Boundary Waters Quetico Forum :: Listening Point - General Discussion :: Proudest or most relieved moments in the wilderness
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Author | Message Text | ||
Portage99 |
Getting fires going in rain or snow. Surviving high winds. Planning for bad weather while others mocked (and questioning myself) and then it came in handy. When I had an injury that finally healed. |
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missmolly |
Wally13: "Most relieved moment was surviving the Big Blow down on July 4, 1999. My 2 brothers and I were in a MN 3 on Kawnipi Lake and enjoying some fantastic walleye fishing. In fact, it was some of the best walleye action I have ever experienced in my 40 plus trips into Quetico. I had heard that fishing can get pretty hot right before a storm ... well we were catching 22 to 26 inch walleye one after the other but little did we know that 90+ straight line winds were about to hit us in just minutes. I experienced that feeding spree before the storm. I can't think of more thrilling fishing than big fish gorging while black clouds approach. |
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nctry |
Very relieved after spending a night unable to get back to our campsite after a quetico potty break at dusk/ dark. It got dark real fast and the terrain wasn’t at all how I remembered it. Actually found another campsite and built a fire and heated up the rocky area around the fire pit which I laid on to stay warm. Walked right to the campsite the next morning. |
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Spartan2 |
This experience is chronicled in my recent trip report, (The Long Trip) which tells the tales from our 22-day canoe trip in the BWCA in 1992. |
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Portage99 |
Which reminds me how good a meal taste when you’re running late and finally get it ready!! |
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MikeinMpls |
Something similar happened one other time. Finally I've found something that makes me look competent!! Mike |
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arctic |
missmolly: "It wasn't the wilderness, but it was big water. I was paddling the length of the Ohio River and unlike the Mississippi, with its countless islands for easy camping and largely undeveloped riverbanks, the Ohio has few islands and more houses on its banks, which means it's harder to find a quiet place to camp. So, one evening blurred into night and I'm on this big river and it's dark and I shared the river with giant, kayak-gobbling tows too. Excellent story! |
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x2jmorris |
- Taking my two girls together on a trip (age 6 months and 2 years) - Continuing to go with my father on year 36 now Most Relieved: - Not flipping on the waterfall - Not being crippled when I fell with the canoe on my shoulders - That the barb didn't fully go in - I could keep going on.... lots of relieved moments lol |
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Hoaf |
2 Successful solo bushwhacking forays. It's a happy day when you get that first glimpse of water. 3 Enduring a snowstorm while solo and actually staying comfortable with 4 inches of snow on the ground and temperature that fell to 20 degrees. 4 Canoeing Lake Superior's Rossport Islands, making it out to Battle Island and back safely |
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chessie |
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walllee |
Most relieved- Last year, Beaver House Lake. I Was on west end of the lake down by the pictographs. Seen a storm brewing, decided to try to make it back to camp which was on the east end. The wind came up, which was at my back. The waves in that big water were in the 4 foot range. Boat control was impossible, so I sat the paddle across my lap, only used it a couple times to try to straighten the canoe when riding the Swales. Only took a 1/2 hour , but seemed like a eternity. |
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deerfoot |
Wally13: "Most relieved moment was surviving the Big Blow down on July 4, 1999. My 2 brothers and I were in a MN 3 on Kawnipi Lake and enjoying some fantastic walleye fishing. In fact, it was some of the best walleye action I have ever experienced in my 40 plus trips into Quetico. I had heard that fishing can get pretty hot right before a storm ... well we were catching 22 to 26 inch walleye one after the other but little did we know that 90+ straight line winds were about to hit us in just minutes. Thanks for sharing this story. I have never heard any first person accounts of this storm. |
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carmike |
Likewise, most moments of deep relief were when those same two causes had almost but not quite caused real trouble. |
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andym |
Happy and relieved: at the end of a long travel day discovering that our favorite camp site was open. Within an hour, camp was set up, a swim had washed off the day's sweat, and dinner was ready to enjoy with sunset. |
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tobiedog |
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johndku |
Proudest - 2018 trip watching my son, now 12 years old ,and 14 year old daughter completely set up camp by themselves, tent, hammocks, tarp, etc., that's the good life! |
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martian |
When it was all over, the four of us were all quite relieved and proud that we made it. Being gluttons for punishment, we've been back many times since! Truthfully, I think it was told it was actually four miles and to this day, I have no idea where that portage was/is on the map.....a nightmare perhaps? |
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x2jmorris |
Wally13: "Most relieved moment was surviving the Big Blow down on July 4, 1999. My 2 brothers and I were in a MN 3 on Kawnipi Lake and enjoying some fantastic walleye fishing. In fact, it was some of the best walleye action I have ever experienced in my 40 plus trips into Quetico. I had heard that fishing can get pretty hot right before a storm ... well we were catching 22 to 26 inch walleye one after the other but little did we know that 90+ straight line winds were about to hit us in just minutes. That is insane Wally. Can't even imagine what that would look like. |
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TomT |
