Prologue: Initial Preparation
I see these children with their boredom and their vacant stares
God help us if we’re all to blame for their unanswered prayers
~Billy Joel, “No Man’s Land”
Ever since I first learned about the Boundary Waters over 10 years ago, taking my children, especially my sons, for canoe trips in the Boundary Waters has been a dream of mine. In the midst of the always frantic latter stages of packing for last year’s trip down the Frost River, when pre-trip feelings of guilt and angst were at their peak, I looked my oldest son Andrew in the eye and said, “Next year, you’re coming along for this! I am declaring it now!” While I could tell Andrew was a little surprised by this declaration, I knew, and I sensed he knew, that he would be ready. As I closed out my final evening of my solo trip, watching the sun set from a high viewpoint above my camp on Grandpa Lake, I silently asked God for what the next step was, and more than anything, I heard that “This place must be shared.” My heart knew beyond all doubt that this was the year to start bringing my son to the wilderness. When combined with my long-held belief that God speaks to the hearts of all in an intimate way in the wildest places, I felt both motivated and intimidated. How was I to take all of this on? How could I prepare myself and my son for a memorable Boundary Waters experience filled with challenge, but also with joy and connection? I felt unequal to the task of planning such an important trip for next year. But I knew I had to get started soon.
The first thing to get sorted out was to make a list of what additional gear would be required. Andrew would need appropriate clothing and some means of sleeping warmly and comfortably. Past that, I would get him his own camp saw, camp chair, as well as a compass and map to learn basic navigation and follow along with our progress. None of that seemed particularly daunting…except the sleep system.

I have loved sleeping in my hammock on these trips, and was mostly unwilling to give that up. While Andrew had never slept in a hammock, I chose to purchase a complete setup for him early in the fall so he would have plenty of time to get used to setting it up and sleeping in it. Considering all the options for his first hammock took me a while, but eventually I settled on a Ridgerunner hammock from Warbonnet. If he didn’t like it, then perhaps he would like my Blackbird XLC better.

During last year’s solo, I had a great deal of trouble with some of my tarp lines on my hammock, and even more aggravation with the lines on my 10’ x 14’ CCS rainfly…especially when working with cold hands in the wind. In response, I made several orders through Dutchware for new lines for both hammock tarps and the rainfly, as well as multiple small “bits” that would make wrapping, deploying, and securing each line much easier with very few knots. Andrew and I spent no small amount of quality time together in the basement, diligently cutting lengths of shock cord and zing it line, then attaching the lines with the appropriate knot to the tarps or Dutchware pieces. Anytime we could carve out an hour in the basement together between fall sports commitments, we worked on hammock and tarp lines. Our patience was tested because there was so much to learn, for both of us. But I was very proud of Andrew’s willingness to help, persevere, and learn.
Our first hammock sleep was in our backyard on a calm, chilly Halloween night. I was surprised that this was even possible, since we have very few trees our our small lot. But one of the great joys of hammocks is the chance to be creative with each setup, and we were able to make it all work. The best part was that Andrew loved it, staying warm and comfortable through the night. Maybe this was going to work!

The next major piece of the puzzle was the route. Last summer, Andrew and my other two younger boys had gone from loving fishing to completely obsessed by it. If there was so much as an open 20 minutes in the day, they wanted to be spending it fishing at our neighborhood pond or a friend’s pond, making every effort to catch bluegill, crappie, or largemouth bass. With this in mind, I knew that the number one trip priority had to be good fishing, especially for northern pike and smallmouth bass. We settled on early June, hoping to take advantage of good fishing before summer sports commitments spooled up. After considering a Clearwater Lake entry with a base camp on Caribou, we settled on a Saganaga Lake entry with plans to basecamp on Red Rock and Grandpa Lakes. Red Rock would offer a variety of campsites with options to fish on Alpine, Red Rock, or Saganaga, and I wanted to use a camp on Grandpa to show Andrew my favorite lake from last year, as well as explore the smallmouth fishing on nearby Roy Lake. While I love fishing, building a route around fishing much closer to the entry point would be a huge departure from my previous trips that were heavy on travel and exploration. At times I had my doubts, but I steadfastly chose to stick to the plan of traveling less and leaving Andrew wanting more versus taking on too much and inflicting suffering that he would never forget!

