New Trip Report posted by Koda

Trip Name: Lac La Croix - around the horn.

Entry Point: 14

Click Here to View Trip Report

Hmmm, that website did not load for me Koda.

Thanks for the report. I especially liked the stages of solo.

Koda,
What an ambitious solo trip and very enjoyable read. I really enjoyed the knack you have for detail and evaluative thoughts shared on equipment and psychological stages which you encountered on this trip.

Your trip map and "spots" marked were for me a great help in following your journey - your pictures are absolutely first rate. Why no real bug issues had to be an unexpected joy.

The comparison pictures of the cascade were a great example of the differences one finds in different years. Thanks for sharing your lists at the end, it was nice of you to share your experience and perspective.

A wonderful trip report.
Boppa

Exceptional report! Thanks, well worth a re-read, great photos also Thanks! Guts

enjoyed the report. Thanks for taking us along.

gbusk, try again. Maybe it'll work from here.

dring, I'm glad you "get" the stages. That sequence has taken me about 10 years to work out (and through).

Boppa, thanks for the kudos. But ... did you mean "ambiguous" or "ambitious"? Re psychological stages: I left out the retreat aspect, which I wrote about in another thread here ("Love Comes"). I didn't want to put all that into the public report.

fishguts, that's really high praise, considering there were no fish pictures! :-)

wetcanoedog, if you're out there, thanks a million for your detailed description of the shortcuts on LLC. Without you I'd have gone around the "high side" and most likely been swamped and eaten by the Loch LaCroix monster.

Koda,
Good catch. I went back and edited.

I have gone back and taken in your pictures again. Good stuff.
Boppa

Always love your reports Koda. Thanks again.

quote Boppa: "Koda,
Good catch. I went back and edited.
I have gone back and taken in your pictures again. Good stuff.
Boppa"

Thanks. Tell that to National Geographic. :-)

Nice trip Koda, I only had time to view the photos. One quick question, on pg. 4 I believe day 7, why does your tarp appear to be split up the middle?

Very enjoyable read. Thanks

quote gbusk: "Nice trip Koda, I only had time to view the photos. One quick question, on pg. 4 I believe day 7, why does your tarp appear to be split up the middle?"

An interesting illusion. First I tied the back corners down and then pulled the opposing loops together.

Ahhh.

I confess I skimmed a lot of your report, but I did take in the pictures and one of them PROVES you really are a tree hugger!

I am amazed at your attention to detail-- it comes through in every part of your report from the lists of gear to the lists of emotions.

So many great pics. I love the shots of the pictographs and the one of the grouse.

I Promise I will go back and reread rather than skim, but I thoroughly enjoyed my preview. Nice job.

Karen

quote tremolo: "I confess I skimmed a lot of your report, but I did take in the pictures and one of them PROVES you really are a tree hugger!

I am amazed at your attention to detail-- it comes through in every part of your report from the lists of gear to the lists of emotions.

So many great pics. I love the shots of the pictographs and the one of the grouse.

I Promise I will go back and reread rather than skim, but I thoroughly enjoyed my preview. Nice job.

Karen"

Thanks, Karen. Glad you liked the report. Don't read too carefully or you'll get bogged down in minutiae. :-)

Great report. Enjoyed it very much. KL

We saw you going in on LIS. I was with my wife and two of my sisters. We were leaving that day. I saw the BWCA.com sticker on your canoe and have been looking for your trip report since then. Thanks for the nice report!

By the way, my wife and I stayed on LLC in April. We stayed on campsite 303 in Boulder Bay (wind limited our options that day), but we checked out all of the campsites in the area during our stay. 359 was definitely our favorite.

O.K., Dave, I read this report, the third of yours I've read. It was enjoyable, as always. I enjoyed the campsite pictures. You were lucky on the big water that the wind was light. But, we never know, do we?

I'm curious about your weather radio. Can you get get weather reports on a regular NOAA weather radio? I didn't know that. Guess I'll have to add that to my gear next time. Or, maybe not. I hate the storms, but, somehow, out there in the wilderness I expect to take whatever nature throws at me.

I was out on July 4, 1999 during the blow-down. It was truly terrifying. At 1 P.M. in the afternoon it was like midnight. And when the first blast of wind that came through it was like a wall of bricks hitting us. Fortunately, the trees bent gradually rather than snapping, otherwise there would have been more injuries.

