The 10th Annual Border Route Challenge has begun. Fifteen paddlers have conquered the initial challenge - getting to the starting point. Yesterday we lost two paddlers. One to health issues and one to work projects.
We met in Ely Friday afternoon (August 30) for the paddler's meeting to confirm our plans, arrangement and have our send-off dinner at the Grand Ely Lodge. We were lucky enough to have some family, friends and even some BWCA.com folks with us.
Thanks to Kris, Straight Haired Curly, for registration assistance and to Cricket for stopping to support us and learn about the Challenge firsthand.
This morning was an early wake-up call! All the paddlers were ready to transport to their start point and get out on the water ready to face the wild and windy day.
Marcie (Mrs. Russ (Voyager) and I are in full tracking mode with maps and computers set-up and monitored continually.

Safe travels to all.

Wahoo!!!!

Do you have any links to follow the challengers?

LT,

Only some of them are on the Water Tribe site this year:BeaV and Kendra, Mighty Duffus on the MNKC2024, and prospector_Clewless, MNGreene_Nomadmusky on the MNVC2024 tracking map.

Water Tribe tracking is here: Water Tribe tracking

Select the race abbreviation from the drop down menu and hit REGENERATE button

Deleted

Thanks SHC.

Our Challengers are on the move. They have adapted to the winds - each in their own way. Some were wind bound for a few hours this afternoon other decided to take the route alternate of smaller lakes south of LLC to avoid the big water in the winds.
Understandably, Scott and Betsy (Conchistador and his wife Dragon Fly) are ahead, over on the Granite River. They are doing the Moose Lake Challenge thus started at Moose and missed the big wind and waters of Rainy or LLC. They are doing the Challenge on stand-up paddle boards.
BeaV and his crew, Pigeon River Dave, and MAKK (Kendra) are doing the full Challenge from Rainy on over and will rest tonight near US Point. The plan is to swing into Prairie Portage and pick up an additional paddler tomorrow morning. We will see how that works out.
Mighty Duffus, Magic Paddler, and CatchMe are paddling solo doing the full Kruger Challenge from Sha Sha on Rainy Lake. Mighty and Magic are on the west end of LLC but CatchMe is over at Table Rock.
The Voyageur Challengers (Little Vermillion or LIS start) are strung out. Another day will tell how and who will lead the group. The tandem teams of Clewless and Prospector, Laughing Warrior and Ambrose and MN Greene and Nomad Musky are moving well but obviously each at their own pace. Voyager is the only solo paddler in the Voyager Group.
There are 16 paddlers working hard to achieve a successful finish and complete this Challenge!

Good luck to them all!

Grandma L: "Our Challengers are on the move. They have adapted to the winds - each in their own way. Some were wind bound for a few hours this afternoon other decided to take the route alternate of smaller lakes south of LLC to avoid the big water in the winds.
Understandably, Scott and Betsy (Conchistador and his wife Dragon Fly) are ahead, over on the Granite River. They are doing the Moose Lake Challenge thus started at Moose and missed the big wind and waters of Rainy or LLC. They are doing the Challenge on stand-up paddle boards.
BeaV and his crew, Pigeon River Dave, and MAKK (Kendra) are doing the full Challenge from Rainy on over and will rest tonight near US Point. The plan is to swing into Prairie Portage and pick up an additional paddler tomorrow morning. We will see how that works out.
Mighty Duffus, Magic Paddler, and CatchMe are paddling solo doing the full Kruger Challenge from Sha Sha on Rainy Lake. Mighty and Magic are on the west end of LLC but CatchMe is over at Table Rock.
The Voyageur Challengers (Little Vermillion or LIS start) are strung out. Another day will tell how and who will lead the group. The tandem teams of Clewless and Prospector, Laughing Warrior and Ambrose and MN Greene and Nomad Musky are moving well but obviously each at their own pace. Voyager is the only solo paddler in the Voyager Group.
There are 16 paddlers working hard to achieve a successful finish and complete this Challenge!"

