This year (2018) I wanted to get back in touch with my outdoorsy self. It has been over a decade since I last went on a canoeing or hiking trip. I was a Boy Scout (could say I still am!) and I went to the BWCA once when I was 14 with a couple dads and sons, but I have not been since. After getting into astronomy and being reminded how rare and beautiful our planet is, I wanted to immerse myself in nature, and enjoy it while I still can (and I’m really glad I did). Thus, I decided to start doing research, buy gear, and plan a trip to the BWCA. I ended up planning two trips for 2018 with two different groups; one trip was 3 guys for 9 days starting June 1, and one trip was 2 guys for 6 days starting Sept 8 (planned to be 8, but thunderstorms cut it short). Both trips went pretty well, with a few hiccups each (to be expected).

In both June and September, we entered through Moose Lake and got outfitted by Williams & Hall (friendly and affordable). This would be my first time using an outfitter on a lake, so the experience was new to me, and I’m glad to say it was very positive.

Having almost all of the gear necessary, all we had to rent was the canoe, paddles, overnight lodging, and a tow in and out. W&H was very accommodating and we had no problems showing up to the bunkhouse at 11pm on Friday night after work, both times. The bunkhouse beds with the spring suspensions are OK at best, but I sleep better on my inflatable pad. The beds with the hard wooden boards were not good even with doubled-up cushions – I should have brought my pad in with me (even if I might not have been able to sleep well due to excitement anyway). In the mornings, we got up early, sorted our gear, stopped in the dining hall for a quick pancake, bacon, and eggs breakfast with OJ and coffee (perfect way to start the day), and brought our gear down to the dock to catch our tow. On the way back, we were each offered a cold beer or soda and handed a towel to take a much-appreciated shower. Their shower rooms are very nice and I can’t tell you how good it feels to even just rinse off with warm water and put on a clean set of clothes before you drive home. That cold beer sure hits the spot too.

The overall cost of outfitting through W&H was very reasonable when split between multiple people. Combined with the cost of gas up to Ely and back, and all the food we brought with us, it was less than $500/person for both the 2-person and 3-person groups. Pretty affordable for a week-long vacation if you ask me! I would recommend Williams & Hall to anyone who likes the idea of what I just described. They were easy to work with, friendly, had good gear, and seemed affordable or on par with any other outfitter for cost.

* Food *

For food storage, we used a 10 gallon blue barrel acquired on eBay. In June with 3 guys, we put that inside a large 110L MEC dry sack, which had more food in it. About 4 days into the June trip, we were able to fit everything in the barrel, so we didn’t have to hang the MEC pack at night anymore. In September, all food for 8 days fit into the barrel, and we used a LevelSix harness set for 60L which carried the barrel nicely. Those harnesses ain’t cheap though! I was thankful to be able to borrow one. In June we came back with about a third of the barrel full of food; in September we came back with half a barrel left - too many snacks and some high volume stuff like a brick of lard we ended up not using.

* Gear *

For everything else, a CCS Guide and GG Quetico fit all of the gear for both trips, being a little more compact for the 2-person trip. We had most of the amenities, including FlexLite chairs, a Silky folding saw, Fiskars splitting axe, and a group tarp, but we went as light as possible on our gear for both trips and were mostly successful. On both trips, every person had a day pack with personal items like toiletries, gloves, water, tackle, survival gear, camera gear, etc. We also brought 1 fishing rod each for both trips, though next year I think I will buy a second rod as my trip will be fishing-focused. We double-portaged everything and were about average for speed in both portaging and paddling, our travel times coming in roughly 10-20% longer than estimated on PP (which we knew were just rough estimates, of course).

September 8-13, 2018

* Route Overview *

The route we planned to take would show me scenery similar to that of the June trip also through Knife, but this time we went north. We planned to push to SAK on the first day (from the Sucker portage), then get to Cherry the next day, stay on Cherry for days 2-6, then head back down and stay on Knife on day 7 before heading out on day 8. Due to reports of possible severe thunderstorms for 2-3 days in a row on the latter half of our trip (thanks weather radio!) we decided to spend only 3 nights on Cherry before heading back down to stay on west Knife on day 5, and headed out on day 6.