Hi rr,

Thanks for the feedback. I don't know about a "regular NOAA weather radio." I should think so, given the name.

I'm glad you survived the big blow-down. I've heard tales from folks who couldn't get out for several days.

I agree about taking whatever nature offers. I've found the weather radio gives me enough advance warning to increase my safety and peace of mind. The first time I used it I had enough notice to set up a buffer tarp so my tent didn't take the full brunt of 50+ mph winds.



Dave

That first blast must have been more than 100 mph. It only lasted about 10 minutes, but it seemed like hours.

I guess the question I should have asked is: What kind of weather radio do you use that gets local forecasts in the BWCA? Thanks.

very nice report and pictures, back in 01 I was wind bound
for 2 1/2 days on LLC so you were lucky indeed

rr, I have an Olympus something-or-other than I got in 2001 for about $80. There are much cheaper ones on the market now. A search of this site will probably turn up a number of related discussions.

lars, thanks. I built in several extra days in case of wind on LLC. This past September I was windbound on Ima for three days in addition to the planned layover day there. It's a test of patience.

Your mystery bug is actually a Dragonfly. There are all kinds of interesting insects that start there life out in the water.

Sorry to geek out... identifying aquatic insects is part of my job... for real!

thanks for the trip report Koda. Lots of really good stuff here. Question for you. Do you have an accurate way of measuring the distance traveled? Is it just taking rough estimates from the maps, or does your GPS give you accurate readings (I'm sure this is it, but being as I haven't invested in one yet, I'm not certain as to some of information these provide you with)?

quote Wetlander: "Your mystery bug is actually a Dragonfly. There are all kinds of interesting insects that start there life out in the water.

Sorry to geek out... identifying aquatic insects is part of my job... for real!"

Sorry? I used to work with a herpetologist. Entomolgy must be at least as interesting. Can you identify it down to genus and species?

quote strom2127: "thanks for the trip report Koda. Lots of really good stuff here. Question for you. Do you have an accurate way of measuring the distance traveled? Is it just taking rough estimates from the maps, or does your GPS give you accurate readings (I'm sure this is it, but being as I haven't invested in one yet, I'm not certain as to some of information these provide you with)?"

Thanks, strom. I use MapSource, the GPS software from Garmin. I use the Routing tool to lay out the path and take the distance it gives me. Based on using the GPS to track a few river trips, I've found the MapSource distances to be about 5-10% short, but on BW trips it's probably more accurate. I'm learning to use Google Earth for route planning and I'll be interested to see how the distances compare to MapSource.

The only things I use the GPS for in the BW are for getting un-lost, adding information about campsites and portages, and seeing how fast I'm going. I could just as well leave it behind but it's a fun diversion on a long solo trip.

"Getting unlost". haha. You have never been lost. At times, you just haven't been where you thought you were :)

quote Koda: "

quote Wetlander: "Your mystery bug is actually a Dragonfly. There are all kinds of interesting insects that start there life out in the water.


Sorry to geek out... identifying aquatic insects is part of my job... for real!"

Sorry? I used to work with a herpetologist. Entomolgy must be at least as interesting. Can you identify it down to genus and species?"

Sorry, I'm not that good. I would need to see it up close. Most dragonflies are identified by their mouth parts.

BUT if I had to guess.... I'd say its in the Libellulidae family. Again... sorry for nerding up your thread.

"nerding", lol

quote Amok: ""Getting unlost". haha. You have never been lost. At times, you just haven't been where you thought you were :)"

heh ... no kidding ... by that definition I've been lost most of my life!

quote Wetlander: " sorry for nerding up your thread."

Hey, nerdliness is next to ... I'm not sure what, but it can be a good thing. Thanks!

I looked up Libel... and other dragonflies and couldn't find a picture of a larva that looked like the one below. They all have more elongated bodies. I wonder if we're talking about the same critter.
This one was 6.5 cm long x 2 cm across the body. The first pic, the one in my trip report, shows its bottom side. The second one shows the top with the exit hole.

The last picture is a Gomphidae naiad skin that I found at this site. Given the shape of the body I'd guess it's one of the stages before the final pre-flight stage.
Thanks for the impetus to look it up. It's great learning new stuff.

Great trip report as usual. Love the photos. This area is on my list of trips for next spring. Either the bear tracks or Seagull then south and west for a loop.