Enough of the BWCA has reopened to allow for paddlers to traverse the Border Route once again. Challengers will launch this Saturday morning 9/12/2026 around 8am. Use this post for discussion while the Challenges are happening.

You can check on locations of the paddlers and/or view individual's tracks by going to WaterTribe's Tracking Map link below. Note- not all of the Challengers will be shown.
Tracking Map

Select the Event abbreviation from the drop down menu and hit REGENERATE VIEW button to generate the map of current team locations. To view tracks of an individual Challenger, select the nickname of the Challenger from that drop down menu and hit REGENERATE VIEW.

There are currently 15 paddlers doing the Kruger Waddell Challenge, 4 paddlers doing the Voyageurs Challenge, and 6 paddlers doing the Moose Lake Challenge. With a few late entry paddlers still trying to make it. For those unfamiliar with these Challenges, all participants must finish their chosen route in 8 days or less!

Feel free to post comments, photos, and questions under this post while the action is occurring.

I will be on a 3-person team this year consisting of MAKK (Kendra from this site), McPipes, and me. We've all paddled together before on this Challenge so know what to expect and will have no problems along the way whatsoever (never true). We'll be paddling a refurbished MN 3 weighing in at 70 pounds (dang that's gonna be heavy on the portages). We'll be starting on Rainy Lake, east of International Falls, with the rest of the Kruger Waddell Challengers.

The weather, at this point, is looking cool, windy, and rainy for the first few days.

We will have a new moon to start that will be favorable for stargazing but terrible for night-time navigation for those who choose not to use a GPS (our team).

Water levels are currently low- this will create headaches along the Granite/Pine/Pigeon Rivers.

I'm looking forward to facing our challenge, seeing some old familiar faces, and meeting some new paddlers too!

I can't wait to hear about it and see the photos!!

Hello, I will be paddling with my 15 year old son (CatchMe2). We are taking on the Kruger Waddell Challenge this year. We finished the Voyageur Challenge last year, and I did a solo KW in 2024.
We will be paddling/portaging my 47 pound MNII. I thought it was sorta heavy until I read about Beav's canoe. Now we can't complain about that.
Our goal is to conquer the challenge before it conquers us. We are looking forward to paddling until our arms fall off and portaging like George Bonga.

CatchMe2 Trip Report 2025
CatchMe Trip Report 2024

Very very excited to read this news!

But 70 pounds.....? Just adds to the challenge I suppose

The "non-paddling" tracking team is ready to go! Computers and spread sheets are ready with SPOT and InReach information all set-up. There will be 4 of us this year. We lost one this year, she decided to paddle the Voyageur Challenge instead of tracking. Can't blame her. If I could, I would!!

Can someone list who all will be doing the challenge this year and where they are starting? I know they won't all be on the Water Tribe site, but nice to know who to cheer for. Wish my brother and I could be there but will have to dot watch until we can head into Crane Lake on the 26th. When the time comes, I'll try to remember to post our tracker link.

Question: what’s the rules for Gold Portage now? Do you have to wash your boat, or something similar? Last time I did the challenge was 2022, before the new invasive species discoveries.

Tony

GopherAdventure: "Question: what’s the rules for Gold Portage now? Do you have to wash your boat, or something similar? Last time I did the challenge was 2022, before the new invasive species discoveries.


Tony"

Boat washing is no longer in effect. Therefore, the Gold Portage from Rainy to Kabetogama is open for use.

To those who have done this in the past and currently doing this, you are and an inspiration. I wish you all well!

Team Hele On (a broken English slang term from Hawaii which roughly translates to the Midwestern slang "keep'er moving").

I am happy to announce that after a seven year hiatus, I'll finally be reunited in this challenge with my beautiful wife Hylidea (I know the tracking team will miss her this year). New to this challenge is my niece, Purse Possum, who traveled all the way from Hawaii to be a part of this. We will be renting a MN III for this challenge (about 50 pounds), and launching from Crane Lake at Sun Rise... CHEEE-HOOO!!!

I'm excited to once again be participating in the Border Route Challenge. This year it's the Moose Challenge with my wife Shar as my teammate. She was inspired by this bunch of crazy voyagers last year and wants to join the Bear Brigade! On a recent paddle I mentioned that the "ability to single portage" is an essential quality in selecting a life partner and she laughed and agreed. I think she's ready.