Great update. Thx.

Maybe one year I'll compete in the challenge.

I see beavs team is at the sag end of granite river. Hopefully they get a good amount of that section done before dark.

I can’t seem to find conchistDor and wife on the moose lake challenge tracking map. Are they finished already?

Mocha, please send me your email address to lori@sandlor.com

Tonight's Update: 7:30 PM
Kruger/Waddell Challengers:
BeaV's crew of 4 paddlers-2 canoes: Meat Puppet caught up with the crew at Prairie portage. They are just north of Sag Falls.
Mighty Duffus (solo) heading south though Wednesday Bay
Magic Paddler (solo) camped just south of Table Rock
CatchMe, also solo, is at the east end of Swamp Lake - past Monument portage

Voyageur Challengers:
Voyager, solo, is heading south on the Granite River heading
Clewless and Prospector are a tandem crew. They are up on the Thunder Point Island, camped for the night
Laughing Warrior and his tandem partner, Ambrose, are just west of Prairie Portage.
MN Greene-tandem crew with MN Greene and Nomad Musk are moving fast just past Gunflint Lake.

The only Moose Lake Challenge group are:
Conchistador and his wife, Dragon Fly, are both traveling on SUP's and are currently on the west end of North Lake. -Yup, they are moving fast!!
Conchistador is very experienced on his board, having won the Yukon 1000 a couple years ago.

As for the tracking team, Mrs. Voyager and I are watching closely and planning to head to Grand Portage tomorrow. That way we can continue to track paddlers and be handy to greet them as they finish the final - 9 mile portage to Lake Superior at the reenactment fort.

Thanks for all your work on this. Your support team is a crucial part of this entire challenge!

Checking frequently now that I see the Greene team is getting close to the start of the pigeon river.

Looks like one team is well into the pigeon river. Crazy doing that at night.

I predict team beav will be on the pigeon river when I check this next in the morning.

The weather has been amazing this year, except the first day.

Just spoke to GrandmaL. She said the winds have been high and constant up there these first days. Some tough paddling on those bigger lakes!

Oh, well, I should think about how different it is where I live compared to up there.

Any news on the pigeon river water level and what they have to look forward to with that part?

Oh Mocha, you ask the best questions? Checking. Doug and Kevin (MN Greene) are on the Pigeon River heading to the Fort Charlotte camping area. I expect them to stay there overnight and hike the 9 miles of the "Grand" tomorrow morning.
They projected their finish as Wednesday afternoon. We will see!

As for the flow rate on the Pigeon -
"Total streamflow across the Pigeon River was last observed at 1,173 cfs, and is expected to yield approximately 2,326 acre-ft of water today; about 57% of normal. River levels are low and may signify a drought."
Last Updated 2024-09-03, Streamflow 970.1 cfs, Percent of Normal 55.19%
Maximum 77,620.0 cfs
They are predicting rain in the night Wed to Thurs which might help some folks - but who knows??

I'm certainly not the expert on this but it looks like at least 2.5 feet at one river gauge. Pigeon River Gauge Pigeon River Gauge ...but that's at Middle Falls.

Sadly, we have had one paddler need to drop out. Mighty Duffus has exited the BWCA via Fall Lake. His family support crew are available to assist him. He had some boat and back issues that combined to force him to exit. Dang! We sure hate to lose are star paddler!

HighnDry: "I'm certainly not the expert on this but it looks like at least 2.5 feet at one river gauge. Pigeon River Gauge Pigeon River Gauge ...but that's at Middle Falls."

Thanks for the research! Good job!

Mocha: "Looks like one team is well into the pigeon river. Crazy doing that at night.

I predict team beav will be on the pigeon river when I check this next in the morning.

The weather has been amazing this year, except the first day."

