Archives for November 2015

We were excited to find that both Portage and Vera froze on Saturday night. We spent about an hour carefully poking along the shore of Vera Lake, testing the ice. A we found small patch of 3 inch thick ice on Vera. This area much have frozen several night earlier. Amy practiced crawling on her belly like a lizard to spread out her weight. (Do not try this at home! Amy actually did this in an area of thicker ice that also supported her weight while standing. Also, the water depth was just 1 to 2 feet, so even if she did break through, she would not have gone in very deep.) We were wearing our dry suits and staying very close to shore, so it was fun to play on the ice. Most of the lake surface was covered in less than 1 inch of ice. This ice would not hold our weight but we chopped a few holes from shore to measure the thickness.
It felt good to get out and explore after spending several days at our campsite. We always see more animals and interesting things when we are out paddling, portaging, and poking around in the Wilderness. We are excited to see that most of the lakes are finally freezing, but it is a little disconcerting to look at the long range forecast. The forecast calls for highs in the 30’s and lows in the 20’s for most of the next 10 days. These temperatures are about 15 degrees above average and it will likely take a long time for the ice to thicken.
Due to the unusually warm weather, we are especially thankful for all of the chocolate bars, baked good, honey, and other treats that people have sent in with our resupplies over the last few months. These extra treats have caused us to slowly build up a large surplus of food. Luckily we still have lots of food and we can wait until the ice thickens.

Like most people Amy and I are used to schedules and set timelines. Out here our actions are dictated by the Wilderness that surrounds us. That can be frustrating at times, but most of the time it is a refreshing gentle reminder that we are part of something much larger.

#wildernessyear #BWCA #BoundaryWaters #savetheBWCA #ice #onlyinMN #fun #smile

The mercury quickly dropped into the single digits last night and the wind died. Around 10 o’clock we put on an extra layer and walked down to the lake before crawling into our sleeping bags for the night. Their was no wind, the lake was mirror smooth, and stars blanketed the sky, reflecting off the lake. Silence filled the air, a silence that was remarkable even when surrounded by this vast Wilderness. Amy said she had never heard such silence when the lakes weren’t frozen; when even the slightest breeze blows, you can hear it in the tree branches and lapping water. Our surroundings were even devoid of that faint sound last night in the perfect stillness.

There is a lot of emphasis on the water pollution that sulfide-ore mines are notorious for creating and the risks they would bring to the Boundary Waters watershed if the proposed sulfide-ore mines are built. These risks are very real, but after crawling into my sleeping bag, I couldn’t help but think of the massive rock crushers, giant trucks the size of houses that are increasingly driven remotely by people from hundreds of miles away, and all of the machinery that run 24/7 in industrial mining zones.
The noise and lights of a industrial mining zone would have a dramatic effect on the dozens of resorts, campgrounds, outfitters, wilderness schools, and other business that surround Twin Metals proposed mine site and would carry well across the Wilderness boundary.
True silence is one of Boundary Water’s greatest assets. Standing by Knife Lake last night was a wonderful reminder of how valuable true silence is.
This morning ice rimmed the shore of the bay behind our campsite. The lake steamed as it cooled in the 8 degree morning air. The silence was broken by a gentle tingling sound, reverberating from the line where ice meets open water.

Please support @savetheBWCA and their efforts to the protect the silence and all the other things that make the Boundary Waters a national treasure.
#wildernessyear #savetheBWCA #BoundaryWaters #silence #peace #wilderness #onlyinMN #sunrise #beautiful

It was cold when we woke up this morning. We found a thin layer of ice along the edge of Knife Lake when we went to gather water. The sun came out for the first time in many days. It was refreshing to see the sun after many cloudy days. Slowing winter is tightening its grasp on the Boundary Waters. Each day we see a few more icicles along the shore and the water temperature is slowly dropping.
We are moving slowly today, recovering from our day of feasting. We cut and split enough wood to last us for several days. We have spent most of the day writing, occasionally walking down to the water’s edge to adjust our @goalzero solar panels. Our batteries were getting very low and we are thankful to be able to generate some more power.
Generating all of our own power with a couple of small solar panels has caused us to take a close look at how we use power. We are constantly looking for ways we can reduce the amount of power that we use. We always turn off electronics when we are not using them. It is apparent that when we have access to electrical outlets and a seemingly endless supply of power, we consume vast amounts of power compared to what we are using now.

In reality there are many things that we use far less of out here in the Wilderness. Our camp stove uses about 1 gallon of gas a month, we gather about 2 gallons of water from the lake each day for drinking, cooking and washing, and we generate approximately 1 gallon zip lock bag full of garbage each week. We send out all of the trash that we generate with the volunteers who bring us supplies. Most of the garbage is food packaging, which is thrown away. Some of the things like ziplock bags can be reused, and some plastic containers can be reused or recycled.
Gathering our water from lakes, processing firewood, generating our own power, and hauling all of our food and supplies with us from campsite to campsite has taught us the joys of a simple life and helped us appreciate the resources that we use.
Its funny, I just realized today is Black Friday. How about a tradition of getting outside and enjoying our public lands the day after Thanksgiving? #wildernessyear #savetheBWCA #boundarywaters #onlyinmn

After a little head scratching we decided our canoe would make a great table for our Thanksgiving feast. We have many things to be thankful for this year and have had a wonderful day soaking in the silence and reflecting on how lucky we are to be in this very special place. We have also been remembering moments from our last Thanksgiving when we found ourselves canoeing into the night, racing a storm down Chesapeake Bay. We were days away from completing Paddle to DC, a journey of 101 days and 2,000 miles by water from the Boundary Waters to Washington D.C.
We are especially thankful today to be part of such an amazing group of people working tirelessly to protect this Wilderness we love. Thank you @savetheBWCA and all of the donors, supporters, volunteers, and staff who are working so hard to protect the Boundary Waters.