Slow, steady, but flexible will be our approach. We have daily objectives established but the overriding goal is to take on the Grand Portage no later than Saturday morning and have a lot of fun doing it, mostly type 1 but type 2 when needed. If we have great conditions we'll go farther than planned. If we have to hold up for weather we can adjust.

Can't wait to see you all in Ely tomorrow and see you on the route!

"EZ" Pete

Welcome back and happy your wife is going to be paddling along side you; your absolutely correct about the portaging piece to by the way.

Hello all! We are a group of 4 non-native invasives from Nebraska (3 of us)and a lost Vermonter. First time doing the challenge and we will be starting from Sha-Sha aiming to finish Friday(ish)??. We are in 2 tandems: Northstar Northwinds and a ‘vintage’ Wabash Valley.

Keep those fingers crossed and knock on wood for us: we will need all the help we can get to put up with Captain Caveman’s snoring, HalfFastPaddler’s spreadsheets, Knud’s endless pausing to search for birds. Fortunately they will have me - Chewy - along to help their workout regimen as I put all my stuff in their packs while causing distractions. Shhh…

Looking forward to it all!

It’s so exciting to see people coming from all over the country and across an ocean to be a part of the annual gathering.

Kinda like when all the trappers and traders met at grand portage to sell, barter, trade their furs and wares.

Isis and I are pretty bummed to not be able to do the challenge with you all this year, but we will be checking in on you all during the week...and who knows, maybe we'll drop in to visit. My favorite part is all the stories...when you're paddling 200+ miles, you're gonna see some shit! Stay safe, paddle straight and take care of each other! - Toolman and Ragegirl

Good luck to all! I will be watching from afar this year (again). There have been too many years in-between challenges...I best get my priorities straightened out.

And they are off! Good luck to all trippers, be safe

Mocha: "And they are off! Good luck to all trippers, be safe"

God Speed! looking forward to updates! Looks like a nice tailwind to get things started.

It seems like the beav group is the only tracker moving

Mocha: "It’s so exciting to see people coming from all over the country and across an ocean to be a part of the annual gathering.


Kinda like when all the trappers and traders met at grand portage to sell, barter, trade their furs and wares."

That's a great way to think about it!!

Paddle on everyone!

Damn- BeaV/MAKK and Mcpipes are FLying!!! Impeccable navigation- (other than a sightseeing tour on Granite in the dark) -- they will likely finish just around or after sunset tonight (62-66 or so hours) barring any major setbacks. Pipes' is going to have physical and emotional damage!!! (JK Pipes') :O)

WhiteWolf: "Damn- BeaV/MAKK and Mcpipes are FLying!!! Impeccable navigation- (other than a sightseeing tour on Granite in the dark) -- they will likely finish just around or after sunset tonight (62-66 or so hours) barring any major setbacks. Pipes' is going to have physical and emotional damage!!! (JK Pipes') :O) "

Last year, with a 42+ mile head start, BeaV and MAKK caught us on day 2. It was humbling to say the least.

WhiteWolf: "Damn- BeaV/MAKK and Mcpipes are FLying!!! Impeccable navigation- (other than a sightseeing tour on Granite in the dark) -- they will likely finish just around or after sunset tonight (62-66 or so hours) barring any major setbacks. Pipes' is going to have physical and emotional damage!!! (JK Pipes') :O) "

It's not like back problems run in the family.

Looks like they might be having very cool temps and a hefty tail wind.

Unbelievable, they must be taking cat naps. Will this be a new record? What are the water levels on the pigeon river? Will they stop at ft Charlotte or just keep moving?

So many questions...so little time for answers coz they might finish before answers come

Mocha: "Looks like they might be having very cool temps and a hefty tail wind.


Unbelievable, they must be taking cat naps. Will this be a new record? What are the water levels on the pigeon river? Will they stop at ft Charlotte or just keep moving?


So many questions...so little time for answers coz they might finish before answers come"

For the most part "I think" (watching on map is a LOT different than being there) they have had tail winds - but I don't think they will have tail wind on the FOWL's (not that mattes much at this point as 97% of the paddling is done)

FYI- the navigation that has taken place is nothing short of impeccable when you factor in cold, fatigue, hunger , and the dead of night. remarkable in all ways- if not , unprecedented for 3 person crew even in the same canoe.

I would imagine they are taking turns sleeping- or whatever that entails. But probably are all together now "awake" for the last push. They will not stop at Fort Charlotte imho unless someone is injured.

