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fish4life
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Great Report!! You could definitely be a writer. Thanks for sharing your memories and experiences with us.
Dave
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inspector13
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Strom2127, I am assuming that would be Woodland Caribou Provincial Park.
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bojibob
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Thanks for all the great comments.
It means a lot to me that people "get it".
As an FYI the food pack weighed around 35-40 lbs at the end of the trip. Big lesson learned!
We will return to western Quetico in 2011. WCPP is on the drawing board for 2012.
I'm back! :-)
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strom2127
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what is WCPP?
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bojibob
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quote Banksiana: "Nice journey, great report.
Stayed at two of your sites on my fall trip.
80# = only 3.3#/person/day. not bad- unless it's your turn to carry."
Which two sites?
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NDpaddler
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Quite possibly the best trip report I have ever read. Bravo!
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Frankie_Paull
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great report i really enjoyed it
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jcavenagh
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Actually, I don't think I have done anything epic. Like most babyboomers I am just too stubborn to stop being active and seeking some bit of adventure.
Now 4Lakes' 1990 adventure, that is what I call epic.
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jcavenagh
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He, wait a minute...I'm under 55...wait, let me think...oh, yeah 53...I keep forgetting.
I was talking with my wife the other day about an article that said peoples' incomes have fallen in the last ten years when I said I was making $xyz in 1990 and she was making $abc so our income hasn't fallen. She gently reminded me that 1990 was TWENTY YEARS ago. Hmmm, I guess we've been having some fun after all....
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izzy
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Rob - Very nicely done. Thanks for posting.
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rockstaranon
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Wow. Thank you so much for sharing this.
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campnscrap
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Rob what a fantastic report - thank you for sharing it with us :)
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snapcrackpop
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He's no slouch with video editing either!
Thanks for taking the time and sharing this experience with me.
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520eek
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Very nice, read it at lunch today...took me to another place! Now I have to go back to work, but I have a story in my head to keep me occupied for the rest of the day!
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jcavenagh
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Bojibob - I started to say this earlier today, but this is a better platform. I, too, had a long hiatus between my youth and my current trips. I went with a group in 1978 and 79 and then another group in 80, 81, and 82(the trip on which I was dubbed camp king). Family was involved in each group, being my brother-in-law for the first 2, my brother for a couple trips, and my cousin for the last 3. Then I went to law school in 83 and worked right through. After I graduated in 86, I got a job, a wife, a house with a big-ass mortgage, then the kids came and I started a law firm, then another law firm, and a software company, and then finally another law firm. I always wanted to go back, but never really had the time, and with money tied up in the various businesses, could never justify spending the money. Finally, in 2008 I realized my oldest boy had only 1 summer left before college. I called my brother who has a son the same age and said we have to go back to the Q, and we have to do it this year. I am so glad we did the trip. (Even though the college kid still makes fun of me now, I think we may get back up together when he matures a little more. I am certainly encouraging him to go up with his buddies in the next few years.)
That's when I found this website. I read all sorts of trip reports and gear reviews and recipes and fishing tips, etc. But I was hesitant to join the site and post. I felt that these folks are real canoeists, but I'm just a duffer. After I got back from the 2008 trip, I still hesitated but finally I decided I would join and I posted my trip report. I left some stuff out...personal type stuff since I still didn't really have any familiarity with the folks on this board. I mean these guys go on multiple trips a year and I go every 30 years!! Well, my younger son wanted to go along in 08, but we made the trip about the 2 older boys. I told the little guy he could go on a canoe trip with me when he could carry a canoe by himself (thinking he would be in high school by that time). Well, when he was 12, we were at our local Bass Pro Shop and he said, "Dad, I can carry that canoe by myself." And he did. So I set up a trip for last summer and realized I finally have the dough I need to do this and I have established my career to the point that I actually have the time. That's right...I have the time AND the money to do this. And so...I'M BACK! I'm re-equipping and expect to be canoeing much more frequently in the coming years, e.g. I am going to Wabakimi next summer and will likely plan a trip into Woodland Caribou in 2012. I hope I can convince some of the old group to join me. I have gotten two of my oldest friends in the world to sign up for Wabakimi 2011 and I am really looking forward to re-connecting.
Anyway, I really think I know how you were feeling as you were planning the trip with your old buddies. And I think I understand your hesitation at sharing with a group of strangers. The older I get the more I realize that there are a whole lot of folks who think very much like I do and have similar fears to those I have. We’ve taken our lickin’s and we’re still tickin’.
