I know there are many threads on this forum that are very similar to this thread... I was inspired by another member's call for all of us to be more active during these crazy times.

I have never written a trip report on this forum. Like many other members, I don't feel it would do the trip, or the members of this forum, justice if I wrote a report that I only remember bits and pieces of. Many members are able to write excellent trip reports because of a combination of detailed journal entries and a great memory. Either way, any type of trip report or thread on this forum is appreciated by me.

For this thread, I simply wanted to share some awesome memories that I have experienced in the BWCA and Quetico. These memories may be entirely random, brief, and are not in order of very best of the best, then next best, then next best, etc. They are simply going to be listed as they enter my mind. Also, each one will have taken place in either the BWCA or Quetico.

1.) First (and only) Pileated Woodpecker spotting

2.) First (and only) wolf spotted in the wild. It was a black wolf on the Gunflint Trail. It was big and incredibly fast.

3.) Seeing wild bears and moose for the first time.

4.) My dad and I both caught our first Lake Trout ever on the same day. For both of us, we have still only caught one Laker each.

5.) My dad rescued our runaway canoe when it was lightly snowing and water temperatures were somewhere between cold and *^%$#@! cold.

6.) My friends and I thought it would be a good idea to swim as far as we could from our campsite. We would have drowned for sure (no exaggeration here) had my dad not came out in the canoe to rescue us.

7.) I caught my biggest fish ever, a 43 inch pike, on the first day of one BW trip. That also happened to be the very first fish of the trip. It was at the base of a falls and was on a lightweight setup with just a hook and a fat crawler.

8.) My dad landed his biggest pike ever at 38 inches around 1 A.M. on a pitch black night (guess it was technically morning) while fishing in the canoe. I was the net man and it was a bit freaky trying to get that hog into the boat.

9.) Four of us once started a Spades game (2 vs. 2) one lazy, hot afternoon. We played for hours and hours and nobody could reach the 500 point score that would have crowned the victor. We never ended up finishing that game.

10.) Don't remember who these guys were, but a small group (4 or 6 guys, can't remember exactly) offered to host my dad and me to a fish fry at their campsite one evening. Great, great group of guys. If you're out there and you're reading this, thank you for that awesome experience.

11.) Any time a group of us went to the BW or Q, we'd make a friendly fishing wager. $1 to most fish of the day, biggest fish of the day, smallest fish of the day, biggest walleye, smallie, pike of the day, etc. One evening, a few of us went out in the canoes to fish while the other remaining few stayed at camp to fish. I caught my personal best (to this day) 26-1/2 inch walleye. I was confident, and admittedly, a little arrogant coming back to camp with my trophy. However, while we were gone, my friend, Neubs, caught his personal best 28-1/2 inch walleye from camp.

12.) Biggest loon I've ever seen (and man, do they get big up there) bee-lined for our stringer of fish. He was SUPER aggressive. We got the whole thing on video.
The head of this loon was massive.

13.) Catching dozens of rock bass from the sand beach site at Gijikiki. My dad and I waded in thigh deep and just nailed 'em right at sunset.

I could go on and on but these are a few that really stick out. Hope you guys enjoy!

Great memories.

My first one will be a day trip from the camp site we were currently staying at. The day started with a huge snapping turtle hanging out in the water just at the edge of our camp site, then we saw a big bull moose sitting in some reeds a few hundred yards from our camp site. Over the course of the day we visited a recovering fire zone (year past the fire) saw a female moose with a young one, some loons, some beaver, and as we got back to our camp site the bull moose was still there (this was maybe 8 hours later). As we pulled into camp, my wife whispered to me (so our niece and her boyfriend wouldn't hear), "the only thing that could make today more perfect would be northern lights. Bingo! The day was so epic that our niece did a painting of it.

OK, another one. First thing in the morning a bull moose crashed into the water next to our camp site, swam past (breathing really heavily) and settled into an area of reeds within site. We spent the entire day watching it eat, go into the woods, come back out, eat, and drink, and finally bed down for the night. The next day it left and we went over and looked at its prints and its bed. It was a fascinating glimpse into the life of a moose and well worth an entire day.

Number 3: a morning spent making and eating pancakes. We were with my brother-in-law and one of his friends. His friend was making the pancakes unbelievably slowly and so we also spent the morning making up slogans and advertising approaches for "Honest Ken's Slowcakes because you just can't rush goodness."

Thanks for sharing! I would say the top 5, maybe even top 10, biggest snapping turtles I've ever seen have all been spotted in the BWCA or Quetico. They get massive!

