Archives for January 2016

Today is our 131st day in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. When we entered I thought it would be fun to swim in every month. Since today is the last day of January, it was now or never. We don’t have a good way to chisel a hole in the ice large enough to jump through. Luckily there is a large pool of slush right in front of our campsite. I shoveled away a kiddy pool size hole in the slush. Soon 3 inches of icy water filled the pool. With my swimming hole ready, I stoked up the wood stove and prepared for my monthly bath.
Amy offered to forgo the swim so that she could photograph mine. Thanks for taking one for the team Amy. She sacrificed her monthly bath so that mine could be properly documented.
I know some may find this hard to believe, but this improvised wintery bird bath actually felt really good. It was shocking when I laid down in the icy pool of water, but after my whole body was wet, it just felt refreshing and I certainly feel cleaner now.

It is important to remember why we are out here taking icy dips in the Wilderness. Amy and I are spending a full year in the Boundary Waters to raise awareness about the threats that Twin Metals and other proposed sulfide-ore copper mines bring to the region. The edge of our nation’s most popular Wilderness is not an appropriate place for what the EPA calls our nation’s most polluting industry. Please follow @savetheBWCA , learn more about the threats, follow our journey, and sign the petition by following the link in our bio. Please share our journey and this issue with your friends and help us speak loudly for this quite place.
#wildernessyear #savetheBWCA #BoundaryWaters #ice #cold #swim #onlyinMN #wearethewild #exofficio @exofficio

Day 131: Visitors Galore

Our camp is quiet. The dogs are resting in the warm, still, sunny air. The only sounds are the crackle of the wood stove and the occasional raven’s call. We have had the pleasure of visiting with 5 groups over the last 4 days. A few of the visitors were old friends and many were new ones. It was so fun to see people of all ages out enjoying the winter woods, including folks from as far away as New Zealand and Great Britain.
Levi, our expedition manager who also runs Sustainable Ely, helped organize most of the resupply parties and coordinated things so that the groups were staggered.
Along with our normal supplies, they brought a host of other goodies, including two miniature apple pies that Barb Dunsmore baked for us! We enjoy being out here alone, but visitors always lift our spirits and leave us feeling refreshed, with a renewed sense of purpose. There are so many people working to protect this national treasure.
To all of the Wilderness defenders out there working to protect the Boundary Waters, thank you for taking action and for those of you that are just now learning about the threats that Twin Metals and other proposed sulfide-ore copper mines bring to the region please visit @savetheBWCA, to learn more, sign the petition, donate, and take action!
#wildernessyear #savetheBWCA #boundarywaters #bwca #applepie #friends

Yesterday howling wind and wet snow encouraged us to hole up in our tent. We ate lots of good food, read, wrote, and took care of little things that we had been putting off for awhile. Amy’s ski boots have started to come apart, so she used zip ties to repair them. There were also little sewing projects and minor things that had been waiting for a day spent inside.
This morning dawned calm and clear. We were all anxious to stretch out legs and see some new country. Tomorrow we will head south towards the Wilderness boundary to pick up our next resupply. Then we will turn north again and retrace our route back to Gun Lake on our way to Crooked Lake where we will turn west. The Wagosh portage is a mile-long portage trail that goes up and over a big rise. It connects Gun to Wagosh Lake. Portages with names are usually memorable for one reason or another, but the most common reason is they are really long or difficult, or long and difficult. The Wagosh portage isn’t a particularly nasty one, but I think it is tough enough to warrant a name. We harnessed up the dogs and headed down Gun to clear and pack the portage so that it will be easier for us to haul our loaded toboggans across after our resupply. “National parks and reserves are an integral aspect of intelligent use of natural resources. It is the course of wisdom to set aside an ample portion of our natural resources as national parks and reserves, thus ensuring that future generations may know the majesty of the earth as we know it today.” – John F. Kennedy

Each generation must act thoughtfully and do their best to pass on a world that is better than the one they were born into. Protecting public lands like the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness is an integral part of that process. Please sign the @savetheBWCA petition, share our journey, and speak out about the mines that are being proposed along the edge of our nation’s most popular Wilderness.

