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Boundary Waters Quetico Forum

Listening Point - General Discussion

How far do you travel to the BW?

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airmorse

09/13/2022 10:57AM

It's been a while since this question has been asked and there are enough new people on this board to ask the question again.

So how far do you travel to get to the BWCAW? At one point I think there was a couple that traveled from Israel to paddle the quiet waters of the BW.

For me it's just over 1200 miles round trip from my house to Ely. Hopefully retirement will shrink that number drastically.

"In wilderness is the salvation of mankind." Thoreau.

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Schmally

09/13/2022 11:41AM

Leaving in about 45 minutes, 460 miles to Ely!

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TrailZen

09/13/2022 01:52PM

Most of our Canoe Country trips are Quetico-based. If we enter the park from the south, it's a 1250-mile commute to Ely. If we enter from the north, it's a 1400-mile commute to Atikokan. These mileages are one-way, and it's worth every minute of the drive! We're in western North Carolina about 45 minutes south of Asheville.

TZ

If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. African Proverb

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Jackfish

Moderator

09/13/2022 02:00PM

TrailZen: "Most of our Canoe Country trips are Quetico-based. "

Our's, too. It's about 600 miles one way from our house in eastern Wisconsin to Atikokan.

On the occasions where we've gone to the BW, it's between 450 and 475 miles, depending on Ely or the Gunflint Trail as our destination.

"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

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trashbag

09/13/2022 02:04PM

798 miles. around 14 hour drive

trashbag

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walllee

09/13/2022 02:35PM

Around 630 miles….

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boonie

09/13/2022 03:22PM

About 1200 miles one way

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DMan5501

09/13/2022 03:55PM

1902 miles one way.... BUT I stay in Duluth for the summer...

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ryebread26

09/13/2022 04:41PM

10.5 hrs one way. 667 miles

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moosedoggie

09/13/2022 04:46PM

Right at 1100 miles to Ely.

If you're gonna be dumb, you've gotta be tough.

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cowdoc

09/13/2022 05:18PM

460 to Ely, 470 to GM

"What could happen?"

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Northwoodsman

09/13/2022 05:22PM

1,207 miles one way. About 18.5 hrs. of actual drive time.

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KawnipiKid

09/13/2022 05:25PM

426 to Ely and 436 to Grand Marais, one way.

"The danger of civilization, of course, is that you will piss your life away on nonsense." Jim Harrison

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cyclones30

09/13/2022 05:33PM

8-9 hours of drive time.....I don't measure in miles :)

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TrailZen

09/13/2022 05:49PM

cyclones30: "8-9 hours of drive time.....I don't measure in miles :) "

Funny the various measurement systems folks use for travel. A college friend listed trip length by the beer needed (yeah, I know, that doesn't say much about some of my college friends!). Another by the coffee stops required. Another by refueling stops. Whatever works...

TZ

If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. African Proverb

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sedges

09/13/2022 07:49PM

My last four trips have been from the end of the Gunflint Trail or Tuscarora Outfitters. About right at 1500 miles from our home in GA. A little out of the way to stay with friends in Indianapolis and also some extra miles to avoid Chicago.

If I am traveling solo, as in the last three trips, I can't do it in less than three days and still feel good on the first day paddling. It is safer, too. Its an age thing. I can actually enjoy the drive if I take three days. Traveling with my partner we have done it straight through in 22 hours, but we were young then and a bit wilder! It is amazing we never got a speeding ticket on that trip.

Still wild, but in a different way:)

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Duckman

09/13/2022 07:55PM

1006 miles from my door to Sawbill.

15.5 hours non stop drive, a bit more time if I detour to my brother’s house for a canoe.

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HowardSprague

09/13/2022 08:00PM

600 miles to Ely. About 9 - 9-1/2 hours to get there (younger foolisher days, 8-1/2) about 10-11 hours to get home. :)

"Enjoy every sandwich"

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StLouisPaddler

09/13/2022 08:30PM

Round trip is 1600 miles; 512,000 rods.

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fadersup

09/13/2022 09:09PM

598 miles to the Trail Center.

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OldTripper

09/13/2022 10:21PM

According to Google maps, 1,412 miles, one way.
Sure do miss living up there.

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Ahahn366

09/13/2022 11:08PM

163 mi, to Ely about four beers / hours with a nice stop at the big pines. I could cut some distance if I paddled north across lake Superior......but that would take more beers.

