BWCA 30 minute friendships Boundary Waters Listening Point - General Discussion
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hobbydog
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01/16/2023 04:23PM  
When I was on my solo in early June in Woodland Caribou, I had three encounters with other people. Each one lasted about 30 minutes.

For those who were canoeing in late May/early June in 2022, you will remember the cold, rain, wind and high water. I had flown into Artery Lake WCPP on June 1 after a day's delay due to weather. The next couple days were not much better. I had made it to the end of Artery Lake on day three and the portage was flooded out, but there was a nice camping spot there.

As I was checking it out I was surprised to see a canoe coming through the woods, then another. In all, five souls were bushwacking around the flooded portage.

When I was planning my trip a group popped up in my Facebook feed called Backyard Beginnings , they were leaving from their backyard in Kenora and headed to Hudson Bay.

Emma was the leader of the group and I recognized her from the Facebook post. Emma, her brother and her dog, Ginny, had made the trip from Kenora to Red Lake where they were joined by three other paddlers. They built a fire and made a potato soup lunch which we all shared while sharing our stories. They had endured cold, wind, burned out portages/camp sites, flooded portages, were cold and wet, but were determined to keep on going.

After I got back from my trip, I followed the rest of Emma's journey to Hudson Bay on their FB page. Emma swapped out paddling partners during different legs of the trip, but had finally made it by the end of August. I shared these pictures with her. She thanked me and said I had really lifted their spirits that day. They referred to me as "The old man on the portage". They had also made my day and lifted my spirits.



I spent the next few days on Artery Lake. The weather was not great, but the fishing for big northerns was excellent. Late in the day, as I was fishing, a boat from the lodge on lower Artery Lake was able to make it up through the rapids and out of the lower part of the lake. They went by to fish the north falls. On their return, they came by and stopped to say hi and find out who I was. They were from Bemidji and had been flying into Artery Lake for 20 years. We shared a few stories and then they were on their way.

As they were leaving, they asked if I wanted a cold beer. Oh... heck yeah! It went well with the evening fish fry.


Several days later, I had made my way to Barclay Lake. I was looking for the campsite I had stayed at in 2015...a small island site. However, the campsite was mostly under the high water.

About that time, a boat from Sabourin Lodge came by and pulled up to my canoe. He was a guide out doing a little scouting for his group that was coming in the next day. Again, we shared stories. He was from Winnipeg and had been coming there since he was 14 (he was 65). Said he had never seen the water this high.

He shared a few fishing spots with me and also a couple of jigs and a package of white twister tails. He said that is all I needed to catch walleyes and if they didn't hit them, they either weren't there or weren't biting.

The next morning, I got an early start. As I was working my way up the Bloodvein River, the same guide was coming out of the channel from Sabourin Lake. He pulled up with his clients in front of the boat. We exchanged quick pleasantries and he then asked if I would like a fresh orange. Oh... heck yeah! And then they were on their way. It was so sweet, maybe the best orange I've ever had.

Of all the trips I have taken, the memories that really last are the hardships along the way and the 30 minute friendships you make with like-minded souls. I think when you are solo, especially after not seeing anyone for several days, those encounters are even more memorable and meaningful.

Feel free to share your 30 minute friendships you have made along the way.
 
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01/16/2023 06:04PM  
Sounds like a great trip.
 
01/16/2023 06:24PM  
That’s cool, I liked that, thanks for sharing.
 
01/16/2023 06:34PM  
Great stories, Bill. I wish I had some to share too but I can't remember any. I confess I am usually trying to avoid everyone else. I should change my attitude.
 
01/17/2023 06:35AM  
Great story about your 30 minute friendships. Over the 12 years of annual trips to the greater Wabakimi area I remember a few encounters with others. Most memorable was 3 different encounters over three years with the same family group of fly-in anglers from the SW Wisconsin area. The patriarch of the family seemed to be in charge and after the first encounter he remembered us and offered us cold beers. We developed our approach to asking the fly-in fisherman for cold beer by casually checking their boat for a cooler and then telling them we hadn’t had any beer for some time. We would then tell them we had Canadian and US cash and would like to buy a few beers. No one ever accepted money and the only time we were turned down was by a guy who told us he was a recovering alcoholic who said he would have given us beer if he had some. Free beer from the fisherman is quite a gift considering the cost of outfitter beer was $50-60.00 per case at that time.