* Route Duration *

PP says 37.7mi, my Garmin track says 41.2mi which is right considering areas where we made a mistake. Getting to Knife took us about 4 hours on the dot, just like in June. Getting to the SAK took us about another 4, landing us at our camp at 5:30pm, which was later than we had hoped. We didn’t have a crazy headwind but also no tailwind. Every site we could see, except for 1 we checked which was not a good site, was taken. W&H told us we should be even more isolated than the early June trip, which was the opposite in the end – I saw a lot of people in Sept, more than June. The travel up to Cherry took longer than expected because we missed a turn when looking for the portage from SAK, and the Knife-Amoeber portage was mismarked on the Fisher map so we wasted an hour looking for it (in an admittedly beautiful area however). The paddle from Cherry down Little Knife and NAK was excellent on a cloudy windless day in the mid 60s, trolling the whole way. The exit from Knife was not bad, except for finding an alternate portage around Seed (I think) leading us along a path we didn’t recognize, where we ultimately found the right path. We also had a strong headwind on the paddle back down Carp and Birch, but thankfully it was almost directly in our faces, and we didn’t have many whitecaps, so we just powered through it and were still 2 hours early for the tow.

* Route Difficulty *

I would say this route would be fine for beginner to intermediate types as far as difficulty and endurance go, as long as you prepare for a long paddle down to the SAK or stop earlier on Knife, and prepare for one or two hilly portages (Knife-Amoeber was the worst of the route and it could have been a lot worse I think). There is some big water that requires care when dealing with wind, but it's not too bad. There are also no really difficult portages as long as you stay away from Cherry-Hanson. Wind will be a limiting factor on Knife as it was for my group in June.

* Trip Log *

I will be transcribing and paraphrasing what I wrote in my journal during the trip, but also elaboration/reflection after the fact. I didn’t write for the final 2 days, so I’ll be filling that in from memory.

Got up at 5:45am to the alarm on my cheap waterproof Casio wristwatch. Slept poorly due to wooden bunks with thin pads. Got ready quick, waited for friend “F” to unplug the 10 things he was charging overnight. We saw a crazy reckless driver on the way up to Ely, and even called 911 to report him because his driving was that dangerous (swerving with I swear 1ft of clearance). Saw 2 foxes on the road up from Ely to E&H which was a first for both of us, and put us in high spirits.

Anyway, we had breakfast, eggs and bacon and hash browns, coffee and OJ. Got the tow by 8:30m but one of the staff members who loaded the boat with our gear forgot to grab paddles (and the Crazy Creek chairs, we later realized) so we had to head back about 10 minutes into the tow. Someone should have realized earlier, I should have, but it was kind of funny - tow driver shouts “HEY…… DID YOU GUYS GRAB PADDLES...????” And I look in the front of the boat, and I look in the back of the boat, and sure enough, no paddles. I just grinned at him and shouted “NOPE!”. We turned around and grabbed paddles, not a big deal really.

We hit the Sucker portage and were on Birch paddling at 9:33am, literally the same spot and same minute I checked when we started on my June trip. Saw a few people at the portage waiting for their tow. We did various lakes and portages and considered stopping early on Knife like in June. The travel down Birch, Carp, Melon, Seed was pretty easy just like in June as well.

Every site we saw was taken or crappy (not using the term lightly). We pushed to SAK and got a spot on the southern tip of the big island with multiple sites around 5:15pm. We were tired and desperate but it was a decent site for sure. We immediately began setting up camp with a sense of urgency, since we were also hungry and wanted to get our steaks going before dark. We both got our hammocks up in about 15 minutes and I got to the steaks, onion, and hash browns. Not having time to get firewood, we did the steaks on my MSR stove in a frying pan with vegetable oil. I would not do it this way again due to how much the oil sputtered. It completely covered my windscreen and was a pain to clean off of everything (including our dish rag). I was worried about everything, like my shoes, my wristwatch, my pants smelling like oil and steak. We tried to wash things the best we could using Camp Suds, but it’s hard to get oil off everything. We ended up being able to fit all of our dishes and the smelly stuff in a thick dry bag that F brought, which we were both very happy he did.

Much to my relief, we had no problems with wildlife through the night. I have read about bears in the SAK so yeah, I was glad we didn’t have to deal with a bear. Slept decently for my first night ever in my hammock, despite waking up almost a dozen times. Forgot to mention, but the weather was excellent all day. Clear blue skies with a nice cool breeze.

