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01/01/2022 09:56AM
I hope it's okay that I launch this year's roll call.
Whether you are after the big one, or just looking for a spot to relax, there is no better place than bwca.com for planning that next paddling adventure.
Here's to a great 2022! Hoping to get out on three trips again this year.
Whether you are after the big one, or just looking for a spot to relax, there is no better place than bwca.com for planning that next paddling adventure.
Here's to a great 2022! Hoping to get out on three trips again this year.
"You can observe a lot just by watching." -- Yogi Berra
01/02/2022 12:53AM
Still kicking. In 2022, hope for a few days stay and playing tourist up near Grand Marais and some day paddling in BWCA with former tripping partners and their spouse (spouces? spice?). Plans for this in 2019 were canceled because of Covid concerns.
According to my profile, I joined bwc.com 7-4-2012. First trip to Quetico was with soon-to-be husband, Darryl in late June 1978. Last trip to Q with D was July 2010. My last trip to Quetico which was with three of the regulars on Q trips with my husband and I. Arthritic knees and subsequent replacement of both made it too difficult for me to do further trips. Also didn't want to be a burden to tripping partners pre TKR and after, I can no longer kneel so camping is --well too painful or at least problematic. Ready to give day tripping a go with partners who know me and are willing to tolerate an old, crotchety broad. Am also considering easy camping trips where I might take a light weight cot. If my back is okay with bending inside tent. Sadly, one of our regular tripping partners and a dear friend, my BiL Dave, passed away from ALS six years ago in November 2014.
According to my profile, I joined bwc.com 7-4-2012. First trip to Quetico was with soon-to-be husband, Darryl in late June 1978. Last trip to Q with D was July 2010. My last trip to Quetico which was with three of the regulars on Q trips with my husband and I. Arthritic knees and subsequent replacement of both made it too difficult for me to do further trips. Also didn't want to be a burden to tripping partners pre TKR and after, I can no longer kneel so camping is --well too painful or at least problematic. Ready to give day tripping a go with partners who know me and are willing to tolerate an old, crotchety broad. Am also considering easy camping trips where I might take a light weight cot. If my back is okay with bending inside tent. Sadly, one of our regular tripping partners and a dear friend, my BiL Dave, passed away from ALS six years ago in November 2014.
01/02/2022 09:12AM
Still alive and kicken’. I lost 3 friends in 2021, so it’d be great if that pattern doesn’t extend into this year. I’ll be doing a late May trip up to the Wine Lake area, possibly with a couple relatively young sherpas, er, newbies. Also hoping to get my wife up for the first time since we had to cancel our planned August trip to Homer last year.
Just put one foot in front of the other; eventually you'll get there.
01/02/2022 11:37AM
Tomorrow, December 3rd, will be my 13th year on this great board. Well wishes to all in 2022 and hope those who canoed last year and those of us who didn't make it last year make up for it this year.
Happy New Year.
Note: It would be kind of neat to tell us how many years you been present on this board, which is like an extended family to many, including me.
Happy New Year.
Note: It would be kind of neat to tell us how many years you been present on this board, which is like an extended family to many, including me.
01/02/2022 09:44PM
Greetings all. Best wishes for a happy and healthy 2022... and at least one good canoe trip!
A member for almost 18 years now.
"Keep close to Nature's heart, yourself; and break clear away, once in a while, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean." ~ John Muir
01/03/2022 07:31AM
Still here and glad to be a part of this community since 2006. Our wilderness canoe trips together began in 1971 and continued until 2013. We still go to the canoe country each summer, and we have our reservation for a cabin at Rockwood Lodge in June of 2022. Day trips in the canoe, hikes in the woods, campfires, food from Trail Center, time in Grand Marais, seeing friends who live up there--it is just our "happy place."
Photo above was taken a few days ago in Atlanta as we were headed in to Mercedes Benz stadium to support our Spartans in the Peach Bowl game.
