New Trip Report posted by Spartan2

Trip Name: The Long Trip.

Entry Point: 48

Click Here to View Trip Report

Word of warning: this is a very long trip report. It is the story of our 22-day trip in 1992. It won't offend me if people don't have the time to read it, but just be aware that it is lengthy. It has been a good project for me during my social distancing here at home.

Thank You!!! I stopped at #12 (still snow on the ground and not working ) so I need to save some for Wednesday. I get a big smile every time you say Tang. This is exactly what I hoped for. Thanks again.

merlyn: "Thank You!!! I stopped at #12 (still snow on the ground and not working) so I need to save some for Wednesday. I get a big smile every time you say Tang. This is exactly what I hoped for. Thanks again."

You are very welcome.

Oh, if I had known there were Tang fans out there, I could have mentioned it more often! We had it for every breakfast, I think. :-)

Lynda, Neil--This was a GREAT trip report; I enjoyed every part of it. We've never made a trip that early in the season, so haven't seen the iris and lady slippers around portages. And I haven't thought of Tang in a while--it was part of our early trips, too (our first trip was '79).
TZ

A fine report from my favorite area these days! Thank you. I am working on one for a 1968 trip. It might take me a day or so to get photos together.

Thank you for writing this report up. Greatly enjoyed reading of your trip!

I love seeing those photos. It's interesting how some look like high res digital photos and others have the faded colors and lesser resolution of long ago photos.

I don't use Photoshop but I did try to tweak the exposure after scanning. Some worked better than others. Almost all of the photos were a bit faded, and as I mentioned in the report, some had a light streak from the light leak in my camera.

But I do agree that there is quite a wide variety of photo quality in this report.

Spartan2: "I don't use Photoshop but I did try to tweak the exposure after scanning. Some worked better than others. Almost all of the photos were a bit faded, and as I mentioned in the report, some had a light streak from the light leak in my camera.

But I do agree that there is quite a wide variety of photo quality in this report."

I liked the mix, Lynda.

Thanks for putting this together and posting. I enjoyed all of it. I have a mid May trip planned with a friend who has never been there. I hope we can still go and also that we have bit more sun than you did.

Great report. I grew up in the UP, and had Grandparents in Duluth. I have fond memories of stopping for lunch at Grandma Grooters in Bruce Crossing for lunch on the way. Unfortunately it burned down some years ago.

user0317: "Great report. I grew up in the UP, and had Grandparents in Duluth. I have fond memories of stopping for lunch at Grandma Grooters in Bruce Crossing for lunch on the way. Unfortunately it burned down some years ago."

Yes, we were really bummed when it burned. I was always surprised that they didn't rebuild.

Great report!

I'm definitely having some serious regret for not staying at that site on Weird when we had the chance...

A delight to read. Thanks for taking the time to put this together with all the photos as well. I am still trying to finish the report for a big trip 30 years ago. I don't think I have many pictures though.

Fantastic report! It is amazing to see a trip from that far back mixed in with all of the recent trip reports. For the joy of photography, it is great seeing photos where you had to use film. Something about older photos makes you appreciate the photos more knowing how much work it was to bring a whole camera/film along on a trip rather than just using our phones. Again, great trip and what a trek!

Thanks for the compliments, bridge4 life. I never did a trip, or any kind of travel with a cell phone camera, so actually I think later on in my tripping days the photo equipment was more complicated. Once I got a good DSLR in 2003, along with a fine-quality telephoto zoom lens, I carried more photo gear and concentrated a lot more on the photography.

But I think the frustration with film was in not knowing at the time if you "got" your shot or not. So I would take a few extra, and then I had a stack of prints to just throw away. Very inefficient by today's standards.

How I would have LOVED to have a good digital camera on Weird Lake for those moose shots!

Lynda & Neil,

I recall I was doing a spiritual exercise this past spring and avoided logging on for several months, thus missing out on the original publishing of this incredible report. So, I'm glad I finally stumbled onto this special story.

Having devoured tantalizing snippets of the fond reminiscing of this adventure you have provided on bwca.com over the years, it was a most satisfying culmination to finally get to read; (as Paul Harvey used to say) "the rest of the story."

The familiarity of some aspects of the story added a flavor of enjoyable anticipation as I kept asking myself, "When are they going to get to the Cherokee campsite?!?" :) I also enjoyed the historical aspect of the story. Seeing the price for the motel, the old vehicles and seeing the photos of area's affected by the '99 blowdown. I thought your photos really conveyed a good sense of what you encountered along the way.

Thanks ever so much for taking the time to put this together and share such treasured thoughts and experiences. The effort and artistry do not go unnoticed or unappreciated. I'm kind of leaning towards doing a trip to Cherokee/Long Island etc. next spring and this really helps motivate me to do just that.

God bless,

Paul (TuscaroraBorealis)

Thanks so much for your kind words, Paul. As I have told you before, your trip reports are always my favorites, so a compliment from you is, indeed, pleasing.
It almost makes me want to make the effort to do another "historic" trip report!! Maybe during the long winter I'll be inspired.

Reading this many months after you posted. It was great! The green plaid shirts and note about flying at Devil's Track brought back memories. Best to you both in these trying times.

old guide: "Reading this many months after you posted. It was great! The green plaid shirts and note about flying at Devil's Track brought back memories. Best to you both in these trying times."

Just saw this post. Glad you enjoyed my little walk down memory lane. The green plaid shirts were a classic--I even have a picture of us posing in them in this month's photo contest.

Thanks for your good wishes. We are doing well, just keeping away from other people. Hoping that we can get on the list for the vaccine quite quickly once it is approved.

Just read this, awesome read, awesome pics! Noticed you finished your trip with a chocolate malt at Trail Center. I did exactly the same this past September. Best one I ever had!

Yes, I had one when we did our cabin week at Rockwood Lodge this September. Just so good!! A year just isn't complete without a chocolate malt from Trail Center.

Thanks for your kind comments.

Thanks for sharing your memories.

I appreciate including the temperature readings. It shows what kind of weather is possible in June.

Interesting to see the difference between old photos and more modern ones.

Glad you sided on putting the photos in the report even if they had some technical faults.

On the Vern River day trip. From what I have seen and read it is more of a bushwack than a free flowing stream.

It is very cool how many moose you saw.