I think BeaV' and MAKK'S (Kendra on here) tandem record run is just around 63 hours or so set in Fall of 2019. Knowing this crew , it seems that may be an internal goal for 3 people, but they were hard presses to share much info. ALL I heard was FAST and under a certain hour time frame I can't share - but they are WELL ahead of that goal.

Mocha: "Looks like they might be having very cool temps and a hefty tail wind.


Unbelievable, they must be taking cat naps. Will this be a new record? What are the water levels on the pigeon river? Will they stop at ft Charlotte or just keep moving?


So many questions...so little time for answers coz they might finish before answers come"

To answer your last two questions: Pigeon river is LOW, will be quite tedious, and I would hazard a guess that they will not stop. I've done it three times, low, medium and high. Below 80 is pretty darn low. Pigeon River USGS

scotttimm: "

Mocha: "Looks like they might be having very cool temps and a hefty tail wind.



Unbelievable, they must be taking cat naps. Will this be a new record? What are the water levels on the pigeon river? Will they stop at ft Charlotte or just keep moving?



So many questions...so little time for answers coz they might finish before answers come"

To answer your last two questions: Pigeon river is LOW, will be quite tedious, and I would hazard a guess that they will not stop. I've done it three times, low, medium and high. Below 80 is pretty darn low. Pigeon River USGS "

pigeon may be low- but BeaV and company have done it during the night -- so doing it during the day is a big help. 2019 a group of 8 of us including BeaV did it during the night and it was a train wreck - though we hadn't slept since Clove Lake, these 3 haven't really laid down in much longer. Those that went through that year in 2019 on the Pigeon during the day had little issues. I expect little issues here. They blew through FOWL port like it wasn't even their( dozens of downed trees and mud at the end ) -- expect the same to the finish. I see a well earned finish tonight around 10pm or so in a steady rain .---Insanely fast!!!

Oh I have no doubt that they will crank it out! Of the 3 times I did the Pigeon, 2x were in a cold rain and it was misery. They might make it to the Grand Portage before the rain starts up, which can also be miserable in wet conditions with those damn boardwalks. I can't wait to hear the stories!! Here's where BeaV and MAKK caught us on day 2 on Crooked last Fall. We started at Crane, they started at Sha Sha.

Whew, BeaV/Kendra/McPipes are speedy! I agree that they will finish tonight barring any injury. They'll be past English Rapids well before dark and they've done the Grand in the dark plenty of times.

There have been some really strong winds which unfortunately have given some of the less experienced teams trouble with some working on exiting. Note that there are a lot of additional paddlers who are not on the Water Tribe tracking map. Hopefully Grandma Lori or Marcie have a chance to give us some updates once they get settled into "tracking headquarters" in Grand Portage.

Hopefully everyone is staying safe.

Sitting here at Grand Portage watching it rain and watching the tackers for our paddlers. The weather has not cooperated for this year's Challenge.

Our first morning at Sha Sha Resort on Dove Point, that was a significant wind. One of our tandem teams capsized within an hours paddle. They are currently on an island waiting to paddle back to the start where they will be picked up.

Good Luck and Safe Travels to all!

Update:,
Our tandem team who capsized last Saturday and were awaiting their ride, have been rescued and are back in Duluth. We saw them today as they passed through Grand Portage to pick up some of their gear. They were doing well and in good spirits.

We still have another tandem looking for a good way to exit their position on the border just east of Loon Lake. They had some"canoe trouble".

Most all are doing well and working hard to make up time and overcome the weather adversities of strong winds and rain.

It is not 1:41 AM, Tuesday, September 15. We, the Tracking Team of Marcie, MacKenzie and myself, Grandma L, are waiting to go to the finish of the 9 mile Grand Portage to greet Beav, Kendra and Troy as they finish their Challenge and in hopefully under 70 hours which would be a new trio record.

They made it!! BeaV, Kendra and Troy
At 2:22 AM, on September 15, this trio set a record for the Kruger-Waddell Challenge . 69 hours and 17 minutes! non-stop, no sleep fighting wind and lots of rain. Congrats to this powerful crew!

Congrats to Beav and team!

Another windy day but looks like weather will be much better for the rest of the week for everyone!

Hope everyone stays safe and thanks to Grandma L and everyone supporting!

I'm sure that modified M3 they were carrying felt like a Grumman by the end of the Grand Portage.

Congrats Team BeaV! What was their time? Sub 70 hrs for sure. Oh how I miss paddling the September challenge.

Kelso: "Congrats Team BeaV! What was their time? Sub 70 hrs for sure. Oh how I miss paddling the September challenge."