Takedown was slow due to F taking an hour to take down his Draumr hammock. I was less than thrilled (having taken about 15 minutes to break down my hammock setup) but let it slide. I made us some instant oatmeal and coffee for breakfast, with 2 granola bars each in our pockets. The coffee was a Pinot Noir Barrel-Aged El Salvador that I had ordered online and ground the day we drove up. It is decadent at home, but out in the wilderness it’s even better.

Before we left, we headed up the hill at our campsite to get a view of the SAK. The photos aren't great unfortunately, but it was a cool view.

We pushed off at 10:30am, an hour later than I was hoping to leave. Truth be told, I was a little annoyed by how long it took us to get out of there, but was trying not to let it bother me, and once we got on the water I was fine. Whatever happens, happens. You gotta just go with it.

Weather was great all day again, sunny with light breeze. We pushed to Cherry by 3:15pm, after wasting an hour looking for the Knife-Amoeber portage (mismarked on the Fisher map at the southeast bay, multiple false portages around there - it’s at the northwest bay, basically straight ahead as you come into the main bay back there). It’s actually marked properly on my Garmin map, and I should have checked it sooner, but forgot that the map had the portages marked! Oh well. That portage was taxing, and we had to take a good 10 minute break after double carrying up and down.

At the end of the Topaz-Cherry portage, the end was in sight. We pushed all day and didn’t have much to eat, honestly, and it finally caught up with me. After I set the canoe down a little too hard on rocks that I thought I had cleared, I got winded and had to sit down for a good 10 minutes while F and I ate some GORP. I drank the last of my water and took it slow and we found the first campsite on Cherry open. We decided to check the narrows site, which was taken, so we turned around into the breeze and pushed back to the other site, which was thankfully still open. I took it easy unloading gear and decided to set up the tent we brought with us just in case we couldn’t make 2 hammocks work at a site. I could have found a spot for the hammock, but I wanted a good night’s sleep that night, so I took the tent that night which worked out nicely.

The site turned out to be absolutely awesome and had an amazing view of the islands on the lake. Weather reports before we left said it would be cloudy most nights during our trip, but almost every night was clear. The view on Cherry under the early dark skies (mid-Sept) was fantastic. The Milky Way reflected off the calm lake in a way that you have to see with your own eyes to appreciate. I highly recommend a pair of binoculars for wildlife spotting and stargazing for this site. The tall cedars of this site really give it a cool feel; combined with the view of the sunset and sunrise, it’s an experience I won’t forget.

I had a restless nights sleep, thinking of this upcoming trip. I can't count the number of times I looked at the alarm clock to check the time. Finally, I was up at 4:30AM and began staging my gear for when Ryan arrived. He was at the house at 5:00AM, we were loaded and on the road by 5:30AM. We arrived at LaTourell’s by 7:20AM. The paperwork for the canoe rental was finished and everything was loaded in the boat by 8:00AM. We chose to get a tow from the Entry Point to Indian Portage through LaTourell’s. This would give us a slight advantage over the others that were also headed to Knife Lake giving us additional time to select a nice campsite. Indian Portage was a short 7 rod portage. We had our gear on the other side in no time and were shoving off on our adventure. For the next few hours all went well. Navigation was not a problem at all. I learned that Ryan’s map reading skills were just as good as mine, and that was good to know. We stopped at one of the US/Canadian border markers that I knew of and took our pictures by it. [paragraph break] We paddled until we ran out of lake, portaged into the next lake and then paddled some more. We were more dedicated to making good time than we were to taking pictures. That seems to be a common problem for me. We navigated the chain of six lakes and five portages before entering Knife Lake, our destination lake. On Knife Lake we were greeted with high easterly winds, white caps and roller waves. As we were cutting through the rollers I could see the waterline on the canoe through the sidewalls. We were within 1-1/2” to 2” of taking on water over the gunwales of the canoe. Knife Lake is a big lake, roughly 10 miles end to end, and we wanted to be on the other end of this lake by the end of the day. As we neared Isle of Pines the winds appeared to strengthen so we opted to abandon our plan of making it to the east end and seek out a suitable campsite. This was Ryan’s first trip and it was the first time we had ever paddled a canoe together so I erred on the side of caution. I was more concerned with Ryan’s safety and mental comfort than I was with following the plan exactly. Finally, after years of experience, common sense persevered over want and desire. We took a right turn and headed west into a bay where I knew of an old campsite that I had stayed at before. The campsite (1247) was void of good shade trees as a result of the 1999 blow-down. It would be a descent site for one night, but not a base camp. We checked the map and noticed there was another campsite (1246) about ¼ mile away just around the corner into a small bay. We headed that direction to go check it out. It was around 2:30PM when we arrived at what would be our home for the next 6 days. We had high easterly winds for balance of the day but our bay and camp site were well protected and we hardly noticed the winds at all. With our packs on shore and the canoe safely tucked away, we started to make our camp. The tent went up, the hammock strung between two trees and wood gathered for a fire. Later that evening we fished our little bay. Ryan caught the first fish, a nice sized northern pike. A short time later I caught one. It was smaller but between the two we had enough for a nice supper. It was fun to fry fish on an open fire. I hadn’t done that for literally decades as using a stove is just more convenient. There was just something primal about cooking on an open fire that compelled us to do it. After supper we sat by the fire and sipped blackberry brandy & Jamison whiskey. As you will see, this is a nightly activity.[paragraph break]