Thank you to our family and friends for tolerating us being gone for so long. For our mothers’ sakes, let’s permanently protect the Boundary Waters watershed from sulfide-ore copper mining this year so Amy and I can spend next Thanksgiving with our family 🙂 #Thanksgiving #food #wilderness #BoundaryWaters #WildernessYear #savetheBWCA #wenonah

We are listening to @splendidtable on our tiny radio and preparing a Thanksgiving feast on the wood stove in our @seekoutside tipi tent in the heart of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. We are busy rehydrating potatoes, apples, and butternut squash, slicing gouda cheese, soaking wild rice, baking corn bread, and sipping hot apple cider as we cook. Other special treats include @patagoniaprov smoked salmon, cranberries, bison pemmican, and stuffing.
We have been in the Wilderness 65 days and have been looking forward to celebrating Thanksgiving in the Wilderness for a long time. We will spend another 300 days in the Wilderness to support @savetheBWCA and their effort to protect the nation’s most popular Wilderness Area, and teach elementary and middle school students about wild places through @wildernessclass. Holidays are special days we look forward to celebrating.
We are totally alone, 20 miles from the nearest road. Many of the lakes are too frozen paddle on, but not frozen enough to walk across. We are possibly physically more isolated than we will be at any other time during our year in the Wilderness. We are happy, healthy, and thankful for this wild place that we are surrounded by. We hope that everyone finds a hearty meal, a safe place to sleep, and fellowship today. #wildernessyear #BWCA #BoundaryWaters #Thanksgiving #TurkeyConfidential #food #thankful #savetheBWCA

Amy and I have been spending a lot of time reflecting about the violence and inequality that seems so pervasive in the news and the world at this moment. We have been remembering the many people from all walks of life and all corners of the globe that have welcomed us into their homes, shared food, shelter, and fellowship with us.
One of the best gifts we have received from our many adventures is the ability to be vulnerable and in doing so connect with total strangers in simple, but meaningful ways.

For example, in 2007 and 2008 Amy and I paddled 3,000 miles across South America through the heart of the Amazon Rainforest with a team of scientists, educators, and adventurers. During the 6 months we were paddling through Peru, Columbia, and Brazil we spent more than 50 night in the homes of total strangers. Often the forest was flooded and people’s tiny palm thatched homes built on stilts were the only dry refuge available. Over and over again we would paddle up to tiny farm houses, small villages, or floating shacks on the edge of large cities, looking for a place to spend the night. We were strange looking foriegners who hadn’t bathed or washed our clothes in weeks, could barely speak the language– literally looking like we had arrived from another planet.
Only once were we told there was no place for us to stay.
Approaching a stranger in a strange land looking for help, we were trusting them and they were trusting us. For those seeking refuge and those providing shelter these encounters reaffirmed that despite our different languages, cultures, religions, and outward appearances people are good and we share far more similarities than differences.

We must act out of love and compassion, not out of fear of people or things we do not know or fully understand. We are all global citizens and we must care for each other and our planet. Not for our sake, but for the sake of the world we collectively leave for others.
This Thanksgiving we are thankful for our friends and family near and far and all of the acts of love and kindness we have received from strangers, and for the Wilderness that surrounds us.

#expeditionflashback Welcomed by strangers.

The sun peeked out from behind the clouds as we hopped in our canoe. We took advantage of warm, calm weather today to paddle west along Knife Lake and look for ice on Vera and Portage Lakes. We relish every chance we have to paddle because its hard to know when the lake will freeze and we will no longer be able to glide through the water with ease.

As we rounded the point at the end of our campsite, we paddled slowly past a shoreline painted in ice. Ever so slowly winter’s grip is increasing, but days like today make winter seem far away. When we reached the 1/2 mile portage between Knife and Vera Lake, we noticed the clear tracks that a pine marten left as it bounded down the trail ahead of us. We followed the pine marten tracks all the way to Vera Lake. Red-backed vole and red squirrel tracks criss crossed the trail as well. In a sunny spot we saw our first hatch of “snow fleas” for the season. Snow fleas are a type of spring tail, they are a tiny insect that emerge on top of the snow on warm days.
We were surprised to find that both Vera and Portage Lakes are still open. We had to ram through about an inch of ice at the end of the bay leading to Portage Lake, but the large and medium sized lakes in this region do not seem to be frozen yet. The temperature is supposed to drop on Thanksgiving night, so who knows, maybe more ice will form in a few days.