Happy New Year to all of you from the Spartans!
01/03/2022 09:53AM
I’m here! Looking forward to two Canoe Country trips this year. Late May and mid August.
Also I’m still experiencing America out west hiking in mountains and camping in National Parks.
A Raven photobombed me on a lunch break at Delicate Arch!
I hope everyone has the best 2022 possible!
See you on the trail or waterways!
Also I’m still experiencing America out west hiking in mountains and camping in National Parks.
A Raven photobombed me on a lunch break at Delicate Arch!
I hope everyone has the best 2022 possible!
See you on the trail or waterways!
01/03/2022 11:15AM
MichiganMan: "MichiganMan here. Sadly, no canoe trip in 2021. Had to settle for an outpost cabin trip in Ontario once the border opened up. Working on planning a 2022 Quetico trip. Here's to the pandemic going away and no forest fires in 2022! "
Hey, MichiganMan--that boat, though!
I'm here too and hoping to get back to the BWCA this year after getting our trip this past August cancelled last minute due to the fires. So where did I go instead? To Sylvania in...Michigan! enjoyed that so much I'm hoping to get back there this year as well.
01/03/2022 04:20PM
"Said one of these men, long past seventy years of age: 'I could carry, paddle, walk and sing with any man I ever saw. I have been twenty-four years a canoe man, and forty-one years in service; no portage was ever too long for me. Fifty songs could I sing. I have saved the lives of ten voyageurs. Have had twelve wives and six running dogs. I spent all my money in pleasure. Were I young again, I should spend my life the same way over. There is no life so happy as a voyageur's life!'"
01/03/2022 09:08PM
UPBoy here again in 2022.
Made the big move from Cedar Rapids, Iowa to Stacy, Minnesota. Living in a log house on a small lake. Looking forward to many more trips to my favorite place
Made the big move from Cedar Rapids, Iowa to Stacy, Minnesota. Living in a log house on a small lake. Looking forward to many more trips to my favorite place
I can only hope that when I die, my wife does not sell my fishing equipment for what I told her I paid for it
01/04/2022 12:36PM
Looking forward to a normal canoeing season: no fires, no bad storms, no ignorant campers who disrespect the wilderness, lots of peace and quiet and great fishing, lots of blueberries and no bear problems, abundant wildlife that is more than happy to entertain you during your trip, Northern Lights, and too many great photo ops to pass up.
Safe paddling to all.
Chris Norbury
Safe paddling to all.
Chris Norbury
Chris https://chrisnorbury.com profile photo is from 2010. Dad, me, and the redwood-strip canoe he built (with my limited help as a 9-yr-old) in 1965 (or '66).
01/04/2022 03:11PM
hobbydog: " "
Lookin' good, hobbydog. I was about to ask where you got your toque, but then I saw that your wife made it for you. A true voyageur now! :)
"Keep close to Nature's heart, yourself; and break clear away, once in a while, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean." ~ John Muir
01/04/2022 09:27PM
Happy New Year! The fam and I spent New Year's at a cabin on Clearwater lake. For 12 blessed hours we even managed to hide the fact that the cabin had wifi from our screen addled teenagers.
Great to be up north amidst a winter wonderland. Saw a BWCA.COM sticker on a truck at the cabin a few doors down, but I never saw anyone outside so I wasn't able to make a connection.
Got out last summer for a five day Flambeau river solo and four day brotherly bonding BWCA trip. This year I'd like to paddle the Bois Brule top to bottom and bottom to top, get into Wabakimi if they'll have us, and continue on the path of getting more time soloing. I have a hankering for a long Canadian solo if I can ever manage to hit pause on my work life long enough...
Anyway, happy new year to one and all. May this year be less of a hot mess than the last few.
Great to be up north amidst a winter wonderland. Saw a BWCA.COM sticker on a truck at the cabin a few doors down, but I never saw anyone outside so I wasn't able to make a connection.
