Boundary Waters, Trip Reports, BWCA, Stories

My B's and Me on the Skipper Lizz Loop
by Kendra

Trip Type: Paddling Canoe
Entry Date: 07/25/2012
Entry Point: Skipper and Portage Lakes (EP 49)
Exit Point: Lizz and Swamp Lakes (EP 47)  
Number of Days: 8
Group Size: 4
Trip Introduction:
Skipper- Long Island Lake-Lizz Loop The B's are my daughters. The girls are older (15 and 13)and stronger so we stepped up the difficulty a notch for this trip. It was our sixth annual mother-daughter trip. Our goal for the trip was to work hard and see less people!
Day 1 of 8
Wednesday, July 25, 2012 --Home to Rockwood--

Everyone is up packed and ready to go. The old Buick tripping car was loaded with girls and gear! Nort and Evie Bell were tied down tight on top! Everyone was excited for our trip and ready to roll!


Hinckley was our first stop. Gas and caramel pecan rolls at Tobies. Both necessities for the trip!

The next time we put the car in park was in Grand Marais. We needed a break to stretch and refuel before heading up the Gunflint Trail to Rockwood Lodge. It was a pleasure to finally meet Mike and Lynn, the owners of Rockwood. After reviewing our trip plans with Mike he said, “When you get on some of those portages you will wish you weren’t there.” Lynn had a better attitude. She said “If guys can do it why can’t you?!” As we checked out Poplar Lake from the landing at Rockwood we chatted with bbrown6057 from the BWCA.com site. He had just finishing his trip. We called mocha. She came down to Trail Center and had dinner with us. TuscaroraBorialis, vickieh69 and their, group walked in as well while we were eating. What a nice surprise to see them again! Mocha’s outlook on our trip route was better than Sue's from Tuscarora Outfitters, who we also met at Trial Center. Mocha said “It’s doable”. Sue’s quote was,” That will be hell!” After dinner it was back to the bunkhouse at Rockwood. We shared a few stories and discussed our trip with Rick who had just introduced himself to us by the bunkhouse. He was quite interesting (?). When he saw our alarm clock he was not impressed. He told us to wake ourselves the way the Indians did…not with an alarm clock! His story was they drank a lot of water before going to bed. Then in the early a.m. they would have to get up to relieve themselves. I guess you adjust the hour you get up by the amount of water you drink! No we didn’t try it.

As we made preparations for our departure the next morning we wondered what this trip will truly be like.