Time to start saving up vacation days buddy...

Roger that!

JimmyJustice, I just want to know what they did to an MN3 to make it 70lbs?! Dumbbells under the thwarts?

Kelso: "Roger that!


JimmyJustice, I just want to know what they did to an MN3 to make it 70lbs?! Dumbbells under the thwarts?"

Based on how fast they went, I'm guessing a 6 hp inboard electric motor.

I’ve heard about a few things from the boat owner, but I’ll let BeaV, Kendra and McPipes tell their story. If it was any other group I’d have it inspected for peddles and a sail.

Ah-ha! We finally unmasked their secret.

So happy to hear the other teams are safe on land or making their way to land.

What crazy weather this time around.

Congrats to team beaver, Kendra and mcpipes
You three are smokin'!!! Don't think I've ever been on a canoe that has maintained almost 4mph over 65 hours straight.

I don’t know what’s up with the watertribe site…nothing seems to load no matter how many times I press regenerate.

How many teams are in all the challenges and where are they in their journey?

Mocha: "I don’t know what’s up with the watertribe site…nothing seems to load no matter how many times I press regenerate.


How many teams are in all the challenges and where are they in their journey?"

So I just got it to load.
Kruger-Waddell: It still shows MNGreene/NomadMuskie at the same location (Moose Lake) as last night. So not sure if they pulled off or are just having tracker issues. And it shows HalfastPaddler/Chewy just west of Thursday Bay looking like they are camped.

Voyageur Challenge: LaughingWarrior/Hylidae are camped on the east end of Mountain tonight.

I have no details on any other teams who chose to not be tracked on watertribe.

MOOSE LAKE CHALLENGERS-
1 EZPete and Navasana Mama (husband and wife team)- they're doing good. Currently on the east end of Mountain Lake. They intend to "slow roll" into the finish. They don't want their experience to end too soon.

2 Team Sufferfest ( four person team from Colorado)- Currently on Moose Lake (the one near Mountain Lake). New team to the Challenge this year and are doing well.

VOYAGEURS CHALLENGERS-

1 Pigeon River Dave- currently on the Pigeon River (this is where he was born to be). Guessing he wants to make Fort Charlotte today and enjoy a camp with others who may be staying here tonight. Solo loneliness? He will find that doing the river this year will add a couple hours longer than normal due to the extreme low flow conditions. There is a long stretch before, thru, and after the English Rapids that requires wading.

2 Pardon-Vardi family team (husband and wife, niece from Hawaii)- Currently on the Pigeon River, out front of Pigeon River Dave and hopefully past the English Rapids.

KRUGER WADDELL CHALLENGERS-

1 MNGreene and Nomadmusky exited from the Challenge on Tuesday at LaTourells Resort on Moose Lake. Heavy winds being the cause. We are looking forward to seeing them soon in Grand Portage.

2 Team 3 guys from Nebraska and one guy from Vermont- Currently on South Lake and still paddling. May be having an issue with one of their boats.

3 Team Catch Me- Father - son team from Duluth- Currently on Pigeon River in the bad zone...hope they have strong ankles. Reports from other Challengers are that young Peter is a paddling machine.

4 Team Duffus/Redinger- Father - Son in law team- Currently on the Grand Portage nearing the halfway point. Trail conditions on this final 9-mile portage vary along it's length. The upper is slightly overgrown this year with some nasty tree blowdowns. Further down is more maintained. Heavy rains have made the boardwalk sections slippery- 1st hand knowledge speaking.

TOUR CHALLENGERS-

1- Voyager aka Russ Anderson- Russ, long time successful Challenge participant, finished his quest last night ending at McFarland entry point. He is here in Grand Portage eating ice cream and relaxing. Russ basically completed the Moose Lake Challenge minus the Pigeon River and Grand Portage. He is obviously gaining wisdom. This is the first year that he followed his own advice from ten years ago that "he would never endure the Grand Portage ever again"! He has walked the Grand Portage 8 times in previous Challenges.

2- Clewless and Mzee- Also both long time successful Challenge participants completed their loop from and back to LaTourells resort.

Grandma L: "They made it!! BeaV, Kendra and Troy
At 2:22 AM, on September 15, this trio set a record for the Kruger-Waddell Challenge . 69 hours and 17 minutes! non-stop, no sleep fighting wind and lots of rain. Congrats to this powerful crew! "

I'm rested enough to start posting and answering questions. Here's my group's finish photo. Me on the left, McPipes center, and MAKK on the right.