Got out last summer for a five day Flambeau river solo and four day brotherly bonding BWCA trip. This year I'd like to paddle the Bois Brule top to bottom and bottom to top, get into Wabakimi if they'll have us, and continue on the path of getting more time soloing. I have a hankering for a long Canadian solo if I can ever manage to hit pause on my work life long enough...
Anyway, happy new year to one and all. May this year be less of a hot mess than the last few.
01/05/2022 02:55PM
Happy----(insert holiday of choice here)----- I'll be watching for the flying moose decal on canoes again this year in May and August.
PS: already too many photos of old guys with grey hair and beards on this message so I won't add mine
PS: already too many photos of old guys with grey hair and beards on this message so I won't add mine
01/05/2022 08:09PM
Still here! Life has gotten extremely busy but I found myself right back with my online paddling family when I started planning for a trip to LLC this summer.
"Leave it as it is.....The ages have been at work on it and man can only mar it." Theodore Roosevelt
01/08/2022 06:57PM
Always fun to recognize some of you from my CCBB days.
No idea what my original handle was around here, so re-upped a few years ago.
I hope you all have a great year with many outdoor adventures.
Yikes, I've been going to the BWCA for 42 years now. Hope to get another winter and fall trip in this year.
The Bdub, keeps those of us approaching oldster status looking and feeling young........well, maybe not after a long portage.
01/14/2022 09:13AM
Still here, hoping for a return after a lost 2020 (broken tibial plateau while fly fishing) & 2021 (fire closure just as we arrived). But currently rehabbing after rotator cuff surgery so it may just be at the edges. Wishing all godspeed for safe and pleasant journeys.
01/14/2022 11:06AM
2021 marked the first time in 5 years I didn’t get a trip in. Looking forward to getting back into paradise for a week this summer. I hope you all have been well and can’t wait to catch up.
Cheers,
Atrain
Cheers,
Atrain
“When one finally arrives at the point where schedules are forgotton and becomes immerised in ancient rhythms, one begins to live. “ -Sigurd Olson
01/14/2022 11:47AM
Great trek with my Scout troop in '21, plan to introduce my wife to BWCAW Sept '22. She's not much of a camper but is getting tired of hearing my stories about the peace and beauty, finally wants to see some of it for herself.
Sealoon
01/14/2022 11:50AM
Happy New Year all.
Not very active here for a long time. Lurk occasionally.
Been too long since I've been in the BW though I have been within spitting distance three years running at Timber Bay Lodge on Birch Lake. We were there last year when the Greenwood Lake fire started. I spotted the smoke plume before it was public knowledge and said to myself: "Hmmm. That's not a cloud." Fortunately we were to the west of it and had no concerns. I know some folks on this board lost cabins, buildings, etc. So sad.
Seriously considering taking a grandson into the BW this fall. This would be his first trip and the first time I've taken a grandchild. He'll be with us at Timber Bay in August so I can take him out paddling and see if he's interested.
Not very active here for a long time. Lurk occasionally.
Been too long since I've been in the BW though I have been within spitting distance three years running at Timber Bay Lodge on Birch Lake. We were there last year when the Greenwood Lake fire started. I spotted the smoke plume before it was public knowledge and said to myself: "Hmmm. That's not a cloud." Fortunately we were to the west of it and had no concerns. I know some folks on this board lost cabins, buildings, etc. So sad.
Seriously considering taking a grandson into the BW this fall. This would be his first trip and the first time I've taken a grandchild. He'll be with us at Timber Bay in August so I can take him out paddling and see if he's interested.
The purpose of the journey is not to arrive.
01/14/2022 12:21PM
Glad to still be here after a little over 16 years (Dec 2005). It's been a while since I've posted but I am occasionally lurking in the threads. Sadly, we haven't tripped the BW since before our son was born. He'll be six this year and has a few summers under his belt being in the canoe, so it's high time we get the little guy into the wilderness. Not to mention relocating in 2019 from greater-Mpls area to Fort Worth, TX has left my soul depleted. I really need to get to the northwoods to recharge those batteries.
