Well this was my day off. So I really Lully gagged around in the morning, got up at 5 am and took some nice photo’s of sunrise, said a prayer, and had breakfast. Decided to go fishing and wood gathering, and pump water. So I went out into bay and fished a while to no avail, and said what the heck (it really wasn’t that important) and went paddling and exploring the back bays of Paull Lake. It was beautiful, wanted to see a moose so bad but didn’t happen. I had the axe and sven saw with me and found a beaver ridden area, stopped for 45 minutes and gathered wood and trimmed off all the little stuff out there, and loaded the canoe with wood. Then I pumped water and headed to Paul’s Point. I threw all the wood out and went out looking for a Pike or lake trout…but that didn’t happen. Went back to camp and unbuckled the crazy creek chair into a flat mat and got my pillow and took a nap on the point for 1 ½ hours. Wow I needed it. Then I made lunch and cut up wood…A BIG pile to keep the unwanted furry friends from eatin me for dinner (fire is your friend when your by yourself). I took a “bath” and cooled off, and then read the Paul’s letter to the Ephesians on Paul’s Point on Paull Lake. I read about the Crucifixion and said some prayers and Thanked the Lord for protecting me, and sending his angels to watch over me. It was Glorious day, I talked to Charlene and she said I would have to camp another night on the way in tomorrow but I had determined that if I got up early I could paddle my way out…not knowing how far it was. I sat there all day mind racing and just thinking about my life, my family, my kids, my wife and every one I loved who have died and how much I miss them….(You think a lot when by yourself). The other thing that blows me away is the awesome silence in such a vast place. It is dead quite, kind of a solace, I have never experienced before. But sitting there, I was hell bent on being out of there tomorrow. So I made the biggest fire known to mankind, and burnt a lot of that WCPP dead trees up for the Canadians. Then I had a vodka and Gatorade and called it a night. Oh yea I also forgot to mention…I think I have a better appreciation for how Jesus felt when he spent 40 days and 40 nights in the wilderness? At least an inkling of how he felt, it was something that went through my mind . Statistics -0- Portages (Amen) (God rested on the 7th day and so I did to)

Day 8 Friday August 13, 2010  (On a Mission for Red Lake and a hot shower)

I arose at 4:45 am watched the sunrise and thought about the movie Jeremiah Johnson and how he rode off into the mountains not knowing anything, and Lewis and Clark. I felt like Lewis without Clark (haha) and then I packed up everything in a hurry and said a prayer for the Lord’s guidance and off I went. There was no wind and I paddled 3 miles across Paull lake and left it with a heavy heart as It was like leaving a place you didn’t want to leave, but knew I must go, and I looked back one last time at the portage out over Paull Lake and then the last day, first portage began.. I went to Elephant Head Lake, and Boot Jack Lake and over the Beaver Dam I crossed a few days earlier and met up a couple lakes I was on earlier finishing the loop back to Leano Lake. Now the wind is blaring mad straight out of the South 20+ mph white caps. Not for the weak of heart or a un-level head. As I pulled out of the bays of Leano and knew I was on my last couple miles, I had a real moment that overwhelmed me. I thought of all I had seen and all I had smelled and heard and witnessed, it was over whelming and I thanked the Lord for his guidance and protection and sending his angels to watch over me, and I wept. I cried for 15 minutes, I thought of my wife, and my dad, and my kids, and my family, and my life and it just was a real emotional time for me. It was a cry of happiness not sadness. I was just overtaken by it all. I had accomplished what I wanted to do and it over took me with emotion. Then I paddled into the wind for the next hour and made it back to the take out. It was 4 pm when I got to the parking lot and loaded the NorthStar and all my gear. I headed to town about an 1.1/2 hr drive. I checked into the motel at 6 pm and called Charlene. I missed her, even though I talked to her everyday. I took a thirty minute shower and shaved and (it was the best shower ever). Then I went to eat and ate a Huge Walleye, the one I never caught and drank a few beers with some new found Canadian’s and I partied with them for awhile. I laid my head down and went to sleep for the long drive home to Nebraska.  I headed towards Sioux Falls and drove 750 miles and then finished the trip home on Sunday.

Statistics Last Day  10 portages 157 rods 15.5 miles today.

Final Thoughts:

Being able to do this was overwhelming and I was in awe of the vastness of this country and expanse of this wilderness. It was humbling. It was moving, it was breathtaking. I was awestruck by it all. I was like a bobber on the ocean in this wilderness and felt safe the whole time (except night time). You feel like a spec on the earth in the realm of things. Observing Loons and Ravens and Merganser’s, and magic sunsets, and eagles, and wind and solace, it was truly amazing. In tune with nature, feeling like part of it all, like you belong there. You quickly learn to appreciate every little thing you have along with you, as it’s all you have. Something as simple as a headlamp becomes your friend, and a fire your security, and you sit there by the fire and contemplate your life, your thoughts, your memories, lost loved ones, and your family at home. Simple tasks are essential like pumping water and making sure everything is dry, and getting wood. Every step on the trail is calculated and planned with a purpose. So you don’t slip on a root or slimy rock.  You learn to be calm, cool and collective when you feel lost or turned around or in the wrong cove in search of the portage, and highly sensitive of the weather and clouds and the environment around you. You learn to pay a lot of attention to your bearings, the maps, the GPS, etc. it is essential. It is such a serene feeling to paddle ever so closely to the granite cliffs, that spiral to the sky and wander in amazement at how beautiful & towering the cliffs jut into the air along the waters edge. The water splashing gently slapping into the granite. You feel blessed and fortunate to be allowed to witness God’s beauty and Natures colors and shades and beauty. To be able to see the grass flowing in the direction of the current growing right in the water, and the beautiful lily pads and flowers. The trickling streams bubbling into the waters edge, turtles perched on a rock and snappers slipping up out of the deep to check out what’s above the water, like submarine emerging from the ocean bottom, and you gently paddle by hoping not to disturb any of it, to be able to witness more. Around every corner are beaver huts, and as you approach the beaver dam you here the water flow over the sticks and rocks and tumble down the stream, percolating down and over the structure. You look for your pull over spot and calculate your entry point, with a goal of not slipping into the cold water or sliding off a mossy rock.

The Conclusion:

As I prepared to go and plan most people asked my why? Why are you doing this? Is this your mid life crisis? Have you lost your mind?  Are you crazy or what?  What about Bears?  You are stupid, (they say)

Well here is my answer: 

NONE of the above is true.

Simply this, the Adventure, the challenge, to be fortunate enough to have the opportunity to paint a memory of a journey in a place so vast, so remote, so beautiful. In a vessel as old as mankind, with a paddle and a pack. To say you did it…. and NO one can take that away from you. None of them can understand it or feel my feelings or emotions of being in those moments as one with nature and God’s infamous amazing place. Water, and rocks, and trees, and creatures and birds, and the Sun, and the stars ever so big….you feel you can just raise your arm and pluck them out of the darkness. To see and breath in the mighty power of nature, Raw Nature.

Burnt into my memories are six days of a journey that few will do and ever experience. I thank the Lord for his protection and his angels watching over me, my every step and placement of the paddle. I am Blessed and fortunate to have an understanding wife and family who love me and allowed me to start with a dream and be fortunate enough to live out this dream.

I am Blessed ! 

Paul Kolterman