Boundary Waters Quetico Forum :: Listening Point - General Discussion :: What was your first trip like?
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missmolly |
TomT: "missmolly: "A tube tent, which is a half notch above sleeping in a garbage bag. Two weeks with family. Three weeks alone. |
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jwartman59 |
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R1verrunner |
Rain rain and more rain. Big waves. I loved being in the woods with my Dad and brothers trying to catch fish. |
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Scout64 |
We sprayed the inside of the tent with Bug Bomb each night while we were in there. And, we did not have sleeping pads. The highlight of the trip was sleeping out on the rocks that protruded into Rose Lake. It was an amazingly clear night with a meteor shower the likes of which I had never seen before. I think I stayed up most of the night just looking at the stars. One of the guys rolled halfway into the lake that night and never woke up. His sleeping bag was drenched. The low part of the trip was when we were climbing the rocks on Rose Lake and a buddy fell backwards onto a dead tree and a broken branch went through his hand. He had to be carted out that evening and taken to the hospital. No permanent damage, but it cut the trip short. |
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treehorn |
Almost fully outfitted by a place in Ely (don't remember who). Entered Fall Lake and went up around Basswood Falls, and back down through Horse River, Horse Lake, Jackfish Bay, etc, back to the original EP. 5-night trip, and we moved camps every day. It was July and we had perfect weather. Only one little evening storm which just provided us with some entertainment. I think we had one, maybe 2 fishing poles between the 4 of us. The first night in the motorized zone provided some "excitement" as we were being harassed by a boat flying up and down what I think was Pipestone Bay, shouting profanities at us and any other campers they came across. I have no evidence, but it likely could have been the infamous Barney Lakner and company. But the trip overall was perfect. My first real exposure to wilderness camping and once we got around the big Basswood portage, we were alone for like 3 days. I absolutely loved the solitude and just being off the grid with my buddies. I was hooked. The feeling of going in with very little idea of what to expect is kind of a once in a lifetime thing...I know too much now and it's not quite the same. |
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johndku |
Successfully ran a very small rapid. Unsuccessfully ran a different very small rapid and flipped the canoe. Saw Mama Bear and 2 cubs from about 100 yards away. Had a bald eagle fly 5 feet over our heads and snagged a small pike we had just released. Caught and ate fish. Even the smallmouth tasted good. Learned how to hammock camp. Had a blast, been back almost every year since. |
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SunrisePaddler |
johndku: "Just myself and 9 year old son, July 2015, Granite River route. Wow, talk about a memorable first trip! Some bucket list experiences there. |
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butthead |
Superior North 1983, fly in to Clay Lake, EP Mack to McKenzie the the Falls Chain to Cache Bay (actually the second trip, but a better documented repeat of the 1982 Q trip). butthead |
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4keys |
For our very first BW portage we wanted to single portage, so we threw on the packs and double carried our alumnacraft. Now I had an external frame pack which was great for double carrying- the canoe rested on the top bar of the pack (a Northface D-3 which I still have but don't use it for the BW) and my husband balanced the canoe seat on his head. But really, double carrying isn't so great and we quickly learned a better carry method. Good thing I am very patient and knew how to keep my comments to myself. Because I had such a nice pack (translate, big) and it was easy to lash things to the outside, I ended up with the tent and the heavier pack. And the tent, sleeping bags, thermarest, jeans, flannel shirts, tennis shoes, Cotten sweatshirts, etc were a lot heavier then than what we have now. From Crab Lake we did a loop around the smaller lakes. We wanted to avoid people and do some fishing. Saca, Hassel, Battle, Phantom, Sprite,Lost, Meal,Clark. Back to Crab. We only saw 2 other people on that loop. Two years ago we went back to Crab and we had a hard time finding the portage into Clark, or maybe it was Saca, and it looked really steep and overgrown. I'm guessing that loop doesn't see a lot of use. I know this time we stayed and explored Crab. When we hit the end of our last portage there was a large Boy Scout group, with cups etc hanging off their belts and packs. Not very organized. While crossing Burntside another couple flagged us down, couldn't find the portage. I remember them because the woman had huge hoop earrings, which I thought would get caught on a branch. And because they did not have a compass or map. We just pointed them in the direction of the Boy Scouts and kept going. So our anniversary is today. We've been back to the BW many times, have taken our kids there, and still enjoy it. In fact, we are leaving on Sunday for our next adventure there. I guess maybe the bwca was a great place for a honeymoon! |
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Spartan2 |
As much as I loved canoe-tripping and as much as I loved my husband (actually I think I loved him more once we began canoe-tripping together), I am glad that our honeymoon wasn't in the Boundary Waters! I wouldn't have been ready for that yet, and I suppose being married in December would have made my first trip very different, too. I still love him after 53 1/2 years of marriage, but I know I do love him more because he shared the canoe country with me for 50 of those years. Not every single year, but enough that it feels like it was part of the fabric of our marriage. |