Monday

When morning came I made the coffee while Ryan prepared breakfast of diced potatoes and onions and ½ of a summer sausage. It was very good!! We trolled our way to Isle of Pines to look around. We took our pictures of “Dorothy’s rock”. We explored her summer island. This is the place I first met Dorothy Molter, “The Root Beer Lady”. Dorothy passed away in 1986 so no one had lived on the island for over 30 years. Small trees were now larger and a lot of under brush had grown in. There wasn’t much about the island that I recognized anymore. It was kind of depressing to be there again. I’m not sure why. Perhaps it was recalling Dorothy, her life, her passing and the end of an era. The winds started to pick up again so we headed south to the southern shoreline and trolled our way back to camp. We stopped a few places along the way to cast while wading. No bites but we both remained in good spirits. Back at camp we cut, split and stacked more firewood. For supper we had two freeze dried meals. It was quick and easy. After supper we sat by the lake, watched the sunset and sipped our blackberry brandy and Jamison whiskey. [paragraph break]

Tuesday

About 5:30AM it started raining. We both got up for a bit just to move a couple items out of the rain. Neither of us wanted to paddle in the rain so we slept in a bit. It was roughly 7:00AM when the rain stopped and we finally got up. We had coffee and toasted bagels for breakfast. The bagels were buttered and fried, then sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar. The skies looked like the could open up and rain at any time so we stayed in camp, tidied up and organized a bit. At about 3:00PM we closed up camp and slid the canoe in the water. We had decided to paddle into Portage Lake. It was just one short 25 rod portage from across our bay and it was protected from the winds which were still variable and could be strong at times. First impressions were it was a nice lake. It only had 2 campsites on it and only one was discernible and located. We think we found the other one but we didn’t get out of the canoe to verify this. Within the first few minutes of trolling Ryan caught the first fish which was a northern pike. It was also the largest one we caught on that lake. By the time we were ready to leave the lake, I had caught 3 more northern and Ryan 2. We released them all. Ryan and I made it back to camp by 6:30PM. We cut, split and stacked more firewood for the night. We had gnocchi with basil pesto for supper with a side of mashed potatoes and gravy. Dishes were finished and camp was tidied up by 8:30PM. For the rest of the night we sat around the fire, sipping our blackberry brandy & Jamison whiskey and discussing our plans for the following day. Since we were moving camp on Friday, we only had tomorrow and Thursday left if we planned on catching any lake trout. Hopefully the winds will cooperate and let us get to good fishing waters. [paragraph break]