@patagoniaprov #wildernessyear #savetheBWCA #BoundaryWaters #BWCA

Amy and I have shaped our lives in a way that allows us to spend a lot of time in some of the world’s wildest places. We relish waking up to new vistas and experiences that often revolve around familiar rhythms, but provide a constant stream of unique challenges and moments. It’s not all rosy sunrises and beautiful vistas. There are plenty of things we do because we have to, not because we want to, but this morning’s sunrise was a wonderful reminder of why we are out here and why we have worked to craft our lives this way.
It was a pretty typical morning. The alarm went off at 6:30 from deep inside Amy’s sleeping bag. I crawled out of my bag, carefully placed firewood into the stove, lit a piece of birch bark, and placed the dog food pot and our pot of water on top of the wood stove. After 20 minutes the tent warmed up to a comfortable temperature and Amy emerged from her sleeping bag, uncovering her lovely smile from layers of insulation and we prepared to go out and check on the dogs.
Tank and Tina whined softly, as they usually do, when we start talking in the morning. Tina sounds like a high pitched Wookiee when she is ready for breakfast or is excited about something, which is pretty much all the time. After checking on the dogs we ladled their bowls full of soupy breakfast as the dogs pranced, hopped, and howled with excitement.
As we walked out onto the lake to open our water hole, the sun lit up the clouds. A stiff wind kept us from lingering long, but any hassles associated with hauling water during our last 127 days in the Wilderness were wiped away in that moment.
The Boundary Waters is just too precious to risk. Please sign the petition by following the link in our profile, follow @savetheBWCA, and help protect the Wilderness from a series of sulfide-ore copper mines that are being proposed along the southern edge of the Wilderness.
#sunrise #wildernessyear #savetheBWCA #WeAreTheWild #onlyinMN #winter #BoundaryWaters

Today we skijored down Angleworm Lake. Snow covered pines towered above the steep slopes all around us. I had forgotten what a beautiful lake Angleworm is. This was another day spent following otter tracks instead of human tracks. It is silent here except for the swish of our skis, the occasional bird passing by and the saw slicing rhythmically through firewood during our evening chores.
The dogs are bedded down now, tired after a long run. With bellies full of food, they are resting now and we will all be ready to run again tomorrow. Due to deep snow and lots of downed trees and alder on the portages we were not able to make it to North Hegman Lake today. With a trail set, we hope to make all the way there tomorrow. There is a beautiful set of pictographs on North Hegman Lake, which we are hoping to visit. “Few are altogether deaf to the preaching of pine trees. Their sermons on the mountains go to our hearts; and if people in general could be got into the woods, even for once, to hear the trees speak for themselves, all difficulties in the way of forest preservation would vanish.” John Muir

John Muir, Sigurd Olson, Edward Abbey and countless others worked tirelessly to protect wilderness for future generations. Edward Abbey said “the idea of wilderness needs no defense, it only needs defenders.” We aspire to be two of those defenders and hope our journey will inspire others to become defenders as well. The Boundary Waters belongs to all of us and it’s up to all of us to protect it. Please take action, sign the petition at @savetheBWCA , and be a voice for the Wilderness.

#wildernessyear #savetheBWCA #BoundaryWaters #BWCA #winter #dogs #skiing #skijor #onlyinMN #WeAreTheWild @seatosummitgear @patagonia

How could you have a bad day when you are hanging out with this goofball?! We skijored across Gun, Bullet, and Moosecamp Lakes today. Lots of otter tracks and no sign of humans. We spent the afternoon processing firewood. The jack pine that is keeping us warm weathered 62 Boundary Waters winters before it died. I carefully counted the rings before splitting one of the largest rounds. The circle of life continues as it helps us survive a winter in the Boundary Waters and we help protect the Boundary Waters so more jack pine can tower above these pristine lakes and free-flowing rivers.

Please speak loudly for this quite place every day. Together we can @savetheBWCA, but we all must act. #BoundaryWaters #dogsledding #winter #onlyinMN #BWCA #wildernessyear #savetheBWCA #snow #skiing #fun

I looked up from stuffing my sleeping bag and noticed a red glow through the wall of the tent. We dropped what we were doing and hurried outside. The sun’s first rays cast a golden glow over our camp. We busied ourselves with outside chores so that we could enjoy the sunrise as we readied the toboggans and prepared to move.
The sunrise signaled the start of another picture perfect day in the Wilderness. We traveled silently across 3 lakes this afternoon without seeing any signs of human activity. We are most likely the first people to travel through this area in several months. The travel conditions remain nearly perfect. These are probably some of the nicest mid-winter conditions we have ever experienced. Not too hot, not too cold, just the right amount of snow, and not much slush.
I couldn’t stop marveling at how beautiful the Wilderness was today as we traveled. The trees, coated in white, were accented by an unusual diffused light that made it feel like the sun was setting all day long. The edge of our nation’ s most popular Wilderness isn’t an appropriate place to build a giant copper mine. This place is just too precious to risk. Please share this, and help us @savetheBWCA . #wildernessyear #savethebwca #boundarywaters #BWCA #onlyinMN #sunrise #WeAreTheWild #winter @seekoutside