There is no Sin greater than Ignorance. ~ Rudyard Kipling
01/14/2022 12:30PM
Still here, and I still care about all of you! Turns out launching kids with challenges is hard work. 2021 should be tossed in the trash imho. Broke a 24 year streak and no paddling trips last year. I hate even putting that in writing. 2022 simply HAS to be better.
Wherever there is a channel for water, there is a road for the canoe. -Thoreau
01/14/2022 01:07PM
Happy New Year, Y'all! ( I don't speak that way, but all my neighbors do!)
Wishing I could get there from North Carolina, but this darn virus has me mostly homebound. I was able to get my son out to Lake James (a state park here in NC that has boat in camping for us die-hards) and that was fun, but it is not the BWCA.
Eric
Wishing I could get there from North Carolina, but this darn virus has me mostly homebound. I was able to get my son out to Lake James (a state park here in NC that has boat in camping for us die-hards) and that was fun, but it is not the BWCA.
Eric
If you don't have time to do it right the first time, when are you going to have time to go back and fix it?
01/15/2022 12:58PM
*raises hand* -- "Here... sort of."
Moved out of state but left my canoe in MN a few years ago. Made it back to the BWCA each summer so far but this summer is looking tight. Still working on trip reports from the last three years.
Moved out of state but left my canoe in MN a few years ago. Made it back to the BWCA each summer so far but this summer is looking tight. Still working on trip reports from the last three years.
01/15/2022 04:16PM
Still here after 15 years of membership. I'm getting a little old for canoe trips so last year I fished from a motor boat in the BW.
The business of life is the acquisition of memories. In the end that's all there is. ___Mr Carson (Downton Abby)
01/15/2022 09:13PM
Hello
My posts are few, but I am still kicking and reading your posts. I am turning 75 this year. Ouch! Over the past few years my trips have been few and far between. I went solo in 2018 and planning for a late May trip this year with my son and his friend. I will paddle my solo Merlin stripper. I started building another cedar strip canoe in 2021. Getting a canoe on my shoulders is more difficult these days so I am building a light weight 13' pack canoe (Ashes Solo Pack). My goal is 35 lbs.
I am concerned where wilderness ethic is going in the BWCAW. I hope it survives COVID (if that ever happens). In any event, happy paddling and cheers.
"Boredom, Tyler - that's what's wrong. And how do you beat boredom, Tyler?... Adventure...(Never Cry Wolf, 1983)
01/16/2022 08:50PM
Here and somewhat accounted for. Absorbing all the wisdom this site has to offer. Though I may never meet anyone here I appreciate all the valuable conversations. It's almost like eavesdropping.
Rolling my early June and first week of October trips. Worked so far so why change it. Be well & Cheers!!
martian
Rolling my early June and first week of October trips. Worked so far so why change it. Be well & Cheers!!
martian
All conservation of wildness is self-defeating, for to cherish we must see and fondle, and when enough have seen and fondled, there is no wilderness left to cherish. Aldo Leopold
01/18/2022 10:29AM
nooneuno: "Still here, mostly just lurking as my high brow sense of humor tends to alienate all those with a pulse and even some without…."
Hey, long time no read! FYI, I have a pulse. It's a reflection I lack.
I will paddle eternal, Kevlar and carbon.
01/18/2022 05:14PM
Hello--I'm an infrequent poster, but I read often. I'm losing my paddle partner, so I'm forced to perhaps to try my first solo trip this year. Or just hang up the paddle for now. (not sure how you solo folks do it!)
have a great, safe year folks.
have a great, safe year folks.
01/18/2022 06:46PM
Still here, haven't been on a trip since 2018, but hoping to go this year.
