge...

Whether it be deer or bear or moose you see the sight of an eagle soaring high is most
beautiful to me...

In this time of such unrest and mounting global pressures...Where but here among the lakes
and trees can an man feel really "free"?

No phones, no radio, no papers, no TV.....just nature as He created it to be...

So, if you want to take a chance, follow that road north...and I'm sure that you'll agree...

North of Ely's where to go...Boundary Waters Canoe Country!!!


written by Bruce Meurer August 2, 1981



So you can see or read.....I'm ready to go......See you next summer!



    Back to Trip Report Main Menu



Copyright © 2002 - 2010 www.bwca.com - Legal Notice