On the 2021 Roll Call thread, someone mentioned being "on the board for 18 years." My historical intrigue led me to ask the following questions:

1) How long has BWCA.com been a site?

2) When did this forum/message board begin?

3) Who were the key players in its inception?

4) What milestones have there been along the way?

5) What memorable stories do you have that transpired from this community platform? (Aside from trip reports).

6) How long have you been a member?

7) Who would you like to give a "shout out" to and show appreciation for their knowledge, feedback, insight, participation and contributions to this site?

This should be fun...

J

Adam is the owner of the website so I'm sure he'll have the most information to share.

Adam became a member on March 6, 2003 so I'm sure the website was "born" on, or about, that date.

To see the date that you joined BWCA.com, go to the top of the page and click on "Member Directory". Enter your board name, click enter, then click on your board name in the list of options. Your "Member Since" date will be listed.

You can also simply click on your board name under your photo on the left side of the screen. (JWilder, you joined BWCA.com on November 12, 2020.)

I joined BWCA.com on July 13, 2003. Hard to believe it's been that long.

This is a cool question and I'm looking forward to more insight from the "senior" members here. I myself am a relatively recent member but I've been lurking for some time. I was only (EDIT:) 11 years old in 2003 when the site was launched so can't offer any insight into the earlier days. This is truly a great source of information for anyone looking to paddle and/or camp even if outside the BWCA/Quetico so I can't thank the members and mods enough. I've learned a great deal in my 4-5 years of reading posts on the site and can't imagine how much steeper the learning curve would have been on my own. I look forward to many more years of being a member here and have found out that Adam and I live close so should probably buy him a beer someday soon after the world returns to stasis.

1) according to the bottom this page it was formed in 2002.
2) again 2002
3) kanoes, jackfish, Butthead, and many others, the list is long.
4) not sure
5) All the wing nights I’ve attended and one wing weekend get together. I’ve made so many friends here.
6) January 25th 2009
7) basspro, Queticomike, mcsweeny, for fishing help. And top secret spots. Countless others for campsite intelligence. Vertically most people that post here I read and they have something for to learn from. So my shout out would be to everyone here.

This year marks our 19th anniversary!

I bought the domain name from someone sitting on it in Ukraine through a long and questionable escrow process in early 2002. The messageboard started in September of 2002.

Bogwalker was the first moderator on the site as we fought off an insurgent of snowmobiling trolls.

The goal of this website was to create a great online community and information resource... a work in progress.

Milestones
- 1000 members in 2004
- 10000 members in 2008
- 20000 members in 2010
- 30000 members in 2016

We support around 250,000 users per year which is about what they estimate the yearly visitors are the BWCA (day trips and camping).

Lots of great memories over the year with meeting members at wingnights, running into members in the BWCA, and chatting with members even while sitting in the middle of nowhere in China. LOL

Some sadness as we saw some great members pass over the years.

2010 for myself, I don't think any of our trips would have been half as rewarding without the information found within these post. From fishing to gear, location of campsites to food and friendships everyone her has something to offer. The trip reports are very helpful and the maps are essential. I've hiked, and canoe camped in plenty of different locations but was never able to prepare as well with the other trips outside of the BWCA and that is due to this site. Thanks for all the hard work that goes into this great source of information

5) Basspro’s memories and pics of Prince.
6) Wow, 3/2003
7) Egnuty or something like that. Haven’t heard from him in a while

Hex

1) How long has BWCA.com been a site? I heard about it in 2003

2) When did this forum/message board begin? I think it was 2002

3) Who were the key players in its inception? Adam lol and a bunch of CCBB members

4) What milestones have there been along the way? There are way more forums. At one point I made a suggestion for a general chat area because the BWCA stuff was getting lost in the daily stuff. So Adam made this forum and we all decided to call it Listening point. I think there was a contest or something to come up with the name. When I joined BWCA.com I had no kids. Now have have 3 and 2 are teens. One is in College! lol