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Gaidin53

09/13/2022 11:22PM

4 hours 249 miles one way. I love in the Minneapolis area. Wish I didn’t though and could live up north or in a smaller town.

Ryan

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moray

09/14/2022 07:06AM

Southern California to Ely…2014 miles. I have driven this route 2 times a year for the past 5 years. This year I flew for both my trips.

Moray

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Outdoorsfan69

09/14/2022 07:10AM

One way it is about 8 - 9 hours, according to google maps, 614.7 miles.

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BigTim

09/14/2022 07:27AM

652 roundtrip miles. Enjoy every inch....!

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johndku

09/14/2022 08:46AM

The trip up 1,000 miles on the button our house to Seagull Outfitters on the Gunflint.

The trip back home, seems like 6,000 miles.

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Fishman53

09/14/2022 08:53AM

Takes around 15.5 hours - 1,075 miles for our travel to BW. Fortunately we have friends in the Minneapolis area we stay with on the drive up and back which helps break up the trip.

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KarlK

09/14/2022 08:56AM

I am about 250 miles away, Ely would be a bit closer. The distances some of you are travelling is impressive, and it shows the impact of wilderness designation.
There is no real substitute for canoe country.

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Doc_of_the_bay

09/14/2022 09:20AM

~1400 miles one- way from North Georgia, via our daughter's house in southern MN

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IndyCanoe

09/14/2022 09:24AM

About 1500 miles round trip for us from the Indianapolis area

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cmanimal

09/14/2022 09:29AM

StLouisPaddler: "Round trip is 1600 miles; 512,000 rods. "

That is an awesome paddles response. My RT is 206080 rods, paltry by comparison. 644 miles, 6.5 hrs. there and about 8 back.

No good camping story starts with it was 70 and sunny.

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greywolf33

09/14/2022 09:51AM

It is 262 miles from my garage to the nearest BWCA entry point.

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Big Tent

09/14/2022 09:57AM

StLouisPaddler: "Round trip is 1600 miles; 512,000 rods. "

Is that single or double portaging?

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Beast388

09/14/2022 10:46AM

515 miles each way......

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Savage Voyageur

09/14/2022 11:07AM

212 miles, central Minnesota

"So many lakes, so little time." WWJD

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GregSC

09/14/2022 11:32AM

1297 miles Ely for me. I fly.

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tomo

09/14/2022 12:14PM

I am spoiled living in Duluth.

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TreeBear

09/14/2022 12:52PM

tomo: "I am spoiled living in Duluth. "

I'm spoileder (?) finally making the move to Ely this year. Closest BW access is 10-15 miles.

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Banksiana

09/14/2022 12:54PM

15 minutes to Mudro.
30 Minutes to Moose Lake.

Nobody exists on purpose, nobody belongs anywhere, everybody’s going to die.

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andym

09/14/2022 01:00PM

Google maps says 2076 road miles to Ely, one way. But we fly to MSP and rent a car.

There may have been others but our niece and her husband came from Israel to do a trip with us. But it was part of a longer trip to visit family around the US. Same for one of her brothers.

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bfurlow

09/14/2022 01:49PM

about 568 miles each way. 10 hours of anticipation each direction. For the upcoming trip on the way there, and the next trip on the way home :)

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EddyTurn

09/14/2022 03:58PM

1400 miles one way, and I'm not coming back as long as Canada keeps its border open. I'm spoiled living in New Jersey.

"A man's got to know his limitations."

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jcavenagh

09/14/2022 04:10PM

566 miles from my house to VNO in Ely.
Probably 10-11 hours including breaks.
(Oh yeah, bfurlow lives almost exactly 2 miles south of me.)

LNT - The road to success is always under construction. http://hikingillinois.blogspot.com/

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StLouisPaddler

09/14/2022 04:24PM

Big Tent: "
StLouisPaddler: "Round trip is 1600 miles; 512,000 rods. "

Is that single or double portaging?"

Lol. That’s single portaging with an assist from Henry Ford.

