After months of planning and anticipation it was finally "GO" time!

We all met at my house in the morning to organize our gear and get loaded up for the trip north to the Gunflint Trail. From all of the excited chatter that broke out as soon as we were gathered, I could tell this was going to be a great group. We would be taking two vehicles on this trip: Wanda, Kari and I in one and Jeff, Rochelle, Travis and Jenna in the other with a canoe on top of each vehicle. With the last-minute change in our group size, we had decided to additionally have a three-seat canoe waiting for us when we arrived at our outfitter. Jeff would also be pulling a trailer with most of our gear in it behind his Jeep.

The trip up went smoothly and included a lunch stop in Barnum, MN before we arrived late afternoon/early evening at Seagull Outfitters and Cabins near the very end of the Gunflint Trail. Here is where we ran into the first of a couple "glitches" for the day. The cyber breakdown that had caused such havoc in the travel industry earlier in the week had also made a mess of things with Seagull Outfitters' reservation system and the two bunkrooms I'd reserved somehow had now turned into one. While the one room still did have enough beds for all of us, I'd hoped to give the group at least a bit of privacy with one space for the guys and one for the gals but with Seagull Outfitters' entire bunkhouse now completely booked with other parties, this was no longer an option. Since we were all getting along so well and having a lot of fun with each other we decided that with everyone being adults, we'd make it work for one night and then all got settled in to that one room. We laughed (we laughed a lot on this trip!) that if a movie was made of our adventure, the title could be, "Co-ed Bunkhouse" but then thought that such a title might not earn a rating worthy of much distribution!

After getting situated in our (now one) bunkroom, the plan was to head back down the trail to the snack bar at Gunflint Pines Resort and Campground for some pizza and cold beer. That's when glitch number two popped up: a bump in the road on the Gunflint Trail initiated a concerning vibration and noise from the underside of Jeff's Jeep. A roadside assessment indicated there could be an issue with the drive train that was suddenly making itself known. We decided to go back to the outfitter but once we turned around the vibration and noise completely disappeared! Another U-turn put us back in the direction of pizza and we arrived at the snack bar with no further indication of vehicle issues.

When supper was finished we headed back to our bunkroom and hitting another bump in the road once again caused the same noisy vibration! After coaxing the Jeep back to Seagull Outfitters, Travis used what phone signal he could get to reach some mechanic contacts he had in Grand Marais and Two Harbors to see if they could diagnose the problem. They indicated that it might be just a "Jeep thing" and as long as we drove gently we could probably make it back to Grand Marais for further inspection of the vehicle. With few other choices and with this plan in place, it was time to retreat to our cozy confines for a little socializing before everyone tried catching some shut eye, anxious for some time on the water starting the next day.

Sunrise the next morning revealed a gorgeous MN Northwoods day with blue skies, calm winds and warm temperatures. After some quick coffee, yogurt and breakfast cereal--along with the final packing--it was time for our shuttle to the public landing at Saganaga Lake. From there we were towed across the big waters of Saganaga to the portage at Red Rock Lake. This portage was a short 10-rod carry to where we were finally on the water paddling. After making quick work of Red Rock, we portaged about 50 rods to Alpine Lake. Upon reaching Alpine we met another party that was headed the opposite direction. They alerted us to the campsite on Alpine that they had just left and pronounced it to be a great site other than a couple of snapping turtles that hung out there and which had made a bit of a nuisance of themselves. Other than the turtles, this was good news to us as some pre-trip research I'd done had indicated that this site (#346) would be a good one to target and take if open. Considering some of my crew had never been to the BWCA before and the rest hadn't been there in at least decades, we were clicking along like a pretty well-oiled machine and after little more than a half-hour on Alpine we had reached our hoped-for site.

This site definitely lived up to expectations with an awesome beach landing, a great fire-grate area, wide open spaces, numerous level tent pads, some fantastic sitting rocks out on a point near the water and a latrine that was in good repair with privacy and not too much of a trek into the woods. We celebrated finding the site with a tasty lunch and were excited to spend at least a couple of nights at this beautiful spot.

Once tents were set up and other camp chores were attended to, it was time to relax a bit out on those rocks. This resulted in even further bonding and more laughter as we shared stories recounting our adventure so far. Some of the group took the opportunity to sneak in a game or two of cribbage. At one point one of the turtles swam over to the sitting rocks to say hello and all of this happened under the watchful eye of a bald eagle that was perched for much of the afternoon in a nearby tree.

