Our trip started on Friday at approximately 12:30 PM EST, after I (Dan) got out of work from a half day at the Sheriffs Department. When I got home I called Slick to find out how the last minute shopping had gone while I was at work. Slick, Jones, and Craig had all met here in Middlebury Indiana where we all grew up together. Slick confirmed that they were almost done at Wal-Mart and would be en-route shortly to my house. I knew this meant I only had 15 minutes or so to finish getting all of my supplies around, so I double checked my bag. All 4 of us had been to boundary waters before, however it was with a group from 8th grade back in the summer of 1997. Slick had arrived the night before after driving from Virginia Beach, Jones had flown in from Tampa Florida to Indianapolis where he met Craig. From Indianapolis Craig drove to my house where we departed towards Chicago. Traffic was horrible as we arrived there during rush hour traffic. Once we made it through Chicago we headed North to Milwaukee where we stopped in with Josh, another classmate and friend of ours. After eating dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings in Milwaukee we left at approximately 8pm CST. According to Craig’s GPS we had another good 9 hours until we were to arrive in Duluth.

Total Distance from My house to Seagull Outfitters: 754 Miles

After a long night of switching drivers and allowing each other to sleep (except me) we finally made it to Grand Marais MN. It was about 6AM, and nothing was open. We had to wait for a couple of hours for the Ranger Station to open so we could watch the video and get everything finalized. We decided to eat at the South of the Border Cafe as soon as it opened. After breakfast we quickly made it back to the Ranger Station, when they finally opened we went in, watched our video and were on our way. About an hour or so later of driving up the Gunflint Trail we made it to Seagull Outfitters where we had rented canoes. Slick being the penny pincher he is rented us the heaviest aluminum canoes that Seagull offered, since they were also the cheapest. After a short wait at Seagull, we loaded up and launched at Saganaga Lake with a tow to American Point. Slick and Jones had done this trip last year and were confident in their map reading skills. We borrowed a map from Josh on the way up, and just prior to us leaving my house I had found the map that I bought on my trip in 8th grade. Each canoe had a map, Slick and I started in one canoe and Jones and Craig in the other. As soon as we were dropped off the argument ensued, Slick and I wanted to launch our canoe from where the motor boat dropped us off at (east side of American point) and the other two wanted to walk their canoe to the other side and launch in the more protected west side. As it turned out we met up with each other at the same point so it really didn't matter. After what seemed like an hour or two of paddling in some heavy wind and waves we reached what we thought was the small channel that goes from Saganaga to Swamp Lake. Craig and Jones being the quicker paddlers decided to go ahead of us and make sure that our map reading had been right. Much to our dismay they came back and shouted "it's not back here, maybe its over there". For the next 3-4 hours we paddled all across every point, island, and inlet on the west side of Saganaga Lake not finding our correct opening. We finally decided to paddle to a campsite and get our bearings on our map again. After studying and cussing a bit, we finally decided to go back to where we originally thought it was. After another paddle back to the first spot, we paddled further in and discovered that indeed we had gone to the correct place in the first spot. Finally our first portage was 5 rods all we did was lift our canoes up and over a small rocky area and we were in Swamp Lake. We stopped for a group photo op here at this portage. At Swamp Lake I immediately recognized the surrounding terrain from my trip there about 12 years ago. After a short paddle across Swamp Lake we were at Monument Portage. Our first real portage (90 rods) of the trip, and my first test of my bad back which had been ailing me for the week prior (I found out a week after the trip that I have a herniated disk and a pinched nerve). We double portaged our canoes and equipment through this portage after seeing a couple of Snapping Turtles on the Canadian side of the dock and were quickly on our way. We stopped at the monuments for a picture op, and then set sail on Ottertrack Lake for a short Journey before we hit our next portage (the worst of the trip) to get to Ester Lake. We quickly made it to this portage which was nearly straight up hill and was 80 rods. It was a real test of my physical limits, however after fighting this portage twice, we had made it to Ester Lake. We decided that Ester is where we would set up our first camp, hoping to get one of the campsites on the Island on the South side of the lake, we quickly realized that it had already been taken. We were all wore out after a long day of paddling and arguing that we would take the first campsite to the left. It wasn't a great campsite, but it sure was great to be able to set up camp, build a fire and get some food down. We set up our tent and unloaded our canoes. A short time later Slick and I had the fire going and Jones (the designated trip cook) started our hamburgers that we had packed in a cooler. After eating, we decided to try our luck fishing, Slick and I fished the east side of the lake while Jones and Craig fished the west side of the lake. Slick and I immediately began catching Smallies. We threw them all back since we still had hotdogs in the cooler. We fished until dark and then returned to camp, drank some vodka, reflected on our day, and called it a night.

