I am leaving in September for my 3rd tour in Iraq. I have a short window to bring my Wife and 12 month old to the Boundary Waters and want my wife to experience what I consider the coolest place in the world before I leave..So If you only had 2-3 days, where would you go (EP?) and what would you do, not including the numbered lakes.

How about a Johnson falls trip? There is a recent trip report about a day trip. You could turn in into an overnight. Nice campsite on Little Caribou lake. (I was there in the winter).

That side of the BWCA has very interesting terrain in my opinion.

With 12 month old, your bow paddler won't be able to be counted on 100% of the time. I'd stick to small water, and with 2 days I'd paddle no more than a few miles in.

My favs - Island River to Isabella (I did that and a bit beyond with 11 month old). Isabella itself was a bit windy, but the river portion was ideal. Hog Creek to Perent - creek is constant S curves, but at least wind is not a factor. 2 hours of paddling creek until Perent Lake and then find campsite. Homer to Pipe - short portages, dead end lakes, usually no people... wind at my back coming out twice (nice!). Kawishiwi to Square or Kawasachong, but beware low water in fall... still, you can camp right on Kawishiwi if you get in trouble for low water (although it doesn't feel like a BW trip without a single portage, ha).

Good luck and have fun! Hope they both LOVE it!