When the day turned toward evening we decided to get going on supper which was going to be some thick juicy steaks and "hobo" veggies (foil-wrapped potatoes, carrots and onions) all done directly over the fire. I always find this a delicious way to celebrate our first day on the water and this time it did not disappoint either. In our pre-trip planning, Kari had proposed a dessert of foil-wrapped bananas, topped off with some chocolate and nuts. This was a first for me and I have to say it was a winner with the cooked bananas tasting like a warm banana pudding and the chocolate/nuts garnishment giving it that perfect finish for a very tasty treat. This also happened to be Jeff's birthday so his wife Rochelle had brought some peanut butter balls to share in place of a cake AND Jenna had brought some freeze-dried chocolate cheese cake for further celebration of Jeff's big day. All of this was excellent and even with as much of an appetite as we had developed throughout the day it's still needless to say that we were all very full by the end of this meal.

The day ended with a stunning sunset before a pull or two from my bourbon flask and more delightful banter around a pleasant campfire. As we all turned in for a sound sleep, many of us wondered how our next day could be much better than the awesome one we'd just experienced.

The following morning was a bit cooler and quite cloudy, which was not unexpected since the pre-trip forecast had indicated this would be our most likely day to see some rain. Therefore, after some tasty camp coffee to start the day we were encouraged to put up a tarp near the fire and it was then that we noted another way in which this campsite excelled with perfectly positioned trees to allow us to erect a taut tarp exactly where we wanted it. After this was acomplished we started in on the rest of breakfast--all the bacon and eggs we cared to eat.

Today was going to be a lay-over day with no specific plans, so after taking it slow over the morning meal with more laughs and more stories, we decided to think of something particular to do that might be fun. The flat water and near dead-calm winds beckoned for us to paddle some more so we decided to day trip about 1-1/2 miles south to the cascade that flows from Jasper Lake to Alpine at the portage between these two lakes. We packed a lunch and rainsuits before securing camp against the impending rain and then were underway towards the falls. Travis thought that while Wanda and Jenna paddled the three-seater, he'd fish from that canoe along the way to see if any of the residents of Alpine Lake were willing to join us at our evening meal. After about fifteen minutes he did hook into a nice northern and then almost immediately after that he also added a decent bass to the stringer. No other luck was had the rest of the way but we thought there was plenty of time in the day yet to add to our catch.

Upon arriving at the falls we were pleased to see them running pretty strong and enjoyed this scenic spot with a number of photos and the lunch we had packed. While there, we encountered a family of four that were all in one canoe but who still travelled through with almost miltary efficiency and precision. We also met a pleasant couple from California who said they were really enjoying their BWCA trip and having a great day in spite of the rain that had been threatening all day and that was now starting in. While some BWCA canoeists do their best to avoid seeing other humans and almost consider the trip "ruined" when they run into many other people, I always enjoy these brief visits with other travelers. I think it's fun to share about your common interest and experience and compare what's happening for each of you on your respective trips.

When we were done at the falls and started heading back to camp the rain had picked up just a bit but was still not not much more than a gentle shower. For a rainy day, it was still a pretty pleasant paddle back to camp, though an unexpected bath taken by Jeff and Rochelle when they dumped launching their canoe gave us a bit of a pause at the start. While they both got pretty wet, they fortunately did not get hurt and the end result was only yet another good story to share.

The rain ended about an hour after we returned to camp and Travis, Jeff and Rochelle then decided to go out for more fish. I tried casting off the point from camp for awhile but this proved unproductive. When those other three returned in the canoe they did not report much better luck other than a couple of sticks and a small bass that were caught and released by Rochelle. About 15 minutes later Travis was relaxing by the fire when he suddenly sprang from his chair and ran toward the lake after seeing a splash by the canoes. He knew exactly what was going on and it was too late--the resident turtle had found the earlier-caught fish on the stringer and had started chomping on the northern. Travis was able to beat the turtle away with a paddle but the damage had been done. After we had caught these fish on our way to the falls we were all pretty certain there'd be fish for dinner and we were right. It's just that we weren't the ones who got to eat them!

No fish meant that our freeze-dried back-up meals were going to have to serve as supper. They actually were not half bad and after eating them we once again enjoyed some more cameraderie and a sip of bourbon around the fire before calling it an end to our second awesome day on the water.

