I was camped at site #556 on Snipe lake off Cross Bay. I was sitting on a flat spot just below the fire grate when I heard a splash in the small bay next to the site. Thinking beavers (they were seen around there at dusk) I stood up to see better, no beaver but an absolutely beautiful WOLF about 50 feet away! The wolf hadn't winded me and continued to walk along the shore. It was out of sight for a few seconds and then reappeared right in camp maybe 20 feet from me. (The wolf was in camp because that is the way the shoreline bends no other reason) The wolf could now see me but wasn't in the least bit alarmed or agitated just curious and after a few seconds continued on down the shore after stopping to pee and scratch up the ground.
I'm pretty sure it was a young female (no dangle's I could see) about 60-70# or so (best guess based on the size of my female lab) with a grey/brown coat shading to darker charcoal grey near shoulders and rump. Up right tail and ears and long lean body (looked perfectly healthy to me)
I can't tell you how thrilled I was! It made the whole trip! I have seen wolves in the wild on 3 occasions in the last 40 years but never so close or for so long. A once in a lifetime gift.

To head off any negativity please check out their web site or better yet visit the International Wolf Center in Ely.

Merlyn

How cool!

Very very cool! Goes to show you keep a clean camp if she couldn’t smell anything to warn her off.

Cool beans!

Amazing experience, thanks for sharing.

That’s a great sighting!

Wolves are an essential part of the ecosystem. No negative comments from me.

Tom

Cool! If you watched it pee, you should know what sex it was.....leg lifter or squatter.

What an awesome experience! Lifetime BWCA highlight for sure. And so close...

Mike

You were blessed to see such an iconic wilderness animal!

I am still without a glimpse of one in the wild, although I have heard them a number of times and found prints in freshly fallen snow in northern WI. Your experience blows all of that away and then some. Honestly, I'm quite jealous!

Very cool I’ve only seen a wolf 2 times in 35 years up north. I’ve seen numerous Moose but wolves have been far more elusive .

You excel at description.

Not a wolf expert by any means, but I understand they usually are in packs. This sounds like a healthy wolf, not one that has been kicked out of pack. ( I guess they do that at time to time for a weak link?) If so- my gut tells me that while you were watching this lone wolf in awe ( I would do the same as would most) -- you also were being watched by other wolves in his/her pack and maybe on purpose did the wolf allow itself to be "watched' . They are amazing creatures. Congrats on your experience.

Very cool experience. I’m assuming you were solo and that’s one reason I love going alone because I inevitably see more wildlife.

Thanks for the story.

Jelly!!!

Awesome! What a great memory to hold onto. I’m insanely jealous. Thanks for sharing.

Tony

Wow, what a rare experience indeed! I hope to catch a glimpse of one of these magnificent creatures on a future trip. Truly envious of your good fortune.

Should have started slapping g your thigh and say here girl.
Here girl.

What a cool experience! We heard wolves howling in the distance on one trip and that was such a cool experience for our trip. One walking through camp like that would be amazing

Wow, what an awesome experience! My wife and I had a pair of wolves swim by in front of our camp and then get out on the far shore of the lake and hunt for awhile in a bog. That was neat, but at a lot more distance than your experience!

So cool. Thanks for sharing.
I’ve been fortunate enough to see wolves in the wild 6 times. Only one of those times was in the boundary waters. I got to watch them play in the water and then walk the shoreline while in my canoe on Horseshoe Lake.

I’ve also had a few times while in the bwca that I didn’t see them, but I knew they were there watching me.

We saw one on Ensign in 2021. I felt like it was more exciting than either the bear that raided our camp the next day, with us in it, or the giant bull moose we saw on Disappointment in 2017.

Early last winter I had This Beauty parallel my dog and I for nearly thirty minutes. 20-50 feet from us. Stopped when we stopped loped along side when skiing. Neither she nor my dog seemed surprised. I got the sense that they already knew each other [lake was fairly close to home].

Banksiana: "Early last winter I had This Beauty parallel my dog and I for nearly thirty minutes. 20-50 feet from us. Stopped when we stopped loped along side when skiing. Neither she nor my dog seemed surprised. I got the sense that they already knew each other [lake was fairly close to home]."

One would be neat, but if the whole pack did that, in the winter with food more scarce,I would be a bit nervous!

The pack (pretty sure it's just two other wolves (the breeding pair) at that point in time) was likely on a recent kill just inland from the shore.

On another occasion skate skiing with a different dog I saw four wolves about 100 yards upwind leave the shore and cross a narrow part of the lake. Seeing me they split up, two wolves coming straight towards me the other two moving to the woods on either shore and moving in my direction. They closed to within about fifty yards before identifying me as "Man" (probably confused by my novel motion of locomotion) when they turned and trotted away up the lake.

I think that in most winters food is easier for the wolves, at least in winters with enough snow to support skiing.

Headed up that way next week - maybe I will get to see her too. Fingers crossed

Banksiana: "The pack (pretty sure it's just two other wolves (the breeding pair) at that point in time) was likely on a recent kill just inland from the shore.


On another occasion skate skiing with a different dog I saw four wolves about 100 yards upwind leave the shore and cross a narrow part of the lake. Seeing me they split up, two wolves coming straight towards me the other two moving to the woods on either shore and moving in my direction. They closed to within about fifty yards before identifying me as "Man" (probably confused by my novel motion of locomotion) when they turned and trotted away up the lake.


I think that in most winters food is easier for the wolves, at least in winters with enough snow to support skiing."

Crazy! Yeah, I guess bigger game would likely be easier to catch with some snow. Still, It would make me a bit nervous when they split and surrounded me, not being sure about their intentions. Exciting stuff!

yogi59weedr: "Should have started slapping g your thigh and say here girl.
Here girl."

I almost did just that! I did talk nonsense to her, the same as you would to a dog but there was no reaction. I did not have a working camera on this trip; still mad about that.

merlyn

Wow that is awesome. I'd love to see one someday. On my May trip this year, one of the the other guys saw two but they'd moved before the rest of us got there. I did hear a pack howling clearly on a trip last week. That was neat, but not like your experience!