Archives for August 2016

A canoe loaded to the gunwales paddled across Nina Moose Lake towards our campsite. The faces of our friends Goose, Jason and Layne became distinguishable and soon we were waving and smiling as they drew closer. They paddled in for an overnight– a brief respite from their busy lives. We lounged on a beach taking turns hooking smallmouth bass and walleye lurking in the weeds a few feet off the beach.

Now the steaks are marinating, a growler of beer is cooling in the lake and Layne is shucking fresh sweet corn. Good food, old friends and a pristine Wilderness lake full of fish– it doesn’t get any better.

Today is the 343rd day of our #WildernessYear to @savetheBWCA. Please visit http://ift.tt/1x2erSX, sign the petition and help us protect our nation’s most popular Wilderness.

#wildernessyear #savetheBWCA #onlyinMN #captureMN #sunset #BoundaryWaters #minnesota #BWCA #canoe #canoeing

After cleaning the dishes and buttoning up camp for the night we slid our canoe back into Lake Agnes for a short paddle. The sun illuminated the clouds in a beautiful patchwork of color and light. We find joy in simple moments like gathering water, setting up camp, preparing food and paddling out into the lake with only the goal of watching the light change.

Multiple scientific studies, including one published recently in the Journal of Hydrology, show a high probability that pollution from proposed sulfide-ore copper mine sites near the edge of the Wilderness would flow into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

This maze of Wilderness waterways is just to precious to risk. It is critical that we all take action. Visit http://ift.tt/1x2erSX to learn more, sign the petition and help protect this national treasure.

#savetheBWCA #WildernessYear #BWCA #BoundaryWaters #WeAreTheWild #Wilderness #onlyinmn #capturemn #sunset #canoe #canoeing

A great blue heron erupted out of the tall grass and floated gracefully across the marsh ahead of our canoe. After a couple more bends down Heritage Creek we greeted the same heron again. Over and over again the bird jumped ahead of us as we made our away to Heritage Lake. A few times we were able to silently paddle past the heron, but inevitably it would startle and take flight only to be surprised by us a minute or two later.
Eventually we left the creek and the heron behind and paddled across Heritage Lake. Splashes of red from scattered maple trees are signaling that fall is just around the corner and on the long portage between Lynx Lake and Ruby Lake we spotted our first few golden birches. The earth has almost come full circle since we started our #wildernessyear to @savetheBWCA 341 days ago.
This is a special place, a place worth protecting. Please help us protect it. Sign the petition at http://ift.tt/1x2erSX.
#wildernessyear #savetheBWCA #onlyinMN #captureMN #bird #BoundaryWaters #minnesota #BWCA

“Some places should be preserved from development or exploitation for they satisfy a human need for solace, belonging and perspective. In the end we turn to nature in a frenzied chaotic world, there to find silence, oneness, wholeness, spiritual release,” – Sigurd Olson
We must follow Sigurd Olson’s lead and fight to protect the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

Visit http://ift.tt/1x2erSX and sign the petition, donate, volunteer and take action. The Wilderness needs your voice.

#savetheBWCA #WildernessYear #BWCA #BoundaryWaters #WeAreTheWild #Wilderness #onlyinmn #capturemn

Loon Lake’s glassy surface smoked in the cool morning air. Birds, bugs, humans– all things were still and silent for a moment. The thud of a pine cone hurled from high above and the red squirrel’s shrill chatter broke the calm. Movement and sound swept over us and my mind returned to cooking, writing and preparing for another day.
This time last year Amy and I were headed to the Minnesota State Fair to volunteer at the @savetheBWCA booth. The noise and energy of the State Fair seems so far away– rides and music, giant pumpkins, any food imaginable on a stick and throngs of people taking it all in. A tub of Sweet Martha’s cookies and a bottomless glass of fresh milk sound pretty good though. If you are headed to the @mnstatefair this year, be sure to stop by the Save the Boundary Waters booth in the Dairy Building and learn more about how you can help protect this national treasure.

