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      Trip Report - Where The Loons Never Left Us: Saganaga to Seagull June 2013
 
  Last Visit: 03/28/2024 05:35PM

Entry Point 54 - Seagull Lake

Seagull Lake entry point allows overnight paddle or motor (10 HP (except where paddle only) max). This entry point is supported by Gunflint Ranger Station near the city of Grand Marais, MN. The distance from ranger station to entry point is 50 miles. No motors (use or possession) west of Three Mile Island. Large lake with several campsites. landing at Seagull Lake. This area was affected by blowdown in 1999.

Number of Permits per Day: 8
Elevation: 1205 feet
Latitude: 48.1469
Longitude: -90.8693
Author Message Text
SaganagaJoe
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01/31/2015 01:46AM
 
New Trip Report posted by SaganagaJoe

Trip Name: Where The Loons Never Left Us: Saganaga to Seagull June 2013.

Entry Point: 55

Click Here to View Trip Report

aka HermitThrush "Such sights as this are reserved for those who will suffer to behold them." -Eric Sevareid
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SaganagaJoe
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01/31/2015 01:59AM
 
I'll just warn ya, it's incomplete yet and a little long, perhaps a bit long for this site. If someone could help me upload a Word document, I would post the whole thing in that format. It's sort of a unique perspective on a BWCA trip. If there's any interest I would also e-mail a Word document to interested parties.

EDIT- The report is now completely uploaded.

aka HermitThrush "Such sights as this are reserved for those who will suffer to behold them." -Eric Sevareid
Spartan2
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01/31/2015 06:44AM
 
I do all of my trip reports in Word. Then I just copy and paste by segment into the Trip Report format here. It works really well. As I go I insert my photos from Photobucket, and it makes for a seamless trip report. Just one idea.

I am enjoying your report, but I would like a few paragraph breaks! LOL! Hard to follow in one long mass like that. And I wish there were some photos. But you have a tremendous amount of detail. And you write very well.

Since we have traveled to all of the lakes on your route, I am looking forward to reading the rest of your days when you get it finished and posted here.

So many differences between your first trip and mine. You were younger, and you went with a large group (there were just the two of us, and we were in our mid-twenties), you were outfitted and we only rented a canoe and some Duluth packs, your trip happened in the 21st century and mine in the 20th. But the similarities are striking, too. I wish I had kept a journal with more detail so that I had been able to make a trip report like yours of my first trip. If you read mine, it is pretty bare-bones. But it changed my life, just as yours changed yours.

How It All Began
DrBobDg
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01/31/2015 07:46AM
 
Being that you live out west.... If you ever have the chance to visit Upper Priest Lake in Northern Idaho....not the boundary waters but a way awesome place.
Thanks for the report.... I had to order your gpa's book...another bill from Amazon.com
oh well.
dr bob
SaganagaJoe
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01/31/2015 11:36AM
 
quote DrBobDg: "Being that you live out west.... If you ever have the chance to visit Upper Priest Lake in Northern Idaho....not the boundary waters but a way awesome place.
Thanks for the report.... I had to order your gpa's book...another bill from Amazon.com
oh well.
dr bob"



You will love it!


Priest Lake is definitely on my bucket list. It's just hard for me to get away right now.

aka HermitThrush "Such sights as this are reserved for those who will suffer to behold them." -Eric Sevareid
SaganagaJoe
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01/31/2015 11:38AM
 
quote Spartan2: "I do all of my trip reports in Word. Then I just copy and paste by segment into the Trip Report format here. It works really well. As I go I insert my photos from Photobucket, and it makes for a seamless trip report. Just one idea.


I am enjoying your report, but I would like a few paragraph breaks! LOL! Hard to follow in one long mass like that. And I wish there were some photos. But you have a tremendous amount of detail. And you write very well.


Since we have traveled to all of the lakes on your route, I am looking forward to reading the rest of your days when you get it finished and posted here.