Wednesday

Up at 5:00AM. Breakfast was a toasted English muffin with a fried beef patty (freeze dried) in it, and coffee of course. We were packed up and on the water by 7:00AM. Ryan caught the first lake trout around 8:10AM just off the southeast corner of Robbins Island. Our first lake trout of the trip!! This was also Ryan’s first lake trout. [paragraph break] After a few pictures it was released to be caught again. I was happy for him. This is why we came on this trip, to catch lake trout. I caught one a short time later about ½ mile to the east. It was smaller than Ryan’s, but it was my first lake trout…. Ever! And I was proud of it!! Out of the 2 dozen or so times I’ve been to the BW, this is only the second time I have ever taken a fishing pole and fished. The other trips were all about making miles and seeing the sights. I had it off the hook and back in the water before Ryan could get a picture of it. We trolled our way past Twin Islands and over to Thunder point. I hooked into another one just off of Thunder Point. It was definitely larger than my previous one. I was, again, quite pleased with how the trip was evolving. We’ve caught 3 trout in the last 90 minutes or so. Not bad considering neither or us are hardcore fishermen. We had plans on hiking up to the top of Thunder Point and taking our hero shots. It was a short hike up to some spectacular views. It was well worth the visit. We hung out on top for a while then headed back down. The winds were starting to pick up so we decided to troll our way back to camp lest we get caught in some high winds and have to hunker down on the shoreline somewhere. We trolled our way back to where Ryan caught the first lake trout and stopped on the island that was nearby. We had lunch and Ryan fished from shore. Being in the shelter of these islands, the winds were calmer, the sun was awesome. It was a perfect day. After about an hour or so we continued trolling our way back to camp. I hooked into something that really shook my pole 4 or 5 times before the line went slack. I’m pretty sure the line was actually cut by teeth as the line was still being released by the drag when the line went slack. We figured it was either a really big northern pike or possibly a large lake trout. I’m guessing from the nicks on the end of line it was in fact cut by teeth. We trolled our way back to camp, snacked a bit. It was late afternoon by now. For supper we had fettuccine Alfredo with some Tyson grilled chicken added. As a side dish we had some Spanish rice. Yeah, it didn’t suck to be us! We had supper finished up and things put away by 7:45PM. We made plans to replicate tomorrow what we had done today. Up until now we were releasing all of our lake trout. Tomorrow we will keep the first lake trout we catch and release the rest. That way we will be guaranteed a meal of lake trout. We also finalized our plans for Friday, which is the day we will travel ½ way back to our entry point.[paragraph break]

Thursday

We were up by 4:45AM, breakfast of toasted raisin bagels and oatmeal. On the water by 6:45AM. We were about ½ way to Isle of Pines when I decided to put a line in the water and start trolling. I put on a deep running Rapala Shap Rap. It had been in the water less than a minute before I had a fish on and it was only 7:00AM!! It put up a nice fight before we got it to the canoe and seen that it was a lake trout! Yay! We are going to have a meal of lake trout!! By 7:20AM Ryan had caught another laker in the approximate area he had caught one yesterday in the area of Robbins Island. Ryan released it. We continued in our same trolling route as yesterday. Again, in almost the same area as yesterday, I hooked into another one! It was also released. We decided to troll our way back to camp and have the one fish we had on the stringer for lunch. On the way back to camp Ryan hooked into another lake trout in the channel just east of Isle of Pines. Again, we released it. It was only about 9:30AM by now so we decided to head for camp to gather wood to cook our lunch. With a fire built and some of the wood cooked down to some nice coals we were ready to cook our lake trout. I laid down about 4 layers of aluminum foil and placed the trout on it. It had been gutted with the head and tail cut off. We were cooking the main body of the trout. We placed a little butter inside the cavity, along with some lemon wedges and onions. It was seasoned then wrapped tightly in the 4 layers of foil. It was cooked slowly over the coals. As it cooked it smelled great!! We were both so excited to have the opportunity to do this and have this experience. After about 30 minutes we decided it must be done so I started to unfold the foil. As I did we both commented that it smelled awesome and were both excited to give it a taste test. Once the foil was open and laid back we gazed our eyes upon a beautifully cooked lake trout. Not only did it smell good, it looked good too! I peeled the skin back and picked up a small piece of meat with my fork. Ryan did the same. We both popped these treats in our mouths and began chewing. It was at that moment in time that Ryan and I discovered that we did not like lake trout!!! I think I tried one more small piece and concluded, with absolute certainty, that I was not a lake trout guy. Nope, I’m done. Next time, if there is a next time, I will fry the fillets and see if we like it better that way. I've eaten fried Rainbow's before and liked it so I don’t know what the problem was. Sadly, we bundled up the remains of our cooked fish (luckily it was a small one), along with the head, tail and innards and prepared to dispose of it. We paddled across our bay, away from any portage or campsite, and carried it off into the woods where birds and animals could have a meal from it. It was sad to do, but it was a learning moment. Our goal was to come to Knife Lake to catch and eat a lake trout. Mission accomplished. We both know now that we are not lake trout fans and most likely will not target them again. I’m thinking more along the lines of walleyes from now on! Later on that night we had beef stroganoff for supper. It was roughly 7:00PM by the time we finished up with supper and dishes. Sadly, we started to break down camp in preparation for our move tomorrow. This consisted of taking down the hammock, the tarp and doing a little organizing. We also removed the rod holders from the canoe and dismantled the fish finder. You could tell the trip was coming to an end. Both of us were a bit quieter than normal. We were on the down-slide now. Everything we were doing was preparing us for our travels tomorrow. As we sat around the fire that night we decided to finish off the remainder of our brandy and whiskey. Yep, these were quiet times for us. As we sat around the fire I’m guessing we were both reminiscing the special moments of this trip, I know I was. It was roughly 9:00PM when we both slipped into the tent for our last night on Knife Lake.

