The countdown is on. Monday a friend and I drive up to Ely and Moose Lake. We will stay overnight at an outfitters and then get towed to Prairie Portage first thing in Tuesday am. My friend will go solo clockwise from Prairie, Piwi, Sark, Kawnipi and down Agnes to Sunday. I will go solo counter clockise and we will meet and camp our fifth night together on Sunday Lake.
Very excited to go, already pretty well packed.
Life is good indeed.

I got the feeling too! I go in Beaverhouse on Tuesday for 23 days solo. I will go down as far as Woodside and then back out through Pickeral. Even though I have been nearly packed for over a month I am at the point of asking myself- have I forgotten anything.
I can’t wait to get my paddle wet. So far the weather looks reasonable, the water levels ok and the fires further north. You can’t ask for more.

GC, do you have a way to communicate with your friend? I'm pretty sure you can get cell reception on Sunday Lk. I know in 2015 we had it on North Bay. I never take a phone but my brother and nephews had one to keep the boys Mom updated.

Cell reception on Sunday unlikely. Possible in North Bay and Bailey Bay but the land between Sunday and Basswood blocks the path to the cell towers.

GC and jddd....I noticed that both you guys are, shall we say, well out of your 20's (as am I). Good to see. I hope you both have great trips. Take care. My solo will be late Sept or early Oct.

Banksiana: "Cell reception on Sunday unlikely. Possible in North Bay and Bailey Bay but the land between Sunday and Basswood blocks the path to the cell towers."

I have ATT and had cell coverage on Sunday. Last year we had cell service as far as site 1GY on Agnes(but didn't have it this yr).

SourisMan: "GC and jddd....I noticed that both you guys are, shall we say, well out of your 20's (as am I). Good to see. I hope you both have great trips. Take care. My solo will be late Sept or early Oct. "

SM where you headed? I will be around SAK in that time frame.

Hope you have your best trip yet! This place is so magical to a lot of people. I have been many times and still can't wait for the next trip. It is all consuming in my mind for months prior to launch. Gear, food, route. Gear, food, route. I have been fortunate to have traveled a few places in this world, and my favorite, hands down, is right here in Minnesota! If I hadn't found the BWCA in my youth, not sure I would have found my true self. I feel truly blessed we still have places like this left. Thanks to all that have and are fighting to keep it that way!

Anticipation for a great trip is a wonderful feeling!

I never bring a phone with me. However, one of my tripping partners brings one just to take pictures. Believe it or not, once on the northern island site on McIntyre in the Q, he took out the phone to snap a photo and got a text from his wife. They texted back and forth twice and then lost the signal.
Always figured aliens were involved.

My brother and nephews got a signal on the north end of North Bay and were talking on speaker to his wife. It seemed so out of place. They texted regularly through the trip. Maybe I'm just a curmudgeon but I don't want that stuff going on. I go there to get away from that stuff (among many other things).

That said, texting would be extremely useful to hook up with other paddlers on a trip. That, I would be ok with.

GraniteCliffs: "I never bring a phone with me. However, one of my tripping partners brings one just to take pictures. Believe it or not, once on the northern island site on McIntyre in the Q, he took out the phone to snap a photo and got a text from his wife. They texted back and forth twice and then lost the signal.
Always figured aliens were involved."

Definitely aliens.
There can be no other explanation. ;)

Wow. What a trip.
Trip went even better than I could have hoped for. The weather was perfect. The scenery was spectacular. Nothing at all went wrong. Didn't forget anything. The most comfortable I ever was on a solo trip. It was nothing short of awesome.
I went up Agnes almost all the way on day one, to Kawnipi and made the turn to get to the south end of Cairn night two, Yum Yum night three and landed on a site back on Sunday on day four by 2 PM. This trip was a planned paddle and portage slow and steady all day long, just staring at the scenery as I went. I hoped to get it done in four nights and was done in three.
I am getting old, 67, but the trip made me feel young again.
A trip like that in the Mighty Q is nothing short of magical.

Nice work GC! That is some serious ground. Why leave early?

That is so awesome and encouraging to me. I would very much like to be 67 (or 77 ;-) and still in the game.

A brief update on my conditions; Deep tissue massage has restored some much needed range of motion. The Daniel Fast is going well and its day 8 and I have dropped 11 pounds since coming off the disaster which was WCPP. It is easier than I first thought it would be and is reducing inflammation. Have done much research on the web and am employing hip alignment and mobility exercises. I have also been putting a Concept 2 rowing machine, which I dropped a tidy sum on several years ago, into daily practice. Tomorrow is the chiropractor who is a 2 hour drive. (But he is amazing).

I have also been seeking the Lord and claiming what is mine. Healing is the childrens bread and I have been delinquent in claiming that which is mine. Arthritis has no place in my body and therefore must dissolve and depart. If cartilage needs to regrow it will by the power which is within me. God is able to make all things new.

Today is a good day and I am walking without pain or a noticeable limp. I will continue to improve and will be back to planning a climb on Mt Rainier and going canoe tripping once again, only believe! I give God all the glory! let it be according to my confession.