So many differences between your first trip and mine. You were younger, and you went with a large group (there were just the two of us, and we were in our mid-twenties), you were outfitted and we only rented a canoe and some Duluth packs, your trip happened in the 21st century and mine in the 20th. But the similarities are striking, too. I wish I had kept a journal with more detail so that I had been able to make a trip report like yours of my first trip. If you read mine, it is pretty bare-bones. But it changed my life, just as yours changed yours.


How It All Began "



I'll take another look at it. I think I may have exceeded the amount of text I could even have per day.

aka HermitThrush "Such sights as this are reserved for those who will suffer to behold them." -Eric Sevareid
Spartan2
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01/31/2015 11:45AM
 
That could be. I don't have nearly the amount of text in my reports that you do (although I do have quite a bit.) My reports are more about the photos than the narrative, really.
SaganagaJoe
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01/31/2015 12:46PM
 
I was able to figure it out and now have the complete trip posted, with some paragraph breaks for eye relief. :) I just had to do it in parts rather than days and then divide up some of the days. I'll try to get some pictures on it.


P.S. Do I hold the record for longest trip report on this site? :)

aka HermitThrush "Such sights as this are reserved for those who will suffer to behold them." -Eric Sevareid
Spartan2
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01/31/2015 03:17PM
 
I don't know if there is a record; but there have been some very long ones in the past. I have been accused of being pretty "wordy" myself and I am sure mine are not the longest on record. :-)

And now I'll go back and read more of yours.
Spartan2
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01/31/2015 05:10PM
 
And now I am back, having read your fine report in its entirety. I thank you greatly for the paragraph breaks!! :-)

A few comments. I think many people won't read all of your report, mainly because of its length, and since I did, I want to take this time to say some things now while it is fresh in my mind.


First, some compliments. It is rare, in my experience, to read text written by someone as young as yourself that is as well articulated, as well punctuated, and as well organized as yours. You are to be congratulated for your education, and for your attention to detail. You either took copious notes on your trip, or you have a phenomenal memory. Either way, while you probably gave us more detail than we needed in order to enjoy your trip with you, it was almost astounding to realize that you remember every moment of your trip more than a year later. Good for you!

I admire your love of family, your love of the Lord, and your love of the outdoors. It is refreshing to read your last two paragraphs and know that they were written by a young man not even twenty years old yet! So many of us on this website are in our "golden years" (in my case, at age 69, I have probably made my last canoe trip into the BWCA), and we have loved the canoe country for a long, long time--like your grandfather. Now it is your turn!

Now a couple of suggestions. In your future trips you might consider taking a tarp along. It is really a great convenience to arrive at a campsite and quickly put up a tarp to keep things dry, especially if you arrive and a rainstorm is coming quickly upon you. Sometimes you can do that a lot quicker than setting up a tent; certainly quicker than setting up multiple tents. If you read some trip reports and look at photos on this site, you will see lots of photos of campsites with tarps. We never used to do it, but since we have learned about it, it is a great help, especially on wet-weather days.

My other suggestion has to do with my sympathy for Becky. Did she really do ALL of the cooking for nine people for the whole trip? That seems like a lot to ask, especially with one frying pan! We have never taken a trip with more than five people, but even then, the members of the trip traded off with the cooking and cleanup chores. I would hate to be the one person who had to fix the meals for nine hungry campers every day. Made me glad that 95% of my canoe trips were with just one other person. ;-)

My main problem, however, with your report has to do with the rules of the BWCA. You mentioned that all of your group watched the video at the outfitter's before your trip. It would appear to me that you either didn't pay attention or you decided that the rules didn't apply to you. And since you are very young and you say that you are going to go back on more BWCA trips, I would like to ask you to review the rules before you do so. There is a definite rule about NOT using soap (biodegradable or otherwise) in the lake. If you are going to bathe or shampoo in the BWCA you are supposed to do it 150-200 feet from all lakes and streams. Ditto for washing dishes. And all fish remains are to be disposed of well away from camp. (There is argument among fishermen about this last one, I know, but it is there in the rules. I just checked.) These rules are set up to minimize the impact that campers have on the very pristine wilderness environment that you love so much.