The dark months of winter were spent looking for ways of acquiring Andrew’s clothing and other gear on sale. Between used gear on eBay and REI sales, I was mostly able to fill in the gaps by spring. I acquired an extra Voyageur map from BWCA.com, a thwart bag with a map case from CCS, and a compass so Andrew could follow along with our progress in the bow of the canoe, versus just paddling blindly. However, given that catching fish was the number one priority on this trip, it felt like every spare moment and thought was spent on researching, purchasing, and organizing our fishing tackle. Another small tackle box was purchased, then another. And then a spare fishing rod that would be set up with a slip bobber to easily and quickly fish from camp with live bait. If effort and preparation catches fish, we were absolutely on the right track for some great fishing! I sure hoped so, anyway. Given my lack of success fishing on all of my past trips, I was optimistic, but cautiously so. In order to learn as much as I could about fishing in the area before the trip (and as an insurance policy against poor fishing we might have), I booked a day of fishing on Saganaga Lake with Seagull Creek Fishing Camp.
Arrangements were made with Voyageur Canoe Outfitters for canoe rental, bunkhouse, and permit. The plan was to arrive on Thursday June 5th and stay at Trail’s End campground for two nights. The following day would be the guided fishing day on Saganaga. The day before entry we planned on a short day trip to Tenor Lake to fish and discover any issues with our gear or packing. We would stay in a Voyageur bunk house that night, then enter on Sunday, June 8th, paddle to Red Rock Lake, camp three nights and fill our days there with fishing. On Wednesday, we would paddle to Grandpa for three more nights of camping and fishing, then exit via the Sea Gull and the Gull River to Voyageur on Saturday June 14th.
Sometime in April, when looking at our reservation and canoe rental costs, I began to consider purchasing a used canoe from an outfitter. One thing led to another, and soon I was on the phone with Tom from Piragis discussing which canoe model would best suit our needs. We settled on a Northwind 18 with the removable third seat, since I have two more boys younger than Andrew that are also avid fishermen and likely will be coming along on future trips. When I considered the price differential between used and new and the desirability of the black lite layup, I chose to buy a new model at their spring sale price. This felt like a crazy thing to do, and still does. But I consider it an investment in a canoe that I hope will provide our family with decades of outdoor memories, both in and out of the Boundary Waters.

Stay ahead, don’t get behind
There’s no use if you can’t keep time,
Oh stay ahead…don’t break down.
~lighthearted, “harvester”
At this point in the spring, my packing and organization of gear for the trip was running slightly behind where it had been a year ago. Purchasing the canoe instantly put me farther behind. I dove into a complete garage reorganization project so I could store the canoe inside. I had to learn how to secure the canoe to the top of my car. I worked diligently to create a canoe fishing setup using an old fishfinder I already had. This took a great deal of time, effort, and brainpower, but the feeling of having a tidy garage with a beautiful canoe in it ready for adventures with my kids was a wonderful feeling. My first Boundary Waters trip was just three short years ago, and now it felt like I was signing up to paddle for a lifetime with my family.
When the canoe arrived, we took it on a local fishing trip or two with limited fishing success. The most successful night was fishing in the small pond that is within our neighborhood, which was both fun and hilarious. I have a lot more work to do to find places locally that will work well for fishing close to home when we have free time.
The school year ended on a high note with my daughter graduating eighth grade, then our family vacation. We returned home with two days to completely finish all packing for the canoe trip. With each day filled to the brim with summer commitments and unpacking from vacation, a real clarity and focus somehow emerged in the pressure of the final hours of packing. I took advantage of this as Andrew and I locked in and put the finishing touches on our trip preparation. In the past I have taken a long nap before beginning the all night drive, but the clock ran out on me this year. This meant that when I would at last lay down in my hammock at Trail’s End Campground, I would be awake for over 30 straight hours. This wasn’t ideal, but it didn’t matter anymore, because nothing could be done about it. It was time to go.