Totals: 4 Lakes (Saganaga, Swamp, Ottertrack, Ester) - 175 rods

We woke up bright and early this morning, ate breakfast, and discussed our plans for the day ahead. Jones and I were going to try and canoe down to Hanson Lake and then over to Link Lake, Gift Lake, and then to Fish Lake. On our way past the Island Campsite on the North side of Ester, a group of guys with a strong Canadian accent greeted us and said "happy fathers day". I had completely forgotten that it was Fathers Day and quickly wondered what my wife and 2 year old boy Wyatt were up to today. Our goal was to make it to Nawakwa Lake, but we couldn't quite make it that far due to a bunch of downed trees, so instead we spent most of the day fishing Fish Lake. We quickly found out that this lake had been named Fish Lake for good reason. We began catching Northern Pike as soon as we got on this lake. I ended up catching a really big one on a 9 inch Jointed Rapala as it was trolling behind the canoe while we paddled across the lake. Jones netted this fish for me, however my treble hooks became so entangled with the net, that we spent the next 2 hours trying to free my lure and salvage the net. We found a rock and parked the canoe here, where I eventually gave up on my struggle to free my favorite pike lure. Jones then began surgery on the net, and eventually freed my lure, Slick's net now had a 1 inch hole in it. We fished a bit longer, however since the weather was in the mid 80ºs we decided to head back to camp due to it being quite a paddle and 3 portages back. The "portage" that we used to get onto Fish Lake was nothing more than a channel that was a foot deep at its most, crossed several jagged rocks, and a beaver dam. When we got back to camp, Slick and Craig explained that they had tried their luck on Rabbit Lake which was much closer to our camp, however didn't catch anything. Craig also explained that Slick had tipped the canoe and they both went for a swim in 10 feet of water. We then built a fire and noticed a turtle had also joined us at camp and was laying eggs on the rock face near our fire grate. After eating our hotdog's for dinner, we decided that we would get up bright and early tomorrow and pack up, heading to the South Arm of Knife Lake. Slick and Craig decided they would take the 55 rod portage next to our campsite over to Ashdick Lake and try their luck for Pike. They made it back a couple hours later explaining that they really liked this lake and did really well on it. And that maybe next year we will stay on this lake.