For now, we are enjoying the extended fall and will try to continue paddling as long as we can. With any luck we can go for a Thanksgiving paddle!

Foreign mining companies want to build a series of sulfide-ore copper mines on the edge of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Pollution from the mines would flow directly into the Wilderness. My wife, Amy Freeman, and I are spending A Year in the Wilderness to draw attention to this important issue and stop the proposed mines from being built. Today is our 63nd day in the Wilderness.

Please share and repost this, follow @savetheBWCA, sign the petition at http://ift.tt/1x2erSX and help protect our nation’s most popular Wilderness Area. #boundarywaters #wildernessyear #savetheBWCA #beautiful #ice #adventure

The wind died and the temperature shot up to 30 degrees today. We paddled east down Knife Lake to gather firewood and portage over to Bonnie Lake to see if it was frozen yet. Knife is a very deep lake and Bonnie is a very shallow lake. Shallow lakes typically freeze a few days, or even a week or more before the big, deep lakes. A fresh dusting of snow overnight covered the portage into Bonnie Lake. The only tracks we saw were several paths where red-backed voles had run back and forth across the trail over and over again. Red-backed voles live in the subnivian layer of snow. The subnivian layer is the loose snow that forms where the snow meets the ground. The red-back voles tunnel through the subnivian layer all winter long. When they hit a packed trail, they pop to the surface, scurry across the trail, and then disappear under the snow on the other side.
As we cressed a hill, Bonnie Lake’s snow-covered surface spread before us. It was frozen! We wanted to run out onto the lake, but we knew that it might not be safe. We gingerly stepped onto the lake and used our ax to chop a hole. The ice was about 1 and 1/2 inches thick. It held our weight, but we will wait for it to get at least an inch thicker before we venture out across the ice.
Seeing the smooth snow-covered surface made it feel like winter had arrived in an instant. We couldn’t wipe the smiles of our faces. We can’t wait to start skiing and working with the sled dogs that Frank Moe is loaning us for the winter, Acron, Tank, and Ace.
The forest around the portage burned in a forest fire about 3 years ago so there is lots of dead, down, dry firewood along the portage. We spend several hours cutting firewood. We carefully stacked the logs into our canoe until the logs were piled over the gunwales. It feels good to have a large stockpile of wood. It is hard to know when Knife Lake will start to freeze and we will no longer be able to gather firewood with our canoe.

Please support @savetheBWCA and help us protect the Boundary Waters from the sulfide-ore copper mines being proposed along the edge of the Wilderness
#wildernessyear #savetheBWCA #BWCA #boundarywaters

The temperature dipped into the single digits last night and we woke up to clear skies and the sun’s glow beginning to bath the forest in golden morning light. Skim ice had formed along the edge of the lake overnight. The crack of the pot on the ice broke the silence momentarily as Amy drew water for breakfast.
We spent the morning processing firewood and hiking to another campsite. Squirrel, chipmufnk, and snowshoe hare tracks dotted the fresh snow. We are spending the afternoon writing and listening to our tiny radio. We are saddened to hear about all of the senseless violence.

Tomorrow is supposed to be warmer with lighter winds. We are hoping to take a day trip and visit some new lakes south of Knife Lake. It will be interesting to see if any of the smaller lakes froze over in the recent cold snap.
Nature is not a place to visit. It is home. -Gary Snyder
Join @savetheBWCA and help protect our home. Our nation’s most visited Wilderness is being threatened by proposed sulfide-ore copper mines along its southern border. Its up to us to protect it.

The Wilderness holds answers to more questions than we have yet learned to ask. -Nancy Waynne Newhall
The wind continues to howl today but we didn’t want to remain cooped up in our tent with a fresh blanket of snow on the ground and a Wilderness waiting to be explored outside our tent flap. Walking around our campsite it we found Pine Marten, Red Squirrel, and Chipmonk track dotting the snow. We dusted the thin layer of snow off our canoe and grabbed our paddles and life jackets. The main body of Knife Lake is not an inviting place today, but looking across the protected bay behind our campsite it looked like ice had formed on the far side. Looking for something to do we decided to paddle over and investigate. The bay was calm, but not ice covered so we pulled up our canoe of the far shore to explore the narrow isthmus that forms two small bays. Snowshoe hare tracks wove through the willows that we ducked through on our way to the second small bay. The waves were freezing on the rocks in the bay and coating branches and logs along the waters edge. We poked along the edges looking a the ice, occasionally breaking through into a few inches of water. It was cold in the wind, so we didn’t stay long, but it is fun to watch the freezing process begin. Tonight and tomorrow night are supposed to dip into the teens, so with any luck our little bay may be covered in ice soon.

I suspect gathering, cutting, and splitting wood will remain part of our daily routine for the next 5 or 6 months. It is gratifying to sit back after a couple hours gathering and processing wood, soaking in the radient heat from the wood stove.

Every day in the Wilderness helps us appreciate these lakes, rivers, and forests more. Please like, share, and support @savetheBWCA and help protect the Boundary Waters for future generations. #wildernessyear #wilderness #savetheBWCA #boundarywaters #BWCA #onlyinMN #minnesota #ice