After what had been a pretty windy night that had us waking up to a rather breezy morning, we were just a bit apprehensive about our planned route this day which was going to start with a short paddle across Alpine to the 100-rod portage into Seagull Lake. Once on Seagull we hoped to paddle northeast towards the palisade area. This would take us right into the NE wind while we were on the more open west end of Seagull. After a brief strategy session in which we decided to maximize windbreak by hugging the north shore of Seagull, we got busy with this morning's coffee, eggs and pancake breakfast before striking camp, getting packed up and hitting the water for the day's travel.

The portage to Seagull had a bit of up and down and just enough length to give our BWCA newcomers a "true" portage experience but over all it was not bad and we had soon completed what was to be our last portage of the trip. Once out on Seagull Lake, the wind had dimininshed significantly and there was only a bit of bounce left to the water. This allowed us a pretty direct paddle to our targeted area, the vicinity of Miles Island. Travis Wanda and Kari landed at the first campsite they came to on the southern end of Miles Island (#471). This site featured a significant climb up from the water to the main site but once up there they found this spot quite desireable with its own protected little cove, decent tent pads and many trails for exporation. Plus, Wanda declared the latrine to be very "clean"! While Jeff and Rochelle joined them there, Jenna and I decided to scout out other area sites to see if we could find something even better. Finding nothing available nearby that would beat the site they had already landed on, we went back to join the others at our new home for the night.

After a quick lunch, we once again tackled the necessary chores to establish camp. Once this was sufficiently done, the trails tempted us with a hike which we assumed would reward us with some pretty nice views of the lake. This turned out to be true as some trailwalking and some bushwacking brought us to a high point on Miles Island that allowed us to see far out over Seagull in most directions. When done taking in the view, we returned to camp where some of the group decided to beat the heat with a quick swim in our private cove. After the initial shock of the water's chill this is usually quite refreshing and the swim did indeed re-energize the crew enough for some to finish with camp chores while Travis and I went out to try one more time for a fish supper.

Our plan was to make one pass around Miles Island and even before we had got out of our cove Travis landed a northern that was at least a few pounds. Then it slowed a bit and I thought about switching lures to see if that brought any better luck. Before I could do so I instead caught a nice bass and then another and then another. Travis added a bass or two as well and soon we had a respectable stringer of fish that would be enough to feed all seven of us. This time it WAS fish for dinner and we would be the ones eating them instead of any turtles. You can bet they got cleaned right away and did not spend anytime in the water once we'd returned to camp!

The rest of our group was pretty happy to see the stringer of fish as well and they were indeed delicious--pan fried with a cajun-seasoned breading. After another filling meal it was time for one last evening of laughter, bourbon and bonding before turning in for our final sleep in the woods.

As dawn came on our final morning the nice sunny weather and beautiful setting had us thinking that maybe, just maybe, just one more day in the BWCA would be worth a change of plans. But civilization and obligations at home were also calling and after a few days on the trail a hot shower at the outfitter's sounded pretty darn good as well. So after quickly dispensing with those thoughts we proceeded with an instant oatmeal breakfast and the striking of camp before getting packed up for our final paddle of the trip.

This morning the waters of Seagull Lake were flat as glass and made for an awesome paddle out, beautifully reflecting the shore on the surface. In just after an hour of paddling we were pulling up to our outfitter's dock. After getting cleaned up and loaded up it was now time to gently move Jeff's Jeep back down the road toward Grand Marais. Thankfully, as I followed him down the Gunflint Trail, everything seemed to be going well. When we got to Grand Marais, we found that nobody would even be able to look at the Jeep for two weeks! So, after a celebratory burger and beer lunch at My Sisters Place in Grand Marais (boy, did THAT hit the spot!), we decided to take our chances with the Jeep to Two Harbors. All of the way there it continued to do well so we then decided to just continue on home to St. Cloud where we were grateful to arrive in the early evening with no further issues.

After dozens of trips to the BWCA, I can honestly say that I've enjoyed every one of them with great people and great experiences. However, I can also honestly say that no other group gelled and connected like we did on this trip. I've never laughed more and I've never bonded with new friends closer. I would travel with any one of them again (would they travel with me?????).

It's these kinds of trips and these types of BWCA experiences that always have me eagerly awaiting "next time"!