Done the challenge in one form (Voyageurs or Kruger) 5 times.
Granite River at night ( always at least some light when I've travelled through ) would be not fun , but nothing imo is worse at night then a low pigeon river ( English Rapids ). Headlamps are worthless, can't see "V's" in the current , can't see crap. It's character building to put it mildly.
Thanks again for all your work GrandmaL!!

Happy to see the guys at ft charlotte. After the report of the condition of the grand portage, I’d hate to see anyone attempt that in the dark.

Always concerned when I see a team in the same place for a long time. I was sure beavs team would be on the pigeon river but they are in the same place as when I went to bed last night. So that makes me think they are going to push through today and try to finish by dark.

Then there is the team by devils elbow on the granite that’s been there awhile.

Having never done this route as a challenge, I can only imagine the need and want to sleep and rest and how hard it would be to stand up.

Now my next question is more a wondering of which section of the journey do the paddlers feel is most challenging…is it the vast open water areas, the granite river, the pigeon river, the grand portage, or re-entry into the real world after the trip is finished.

Mocha: "Happy to see the guys at ft charlotte. After the report of the condition of the grand portage, I’d hate to see anyone attempt that in the dark.

Always concerned when I see a team in the same place for a long time. I was sure beavs team would be on the pigeon river but they are in the same place as when I went to bed last night. So that makes me think they are going to push through today and try to finish by dark.

Then there is the team by devils elbow on the granite that’s been there awhile.

Having never done this route as a challenge, I can only imagine the need and want to sleep and rest and how hard it would be to stand up.


Now my next question is more a wondering of which section of the journey do the paddlers feel is most challenging…is it the vast open water areas, the granite river, the pigeon river, the grand portage, or re-entry into the real world after the trip is finished."

I've only done the challenge route once and only from Crane not from I Falls. That said, having done all of the sections enough times, I would say the safe answer is "it depends on the conditions." Yes, sleep or lack thereof is a factor. I mis-navigated Seed Lake of all things in a three-in-the-morning delirium. But the other conditions of wind, weather, and water levels completely transform the trip. For us, the worst section of the whole challenge was the pigeon in low water. We weren't setting a blazing fast pace, but we reached the end of S Fowl at 2:05 pm and didn't reach the Grand until 8:48 pm after significant time walking the Pigeon. The Granite was crazy low also, but we hit it in daylight and were moving well. We also had strong wind out of the south for the first 48 hours which impacted us. Loon River was brutal in those conditions, Loon and the first stretch of LLC were a race track, and Basswood was almost scary. All of the big lakes have wind-bounding potential: the worst being Basswood or Saganaga, but everything Gunflint East also has the potential of big scary chop (I have gotten down Gunflint lake in sub one-hour with a tailwind. Also my only time ever being truly wind-bound on any trip and staying in camp came on Clearwater east of the Gunflint.) I'm sure others with more experience running the Krueger have more stories.

it will be exciting to see photo of first finishers soon!!!

where is mr and mrs conchistador?

Scott and Betsy (Mr. and Mrs. Conchistador) are the Moose Portage heading into North Fowl Lake. They are doing well and have paced themselves to be at Fort Charlotte tomorrow night if all goes as planned.

First paddlers across the finish line!!! Waahoo!
Voyageur Challengers, MN Greene and Nomad Musky (Doug and Kevin) started at Crane and finished at the Grand Portage Fort at 11:47 this morning with a finish time of 100:21. 100 hours and 21 minutes!!

That's amazing. Congratulations to M N Greene and Nomad Musky!

woo hoo! that's awesome.
i'm making my coworkers go on this virtual journey with me. they don't necessarily understand it all, but that's ok.

these guys don't even look winded!

and beav's team is practically to partridge falls! they'll be done by supper time.

I am expecting the paddlers who are at Charlotte to stay. Since none are chasing a record, they might as well have a rest before the march down the Grand!