5) What memorable stories do you have that transpired from this community platform? (Aside from trip reports). The chat rooms! The CCBB use to have a daily lunch chat. When a bunch of us came here the lunch chat moved over here. I don't know if their is a daily lunch chat anymore. Another story. One time Dan Cooke had a get together (on the CCBB we called them platties, this forum calls them wingnights) at his house. It ended up raining so we moved into his basement. In his basement he had a leather couch. We had our 2 daughters with us who were 2 and 4 at the time (our son wasn't born yet). My 2 girls thought that couch was a cow! They kept petting the leather on the couch and Dan thought it was so funny. He said he has been mistaken for Santa before but never had his couch mistaken for a cow! Another one is about 10 years ago I had a canoeing with kids wingnight at my house. I did it in the winter and had everyone bring their snowshoes. We snowshoed around our land and had a wonderful time.

6) How long have you been a member? Summer 2003. Jackfish invited me over on a lunch time chat. At the time the ccbb was going down hill because of lack of moderators. Trolls were taking over the ccbb board. So there were about 3 or 4 forums that started up. I joined all 4 but this is the one that grew strong.

7) Who would you like to give a "shout out" to and show appreciation for their knowledge, feedback, insight, participation and contributions to this site?

All the people we have lost over the years. Cancer has taken so many good paddlers. Car accidents and illness have taken others. I started canoeing forums in my 20s and have seen so many people leave over the years. But with life this is expected. Then there was Kanoes. He always remembered the kids at the wingnights when we started meeting at campgrounds. He would give away prizes to the kids and made them feel special. He encouraged the kids to love the wilderness and wanted to make them feel welcomed. There is a forum dedicated to the past members here.

Savage Voyageur: "3) kanoes, jackfish, Butthead, and many others, the list is long. "

I was an early member (July 2003), but I wasn't a key member in the start-up. Bogwalker joined in March 2003. Didn't realize Hexnymph had been around since then, too.

Canoearoo (Cindy) and I joined on the same day. :)

Here's a trip back to 2002 to see an invitation to join bwca.com:

What was CCBB ?

WHendrix: "What was CCBB ?"

It's another website online. It's still around. I don't want to name it because I know that it is frowned upon. It's not as big as it once was because trolls killed it, which is why I love this forum. We have great moderators.

WHendrix: "What was CCBB ?"

I believe it stands for Canoe Country Bulletin Board.

Just a newbie here, only been around since May of 2007. Since the day I discovered this site there have not been many days that I haven't checked it at least once, usually many times, unless of course I was paddling the BWCA. It has fueled my passion for wilderness paddling and camping, provided me with lots of knowledge and ideas for trips, gear, fishing as well as wilderness camping skills(never knew what batoning was, what a great lesson). it has also provided me perspectives on life, history and the best way to experience the north woods in general, and wilderness paddling and camping that I am so passionate about.

I don't watch much TV, my entertainment/idle time(when I am indoors and not hiking, golfing, etc.) is spent on the PC surfing random sites including most every local and national news sites I can find(this has become a challenge) but i always go back to this website, multiple times a day to see what's new. There are times of the year when not much is happening on here and that always disappoints me. But then there are those times when there are incredible posts, questions, ideas, experiences, trip suggestions, photos and philosophical topics. It has been a staple in my life and I am so appreciative of the site, the MODs and all of you that make up the community.

I have initiated many a post with questions about routes or gear or fishing but more often than not I respond to questions that I feel I can offer something useful based on my experiences, and sometimes my photos. I have 1200 photos on the site (ADAM if I am hogging precious space let me know and I will delete many of them).

I had the pleasure of meeting Jan personally at a few Wing nights down here in the cities and that was a big loss. But there have been so many others too that, even if I had not ever met them, i mourned their passing. To those of you still here, I could name dozens of you that have been most important or influential but I fear that I would leave a few important ones out, so I won't even go there. If you have been around a long time, trust that I have valued your presence. To those that are newer, keep the flame going, this is a great place, share your ideas, knowledge and experience as I have tried to do, and enjoy this amazing community.

I think that I would be far from the only one who would say that BWCA.com has enriched my life significantly and I am very grateful - thanks Adam and all of you amazing members of the community.