Merry Christmas to you and to everyone else who reads this board and loves the northland.
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bumabu
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EPIC return, thats how it is done.
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Amok
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Hey JCavanaugh, i'm not yet in the group of 'epic' trippers, tho mine have been just fine so far.
i aspire to have the memories and physical strength to continue till I can't anymore, and hopefully i, too, can inspire ppl like me (the under 55 crowd) to enjoying the outdoors more, especially the BW. and to pass it onto others in a respectful manner.
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jcavenagh
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Thanks, Bumabu. I just want to have a trip like those early trips. Sometimes I think I am chasing something that is not possible to find. Maybe I am seeking my youth or trying to recapture the carefree feeling I had at age 22. I don't know. But the journey seems worth taking and I can't think of a better place to take it. So here we go...
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boonie
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Thanks for the trip report and video. I hope to make it to the Q sometime, but time's running short. Nobody ever takes too little food :). Twice as much as you need is probably about average for a first trip, although that might be about what you'd have eaten the last time you went ;).
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bojibob
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New Trip Report posted by bojibob
Trip Name: The Quetico Journey - From Boys to Men.
Entry Point: Quetico
Click Here to View Trip Report
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ferris24
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Great to read this. I am heading back to the Q after 31 years. Should be interesting.
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mocha
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what a great presentation of your trip! a treat to be able to retrace some steps with good friends.
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AndySG
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Excellent report Boji. Your fine writing and photos made me think your trip report is as good or better than the articles in Boundary Waters Journal. I'm also glad you killed some of those demons. Canoe country has done the same for me.
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Ho Ho
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Great report, bojibob. I'm really glad Who Huh's advice helped out! As you known, I made my own return to Quetico in 2001 after a 25 year hiatus, so I know how great it is. Congratulations on coming home!
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Boppa
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bojibob,
Outstanding TR.
Your style in keeping the trips moment and meaning for you, was special. It takes this trip report beyond the ordinary and explains the many layers of fulfillment that this form of adventure can offer.
Thanks for the great read and terrific photo's.
By the way, how much did your food pack weight?
Boppa
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Amok
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That was AWESOME!
Thanks for sharing that with us, there's so much there, all I can say is "thanks!"
GREAT PICS!!!!
except... beware of friends named "Steve." lol (yes, I have one too!)
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wetcanoedog
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Wonderful trip and story.i have been that way several times and the photos brought back many memory's.as a old Scout i got a kick out of seeing the scarf being worn and just not brought out for photos..you need to come back many more times,still lots to see and do.that was a lot of food--the pack had to run 80 pounds at least........
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alpine525
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Beautiful story - beautiful pictures. Thanks for sharing your journey.
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kanoes
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nicely done rob! the trip and the report. im glad you did decide to share it with us. loved the antique maps.
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strom2127
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exceptional report. I'm not quite ready for the wonders of Quetico yet, but I do know that it is in my future and eagerly anticipate the sweat equity I'll need to invest on such an adventure.
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Itchy Menace
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Sweet. A true pleasure to read.
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Banksiana
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Nice journey, great report.
Stayed at two of your sites on my fall trip.
80# = only 3.3#/person/day. not bad- unless it's your turn to carry.
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sterngirl
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Awesome report. I read every word and enjoyed it immensely! Thanks for sharing!
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Savage Voyageur
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Thanks for the great report Bojibob, It was a good read and I also liked the video. I followed you through the spot on your trip and that was cool too.
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Koda
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Thank you for the superb trip report. It's among the best I've seen - or even better - including my own. I appreciated your strength in being open about your feelings, especially when Steve took a swim. We slay our demons not by force but by allowing them to work their magic within us.
One question: What did your food pack weigh after the trip?
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Dbldppr1250
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Great report bojibob. By the way, how much did that food pack weigh?
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Beemer01
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Rob - Thanks for taking the time and emotion to write this report. I greatly enjoyed being taken along on this trip.
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arctic
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Very enjoyable read. You guys certainly eat a helluva lot better than I do on the trail!
My first Quetico trip was in 1979, just two teenaged boys, and I vividly remember breaking the portage yoke on our canoe on one of the portages along the West Channel, Agnes River, and then trying to drag/wade down the cedar-choked rapids along there. Portages are there for a reason!
Thanks for sharing!
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