Save the Minnesota moose population, reduce the number of wolves before it's too late!! "As water reflects the face, one's life reflects the heart" Proverbs 27:19
01/19/2022 09:55PM
bellolake: "I'm still lurking around. Haven't done much paddling for a while but I stick my nose in fairly often to see what everybody else is up to. I hope everyone has a safe and healthy 2022. "
So good to see you are still lurking!!!! Hope you and yours are doing well, and you're enjoying retirement.
01/23/2022 10:16PM
I'm here and looking forward to 2022 paddling. We ended 2021 with a New Years Eve paddle, and soon that after the cold weather (for South Carolina) set in. Even saw about 6" of snow and ice in Upstate SC; that is enough to paralyze the city for a few days.
This year should include a few paddling trips out of the South along with our local lakes and rivers. In early June it will be a trip to the Saint Regis Canoe Area in the Adirondack Park -my first time there- and hitting the Western Pennsylvania Solo Canoe Rendezvous on the way up. In September comes a trip to Minnesota with a few days in the BWCA then a stop in Backus to pick up our Scamp 16 (A shout out to Bellolake, I might have to quiz you on campgrounds in your area). I still like to "primitive" camp with tent, but the wife likes walls and it beats a motel when travelling.
Let's all hope for a better and safer year for 2022!
New Years Eve Paddle
This year should include a few paddling trips out of the South along with our local lakes and rivers. In early June it will be a trip to the Saint Regis Canoe Area in the Adirondack Park -my first time there- and hitting the Western Pennsylvania Solo Canoe Rendezvous on the way up. In September comes a trip to Minnesota with a few days in the BWCA then a stop in Backus to pick up our Scamp 16 (A shout out to Bellolake, I might have to quiz you on campgrounds in your area). I still like to "primitive" camp with tent, but the wife likes walls and it beats a motel when travelling.
Let's all hope for a better and safer year for 2022!
New Years Eve Paddle
You never know until you find out.
01/24/2022 10:24AM
I had to skip my trip in 2021 due to not having the time off because of getting a new job. I did not anticipate how bummed I would be because of that. I am chomping at the bit to get the canoe out and have my week in the wilderness. Safe paddles to those going in 2022!
"Happiness isn't good enough for me! I demand euphoria!" - Calvin & Hobbes
01/25/2022 09:10PM
Here! My BWCA plans/goals is to thru-hike all major BWCA trails within the next 5 years.
I'll probably also add another short solo (possibly day trip in the BWCA) on my SUP this year.
I'll probably also add another short solo (possibly day trip in the BWCA) on my SUP this year.
“The Wilderness holds answers to more questions than we have yet learned to ask.” - Nancy Newhall
01/25/2022 09:28PM
bellolake: "We are doing well, thanks. We have moved more to campground camping since we bought a Scamp 5th wheel camper. Liz was pretty much over sleeping on the ground and we want to travel as soon as she retires."
If you ever want to meet up at Sawbill with that 5th wheel, let us know. We’d love to see you & Liz! And we don’t get our teardrop up to sawbill nearly enough these days. We’re still Canoeing and I’m hoping to pull four permits tomorrow morning. Plus a now annual cabin week at Rockwood with lifelong friends who come home from Chicago every summer to visit the north woods. And we now have a granddaughter to bring in to the wilderness! I wish I was retired like you - hard to fit in all of our trips around work.
02/01/2022 02:00PM
Happy 2022 friends! Lucky me, the wife agreed to my going on a 10 day up the Stuart and around LLC around the new moon in September with my best paddling buddy. Hopefully we have lots of clear, dark skies at night and warm sun on our backs during the day.
When a man is part of his canoe, he is part of all that canoes have ever known. - Sigurd F. Olson, "The Singing Wilderness"
02/01/2022 04:56PM
Still here. Working on a Big Bend trip in March and hopefully a trip to Prague later this year. Hopefully we can get back up north in 2023. I feel like I should have five trees by now. Maybe someday.