I've been here since January of 2008. That was right about the time I was thinking about another BWCA trip after having gone on my first one the previous summer. I started searching around for hints and tips for canoe camping and low and behold, this is what came up.

I have learned a lot from many people here, Kanoes (Jan) being the first one that comes to mind. When I decided to go on my first solo canoe trip, it was because of Jan and his trip down the Frost River that I choose that route.
There are many others, Butthead for his excellent gear insights, Bojibob for his post about a certain lake that I got to that was an amazing trip, UncleMoose for for one of his first trip reports about being out there for 21 days, BeaV for chiming in with great positivity and gumption, TG for hooking me up with a lot of gear over the years, DanCooke for showing me some canoeing tips on canoe nights at Lake Nakomis, Ragged for an excellent saw guard that will last forever, TuscaroraBorealis for his documentation of his winter trips that really helped me plan, MissMolly for being one of the most talented writers I get to read, and a whole host of others that have helped along the way.

Not to many milestones, but being at the first wingnight was pretty cool. I think there is a photo from that night floating around here somewhere.
In 2015 I tried the Bushwackers Challenge, and excellent idea thought up by Stumpy. I got to Lake Berniece up in Quetico, just off Poobah, but I didn't have enough bushwacking experience at that time when I was solo to do it. If I wasn't backpacking this summer I would try and make it for this year's challenge.
And there was that drunken evening at Jan's house a couple years back. That was memorable.

This has been a great site to come check out almost every day. And if you like this site, well then, I will do what Kanoes used to do every year at this time, and advocate that you donate a little cash to Adam for the expense of running it. Thanks.

The good old days when 15-20 of us would be in chat at night......sometimes even talking about canoeing.

Member-ed up Jan 2006, was one of those lurkers till then. Stopped in on CCBB often and Quiet Journey. BWCA.com was just more civil and helpful. Met up with Adam, Beamer, and another member from Racine during the holidays in a Kenosha bar The Brat Stop, early on.
Been kinda regular since, in my own oddball ways!

1) How long has BWCA.com been a site?
2) When did this forum/message board begin?
3) Who were the key players in its inception?
Previously answered by those here before me.

4) What milestones have there been along the way?
This inception of "Wingnites" gatherings of fellow members!

5) What memorable stories do you have that transpired from this community platform? (Aside from trip reports).
The concept of the "Axe Murderer" soloist/stranger/strange group.

6) How long have you been a member?
Uh, somewhere between 20 and 5????

7) Who would you like to give a "shout out" to and show appreciation for their knowledge, feedback, insight, participation and contributions to this site?
Too many to list, and many no longer with us.


Ken Martinson/butthead

cowdoc: "The good old days when 15-20 of us would be in chat at night......sometimes even talking about canoeing."

I remember those days.

I joined in 2014, never heard of it until I stumbled on it while searching the net for canoeing information. Most others have answered all the questions so I'll share a couple moments of this site.

In 2015 I moved to Alaska for 3 years, the first BWCA.com member I met was BeaV which was pretty neat because of our Alaska connection, I was back in Duluth visiting from Alaska and ran into him when he was paddling on Lake Superior out of Two Harbors.

The 2nd member was blueskyswi (sp) Bryce, we hooked up in Alaska due to this site and I lent him my canoe so he could camp and paddle on one of Alaska's bigger lakes. He hitchhiked ~100 miles round trip to paddle my tiny solo.

I hosted a wing nite in Duluth when I was visiting from Alaska and met my first of many members. Ben/nctry was there with Bellolake and about ten others. I have met some good friends on this site that I keep in touch with now, whether they like me/it or not. :-)

I'm back in Duluth now and enjoy this site most every day.

cowdoc: "The good old days when 15-20 of us would be in chat at night......sometimes even talking about canoeing."

Sometimes...

Hey there, long-time member here. I joined way back on November 12, 2020. Hard to believe it has gone by so fast...

All jokes aside. I appreciate the those who have provided some historical feedback on this website/message board. It is nice to read some personal stories as well!