Friday

It had rained most of the night, pretty hard at times. It was still raining at 5AM when we wanted to get up. We decided to sleep in as we only had to paddle 10 miles or so today. We would have time even if we had a late start. The rain finally quit about 9AM and we were out of the tent and preparing breakfast a short time later. Today it was the last of our potatoes and onions fired over an open fire. We were totally packed and on the water by 11:45AM. We paddled Knife Lake and the smaller lakes without incident. We continued to knock out the 5 portages and were looking for a site on Birch Lake by around 3:15PM. We found a beautiful site (1287) just north of Indian Portage. It was spacious and had great views of the lake around us. One of it’s best features was it had a pair of Bald Eagles in a tree near the site. We would listen to them call back and forth all evening. It was a special moment for both of us. We discussed it and decided to forgo supper since neither of us were hungry at all. I attribute that to the somber mood we were both in, realizing this would be our last campsite in the Boundary Waters, at least for this year that is. We both fished from shore for an hour or so before hanging it up for the evening. Since the area was pretty picked over for firewood we didn’t bother having a fire this night either. It was really sinking in that tomorrow was our last day. I can always gauge the success of a trip by how anxious I am to get back to my regular life. Apparently this had been a good trip as we had no desires to get back to civilization anytime soon.

Saturday

We were up by 7:00AM. Skies were cloudy but it seemed like an OK day. We had our usual pot of coffee and a toasted English muffin with a fried beef patty (freeze dried) in it along with some hashbrowns. Yep, this is roughing it!! This was our final day. There would be no more early morning sunrises, no more breakfasts cooked over an open flame. No more Eagles calling. No more fishing these waters. We knew the inevitable was awaiting so we packed up our things, filled our packs for the last time, loaded them into the canoe and we were on the water by 9:30AM. It was very overcast now, but calm. We paddled in silence for the most part. Just enjoying our surroundings and the solitude. We seen other canoers coming in while we were on our way out. They were new, and shiny. Many were smiling and full of chatter. They had that spark of excitement in their eye and full of anticipation of the unknown that was awaiting them, much like Ryan and I on our first day out. As the day rolled on the weather started to deteriorate. The skies got darker and the winds picked up. We knew we were only an hour or so from our exit point so we weren’t concerned at all. We just continued to paddle in silence and I reminisced on the previous week. As we rounded the last point of land we could now see LaTourell’s landing where we needed to take out at, it was roughly ¼ mile away. We could also see a wall of rain making it’s way across Moose Lake. It was still a mile or so away, but moving our way quickly. We continued to paddle at a dedicated pace but the winds were pushing the rains our way much faster. We were within a several hundred yards of our take out point when the rains finally hit us and hit us they did!! The winds picked up considerably and the skies opened up. We were in a deluge!! We didn’t bother stopping to put rain gear on since we could see the docks. We were both absolutely soaked to the bone in the first 10-15 seconds of this downpour. It only took us a few more minutes to make it to the dock. We already had a considerable amount of water in the bottom of the canoe in that short time we were in the rain. As soon as we were near the shore we quickly got out and unloaded the canoe of all our gear. I wanted to get the canoe out of the water and turned upside down as soon as possible. With that mission accomplished we walked up to LaTourell’s Lodge and began waiting out the storm. There were at least 20 other people there waiting for the storm to end so they could launch and begin their adventure. In my own way, I felt a little bad for them. I know that when you come to the Boundary Waters you have to accept whatever weather Mother Nature gives you, but this is not a good start to any trip. I recalled how lucky Ryan and I were with the weather we experienced. In spite of some wind and rain, I thought the weather was good. I’ve been in worse. In my thoughts, I wished them well. We got the Jeep loaded and were on our way back to Hibbing, all the while talking about our next adventure to the BW.[paragraph break]

As I sit here typing this, nearly a month has passed since I have been to the Boundary Waters. In some ways it seems like it was only yesterday that we were there. And in other ways it seems like it has been years since my paddle has cut those waters. Each time I visit the Boundary Waters a bit of me is left behind when I leave. Each time I visit the Boundary Waters a new adventure is born within. I guess that’s what keeps me coming back.