"Geography is just physics slowed down, with a couple of trees stuck in it." Terry Pratchett
02/06/2022 03:13PM
Freeleo1: "
Still here. Working on a Big Bend trip in March and hopefully a trip to Prague later this year. Hopefully we can get back up north in 2023. I feel like I should have five trees by now. Maybe someday. "
Prague is on my short list. Visited Budapest twice in the last few years. Interesting part of the world.
02/07/2022 11:21AM
I am present. Pop in every couple days. Ready for a wingnite. Probable not in mpls. Restrictions may still bother people. Expect I will get up to the bw at least twice this year.
Without the bad times, the good times wouldn't seem so good.
02/07/2022 01:17PM
Freeleo1: "
Still here. Working on a Big Bend trip in March and hopefully a trip to Prague later this year. Hopefully we can get back up north in 2023. I feel like I should have five trees by now. Maybe someday. "
Plan on at least three days of hiking out of Chisos Basin--enjoy Big Bend!
TZ
If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. African Proverb
02/10/2022 10:05AM
2022 BWCA
In the future, I hope to get back to you one day
At night I dream of paddling far, far away
Glassy lakes & lazy rivers, gliding in my sleep
Tough portages up & down, some are very steep
At the end of the trails, the lakes come looming into sight
I lift my packs with all my will and move them with my might
Ponds & swamps & bogs & fens, watch for animals & creatures
Take in the trees, the wind, the waves, the vastness of the features
To some it seems like hard work and not a vacation at your leisure
To each their own...do whatever is gonna please ya.
Beautiful Minnesota is in the future at some point. New to me places in the Adirondacks still to explore, planning a week long loop trip early in the season. Bought a new frying pan & a new map...days are getting longer! Cheers!
In the future, I hope to get back to you one day
At night I dream of paddling far, far away
Glassy lakes & lazy rivers, gliding in my sleep
Tough portages up & down, some are very steep
At the end of the trails, the lakes come looming into sight
I lift my packs with all my will and move them with my might
Ponds & swamps & bogs & fens, watch for animals & creatures
Take in the trees, the wind, the waves, the vastness of the features
To some it seems like hard work and not a vacation at your leisure
To each their own...do whatever is gonna please ya.
Beautiful Minnesota is in the future at some point. New to me places in the Adirondacks still to explore, planning a week long loop trip early in the season. Bought a new frying pan & a new map...days are getting longer! Cheers!
It does not matter how slowly you go, as long as you do not stop. -Confucius
02/17/2022 09:29AM
TrailZen: "Freeleo1: "
Still here. Working on a Big Bend trip in March and hopefully a trip to Prague later this year. Hopefully we can get back up north in 2023. I feel like I should have five trees by now. Maybe someday. "
Plan on at least three days of hiking out of Chisos Basin--enjoy Big Bend!
TZ"
We are planning on Dog canyon/ Devils Den, an area we haven't seen yet. And checking out the fire damage in the Chisos. And the search for the elusive Red Buffalo! Has anyone heard from HoHo lately? He hasn't shown up for a while.
"Geography is just physics slowed down, with a couple of trees stuck in it." Terry Pratchett
02/18/2022 02:19PM
Hey everyone, Spartan 2 mentioned to me that someone here asked whatever happened to me, so I thought I'd pop in and say hi. David and I have been living on the edge of the BW off the Echo Trail for 11 years now. I'm not on the board very much any more, I guess because living up here year round, I don't need to get my canoe country fix from the Internets anymore. But maybe I will stop in more often again now. Last summer was the first since 2002 that we didn't go on an overnight BW or Quetico trip, due to the border being closed and then the fires (man was it smokey up here). But I've secured an Indian Sioux North permit for mid-May this year, and I'm praying we can get back to Quetico again later this summer.
Ho Ho
Ho Ho
02/22/2022 01:05PM
79 days until my first trip this spring! Fairly new to this website...only a couple of years as a member. Compared to others, wow! Lots of expertise here to draw from and I, for one, am grateful how willing people are to share and help.
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