My most relieved was getting lost when I couldn’t find a Portage when traveling with my 17 yr old newbie son. I found a Portage but it went off our map. We needed a campsite bad so we took it and ended up on Raven Lake in a PMA for the night. |
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Portage99 |
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DeanL |
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Mocha |
Now, don’t laugh. It was a lovely day, the first of 21. Turns out we weren’t paying attention and ended up on our way to lac la croix. Tense moments near dark. However, the next morning on our way back north, we saw a pictograph that’s we didn’t know was there. COOL. Yes, we made it the entire trip, mostly safe. But there are some doozies I’m remembering now as I’m writing this. |
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tobiedog |
missmolly: "It wasn't the wilderness, but it was big water. I was paddling the length of the Ohio River and unlike the Mississippi, with its countless islands for easy camping and largely undeveloped riverbanks, the Ohio has few islands and more houses on its banks, which means it's harder to find a quiet place to camp. So, one evening blurred into night and I'm on this big river and it's dark and I shared the river with giant, kayak-gobbling tows too. Angels watching over you :) |
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Portage99 |
Wally13: "Most relieved moment was surviving the Big Blow down on July 4, 1999. My 2 brothers and I were in a MN 3 on Kawnipi Lake and enjoying some fantastic walleye fishing. In fact, it was some of the best walleye action I have ever experienced in my 40 plus trips into Quetico. I had heard that fishing can get pretty hot right before a storm ... well we were catching 22 to 26 inch walleye one after the other but little did we know that 90+ straight line winds were about to hit us in just minutes. Wow! Thanks for the great explanation of a first hand account!! I rode out a tornado on the bank of a local river at night. I’ll never forget it! It looked like daylight there was so much lightning and huge trees upper branches just bent sideways. It was actually beautiful in certain ways. I felt sort of suspended in time. Thanks for sharing and thanks everyone for sharing! Great reading. |
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Wally13 |
I wanted to catch just one more walleye, but thanks goodness that my brother, who teaches high school science was in the canoe. He made it clear that the sky looked like a possible F4 or maybe a Derecho was in the works. Whatever it was ... it was only about 5 miles away and we had better start paddling and get off the lake. We paddled as fast as we could to the safety of an adjacent island. We made it to the shoreline just in time. We hunkered down behind an enormous boulder and we watched in awe as high winds came in, white caps with 6 to 8 foot waves and then water started to rise out of Kawnipi into the sky. Unbelievable, we had to grab our MN3 that was stowed in the woods and tie it more tightly to the trees as it was getting sucked up into the air above. Trees were toppling all around us. We thought we were goners. Well, we survived the huge storm. Interestingly, our campsite on McKenzie Bay had missed getting hit by the storm and was unaffected. |
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Portage99 |
I was reading your account again Wally. I think that’s a sign of a true fisherperson: Everyone else, “Dude, I think there might be an F4 coming” You: “But the fish are biting!” Haha just teasing... |
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missmolly |
arctic: "missmolly: "It wasn't the wilderness, but it was big water. I was paddling the length of the Ohio River and unlike the Mississippi, with its countless islands for easy camping and largely undeveloped riverbanks, the Ohio has few islands and more houses on its banks, which means it's harder to find a quiet place to camp. So, one evening blurred into night and I'm on this big river and it's dark and I shared the river with giant, kayak-gobbling tows too. Thanks, Arctic. My decades of writing under word counts still has me striving to tell a story with as few words as possible. |
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missmolly |
Then I saw this lighted church steeple, so I climbed the bank and knocked on the door of the adjacent house. The man who lived there was the church's pastor. He had a big family and his oldest was off to college, so I got her bedroom, a shower, and lemonade on their front porch swing. That was a nice break from a long, wide river. |
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rtallent |
Portage99: "Great reading one and all stories. Actually, P99, that would be most accurate recount :} Wally 13 is the captain Ahab of Walleye. |
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4keys |
Took our kids on a trip when they were younger, and they handled everything pretty well; all the prep work paid off! And they still enjoy the outdoors! I can still make it across the Crab Lake portage, although now double portaging, and much slower than before. Relieved that we didn't swamp on Pine, on a windy day with high waves, when we really should not have been on it. Relieved we safely came through the storm a few years ago that killed a couple people further west of us. Relieved we haven't had any serious injuries yet, although I was worried when I tripped, and I landed on my knee on a rock slab. Luckily it was just very bruised and scraped, but not a trip ender. At least I was carrying a pack, not the canoe. |
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sns |
In the Rockies, little over 20 years ago. Group hiked in and base-camped @ 11,400 ft. I was the only hunter and took my bow on a one-night loop away from camp into the next basin, hitting the low 13K's at times. Saw Elk, Muleys and Bighorn. Was never lost, but ate my last food just before learning that the last 15% of my intended loop could not be accessed - a lengthy escarpment (cliff) ran for miles and forced me to go back the way I'd come. Went to bed hungry just an hour into the return hike. Hiked all day, pre-dawn to dusk the next day to get back, and was met my my party who thoughtfully had things ready to eat. It had only been 24 hours without food, but...we ran the route on some topo tracking software. My sojourn (total 3-day roundtrip) was 15 miles. Not much, right? But this was a very rugged part of the Rockies, and every step was off-trail. Total elevation gain: 17,000 ft. Total elevation loss: Remarkably, exactly the same 17,000 ft. Calories were burned. Note to self, bring extra food. |