Until next time...

Another base camp day! Calm as can be at 8am. Dew on everything. Sun was bright and hot right away. We had the apples & cinnamon flaxseed oatmeal and it was awesome. We realized we had a ton of food left, so we decided to eat some pop tarts and GORP as well. It turns out I forgot the Babybel cheese and salami slices at home, so we couldn’t do our meat and cheese wraps. Both of us were pretty bummed about that, but we managed to survive.

We went fishing after breakfast and coffee and got completely skunked once again, after trolling crankbaits to the narrows, drifting the narrows 3 times with rattle raps, and casting rattle raps near the northwestern cliffs, and then trolling crankbaits all the way back to camp. It was unfortunately pretty windy unlike the previous days, which limited our coverage of the narrows which we wanted to hit harder than we did. The bright sun didn’t help either.

Back at camp, hanging out near the fire area, we saw 2 groups of people, one coming from the narrows (2 canoes, likely from Hanson) and one from Topaz (4 canoes). They were the first people we had seen besides the DNR guys. Figured they had to be pretty bummed about both sites on the lake being taken. I wondered about the timing; it was a Tuesday, which means they put in probably on Monday regardless of a west side or east side entry. I wondered who puts in on a Monday, but maybe people who travel from out of state do.

I decide to try for a nap, or at least just lie down, at about 4pm. Starting to get a little impatient with F who hasn’t been helping with many camp chores, often messing with electronics. He and I are good friends so I’m doing my best to coach him along (he who has been on 2 trips without me before). I still kinda feel like I’m carrying the trip. But, I’m enjoying my time on Cherry, so I try not to let it bother me.

We ended up having dinner early again, Mountain House beef stroganoff, which we thought was quite good. The wind mostly died down after 7, and we thought about going out to fish, but decided against it since the landing wasn’t the greatest (rocky and slippery) even with good lighting. We had heard that there may be some thunderstorms overnight and the next few nights for the area, so we decided to leave Cherry the next day, one day early. We ended up going to bed at 8:20pm after a little whiskey. We planned to be up at 5:45am.

We got up early and made sure to have a substantial breakfast of flaxseed oatmeal and GORP and coffee, which I had time to make while F was still in the final phases of taking down and packing up all of his stuff, which I had come to accept. I took some time to take some photos of the gorgeous sunrise - you can't not, when it's this good. It was hard to leave this place.

We headed out of Amoeber into Little Knife and paddled all the way down Knife and get a spot on the west end of Knife for our last site. We trolled the whole way and I hooked into a nice ~18” smallmouth that put up a really nice fight. It ended up being the only fish of the trip, which was kind of a bummer, but we didn’t get completely skunked so it was more OK. It was cloudy all day, with different layers of thick clouds, with no wind whatsoever. It was in the high 60s, maybe it topped out at 70 that day. Paddling in a t-shirt, with no wind, I was sweating a bit. A light breeze would have been nice, but it was still awesome.

We saw a lot of loons on our paddle down, calling to each other, diving and surfacing. Some of them let us get really close. It was a really, really nice paddle. Something about it was special to me. The Canadian side was burned for a lot of it. There’s a nice narrow spot between Little Knife and Knife that is very picturesque.

One thing I haven’t mentioned at all yet for this trip? Bugs! You know why? It’s NOT because they don’t bother me! They love me! But they’re basically nonexistent! I was able to wear a t-shirt like 75% of the trip! The weather was perfect.

We got to our site at the bend of a cliffside on west Knife around 1:30 or 2pm and found it quite decent. It would be great for large groups, with a huge mostly flat area that also accumulated water quickly during rain (as we found out). The site had unfortunately been abused, with many places where limbs of live trees had been cut off, and bushes removed. I felt bad thinking one spot would make a good place to hang my hammock, once I noticed the damage to the trees. I ended up hanging it anyway since it was one of the only places, and I wanted to use it again before the end of the trip.