Totals: 7 Lakes (Ester, Hanson, Link, Gift, Fish, Rabbit, Ashdick) - 180 rods

This morning we woke up as the sun was rising, so that we could get to paddling and get our favorite campsite on Knife Lake. We headed south past the guys who had wished me a happy fathers day. On the South side of the island we noticed that there were a couple other groups camping at these campsites as well. Quickly we were making our way through the narrow channel that flows between Ester and Hanson Lakes. Hanson Lake was nice and quiet, we didn't see another soul on this lake (it was still VERY early). We made it to the Knife Lake portage, which was our only portage for the day, and I believe it was the longest of the trip. It started out by going up a steep uphill climb, however was downhill most of the rest of the portage. About 3/4 of the way through this 120 rod portage there was a beautiful waterfall we stopped and took a few pictures at. This was a mistake....The mosquitoes hadn't been an issue all trip until now. They were swarming us like a flock of angry birds. We quickly made our way to Knife Lake and back one more time through the minefield of robin sized mosquitoes. The guys asked if we wanted to go back to the falls and get a group picture, we all decided that we'd rather paddle up to our campsite and come back at a later time and check out the waterfall. We made it around the first campsite and point and were excited to see that our site was still vacant. We quickly raced to this site and unloaded our belongings, setting up camp, eager to return to the bay near the portage for some walleye fishing. We had brought a bucket of leeches from Grand Marais and were eager to try our luck. Slick and Jones made their way back to our “secret walleye hole” while Craig and I decided to try and go find some firewood, since all of the wood at our campsite was wet and nearly unusable. Craig and I paddled up past the portage to Toe Lake and around the point to the next two campsites to discover that the one directly behind the island was occupied. We then stopped at the other campsite to see if we could find anything of value, however we quickly decided that this was also a lost cause. We started to fish our way back to our campsite since the wind was at our back. Craig and I both caught our fair share of Smallmouth Bass and small Northern Pike. Craig even found some old wood that had been cut up by a beaver some time ago, it ended up being great for firewood. We threw all of our fish back, in hopes of Slick and Jones returning with a stringer of Walleye. When we made it back to camp, Slick and Jones were still across the lake, so we hoped that meant they were having luck. Craig and I built the fire up and enjoyed the call of a couple of loons that were visiting us. Shortly thereafter Slick and Jones returned with one Walleye and a Smallmouth. We cooked them up and ate a good lunch. After lunch Craig and I made our way back to the waterfall and decided to climb up in the falls to take a “shower”. Later in the evening we tried our luck for Walleye and caught our fair share. We had a good meal of Walleye tonight for dinner.

Totals: 3 Lakes (Ester, Hanson, South Arm Knife) - 120 rods

Slick woke up before everyone else, agitated that no one else wanted to get up as early as he. He was catching bass off of our campsite, and came in the tent with one threatening to slap us in the face with it if we didn’t get up and go fishing. Craig got up and they went over to Toe Lake to try their luck for some pike, while Jones and I decided to sleep in and rest up. While we stayed at camp about an hour after the other guys went exploring, it started to rain HEAVILY. Jones and I in our infinite wisdom decided to put our rain gear on and head out near the islands just up the lake from us for some Smallies. Craig and Slick returned in the afternoon with a stringer full of pike and explained to us that we all needed to check this lake out tomorrow. We spent the rest of the day goofing off around camp, and decided to go for a swim as well as some cliff jumping (right behind our campsite). This evening Slick and I again returned to our “Walleye Spot” and we each caught some nice ones for dinner. We came back and Jones again cooked them up for us as we enjoyed some “Jungle Juice” (lake water, Gatorade Mix, and Vodka). This hit the spot and we discussed our plans for the next day as well as told stories since we rarely get to see each other anymore.

Totals: 2 Lakes (South Arm Knife, Toe) - 10 rods

Again Slick woke up before everyone else, and he got Craig up and around so they could go to Toe Lake first thing in the morning. Jones and I got up about a half our later and headed to Toe Lake to meet the other guys. On our way down the portage from Knife Lake to Toe Lake I decided that wearing “crocs” in a portage wasn’t a great idea. I noticed a large pile of what I had decided was “moose crap”. It looked very fresh and was right in the portage. We started fishing Toe Lake and I caught a nice Largemouth right away as well as about 6 medium sized Pike. Jones was off to a slower start, but he was getting used to it, since he and Craig were the two “non fishermen” of our group. A few minutes later we spotted Craig and Slick and made our way over to them to find out that they had stumbled upon a Cow and Calf moose on their way down the portage. We then went our separate ways on this lake and continued to catch some nice pike. Jones and I thought we heard the moose’ off in the distance behind an island, only to find out that it was 3 beavers. We got some nice pictures of the beavers and then headed back down across the lake towards the portage again where I had caught my Largemouth. Craig and Slick were over in this area drifting and catching some more pike so we decided to do the same. Jones finally caught a pike, and I was in the process of catching a nice one when someone in the other canoe said something about an eagle across the lake. I caught my fish, let it go, and looked across the lake to notice a Bald Eagle swooping down towards the lake apparently to pick up a fish that it had spotted. I immediately got my camera and began recording. The loons were also noticing the eagle as they began calling very loudly from across the lake. The first eagle picked the fish up and began flying away, only to lose it. Shortly thereafter another eagle swooped down and got the fish from the water with much better success than the first one. We then decided to head back to camp and call it a night since we knew tomorrow was going to be a long day of paddling and portaging.