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schweady

09/14/2022 04:26PM

From Perham MN:
235 mi to Insula in Ely
325 mi to Poplar Haus on the Gunflint

"You can observe a lot just by watching." -- Yogi Berra

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MikeinMpls

09/14/2022 04:58PM

schweady: "From Perham MN:
235 mi to Insula in Ely
325 mi to Poplar Haus on the Gunflint
"

We are 302 miles to the Poplar Haus on the Gunflint, but Trail Center is an even 300!
:^)

Interestingly, the MapQuest app on my phone has it the other way around.

Mike

I did indeed rock down to Electric Avenue, but I did not take it higher. I regret that.

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RRHD

09/14/2022 05:28PM

4 hours from our home in Seward in Minneapolis. Best case. We have been known to leave after work and put in at 8 PM.

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WHendrix

09/14/2022 05:35PM

214 miles, 4 hrs & 20 min., 4 pipes

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cyclones30

09/14/2022 05:51PM

Mapquest is still around?? Who knew

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RunningFox

09/14/2022 07:39PM

455 miles from Fond du Lac WI to Ely. Roads have greatly improved in my life time. And rolling at 70 mph vs. 55 makes the trip more tolerable. Disappointed I only made it there once this year.

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eshold

09/14/2022 07:54PM

It's 2 hours / 114 miles from my house in Duluth to Ely. My proximity to the BWCA is one of my favorite parts of living here. It makes it so much easier to do multiple trips per year.

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Paddle4Hike

09/14/2022 09:23PM

1375 miles one way from home near Raleigh, NC. When I can, I will start or end a trip from/to my work location, Louisville, KY and reduce drive to 950 miles.
Just paddled out tonite from an 11 day solo. Worth every mile to enjoy this amazing place!!

It's all good

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Boppasteveg

09/14/2022 09:53PM

It is 332 miles from my home in Burnsville, Minnesota to Seagull Outfitters.

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MHS67

09/15/2022 01:14AM

According to Google maps it's 2167 miles to Grand Marias from our place in Calif. I have always driven, by the time I visit some folks in Wis. and head back home I'm right at 6000 miles.

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Traveler

09/15/2022 10:59AM

I live in Siloam Springs Arkansas. It usually takes me two days to get to the North Shore and then I usually like to mess around there for half a day or more before going into the woods. About half the time I don’t actually go into the park. I often prefer someplace like the timber freer area.

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walleyejunky

09/15/2022 02:57PM

We come from Mid-Michigan. It's an 11 hour trip and 670 miles one way. We use to drive all night but we would be dead tired paddling and portaging our first day. Now we normally stop for a night in the Upper Peninsula somewhere and then we are in Ely around 2pm the day before we enter the BWCA. Gives us time to get everything in order before we head out. It's a vacation at this point in my life so no need to kill myself like I did in my younger days!!!

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Speckled

09/15/2022 03:04PM

Closest EP is 46 miles from our cabin and 68 miles from our home.

"Fool me once, shame on...shame on you. Fool me, can't get fooled again" - W

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nctry

09/15/2022 04:39PM

100 miles to Ely... double that to get up on the Gunflint Trail.

Nctry

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FindHim

09/15/2022 06:16PM

1,521 miles 1 way from southwest of Houston, TX. Long drive, but worth every mile!

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LarryS48

09/15/2022 06:58PM

About 1200 miles to Atikokan. Longer if I want to drive along Superior.

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BonzSF

09/15/2022 10:56PM

2,041.1 from SF Bay Area. That's why I fly. It only took 13 hours last time. It is also why it's only one trip a year for me. I do make it as long as possible. Started with 7 days as a newbie. Then 10 last trip. Maybe 14 next time?

I'll certainly keep coming back for days like this

"Illegitimi non carborundum"

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burrow1

09/16/2022 09:55AM

About 470 to Trail Center from just south of Beaver Dam, WI and a stop in Eau Claire, WI to pick up my son and daughter in law.

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520eek

09/16/2022 09:22PM

I'm in Tucson....seem really far away when I am looking at cactus...

I couldn't wait for success, so I went ahead without it!

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Michwall2

09/16/2022 09:26PM

635 to Sawbill Entry.

686 to Tuscarora Lodge (Our latest bunkhouse for the night before.)

Our actual travel is further because we stop the first night at our son's home west of Eau Claire. Then finish the drive the next day.

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airmorse

09/17/2022 12:28PM

Amazing how many people travel over 1000 miles to visit the BW.

"In wilderness is the salvation of mankind." Thoreau.