It turned out that you can hike up the cliffside by our site (that's where the latrine is - up!). We hiked up a bit and didn't find some epic lookout point, but we did get some nice views regardless. We commented how you could almost hang a hammock between some of the trees up there and get a nice view out at the lake.

We decided to try fishing that evening with some dark clouds far away, knowing we might only have 15-20 minutes. We went out and trolled east and back, for literally about 20 minutes, before we heard thunder and booked it back to the site. I noticed there were no more canoes on the lake like we had seen earlier in the day!

What followed was a crazy thunderstorm, with 40-50mph gusts and huge pelting raindrops, that lasted for about 20 minutes as it blew through the lake. My friend and I had our raingear on and just stood out in camp enjoying the craziness, hooting and hollering with nature. Whiskey may or may not have been involved!

After the storm passed, a lot of the puddles it formed soaked right into the ground over 10-15 minutes. We made dinner on the stove and got it cleaned up before dark. We sipped some whiskey and hung out for a bit, then listened to the weather radio to see what the following days may hold. There was something like a 60% chance of thunderstorms both the next day and the day after that. We decided that leaving early was better than getting “stormbound”, and chose to leave the next day. We headed to bed around 8:30pm or so.

We got up around 7am even though exit would only take us roughly 4 hours, knowing we had a tow at 3pm that could probably come get us sooner if we can call them. We were surprisingly quick and were on the water at about 8:40am. It was sunny again, but a little windy.

We got to the Sucker Lake portage around 12:45pm, almost exactly 4 hours from Knife. Funny enough, we had a heck of a decent headwind on Birch and somehow still made it in 4 hours! We even took a wrong portage out of/into Seed (I think)! It was a nice day if not for the wind. We saw a few folks on their way in and chatted with them briefly.

At the Sucker landing, we hung out with two dudes waiting for their outfitter’s tow back, whom we chatted with for something like an hour. We were able to call W&H and get them to come get us, and ended up sharing a ride back with two lovely ladies just coming back from Prairie Portage. I mentioned that we had been up at Cherry, and the driver asked me if we got up to Lake of the Clouds. I wish I had been able to say yes, because we had the opportunity to go, and we didn’t. At least I have a reason to go back, as if I didn’t already - Cherry is beautiful.

We got back to the landing around 2:30pm, drank our cold beers, took our hot showers, and headed on our way back to Minneapolis. On our drive we noted sooo many more trees changing colors than we saw in the BWCA! We couldn't figure out why the colors were much stronger on the first hour of our drive than we saw in any lake we were in. We figured it has to do with the local climate, and maybe there is less stress on the trees in the BWCA so they change color slower.

We drove slowly, playing our favorite music, enjoying the beautiful weather for the drive home, reflecting on a good trip. Stick around for the reflections in the next and final part of this trip report.

The trip had its ups and downs (literally and metaphorically), and was challenging at times, and but I am glad I experienced it. Cherry Lake is as beautiful as they say, and we got great weather during our stay that really completed the experience. Even though we only caught a single fish the whole trip, that one fish was pretty nice!

F and I talked about what went well and what didn’t, and he fully agreed that he had too much going on with multiple GoPros and cameras and other various electronics, and didn’t help as much on portages and with camp chores as maybe he should have. I got over it though and he knows to improve on it in the future. We are still friends after this trip, so there is that.

Still, for all future trips, I will make sure the people I’m going with understand priorities for the group, and are willing to help and do things without being asked. It did bother me a bit but I did my best not to think about it and just look around me and enjoy it.

Besides the mentioned faults of this trip, we did most things really well. None of our setbacks truly impacted our safety or sanity (for the most part anyway!). We were responsible when using sharp things, when using the stove and making fires, and in leaving no trace. Most things went well on this trip and we were both happy for that.

This route was pretty awesome, all things considered. I really like Cherry and the NAK area. The push to SAK on the first day was taxing, but everything else about the trip was pretty great! I would like to see NAK again, Ottertrack would be great. I gotta get to Lake of the Clouds somehow! So of course, I’ve already got a route to check it out, along with a bunch of other new stuff further southeast as well. All I know is, I love this area, and I’m really glad I got the chance to see it.