Grandma L: "First paddlers across the finish line!!! Waahoo!
Voyageur Challengers, MN Greene and Nomad Musky (Doug and Kevin) started at Crane and finished at the Grand Portage Fort at 11:47 this morning with a finish time of 100:21. 100 hours and 21 minutes!!


"

Hey...I know those guys! Congrats!

As I was out on my solo and spending afternoons in camp reading my book listening to the wind howl I was thinking of all my new acquaintances.

And thanks GrandmaL and everybody for being so welcoming as I crashed your pre-party!

This evening at 6:34 PM Catch Me, Joe finished his Kruger-Waddell Challenge. Joe started our longest Challenge route at Sha Sha Resort, paddled Rainy Lake, passed south thru Kettle Falls and on to Sand Point and Loon Lake where he took the "inside" route across the smaller lakes (with longer portages) to avoid LLC and the high winds we were having. The "inside" route links back on the border route at Bottle and Iron Lake. Joe finished in 109 hours and 15 minutes. Amazing for his first time on this adventure. Great having you as part of our crew. Hope to see you next year!

This evening, BeaV and his team consisting of BeaV, Kendra, PRDave and Meat Puppet Todd, along with Voyager (Russ) are camped at Fort Charlotte. I expect to see them tomorrow (Thursday) morning. Just hope the trail is dry and clear.
there are still 5 other paddlers to make their way along the route. Hopefully by Friday afternoon or Saturday morning, they will all be at Grand Portage for the Prime Rib dinner, awards presentations and other "shenanigans".

And, Cricket, Nice to have you with us in Ely! Maybe next year you will paddle one of the Challenges with us.

White Wolf, Jeff,
Hope you can join us again for the Challenge. It would be great if your son could join in too. We could use some young strong paddlers.

looking at the webcams it looks to be a very windy day up there today.

magic paddler is at the east end of gunflint. even if he wanted to back track and exit along the south side of the lake he'd have serious waves.

Congrats to BeaV, Kendra, MeatPuppet and PRD for finishing their casual perusal of the Border Route. Have fun paddling Gitche Gumee on the way back to the Casino.

I just want to say thank you to to Lori and all the challengers who inspired me to give it a try this year. It was fantastic. I had trials like enduring large waves on Rainy and Namakan lakes and managed to get lost on the Loon River of all places to begin my second day. I also enjoyed a tailwind for a majority of the lakes and dismantled my fear of paddling in the dark. I saw many beautiful sights and am enjoying a nice sense of accomplishment. The support from the team and other challengers really lifted me up. Thanks to all.

Mocha: "Oh, well, I should think about how different it is where I live compared to up there.


Any news on the pigeon river water level and what they have to look forward to with that part?"

I was traveling through the English Rapids section with Beav and Kendra yesterday and Beav described it as about an average level for during the challenge. The rapids sections were mostly too low to float. Lots of jumping in and out of the canoe. Many scratches were added to my boat.

Mocha: "Happy to see the guys at ft charlotte. After the report of the condition of the grand portage, I’d hate to see anyone attempt that in the dark.

Always concerned when I see a team in the same place for a long time. I was sure beavs team would be on the pigeon river but they are in the same place as when I went to bed last night. So that makes me think they are going to push through today and try to finish by dark.

Then there is the team by devils elbow on the granite that’s been there awhile.

Having never done this route as a challenge, I can only imagine the need and want to sleep and rest and how hard it would be to stand up.


Now my next question is more a wondering of which section of the journey do the paddlers feel is most challenging…is it the vast open water areas, the granite river, the pigeon river, the grand portage, or re-entry into the real world after the trip is finished."

For me the Grand Portage was the hardest part. The second hardest part was the large, disorganized waves on Namakan Lake.

Thursday, yesterday was busy with both Team BeaV and Voyager finishing.
They arrived at the Fort in rapid succession, only a few minutes apart.