I am very glad that you are on this website, SaganagaJoe. Your youthful enthusiasm and your history (through your family, especially your grandfather) of BWCA expertise will be valuable to all of us. Thank you for this report of your first trip with your family. I will look forward to reading more from you in the future!


Spartan2




SaganagaJoe
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01/31/2015 07:16PM
 
Thank you for your great response! Wow.

I would say the real problem on our trip was not the route, nor the outfitters, nor the weather. Rather, it was the attitude that some of us brought to the trip. There was a lot more that I could have said about that that I didn't.

I wrote that report to preserve the precious memories and let time take care of the bad ones. Many of the problems actually occurred in the planning and the aftermath. Becky did all the cooking at the end of the day because she wanted to, if you know what I mean. Again, what I did not really get into was that most of the problems on the trip were self-inflicted by some of my compatriots and prevented them from seeing the wilderness the same way I did. Lots of personality "stuff" came out. You'd have to know my family to really understand, and I don't really think it's my place to get into that. All I will say is that the aftermath of the trip sort of took the wind out of Grandpa's sails, and I wrote this story and brought him back the next year to fix it.

About your suggestions: I do really need to get a tarp. I also totally agree with your observations on the rules. I am a die-hard Sigurd Olson reader and fully appreciate the wilderness and preserving it. The fact remains, however, that my grandpa (bless his heart) still thinks he's tripping up there in the seventies and that he can still do everything the same way. :) I am much more of a rules stickler and will definitely follow these guidelines in the future. I totally appreciate your concerns and am not offended in the least. :)

aka HermitThrush "Such sights as this are reserved for those who will suffer to behold them." -Eric Sevareid
Spartan2
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01/31/2015 07:35PM
 
I actually did hesitate saying anything because I fully understand that your grandpa comes from a different era. So do I. My first trip was in 1971, and was not in the BWCA, but in Canada. For the first three decades of my canoe-tripping history I shampooed my hair in the lake and I still miss it. I washed out my underwear with Ivory soap along the edge of the lake, and thought nothing of it. It was the way my husband taught me to do it; the way he had learned to do it as a counselor at a boys' camp. We thought that the lakes were large and the little bit of soap that we used made no difference.


I remember canoe rests and portage signs. I remember when many of the landings had small docks or piers. But those days are gone. Just like the days are gone when campers used to take cans of pork and beans or corned beef hash and sink the cans in the lake. If we are going to go up there, even if we remember the "old days", we have to adjust our thinking and follow the new rules. Even those of us who are elderly. Nothing stays the same.


I gripe every time I take my bucket of warm water back into the woods for my shampoo (which I do every other day on a canoe trip--cannot stand dirty hair!) But I am not tripping in the seventies anymore. Well, not the NINETEEN-seventies, anyway. LOL! And I surely don't want a ranger to paddle by when I am in the lake with a head full of shampoo!


Of course you are correct about attitude being the biggest asset to having a great trip. Never having taken an outfitted trip, I cannot speak to that part of it, and of course none of us can control the weather. You had a great route, but probably a challenging one. Still, you were able to do it with your family group and it seems like all felt the experience was valuable. Your grandfather is blessed that you put the plan in motion.


And you would be wise to remember that, no matter how much we would like it to be so, not everyone appreciates the wilderness experience in the same way that some of us do. (I'll shut up now.)


SaganagaJoe
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01/31/2015 08:17PM
 
No, no, that's okay! :) I've been accused of being a little long-winded myself.


I'll do my best to keep Grandpa in line, too. The old saying "you can't teach an old dog new tricks" would apply except Grandpa isn't THAT old. :) We're planning another base camp for this summer.


Like I said, the outfitters WERE NOT the problem. I'd do it again but I've now almost outfitted myself completely as well because it is more cost effective to do so. I can go up to Seagull now and just get a bear barrel, canoe, and the paddler's lodge. Supporting the outfitters is part of the experience for me. The route was FANTASTIC too. Challenging, yes, but hey we're in the BWCA, what do you expect?


