Boundary Waters, Trip Reports, BWCA, Stories

8 guys on the Clearwater Loop
by bnics

Trip Type: Paddling Canoe

Entry Date: 08/24/2024

Entry & Exit Point: Clearwater Lake (EP 62)

Number of Days: 7

Group Size: 8

Trip Introduction:

My first trip to the BWCA was in 2022 and with 3 other friends. We were fully outfitted by an outfitter in Ely and had a great trip. This year, I decided to do it all on my own, from the route planning to the gear, and trying to bring more fresh food along. Thankfully, myself and a few of my friends are already into backpacking so we only needed to rent canoes. My goal for this trip was to get more people along, I was hoping to get 5. Somehow, I ended up getting 7 other friends to come along. Three of them even had to fly out for this. While it was great to have a big group, it proved to have its challenges, especially on this route. I ended up planning a route out of Clearwater Lake (and renting canoes through Clearwater Outfitters) due to a different type of scenery compared to most of the BWCA, being along the border, and have the loop with an outfitter for easy pre/post trip traveling.

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Day 1 of 7

Saturday, August 24, 2024

Today is the drive up to Clearwater Historic Lodge & Outfitters in Grand Marais, MN. Excited to be checking out the Gunflint Trail this time. For my group of 8 (all males in our early 30's), we had 3 "groups" of people.

Myself and my hometown friend (currently in San Diego) who also came on the 2022 trip. He had flown into Appleton, WI the day prior (Friday). We left my place around 8:45AM and ended up making it to Clearwater by 6pm, which was pretty good time for the stops we had. The most important stop was the Holiday gas station in Tofte, MN to get leeches.

Another group, that we can just call the Milwaukee Mischief's are 2 of my friends from college who are from and still live in the Milwaukee, WI area. They made it up around 730pm. A longer drive than I had but there was a moment in the day I thought they might beat us.

The last group is the Madison Crew, all high school friends from the Madison area. Although only 2 of them live there now (both of whom were on the trip in 2022), the others flew in from Washington D.C. & Boise, ID. My friends had to pick both of them up on their drive at the Twin Cities airport, which led them having the longest day. They made it up by around 9pm.

Clearwater Outfitters was a beautiful outfitter with a pretty view of the lake and palisades. The outfitter itself was much more laid back than the one in Ely. While this was nice at times, it also felt a little strange. I checked in and immediately, I knew it was going to be a long night in the bunkhouse. Compared to the 2-story bunkhouse we got in Ely...this was a shocker for everyone. It doesn't help that we will have at least 2 guys snoring (and yes, I am not counting myself in this because I'm telling the story). Add in the heat and humidity, nobody is going to sleep well tonight.

Strange how quiet it was here compared to staying in Ely…you already start to feel like you’re in the wilderness. After getting settled in, we walk around the property, look at gear and wait for the next 2 vehicles in our group to trickle in. There was feelings of excitement and nervousness once all had arrived. Laughs and stories were shared. As would be a requirement being from Wisconsin, a few beverages were enjoyed into the night. Maybe later than we planned to, but I don’t think anyone wanted to try and sleep in the bunkhouse. No other choice at this point.