Team BeaV (BeaV, Kendra, Todd, and Dave) made it in good time - Unofficially at just unde124. They even stopped to spend the night at Fort Charlotte. Pretty casual pace for those seasoned Challenge paddlers

everyone looks great!

looking forward to everyone finishing and getting together for the banquet....and of course PHOTOS and many stories and highlights

Voyager - Russ was hot on their heals. Nice to have them at the Fort to join in the shangins.

Good Paddlers, Great friends!!
Join the group next year? Come paddle with us!!

So, you're waiting on magic paddler and mr/Mrs conchistodar? Anyone else?

I wanted to extend a heartfelt thank you to Lori, Grandma, and Marci for helping keep track of us and meeting us at the end of Grand Portage. Seeing your smiling faces and getting a cold bottle of water was a perfect way to end the journey!

Doug and I had an amazing trip this year. We opted for the Voyager route and took a more minimal approach with our food, catching most of our protein from the waters as we went. We even documented the trip a bit more than usual. Now, Doug will tell you that I still packed too much food—mostly in the form of electrolytes—or maybe it was a brick disguised as a food pack!

The wind was both a friend and a foe this year. We had some great tailwinds pushing us along, but we also faced some tough headwinds, especially on the larger lakes near the end. Those moments when you’re battling the wind, paddling for what feels like no progress, are what test your resolve. Each stroke felt like it came with a bark from my shoulder. For those asking, that was probably the toughest part for me.

Another challenge came at the English Rapids on the Pigeon River after dark… which, trust me, wasn’t in the plan. I had hoped the rain forecasts would bring a bit more flow to the river, but instead, we found ourselves struggling through low water, banging into rocks in the dark. My headlamp, unfortunately, had turned on in my pack earlier in the day, so I was relying on the light of the moon… and as luck would have it, there was no moon. Now that, my friends, is what I call a challenge!

We made it through, but it certainly drained our energy.

Portages didn’t feel as grueling as they sometimes do, though I was thankful they were mostly dry. Roots, rocks, and slippery terrain can wear you down, especially when your clothes get soaked from the wet foliage. Hydration before long portages and river sections is something I have to remind myself of more often.

There were more trees down on the trails this year due to recent storms. Hearing two trees fall in the wind while traveling was something else—a sound that sticks with you.

As for the fishing, it was fantastic! We caught meals but also just fished for the fun of it, which made this trip extra special. There’s nothing quite like a shore lunch from a fresh catch. Reel food, you know? (See what I did there?) We took more photos than usual, and the memories we made will last a lifetime.

As always, the camaraderie with fellow paddlers was a highlight, rounding out the entire experience beautifully.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask—I'm happy to share more!

Mocha: "So, you're waiting on magic paddler and mr/Mrs conchistodar? Anyone else?"

Prospector and Clewless finished up around 7pm tonight. Everyone is now safely in Grand Portage. Congratulations to all!

Busy Day!!
This afternoon, Magic Paddler, Lawrence, came in through McFarland Lake instead of the planned Pigeon River and Grand Portage. Good time and safe exit.

Conchistador and wife Dragon Fly (Scott and Betsy) finished at the Grand Portage Lodge this afternoon in time for dinner.







Clewlesss and Prospector, (Marvin and Josh) finished early evening.











All are tired and anxious to share stories. Great times!!

Nice surprise this evening.
TreeBear stopped in to visit us at Grand Portage Lodge this evening! We got to briefly share stories and enjoyed meeting another BWCA enthusiast.

Love love love to hear the stories and see the photos! Thanks GrandmaL and all.

I especially love that each group made their own challenge with so many differences. Sounds so meaningful to trip on your own terms like that. Bravo to all!!!

Happy to hear and see everyone involved have finished their challenge.

Can’t wait to hear all the trip reports and stories any of them care to share.

I thought this challenge was arranged around a full moon, but that’s probably not right given nomadhuskeys comment about his headlamp and no moon during the pigeon river section.