Yep, if you don't have the wilderness bug, then you're best off doing something that actually makes you happy. But if you do have the bug on the other hand, well I know this spot called the Boundary Waters that's pretty awesome...One thing that sort of helped me to prepare was reading Sigurd Olson's Wilderness Days before I came. No one else did that but I so wish they did. I came to the wilderness with prepared eyes and boy I was not let down.


Everyone is so glad they did it and does not regret it, but only Grandpa, Jesse, and I plan on going back. We've got the bug. We can't help it.


aka HermitThrush "Such sights as this are reserved for those who will suffer to behold them." -Eric Sevareid
boonie
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02/01/2015 04:50PM
 
Thanks for sharing your journey, Joe. It was a long read, but you told your story well.


There's a lot of experience in there that could help groups planning a first trip. Perhaps you could consider a "lessons learned addendum" ...


I hope you have many more great trips to the BW.


SaganagaJoe
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02/01/2015 05:22PM
 
Thanks, boonie. I added the lessons learned section at the very end.

aka HermitThrush "Such sights as this are reserved for those who will suffer to behold them." -Eric Sevareid
callofthewild
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02/05/2015 01:51PM
 
Thanks for sharing this up close and personal trip report with us Joe. I am impressed with the time and effort that you put into it. I enjoyed it very much, even though I had to take portions of four days to finally make it through it.


I am glad you were able to make memories with your family, especially your grandfather. I had a grandfather who I spent every waking moment with on a lake and fishing. He has been gone for over 41 years now, but I still hold onto my memories.


I am glad that you love the BWCA and that the creation that our God has made has had a great impact on you. He is an awesome God!!! You have some pretty good scenery in Washington as well. I have gazed upon the majesty of the Cascades from the summit of Rainier in 1983, but the BWCA is still my favorite place in the continental United States.


Thanks again for the report. I hope you have many future trips.


Happy paddling!!!!


SaganagaJoe
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02/05/2015 02:53PM
 
quote callofthewild: "Thanks for sharing this up close and personal trip report with us Joe. I am impressed with the time and effort that you put into it. I enjoyed it very much, even though I had to take portions of four days to finally make it through it.



I am glad you were able to make memories with your family, especially your grandfather. I had a grandfather who I spent every waking moment with on a lake and fishing. He has been gone for over 41 years now, but I still hold onto my memories.



I am glad that you love the BWCA and that the creation that our God has made has had a great impact on you. He is an awesome God!!! You have some pretty good scenery in Washington as well. I have gazed upon the majesty of the Cascades from the summit of Rainier in 1983, but the BWCA is still my favorite place in the continental United States.



Thanks again for the report. I hope you have many future trips.



Happy paddling!!!!



"



Grandpa is 73 and still with me, for which I am grateful beyond degree...He is one of my best friends. My memories will likewise remain with me for a lifetime.


Rainier?! All I have to say is that my hat's off to you on that one. The summit has been beckoning to me for quite some time as well but I don't have the skills necessary to climb it. I had a buddy who climbed it, a Special Forces guy, and he was HURTING. But I do agree. I heard somewhere that the woods of the type in the BWCA are more "intimate" than the woods out west, including the ones out here. I have to agree. But we do have some great scenery out here - just not any chain lakes with portages and a loon on every other lake.

aka HermitThrush "Such sights as this are reserved for those who will suffer to behold them." -Eric Sevareid
DrBobDg
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02/06/2015 06:44AM
 
I just ended up printing it out and reading over time. Copy of your grandpa's book came via Amazon yesterday so I am looking forward to that.
dr bob
SaganagaJoe
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02/06/2015 12:03PM
 
quote DrBobDg: "I just ended up printing it out and reading over time. Copy of your grandpa's book came via Amazon yesterday so I am looking forward to that.
dr bob"



Let me know what you think! I'll just tell you in advance that his memory was a little faulty when it came to the order of the lakes, but he''s pretty close. Also, be aware that he combined experiences from five years of tripping to write this book - all of this DID NOT happen in one trip.

aka HermitThrush "Such sights as this are reserved for those who will suffer to behold them." -Eric Sevareid
waterdog
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02/08/2015 01:02PM
 
I was glad to see that Spartan2 gently raised the questions, concerns, suggestions that she did. My thoughts exactly, but I'm afraid I wouldn't have been as tactful.