BeaV: "

Grandma L: "They made it!! BeaV, Kendra and Troy
At 2:22 AM, on September 15, this trio set a record for the Kruger-Waddell Challenge . 69 hours and 17 minutes! non-stop, no sleep fighting wind and lots of rain. Congrats to this powerful crew! "

I'm rested enough to start posting and answering questions. Here's my group's finish photo. Me on the left, McPipes center, and MAKK on the right.
"

I have been dying to know what you did to make your MN III 70 pounds?

CanoeViking: "

BeaV: "

Grandma L: "They made it!! BeaV, Kendra and Troy
At 2:22 AM, on September 15, this trio set a record for the Kruger-Waddell Challenge . 69 hours and 17 minutes! non-stop, no sleep fighting wind and lots of rain. Congrats to this powerful crew! "

I'm rested enough to start posting and answering questions. Here's my group's finish photo. Me on the left, McPipes center, and MAKK on the right.
"

I have been dying to know what you did to make your MN III 70 pounds?"

The boat is owned by McPipes. This boat is well used and the bottom has been resurfaced three times. Each time adding some epoxy weight. Plus a souped-up middle seat. No engine was installed for those speculating.

Team Duffus/Redinger finished this evening at 6:19 pm. Finish time of 129 hours 34 minutes. They're sitting nearby right now telling stories of wind, waves, and moves made to deal with them.

Thanks , Beav, for the thorough update. Lots of team names that are new. So excited for the finish, to see the participant photo.

BeaV: "Team Duffus/Redinger finished this evening at 6:19 pm. Finish time of 129 hours 34 minutes. They're sitting nearby right now telling stories of wind, waves, and moves made to deal with them.

Congrats to them. I'd be very interested to hear their thoughts on how their Kruger Challenge experience compares with the Mississippi and Missouri speed records.

This is Scott Duffus I just completed the 2026 Border Challenge; I also paddled on the Missouri Speed Record Team and was on the support team for the Mississippi Speed Record. The first thing I would say is that while both are challenging, it's really an apples to oranges comparison. The big river speed records have support boats, support crews, and big river dangers. The Border Challenge is remote, and unsupported. This year's Border Challenge had big winds, looking at the weather data, from both, the biggest wind events were about the same on both the MRSR and the Border Challenge, but is our case we were in a much less big-water worthy craft (a Wenonah Jenson 18) than the Minnesota 4 that the Speed Record teams used.

BeaV: "This is Scott Duffus I just completed the 2026 Border Challenge; I also paddled on the Missouri Speed Record Team and was on the support team for the Mississippi Speed Record. The first thing I would say is that while both are challenging, it's really an apples to oranges comparison. The big river speed records have support boats, support crews, and big river dangers. The Border Challenge is remote, and unsupported. This year's Border Challenge had big winds, looking at the weather data, from both, the biggest wind events were about the same on both the MRSR and the Border Challenge, but is our case we were in a much less big-water worthy craft (a Wenonah Jenson 18) than the Minnesota 4 that the Speed Record teams used."

Hi Scott, thanks for sharing this perspective. I followed the MRSR effort pretty closely and remember the headwinds you had towards the end of the race. I was wondering how the skill set required for one would carry over to the other. As someone is is contemplating a solo attempt at the border challenge my biggest concern is the "big-water worthiness" of my Wenonah Prism.

Pigeon River Dave was the first to finish today with a finish time of 146 hours 48 minutes. He paddled solo with a Wenonah Advantage but was never alone on the Grand Portage as he sang his way down the portage with a super-fast time of 3 and a half hours.

Team Catch Me was the second to finish today with a finish time of 152 hours 53 minutes. They were greeted by grandpa Jim Catch Me with loads of pizza for his son and grandson.

Team Pardon-Vardi family was the third team to finish today with a finish time of 152 hours 56 minutes. They could have been faster if they weren't so interested in identifying mushrooms along the Grand Portage.

Half of "Team 3 guys from Nebraska and one guy from Vermont" was the fourth to finish today with a finish time of 155 hours 19 minutes. The other half of this team, unfortunately, had to pull out earlier in their route because of complications from the heavy winds.

Story time is getting amped up now with lots of finishers coming in. 2 more groups are expected to finish tomorrow.

So exciting! They all look energized at the finish. The smiles are electric and motivating.

Thanks everyone who participated in the challenges. Looking forward to the stories.