Totals: 2 Lakes (South Arm Knife, Toe) - 10 rods

Plans last night were to wake up, make the leftovers for breakfast and head out: East down West Pike, portage over to Pine, back West up Pine Lake to the far end and hike to Johnson’s Falls. Return itinerary on the day trip is open to completing a loop via Little Caribou or back the way we came.

Extreme Fisherman dad confided in me. Did you see the map for this day trip? There is some incredulity in his voice and on his face. I guess we are in for a lot of paddling and portaging, but I am game for anything, I mean isnt that why you go to the BWCA?

The Extreme Fishing crew decides that fishing is more important than getting a move on down the lake. They go the long way, around the island and troll for Lakers again. Our other two boats take the direct route, towards the east portage. After 30 minutes of paddling it is obvious the fisherman must be on the fish, as they are WAY back there. So we go with the flow and start fishing for bass and wait for them to catch up. When they do, they do have a nice Lake Trout caught by the son.

We make landfall at the portage. I was too busy to think through the math, but in retrospect 318 rods is 2 canoe lengths short of a mile. It was probably better I didn’t know starting this portage.

Having learned my lesson about portaging in Keens, I dry off, put on my SmartWool socks and tie up my hiking boots. Dry socks = true pleasure. I carry a daypack, and my 16ft Penobscot, with seats, extra paddle and rods all BDB’d in. My son has another daypack with our water bottles, the small tackle pouch and the paddles. Experienced BWCA dad is taking the huge waterproof blue pack, and the 17ft Penobscot. He won’t allow anything to be tied into the canoe when carrying. Hmmm… I am start to wonder if I should be following others examples. Regardless, this left Extreme fisherman Dad carrying the airy Kevlar MNII. The pads and weight of that canoe fit better on his once dislocated/broken collarbone/shoulder.

The portage started nice enough, it crossed some low areas bridged by timbers, perfectly spaced with enough room to get a foot caught in it, although we all crossed it unscathed. A few minutes later the fauna starts encroaching, and we start going uphill. Sunscreen and deet are sweating into my eyes, it is getting hot. I start rotating what hand is balancing the canoe, every now and then I place the opposite hand on my hip to help bolster the weight, then switch, which seems to cause a new pain in my shoulders. Maybe if I hunch down a bit it will change things up? Slide it back a little? No, forward? Not even ½ way yet... I seemed to have drifted off or blanked out my memory, the next thing I remember is passing experienced BWCA guy who is upset at his giant dry bag pack that doesn’t fit anyone. The boys are yelling ahead, we are crossing the hiking trail finally. They are tired and I pass them by. Muddy… downhill… green… hot… hey, that’s poison ivy isn’t it? Is that a snake? No, just my shoelace in the mud. Crap! Untied shoe? I don’t think I can solve this problem with my load. In my exertion induced insanity, I start dreaming a woodland creature will help tie my shoe. I ask the dog on his portage patrol to help, he doesn't. I swear to double tie my hiking boots, at this point I may as well be wearing my soggy keens Some jubilant solo kayaker? is skipping up the hill at me, smiling, with the smallest, lightest shell of a boat I have ever seen, no pack. “It’s all downhill from hear!” he says with a smile. I try to say “I wish I could tell you the same.” But I think it came out “Blahjsie #@!*^% auwkblad youferistic blod!”

With 40 feet of portage left, I start beckoning the Extreme Fisherman for help to get this god forsaken canoe off my shoulders. He jumps up from his rehydration moment and saves me. I am now 2 inches shorter. My son is there, tired, standing in the lake fully dressed. I mutter as I retie my shoe.