That said, you are an extremely articulate, insightful and thoughtful young man and we're lucky that you are a part of the BWCA.com community. It's refreshing to read how enthusiastic and eager to learn you are, how passionate you are about preserving the wilderness. I'm sure your grandpa is proud. And how lucky Jesse is to have such an awesome big brother!


While your 2013 was a fantastic experience for you all, the next trip with just you, your brother and grandpa will be much more relaxing with only 1/3 of the personalities and attitudes! You might even have better weather!


Keep paddling and learning and writing.




"That'll do, Pig." Farmer Hoggett
SaganagaJoe
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02/08/2015 06:56PM
 



While your 2013 was a fantastic experience for you all, the next trip with just you, your brother and grandpa will be much more relaxing with only 1/3 of the personalities and attitudes! You might even have better weather!


"



Thank you for your kind words! You pretty much nailed it in the quote. I would never trade the trip I had for anything but you're right. I brought Grandpa back last year, just the two of us, for a basecamp on Saganaga and it was much more relaxing and laid back. This year we're going again, this time with Jesse, and are looking to have another good time.


I live in Washington so I don't care about the rain or even the wind. I come to the BWCA for the intimate forest setting, the silence, the fishing, and the time with my grandpa. That being said, I probably could pass on the big storms...they do make me a little nervous. The first storm I described on the trip scared me pretty bad.

aka HermitThrush "Such sights as this are reserved for those who will suffer to behold them." -Eric Sevareid
DrBobDg
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02/09/2015 06:31AM
 
you answered one question...they ran that program for 5 years.
book...a lot of adventure for 'one trip' figured he took some kind of liberties there.
ever figure out who 'Hugo' was.?
yep...can't wash dishes in lake, using soap in the lake etc..even fish guts they want buried now...used to be OK to leave for seagulls until a few years ago but that became an issue as well.
some person left a pile of baked potatoes on a rock....somehow they figured a seagull or eagle was gonna take them away?


drbob
SaganagaJoe
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02/17/2015 08:08PM
 
Surprisingly, he didn't take too many liberties. Most if not all of those experiences actually happened over the five years he taught the course, twice a summer. The "lost" episode with the dove actually happened to his colleague Jim, but Jim let Grandpa use it in the book.


The report with Hugo was a little hammed up. Grandpa and his team really did let Hugo stay with them the night of the bear invasion. Hugo did get the driftwood but never attacked the bear. Nor did he show up in the fog on Saganaga. Grandpa wanted to make the book a little more interesting.


And yes, I am keeping Grandpa in line with the new rules as best as I can. :) Baked potatoes?!?! That's pretty funny.


Believe it or not, Grandpa and Chris are still best friends today.


If anyone else is wondering what I am talking about, just look at Growing Inside Outside by Thomas F. Hall on Amazon.com.




aka HermitThrush "Such sights as this are reserved for those who will suffer to behold them." -Eric Sevareid
ozarkpaddler
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04/14/2015 11:18AM
 
I've been battling pneumonia so have plenty of time for reading right now. Read your report over the last two days and thoroughly enjoyed it! What a "Positive" attitude, I am so impressed! Thanks for sharing!

"Let us live so that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry." Mark Twain
SaganagaJoe
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04/20/2015 12:30AM
 
You're welcome! I had to let my burden go and decide to have a good time on the trip no matter what anyone else was thinking. To this day it was one of the best experiences of my life. I've been back since and am going again this summer.

aka HermitThrush "Such sights as this are reserved for those who will suffer to behold them." -Eric Sevareid
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