We head voice this morning. I poked my head out of the tent and saw a line of skiers following the packed trail we made yesterday towards our campsite. Six women from Ely, out for there weekly ski, stumbled across our campsite. The travel conditions are ideal right now. There is just enough snow on the portages to cover most of the rocks, but the snow is not too deep on the lakes and there is hardly any slush. It was a picture perfect day in the Wilderness and we were glad to see others out enjoying themselves.
After saying goodby to our impromptu visitors we prepared to harness the dogs and head out for a few hours. A mile and a half winter portage connects Tin Can Mike Lake with Four Town Lake. The portage was a mess of downed alders and trees and we spent 4 hours finding, clearing, and packing the trail.
The bogs are still wet and unfrozen in spots and we punched through into muck several times. The deep snow that builds up in the bogs insulates the soupy muck, which is kept relatively warmly by bacterial busy decomposing the rich organic matter down below. Now that the trail has been packed the bog will freeze and the trail should be good all winter.

The bright moon rose in the east as the sun’s final rays painted the tree tops in a faint gold, which slowly faded as we took turns sawing stove length pieces of bone try black spruce. Hold two, cut two, hold two, cut two, we take turns bracing the log and sawing. It’s a nice system, which allows us to rest and take in our surroundings while the other cuts.

Our daily chores remain the same, but today’s is a bit of a milestone. We have spent 122 days in the wilderness, we are 1/3 of the way through our year in the Wilderness to @savetheBWCA. It is amazing how fast time passes and seasons change. The days are getting longer and the sun rises higher in the sky with each passing day. We feel incredibly lucky to be here, bearing witness to the Wilderness and helping to insure it’s protected for future generations. Please help us by signing the petition, follow the link in our bio, share our #wildernessyear and our efforts to protect the our Nation’s most popular Wilderness. #Wilderness #onlyinMN #BoundaryWaters

We watched an otter run and slide, run and slide across the snow in front of us. It was far away and the dogs didn’t notice the otter at first. We were traveling down the middle of Jackfish Bay and Tina and Acorn were leading us across the blank, white canvas that stretched to the horizon. Tank was leaning into his harness and we were moving along nicely. My skijoring belt was clipped to the back of the second toboggan incase I needed to stop the team.
A few minutes later the otter came running back across the lake towards us. When the otter was about 50 yards away the dogs spotted it and made a sharp turn towards the otter. For a few seconds the otter continued to run towards us, but as the dogs picked up speed the otter took off down the middle of the lake with the dogs in hot pursuit. At the end of the day my InReach GPS tracker said our maximum speed was 14.2 miles an hour- we were really flying. The dogs were quickly gaining on the otter and while it was fun to see the otter up close, I didn’t want to chase it and tire it out. With considerable effort I stopped the dogs. The otter ran another 10 yards, turned around, stood up on its hind legs to get one last look at us and then ran back to shore. The dogs continued to lunge and bark long after the otter disappeared and once Amy caught up, we tipped one of the toboggans over to hold the team.
Once the dogs settled down, we continued on. A few minutes later we spotted a wolf pack near an island in the middle of Jackfish Bay. Most of them were sitting or laying down and they didn’t seem be bothered by our presence. While we were stopped the wolves hardly moved, but once we started moving again several of the wolves rounded the island and watched us pass. Normally wolves run away as soon as you see them, or they sense your presence and are gone before your arrive. It was a real treat to see the kings and queens of the Wilderness today.

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.
#wildernessyear #wolves #BWCA #dogsledding #otter #savetheBWCA #onlyinMN #Wilderness #winter

We have been reminiscing about all the fun visitors we had last week. Our @seekoutsite tipi tent was filled with smiles and laughter. Sharing the outdoors with others, especially kids, is a wonderful thing.

Yesterday we rested and did a lot of writing. It felt good to have a quiet day to catch up on things that we didn’t get to finish last week.
We are trying to bear witness to the Wilderness and be a constant reminder of what a special place the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness is and why it needs to be protected. Our goal is to inspire others to take action and help @savetheBWCA from a series of sulfide-ore copper mines being proposed along the edge of the Wilderness. To accomplish this we spend a lot of time documenting and sharing our experiences. Please help us spread the word and take action. This morning we are busy packing up camp. We are excited to harness the dogs and head west. There are still hundreds more lakes and rivers we hope to visit and we only have 245 days left in our #wildernessyear to #savetheBWCA! #onlyinMN #camping #friends #BoundaryWaters #BWCA