#savetheBWCA #WildernessYear #BWCA #BoundaryWaters #WeAreTheWild #Wilderness #sunrise #canoe #canoeing

Kids and dogs, parents and grandparents, catching up with old friends and making new ones. . . this week has been filled with people bound together by the Singing Wilderness. Our campsite was even temporarily invaded by a canoe flying a pirate’s flag. Luckily they only brandished smiles and questions. Today is the 337th day of our #WildernessYear to @savetheBWCA and now is a critical time for all Americans to speak loudly for this quite place. Visit http://ift.tt/1x2erSX and sign the petition, donate, volunteer and take action. The Wilderness needs your voice.

The wild rice is ripening, grains gather in the bottom of our canoe our paddles bump the stalks along rice-filled rivers. Fall is approaching and in one month we will paddle out of the Boundary Waters on the final day of our #wildernessyear to @savetheBWCA. We hope you can join the flotilla on 9/23 in Ely, MN, and paddle with us for the final mile across Birch Lake to @riverpointresort. Its going to be a great party!

Amy and I have never taken the time to visit this area before, always rushing past on our way to or from the far north, following arteries of water that stretch from here to the Arctic Ocean. We have paddled and dogsledded the “voyageur highway” across Lac La Croix multiple times, typically traversing the area in a day or two. This 40 mile stretch was always just a tiny snippet of a longer Wilderness adventure covering hundreds or thousands of miles. In the fall of 2011 we paddled across Lac La Croix after spending the better part of a year and a half traveling more than 7,000 miles by kayak, canoe and dogsled from Bellingham, Washington up to the Arctic and then south across Canada to the Boundary Waters.

Now we have the luxury to slow down and be immersed in this place in a very different way. Today is our 334th day of our #wildernessyear to @savetheBWCA. We have visited 452 bodies of water and traveled several thousand miles, but absorbing, documenting and sharing the Wilderness are really our goals. This time there is no rushing past these hidden gems that lie right under our noses. The deep, clear, trout-filled lakes south of Lac La Croix are wild and untrammeled, connected by narrow, moss-covered portage paths. The wildflowers brush our ankles and pine boughs tug at the canoe as we portage past– a refreshing change from the well trodden trails along the border route to our north. Often the path of least resistance is not the most rewarding. A lesson that often rings true in all aspects of our lives.

This Wilderness is just too precious to risk. Please visit http://ift.tt/1x2erSX and help us protect this national treasure.

#savetheBWCA #WildernessYear #BWCA #BoundaryWaters #WeAreTheWild #Wilderness #onlyinmn #capturemn

Solitude and white pine sentinels towering high above their younger neighbors permeate the small lakes and streams south of Lac La Croix.
In 1863 and 1864 significant forest fires burned in the wilderness south of Lac La Croix and more large fires burned through the area in 1894. Farther east, around Basswood Lake, there was significant logging activity in the late 1800s and first half of the 1900s, but the fires that burned in this area made it less desirable during the height of the logging era.

We figure many of the massive white pines that dot the portage trails and ridge tops survived the fires and now tower high above the younger forest. Slowly running our fingers over the course ridges of thick bark protecting these ancient trees, we marvel at their resilience. Standing tall for more than a century of fires, blizzards, ice storms, lightning, wind and drought– what magnificent beings.

Nestled at the base of a giant, its craggy bark pressed against my back, wrapped in the musty smell of dry needles and duff, listening to wind washing over the branches high above, this is the singing Wilderness that Sigurd Olson worked tirelessly to protect.

This is a treasure worth fighting for, a gift to share with future generations. Visit http://ift.tt/1x2erSX and speak loudly for this quite place.

#savetheBWCA #WildernessYear #BWCA #BoundaryWaters #WeAreTheWild #Wilderness #onlyinmn #capturemn

Waking up with the sun is one of the simple pleasures that Wilderness fosters. No buzzes, beeps or alarms– just the light gently washing over us.

This national treasure is too precious to risk. Please speak loudly for this quite place. Visit @savethebwca http://ift.tt/1x2erSX to take action today.

#savetheBWCA #WildernessYear #BWCA #BoundaryWaters #WeAreTheWild #Wilderness #sunrise #onlyinmn #capturemn #cookcustomsewing @seatosummitgear