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Unas10 |
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JWilder |
Well, aside from not knowing a dang thang. It was like “where have you been all my life?!” Simply amazing... JW |
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jwmiller39 |
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SCNDACT2021 |
One year my mom and a man she was seeing took us on a rafting trip on the Chama River. I don't remember any wild rapids. Some fun bumpy ones though! We had a blast! We would pull off the side of the river in the evening. Set up our tents. Cook. Go fishing. If I remember correctly there were some warm springs on the side of the river that we would sit in. The next morning we would get up, eat, pack up, get back in the raft and away we went. We would fish and jump off the side of the raft and swim. We would play games. We had a couple of plastic travel games. This was mid 80's. Make our lunch and sit on the side of the raft and eat. I miss the rivers. I was always a river rat! Lately, too many people on the river. Here in Texas, it's a lot of floating in tubes. |
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marsonite |
A buddy and I decided to go to on a canoe trip to Johnson Lake (near Voyageurs Park). At the time, the only way in there was a 3/4 mile portage. I have forgotten a lot, but I know we tied both our cook kit and a double burner coleman stove to our standard weight grumman's thwarts and headed off down the trail. Unfortunately, the area had recently been logged and we lost the trail. Wound up blundering around for awhile and then turned around and decided to canoe the Vermilion river instead. We paddled up to Chipmunk falls, camped, and that night it poured rain all night and got our Coleman sleeping bags good and wet. So we turned around and came home. I was in high school at the time. Didn't have bent shaft paddles at that time so at least we didn't make that mistake! |
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eagle98mn |
Over the years since then, he and I continue to trip together annually, and I'm happy to say I've mastered the portaging side of the BWCA equation (we did the Grand Portage a couple years ago!). Part of that evolution was switching to Kevlar and part of it was learning the technique to lifting a canoe. Noob indeed! :) |
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BigCurrent |
Basecamped on a lake for an entire week, fished every day and never caught a thing. Later we found out that the lake is so shallow it freezes solid each winter and there aren't any fish in the lake. Also brought some heavier gear. -Coleman White Gas Lantern -Canvas Army Tent -Low riding aluminum Lawn Chairs -Coleman White Gas 2-burner stove We've come along ways since then. |
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Fearlessleader |
Started at the Lake One landing and went down the Kawishiwi River. Of course it was all rented equipment, aluminum and canvas. In those days many of the portages had marker posts and portage rests. We had no idea that a stove was optional so we cooked everything on a fire. It was cool and cloudy and a thousand mile drive for us but we have made the trip at least 50 times since then. |
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deerfoot |
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dschult2 |
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x2jmorris |
Later on in the trip my brother and I decided to treat my dad to no paddling and put him in the middle of the canoe. All was fine until trying to get back to camp across..I want to say it was phoebe. The wind picked up something fierce and no matter how hard we tried the canoe flipped around in the wind and I shouted at my brother to head for the bay to get out of the wind. We got in there and my dad just laughed. Real learning experience in the power of wind and carrying too much. Also I remember the mosquitoes being crazy bad and it was hot. Portaging with a sweatshirt and jeans on drenched in bug spray. A trip I'll never forget. |
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Wables |
marsonite: "I chuckled when I read the "Noobs" thread, and thought "well I was never that stupid" ha ha. Then I thought about my first trip and realized I must have looked pretty foolish. That’s awesome! I have a cabin on the river near Bug Creek, half way between chipmunk and vermilion falls. I made my first trip with my dad when I was 12, Moose River North to Agnes. We base camped but made a day trip to Iron. He was crabby the whole trip. I thought it was me not pulling my weight, etc. On the way home I worked up the courage to ask what was wrong, and he said there were too many G.D. people ruining the experience. I had a great time. The next year we started going to the Quetico. For a frame of reference, that was the late 80’s. |
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TomT |