The biggest thing this community has done for me is open the door to solo tripping. Reading through the solo forum, trip reports, and information got me excited and pushed me to go solo. I am hooked. For me, it is the climax of wilderness tripping and it is such a personal thing to experience. As a husband, father, and volunteer in my community, I have for the last 17 years or so devoted my life to other people, and continue to do so. But those days in the BWCA alone are mine. I get to do what I want, when I want, IF I want. And when I come back, I'm refocused, charged up, and ready to go.

My shoutout is to Adam, for taking that first step, and to every member here who contributes to the positive dialogue on canoe tripping, wilderness living, and nature topics.

Thank you,

Jake

I joined in 2007 and it was my first canoeing forum. My first post was a pic in the monthly photo contest. I didn't read that it was "themed" with every month having a different theme for the pics we enter, and I remembered getting my hand slapped by a member named "Kanoes" when I posted some generic pic. LOL

His name was Jan and initially I thought I was dealing with a woman. Ah Kanoes.... what a colorful character. I often didn't appreciate his blunt, brash way of posting but I also saw his softer side when he would publicly apologize to the board for his transgressions. I was truly sad when he passed unexpectedly a few years ago.

This site changed the way I trip. I look back on my earliest trip reports from 2006 and '07 and realize how far I've come with all of the great advice from contributors on this site. It's been pretty awesome.

Kanoes was great! I remember a time in chat when he said he was going to Woodland Caribou. I never heard of it before. I asked if he was going Caribou hunting, He said "are you that stupid." Haha. He ended up being my favorite person on this site. RIP Jan.

This thread has made me think about my time in BWCA.com and what it means to me. So I needed to go back and find a few dates.

I started out on Canoe Country bulletin boards back in February of '05, when a photographer acquaintance suggested to me that I should post some POD's (that's Picture of the Day) on Quiet Journey. I joined QJ at that time, 2/1/05 and I am still active on that board. My husband wanted to check it all out, so he joined QJ on 2/18/05, but he ALSO joined BWCA.com on the same date. Up until that time I had never heard of BWCA.com, but he liked it here and he encouraged me to join up. I remember arguing that I "didn't have that much time for bulletin boards".

I was retired from my public school teaching, so I am not sure where that came from, but I was also trying to limit my screen time. In those years I was working hard on improving my photography, and it seemed like that, plus my church work, was about all I wanted to handle. However, in May of '06 I checked into BWCA.com again and I realized that I wanted to be a part of it. I joined on 5/22/06, according to my profile. Most of the time, if you had asked me, I would have said it was even earlier than that.

As far as a shout-out to any people on here, I am hesitant to do it because I will leave someone out. Our first real online friendship developed with HoHo, when he generously offered the use of his "cabin" near Ely after learning that Spartan1 was on dialysis and we were unable to make a canoe trip. That was 2008. But through the years we have met ArkansasMan, Boppa, Jackfish, Tim Mead, Suncatcher, OneMatch, NctryBen, Nojobro, Twins87, Banksiana, Zulu, Tremolo, Mocha. . .and here I am, listing people! We have so many friends in this group now, mainly due to meeting at Canoecopia. I was never close with Jan, in fact he and I didn't get along well, but I agree that he was a force here and he is missed every day by many of us. I can only hope that when I am gone people will miss me, too. Leaving a legacy in a community is a positive thing, and the worst that could happen is "good riddance". :-)

During the early years that we were on the boards we were thankful for tips and shared information that affected our canoe-tripping. My husband rarely posts, but he reads all of the threads, probably more completely than I do.

In latter years the sense of community has been more important. This is a place I come to several times a day. I read your posts, your trip reports, and about your plans. I am sometimes amused and sometimes upset by the little "tiffs" that arise. It is like a big (very big) family. And it connects me to a place that I love. So often it feels like a talk with friends. That's a blessing.

I love that you are supporting Nola's daughter with your prayers. It takes me back to 2009, actually January 21st, 2009, when I first posted about Spartan1's successful kidney transplant. Many of you have supported us through our surgeries, our illnesses/hospitalizations, and your prayers and thoughts have meant so much. Canoe-tripping is only a part of what we do around here. :-)

Great post, Spartan2!