CatchMe 2 and I had a great trip. We were slowed down by challenging conditions for the first 4 days. High winds were creating large waves and we couldn't always take the shortest way across lakes. We needed to stick to lee shorelines longer and use out of the way islands to protect us. We got windbound for hours on Kabetogama and Basswood. Our time goal of 6 days slipped away watching waves from shore, sometimes sharing windy shores and rough seas with the MNGREENE team. Night paddling was not a much better alternative, because even though some of the nights had less wind, the sky was very dark without a moon, making navigation very difficult. We paddled until 9 or 10 on three of the nights, but were moving at a snail's pace in the dark and had to cut our losses and make camp.
It was interesting to see the newly burned areas of LaCroix, Crooked, Knife, and Ottertrack. The burnt areas were not as devastated as I thought they would be. Only random pockets of bad spots.
On day 5, we were granted wonderful weather and rallied to salvage our 6 day finishing goal. As we pushed ourselves on day 5 and 6, we were at the cusp of saving our goal. But the final death blow to our hopes was the lack of water in the Pigeon River. We lost an hour there and pulled into Fort Charlotte exhausted and too late to finish that evening.
However, we had a fun night at the Fort Charlotte, joining PRD and the Pardon Varde team for the first campfire of our trip.
The hike down the Grand Portage on day 7 was our best one yet, completing it without any problems.
The trip tested our abilities, and we really learned a ton about what we were capable of in rough water.
Many thanks to Grandma L and Beav and the rest of the support crew for making it possible.

CatchMe, you should be proud that you finished the challenge in less than a week, and you did it with confidence against many adversities. That's success!

Very glad to hear that the fire damage was not complete devastation. Thanks for sharing! Would you do the trip again?

Team Sufferfest ( four person team from Colorado) finished on Saturday shortly after noon with a time of 172 hours 48 minutes. Lots of smiles and laughter from them as they entered the Fort.

Kelso, yes, I would do it again.

EZPete and Navasana Mama finished on Saturday with some time to spare before the awards ceremony with a time of 175 hours 11 minutes. They were the final team to finish.

This team and team Sufferfest spent lots of time together along the route. They had a blast getting to know each other in the wilderness and shared many great moments together. These two teams max'ed out the fun in their challenges!

Veterans of the Border Route Challenges- Russ, Clewless, and Mzee (not pictured), finished their custom Tour Routes and joined the rest of us in Grand Portage.

It was great having them present. All three are "heavy in the claw" as can be seen by the loads of awards hanging on their necks.

Who was the paddleboarder from recent years?

There was a guy with the group named Conquistador.
Also was another paddleboarder outside of the group named Mike Ward.

CatchMe: "There was a guy with the group named Conquistador.
Also was another paddleboarder outside of the group named Mike Ward."

Scott Baste (rhymes with paste) is the other SUP named Conquistador.

Lets not forget John Knippers who also completed the Border Route Challenge on a SUP.

Loved loved loved the stories and photos. What an amazing set of adventures. All paddlers should feel good about starting, whether or not they finished or met a goal or set a record. The memories will last forever and you said YES to adventure!!

Thanks for the snapshots BeaV. Hopefully all of you will write more detailed trip reports. I can't wait.

Kendra: "Lets not forget John Knippers who also completed the Border Route Challenge on a SUP."

Was it Conquistador that had the great compilation tattoo of his favorite BWCA memories?

Prospector had the memorial tattoos.

Thank You, thank you, thank you!
Now that we have had a few days to rest and reflect, I would like to thank all the Challengers and the Tracking team for their support. This was an unusual Challenge year. The wild fires kept us guessing if the Challenge would really happen. Late notice but, yes, we got to start on time.

The difficult weather on days one and three gave us all an unplanned challenge. Paddlers who had unforseen difficulties needed assistance getting out of the BWCA and to vehicles.

A huge, "Thank you", goes to Clewless and Mrs. Stacy! They helped 3 of our groups with transportation. It would not have worked without them!

It was a great Challenge ending. All paddlers were represented at Grand Portage at the Saturday evening "Shinanigans," awards and recap of the Challenge events.

I am looking forward to next year and already making plans and arrangements.
Mark the calendar. 2027 Border Route Challenges start the weekend after Labor Day. Friday, September 10-paddler's meeting in Ely - Saturday, September 11, Start!
See you there!

Many thanks to you Grandma L. Shar and already have BRC 2027 on our calendar .