A quick drink, and back up the portage to find the other boys, Experienced BWCA Dad and offer some help. The kids stumble down the hill, and BWCA dad is moving smooth without the hellish blue dry pack.

It sounds like we have left a few stashes along the portage so we will call this an unintentional portage and a half. It feels great to have my right shoe tied, still didn’t double knot, idiot. After about 300 feet, portage shepherd is checking on me. Another 10 feet and damn it all, if BWCA dad isn’t jogging on the portage “Just to hurry things up a bit”, he says. I feel the same about him right now as the happy skipping solo Ultra light kayaker dude. I gather what the kids have dropped and he takes on the hated blue bag. When we get back, and yes, my other boot untied during this carry, idiot!, everyone is now standing in the lake.

There is a camp site here, wind is blowing in and a nice spot by the lake to have lunch so Fisherman dad does up a shore lunch with the Laker they caught. He rules! Supplement that with the usual Bruegger’s Bagels, sausage, cheese and such. The kids play king of the rock in the water until it appears injury may result, so we move on. Here moving on means a 5 mile canoe trek on beautiful Pine Lake. Most campsites on the north side are awesome. A couple sites are filled with canoes converted into catamarans, I suppose that makes a lake this size safer in the wind, or easier to carry mass amounts of beverages?

Headwind. a long persistent head wind. Well, it will be easier getting back… We take breaks on fighting the wind and fish our way down the lake. We have lots of Small Mouth success here and we make it to the west end where there are canoes and people all over. There are plenty of people around Johnson’s falls this afternoon. It feels like a National Park but without the Europeans everywhere. One group leaving recommends fishing where the stream runs into the lake as they could see, literally, hundreds of fish. We spend more than an hour, giggle fishing. This is where you catch so many fish, you just laugh. Every or every other cast is a bass, most small. There are some bigger ones farther out and Northern Pike patrolling as well. These were found as they fed on a couple of the Smallies we reeled in. One looked like a shark on the Discovery channel diving over a dragged fake seal.

The afternoon is running out so the kids reluctantly give up fishing and hike up to the lower falls. The kids play in the pools well downstream from the falls. They aren’t the smoothest rocks to slide down through the rapids but the bruises and scrapes aren’t felt until that night, too much fun.

Visiting the upper falls, amazing. The kids find a small pool where water rushes in about shoulder/neck height and they get a free cold spa treatment. Again we are reluctant to leave an activity, but do so as it is getting on towards evening.

Back at Pine lake, the kids beg for more fishing at the mouth of the stream. OK, you're only here once is the concensus. The bad part is, our steady wind is starting to dwindle. Our expected downwind paddle back becomes less using the map for a sail and more smooth lake paddling.

The portage back to West Pike… ugh. It is meaner on the way north. A long uphill to start. We decide to double portage with a pretty light load on the 2nd trip. Extreme fishermen head off up the portage followed by my son and followed by our portaging machine leader and son. I pick up the rear. The dog is here, it has started checking on me more often. I wonder if I smell like the start of a heart attack. Nice dog, I appreciate the concern.

Jeesh, it is still hot. I start spotting bits and pieces falling off the guys in front of me. Drat! One was even the leach pail the fishermen were using. I still have the spare paddle, seats and rods strapped in the canoe. Still haven’t learned there. I can’t fathom the possibility of putting down the canoe and pack, or cleaning the leeches up with them on my back. I trudge on and go into pack mule mode again. Zero thoughts but focus on the finish to forget about the pain. My son ends up meeting me on the portage, he is going back to get more stuff following the jogging portage fitness dad and his son. I finally drop the canoe off, help the Extreme fishermen out onto West Pike and head back to help the others on the double portage. No help needed for the BWCA dad he jogs on by. I think he was even smiling, so I continue farther to help the kids. They are happy to have saved the leeches and have a lot of other tackle, rods and bags with them. I ease their burden and follow my son. His feet are skimming ½ inch of the ground stumbling into every rock he doesn’t see. He has bonked, with ½ mile to go. I encorage him to march with high steps, to focus on each foot placement. Two tripping incidents later we get to the wooden walkways over the marshy area. Hmmm… His foot does fit perfectly between the two boards! It is stuck. He is not happy. Glad he doesn’t use playground words around me. After foot extraction with no injury, we finish our portage and happily set off on our home lake. I pull out a surprise mint dark chocolate bar. It melted once in its journeys but it is solid right now and we split it, as a reward for that portage. It is the best chocolate ever. Energy levels rise and things are looking up.