On a near 3 week trip from Allanwater Bridge to Lake Nipigon we began to encounter other groups as we got into the popular area of the Kopka Rv where outfitters put their clients on trips. As we got closer to Lake Nipigon we also encountered locals who populated bush campsites they could drive into. As we continued the trip they had already heard about us (moccasin telegraph) and most were impressed that we had paddled all the way from Allanwater Bridge and paid tribute to us with gifts of beer.
 
MidwestMan
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01/17/2023 08:11AM  
Really enjoyed reading this. A lot of good souls are out there and all it takes is opening our hearts and minds a bit to create lasting friendships.
 
YetiJedi
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01/17/2023 08:57PM  
MidwestMan: "Really enjoyed reading this. A lot of good souls are out there and all it takes is opening our hearts and minds a bit to create lasting friendships. "


Amen.

I'll shout out Ducks for making the effort to introduce himself, offer advice, and point my Dad and I in the right direction on our trip last May. Ducks responded to a couple of my posts with excellent information, provided additional background when I emailed him, and then spent some time with us showing us some spots on the map we should visit. I appreciated his time and he helped us have a better trip. thanks, Ducks, for being one of the "good souls", to quote Midwest Man, in the world. :)
 
TuscaroraBorealis
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01/17/2023 09:50PM  
I wrote up a trip report a couple years ago that has a 'somewhat' similar theme as the OP.

Homage to the Spartans and other paddling friends
 
NotLight
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01/30/2023 08:21PM  
Tripped with a chatty person once. Couldn't get a word in edgewise with anyone we met along the trail. Loneliest week of my whole damned life. Sometimes solo is not so solo.
 
redbeardcanoeworks
member (47)member
  
01/31/2023 08:24PM  
the neatest quick meeting I ever had in the BWCA was on one of the Knife portages. I pulled up in my Wenonah Advantage to see 3 canoes on shore and two waiting to get in. I pulled out my rod, made one cast and caught a 19" smallmouth right where the creek spilled into the lake. I cast some more and then pulled my boat up on a rock in the center of the current and continued to cast upstream into a pool, catching a few more smallmouth waiting for the crowd to disperse.
Behind me a guy said "how do you like that canoe?" I turned around and saw a brand new Wenonah canoe with a older guy in the stern, a middle age woman in the bow and a young teen girl in the center. I responded; "Love it, a bit tender but not tippy and it can fly. " We talked just a bit and then the woman said "He's the owner of Wenonah Canoes". Sure enough it was Mike Cichanowski and his daughter and granddaughter. He made sure I knew that his grand daughter had caught a nice pike the night before. We talked about the Advantage, both he and his daughter paddled one as a training boat. As they pushed off, I laughed to myself. The way Mike had talked about my boat was if he was the owner and I suppose in a way he was.
 
Heyfritty
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02/04/2023 02:18PM  
My 30 minute friendship occurred in September of 2020. I was on a solo trip out of Lake One. I had been fishing in a long narrow bay and my new friend was camped on a point in southern Lake Two. As I passed, I commented on his hammock setup because I’m contemplating hanging.

It was his first trip and he gushed about the experience, saying he had always dreamed about making it up there. He told me how he had a complete set of BWCA maps plastered on his bedroom walls in high school, just like I had in college.

It was an inspiring experience! He was already planning the next year’s trip with his canoe-mate. He had quite a bit of experience in canoes and kayaks as he lived his entire life in Maine. And he was 75!

It’s never too late!

Fritty
 
straighthairedcurly
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02/05/2023 09:48AM  
We've had great conversations with various groups recently.

Met a really awesome coupe from Maine (where my husband's family lives). They saw our Mad River canoe as we were pulled over eating lunch and stopped to see if we were from out east since they hadn't seen many Mad Rivers in the BWCA. It was their first time in the BWCA, but they have been section paddling the Northern Forest Canoe Trail (a huge interest of mine). We helped them understand the fishing regulations that had been puzzling them and just shot the breeze for 30+ minutes. They were the type of people you could chat with forever.

Met a nice couple on a quiet lake who noticed our Camp Menogyn sticker as we paddled past. Turns out they have a cabin on W. Bearskin and know one of the women who was on a long trip with me in 1982. By chance, I also happen to run into the same couple the next summer as I finished portaging the Clearwater Road on my solo trip and they were walking back to their cabin. Small world!

Had 2 great encounters with Boy Scout troops that I described in a trip report. We ran into both groups a second time and had more great conversation.

I love chatting with people, especially when I'm solo or in a group of 2.
 
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