1. Going over a waterfall with a fully loaded canoe and not tipping or taking on water has to be my number one... still not sure how we pulled that off.

2. Countless 40+ inch pike for people I bring. Great feeling seeing those things get near the canoe for people that rarely fish.

3. So many moose sightings but they are always amazing and treasured.

4. 2 1/2 mile portage with an Alumacraft 18 footer and never stopped for a break. Quite proud of myself that day.

5. My oldest daughters first fish without assistance. She was 3 and caught about a 15 inch walleye.

6. Tent collapsing in a storm and I had to go out and reset it up despite the wind/rain/and snow. I just remember being so cold when I got back in.

7. My brother and I both falling in the water at 30 degrees before a snowstorm. Paddled fast to a campsite, set tent up, got inside and climbed into sleeping bags, drank whiskey until we were warm.

8. Bushwhacking trips with my father and brother. I hate such hard work but it is memorable.

Seeing two different species of sundew plants on a boggy shoreline; one of which had a midge in its grasp.

Thanks MM for the post, I was the guy who called for more activity so I guess I gotta post:)

Not necessarily in any order

Crocodile Lake, first May trip we had taken. At sunset my buddy and I were out on the rocks at the front of the campsite and heard some commotion in the adjacent bay. Thinking moose we got our cameras ready but instead saw three wolves cavorting in the water for quite awhile. We were alone on this fairly secluded lake and my buddy thought it would be a good idea to howl at them???
They were a long ways away and it was pretty low light so the pics weren't very good:








July 1976, drought year, me and 5 buddies were camped on Isabella Lake in the Q. After a rigorous bout of cliff diving we imbibed a bit too much and ended up crashed in our bags out in the open without hanging the food. 5 am and my buddy wakes me up saying there is a bear in camp..no there is a mama bear in camp with two cubs. We sprang into action and chased her out of camp but she dragged a food pack with her. We followed her back and got some of it back. A bit later my buddy and I decided it would be a good idea to bushwhack our way back to a wetland shown on the map for some photo opps, figuring the bear was long gone. We were gone a couple hours and as we came back and entered the campsite from the south, she was entering from the north again. She scrounged around literally inches from a buddy who had made his way to a tent. Then made her way over to a sleeping guy in the middle of camp and was standing right over him. We woke him up and he slowly moved away but mama bear lunged at him at one point, luckily a fake charge. Woke up camp and chased her out again. Figured it was time to get the heck out of there and packed up as quick as possible. As we were loading the canoes she made a beeline for the landing and the last canoe got off with 10 yards or so to spare . Cost us some food and a learning experience.

Lost in the Q - took a wrong turn and found ourselves on a remote lake in the Q with no campsites as the sun was going down. Found a flat area on a small cliff and set up a quick camp. Boiled water and Lipton Cup a Soup for dinner, poring over the maps. The next morning we headed out early without breakfast, eager to find out where the heck we were. Figured it out and once we knew where we were at cooked up some oatmeal for breakfast. The interior of the Q was pretty remote in the 70s, was a weird feeling spending a night not knowing where we were.

Another time in the Q back in the 70s, had one of those can't find the portage experiences. Looked for a long while and just couldn't figure it out. Stopped on an island for a break and found ourselves in the middle of the biggest patch of big juicy blueberries that I had ever seen. Gorged ourselves as we checked the map and found our mistake, but it was a diversion worth doing.

On one trip around 1980 we made our way through Horseshoe Lake on the way to Vista and saw moose 5 or 6 times on the way in and out. One encounter I was canoeing with another avid photographer (film back in that day) and came upon a sow chest deep in the water with two yearlings near shore. We took some shots and she would dunk her head down in the water, pulling out a mouthful of weeds/grasses and blowing the water out her nostrils. When her head was under we would paddle 6 feet close. Did this several times but held mostly completely still when her head was up. Got some incredible shots of her as we were probably only 20 yards from her at the closest point, with one hand on the paddles. Got the film developed when I came back and they had a "problem" and scratched the film horribly in processing. Gave me a couple new rolls of film, but that didn't quite make up for the lost shots.

Stayed at the campsite in the NW corner of South Temperance for a few nights. Happened to have the biggest patch of perfectly ripe raspberries I have ever seen. Feasted on them for a few days but also had raspberry pancakes with maple syrup two mornings, epic breakfast. But beyond that there was more bird activity than I have ever seen up there, all over the place and many different species - photographers paradise. Included in that mix was a pair of spruce grouse that were our constant companions as we moved about camp and in the surrounding woods. Just a fun trip.


















There are more memories that stand out, just gotta think about it a bit, maybe another post.