We had spaghetti and hung up our large food duffel from a “bear bar” which the forest service provided. It was a wood pole hung between two trees. Later that evening we heard a sharp branch snap from across the lake in the narrows. Then we heard it again. After dark in the tent we were startled by hearing our Grumman canoe rocking on the ground. I got out and put the flashlight on the butt of a fully grown black bear sniffing around inside the canoe. It slowly walked the camp at one point licking bugs out of a fireplace log. It paid no mind to my flashlight and clanging metal cups together and yelling. It got as close as being on the opposite side of the tent and sniffing it where my girlfriend was inside crying. Things were getting REAL at that point. Soon enough it walked back up the trail that led to the food pack. About 10 minutes later we heard a large crash in the woods. There was no way I was going to try to save our food. The next morning all we found was a pile of opened wrappers and all that was left was the coffee grounds. We made coffee packed up and paddled out through Brule Lake very disappointed and starving. We set up camp in the Grand Marais campground for the rest of the week. So that was my first trip. I was 23 and a total greenhorn. Never seen a bear up there since in over 20 trips. Don't ask me why because I don't know why I put the 2 fuel bottles in the food duffle. The bear was curious I guess. And that was my 1979 CJ-7 Wrangler at the landing. Our food was in the big red duffel. |
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Blatz |
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missmolly |
All cotton clothing except for my plastic poncho, which again, is a half notch above donning a garbage bag. I figured I'd eat fish for five weeks. Well, by the third week, I was sometimes going hungry instead of eating more fish. If I'd had a garbage bag to eat, I might have. I just might have. |
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mjmkjun |
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TomT |
missmolly: "A tube tent, which is a half notch above sleeping in a garbage bag. 5 weeks?? Was this solo? I also used a poncho on my first couple trips in the 1980s. I also used a boat cushion instead of a pfd. Remember those days? :) |
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Stumpy |
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colddriver |
Don't remember lakes or anything but the adult leaders wanted to teach us how to upright an over turned canoe In the water. They picked one of the canoes,brought it out on the water,swamped it and the boat sank straight to the bottom...... Luckily was only about 10ft or less as we could see it sitting on the bottom of the lake lol. They dove down and put a rope on it pulled it up and out. Very scarry that was the second day of a 12 day trip, we used that Canoe rest of trip. |
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SunrisePaddler |
My very first trip was in my 40s with three older and more experienced paddlers. I was happily along for the the ride, eager to soak up knowledge and learn the ways of the wilderness. Trip leader was generous and well meaning, providing all packs, gear, organization. He assured, and I trusted, he had everything covered. We almost ran out of -- of all things -- toilet paper and had to ration for two days. |
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outsidethebox |
Bay of Rainy. We know how to fish. My brother was all fly and I was all "live". We caught a ton of incredible brook trout. |
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straighthairedcurly |
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TrailZen |
Our route was primarily in Quetico. Most of the Scouts had little paddling experience and NO portaging experience. On the portage between Brent and Darkwater (then Darky), we waited about 15 minutes for a couple stragglers, then I started jogging back up the portage to see what was delaying them. I stopped jogging when I heard the 'boom-a-loom' canoe coming toward me, and they explained that the Scout carrying the canoe "had problems with it". In camp that evening the two stragglers started laughing about the portage and told the REAL story: When he was popping the canoe over his head, a gust of wind caught the canoe. He strained to keep control of the boat and soiled his clothes. The delay was to clean himself and bury his underwear... Personally, my first experience in BWCA/Q was the discovery of my perfect paddling venue. In '79 I returned with my wife, and we were both hooked. We've been back with our kids, but our favorite trips have been just the two of us. Now retired, we were able to make trips in '17, '18, & 19. We had Quetico reservations for '20, but we all know how that went. We're hoping for August/September '21--fingers crossed. TZ |
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Podunk |
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dogwoodgirl |
how it started my folks were always sending me away the summer i was twelve they put me on a van up the north shore back in the spruce woods where the air was cool and magic canoes met us on the shore and we began to learn how girls could become voyageurs it was all that girl scouts was not we used knives and axes and fire i saw that perhaps i was strong and sharp maybe even dangerous five days into our journey the rain was constant it was cold i hated freeze dried eggs and my feet hurt and i wanted to go home once i got home all i could think of was please can i go back |
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Spartan2 |
Scary, painful (sunburn), uncomfortable (canvas tent), fun, relaxing, sexy, inspiring, companionable (my husband did a good job of making it pleasant for me), breathtaking. I was planning the next trip before we even finished on the 6th day. How It All Began |
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djwillco |
For me, I was a recent transplant from Canada. The father of the girl I was dating used to guide BWCA trips and took us on my first trip along with their whole family. Strangely, I have almost zero memories of it! I remember a bunk house, a bear encounter and vague memories of the campsite. But I strongly remember loving it...probably because I was infactuated with my paddling partner. :-) Whatever the case, the passion for paddling took root. |