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blutofish1

09/18/2022 08:39AM

1500 miles round trip from central Indiana to Ely.

blutofish

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Mickeal

09/18/2022 07:22PM

1558 miles one way to Seagull. With over 50 trips to the BW I have driven over 160000 miles since 1988.

My last big fish has yet to be caught.

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SunrisePaddler

09/18/2022 09:38PM

250 to Ely, 300 to mid-Gunflint Trail. Consider myself very fortunate to have such a relatively short distance to travel as compared to some of you. Truly impressed with the distances some of you travel to enjoy canoe country. Interesting thread.

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AmarilloJim

09/19/2022 01:30PM

1,300 to Ely
1,450 to Atikokan
one way

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Barca

09/19/2022 04:49PM

Just over 1000 miles from central Ohio, one way. Assuming you go across the Mackinaw Bridge and through the UP of Michigan (so much better than Chicago).

Last trip was to WCPP which was 1300 miles one way to Red Lake (never mind the 2.5 hours after that on a dirt/rock "road")... and I thought I grew up in the country... Worth it though, solitude is so much better than BWCA/Quetico.

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canoemama3

09/19/2022 09:13PM

About 250-300 miles one way depending on entry point. It was about 5 hours there this summer, last year was a little over 6. We’re central MN, so not really far compared to some on here! Fun to see how far people travel!

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Freeleo1

09/20/2022 12:07PM

1441 miles from here to Ely. The google map has it at 22 hours and 8 minutes currently. Too far for as many trips as I'd like to make. The worst part of the trip is getting to the north side of Houston.

"Geography is just physics slowed down, with a couple of trees stuck in it." Terry Pratchett

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Jeriatric

09/20/2022 03:50PM

About 2,000 miles. 2021 was my last trip. I drive alone or with others.

The business of life is the acquisition of memories. In the end that's all there is. ___Mr Carson (Downton Abby)

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AceAceAce

09/20/2022 07:56PM

4 hours. Close enough I've been lucky to sneak in a few last minute quick trips. love that so many come from so far again and again. The place really gets in your blood.

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PeaceFrog

09/22/2022 11:33AM

16 hours one way from south central Ohio. Worth every minute. Flying up next week. Will be a good comparison

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MississippiDan

09/30/2022 08:56PM

Another 1,000 miler here. My August trip from southern Missouri to the Kaswishiwi Lake entry point was just a little over 1,000 miles. Seven days in the BWCA made it totally worth it!

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3Ball

09/30/2022 09:27PM

270 miles to the cabin, then 0 steps from the dock.

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Sparkeh

10/01/2022 07:07AM

Drove from Vermont the last 2 years. We stay out there 10 nights to make the drive worth it.

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johno

10/05/2022 03:04PM

According to Google Maps it is 2,245 miles from my house in San Diego to Grand Marais.

I store all of my gear and canoes at my sister's place near Stevens Point, WI. I visit family and friends in WI and IL, and then do three one week trips in the BWCA and Quetico. The round trip is usually a little over 6,000 miles.

For the past 5 years I've done this trip in both the spring and fall. It's great being semi-retired!!

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arctic

10/11/2022 08:34AM

About 65 miles.

“Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell.” -Edward Abbey

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jwartman59

10/11/2022 09:44AM

Two hours, more or less

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SirFartsalot

10/11/2022 11:32AM

Approximately 1200 miles uno way.

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papalambeau

10/13/2022 10:49AM

7.5 - 8 hours from home (Neenah, Wi) to Ely. Depends how long we're at Norske Nook in Rice Lake for pie!

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SunCatcher

10/17/2022 04:38PM

24 hours to Kiporbys house then like 8 hours to Ely.
I know it's a long ways
SunCatcher

"WWJD"

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x2jmorris

10/17/2022 04:50PM

From Duluth so its about 2 hours I think. Depends what part I am headed to I suppose.

“Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Basspro69

10/27/2022 11:43PM

265 to Grand Marais a little over 4 hours

" I want to know Gods thoughts , The rest are details " Albert Einstein. WWJD

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Swampturtle

10/29/2022 09:53AM

1406 miles 1 way to Ely, about 22 hours of driving. We stop half way around O’Hare in Chicago for dinner & a hotel room for the night before we head North.

It does not matter how slowly you go, as long as you do not stop. -Confucius

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