When we reach our island, the fisherman dad has been making some linguini alfredo, bacon gets added and again, things are looking up. We are hot and exhausted. Swimsuits are found and we soak away the day’s grime. Revived, it is dusk and mosquitos have come out in numbers never seen on this trip or in any other time of our life. After changing in the tent, long sleeves and pants and bug nets. An attempt is made at eating. Mmmmm… bug net alfredo. Not so easy. We cut is short, euphamism’s are flying about the bugs. S’mores are called off, we franticly clean up, hanging the food and garbage in the swarm is the worst and we dive, literally, into the tents for the night. The running around heated us back up after the swim. Hot and sweaty again. Sleep doesn’t come easy. Haunted by mosqito noise. Is that mosquito in our tent or just by my ear on the screen? I am too tired to figure it out. West Pike Lake, Pine Lake </a>

We woke up today hoping to take advantage of a wind at our back by the time we made it to Seagull Lake. After packing our gear for the last time, we headed out, past a group of boy scouts that were camped on an island campsite on Alpine. After some arguing as to which way we would take to get to Seagull Lake, we decided on trying the 65 rod portage to Rog Lake. We were all happy that this was our last “big portage” of the trip. Knowing it was only listed as 65 rods on the map, I volunteered to carry the canoe. By the time I made it to Rog Lake we all had agreed that this measurement had to be incorrect, as it seemed more like 85-90 rods. We passed another canoeist on Rog Lake and were quickly to our last portage of the trip. Excited at getting to Seagull Lake, Slick and I decided it would be a good idea to leave our gear in the canoe and just carry it with two men down the 20 rods to Seagull. This was a mistake, as we quickly learned that even though it was only 20 rods, it had several sharp rocks that dropped off, as well as a lot of mud. We finally made it to our last lake of the trip, and it appeared that the wind was at our back as we had hoped. We checked the map, went from one vantage point to another and shortly we recognized that we were at 3 mile island. Seeing several motor boats go by we knew we were getting closer to the end of our adventure. After a couple of hours arguing with Jones and Craig about whether we should be paddling harder than we were, we made it to the dock at Seagull Outfitters. It was a bittersweet feeling. We were greeted by a gentleman at the dock, explaining to him that we were actually back a day earlier than we had scheduled. We unloaded our gear, borrowed some towels and made our way to the shower house. About a half hour later we were done showering and carefully fit our gear in the back of Craig’s Jeep. After a last stop in the outfitters, Craig purchased a knife, and Jones and I each purchased a map of our route (now I have 2 maps). After about a 60 mile drive down the Gunflint Trail we were finally back to civilization. We remembered seeing a pizza joint in Grand Marais a week earlier. We made our way downtown and found “Sven and Ole’s Pizza”. As we ordered our pizza and I got my ice water I had so badly been craving out in the wilderness we quickly ate what we had purchased. Slick had a craving for Goldfish crackers, so he drove up to the nearest grocery store. On our way out the door Slick grabbed a Sven and Ole’s bumper sticker, for which we later stuck to the back of Josh’s truck in Milwaukee. It was about a 10 hour drive back to Milwaukee where we stayed for the next couple of days and enjoyed some beer at the Lakefront Brewery Tour, as well as enjoyed some music and beer at Summerfest. It was a great time with great friends. We hope to make this trip an annual tradition.

Totals: 3 Lakes (Alpine, Rog, Seagull) - 85 rods - 574 miles to Milwaukee