Following the “Billy Goat” portages between Fourtown Lake and Mudro Lake makes you feel like you are entering another world. The rugged portages follow a deep, cliff-lined ravine. Scrambling up and down the the rocky, undulating trail feels like you are in the mountains.
Yesterday Jeff, Jacob, and Joseph Goldstein, Jason Jabokrtsky, Amy and I harnessed up their dog team as well as our dogs and headed out to explore the “Billy Goat” portages, looking for ice. Icicles often form on the cliffs along the portages. The portages are too steep and rocky for dog sleds. We tied off the dogs at the end of the portages and walked and snowshoed through the deep snow down the gorge. After half a mile, our hard work was rewarded by a magnificent sight. Long sheets of ice lined the cliffs and formed miniature jail cells with bars made of ice. Jacob, Amy, and I all took turns being locked in jail.
The Goldsteins have been coming to the Boundary Waters in the summer and the winter since Joseph was a small child. He and his brothers love the Wilderness and we are always excited when they come and visit. Joseph was diagnosed with leukemia in the fall of 2014. Despite his illness he is working tirelessly with the Campaign to Save the Boundary Waters to protect the Wilderness from the sulfide-ore copper mines that are being proposed along the southern edge of the Wilderness.
Winter camping is a challenge no matter how you slice it. Most people visit the Wilderness in the summer. The extra skills and energy required to camp in the Boundary Waters in the winter discourage many people from visiting during this magical time. Joseph is determined to resupply us once a season during #wildernessyear to @savetheBWCA. In between chemotherapy treatments Joseph and his dad and brother have now visited us twice– once in the fall, and now in the winter. Joseph’s courage, dedication, and determination are a true inspiration.
Yesterday Jeff, Jacob, and Joseph Goldstein, Jason Jabokrtsky, Amy and I harnessed up their dog team as well as our dogs and headed out to explore the “Billy Goat” portages, looking for ice. Icicles often form on the cliffs along the portages. The portages are too steep and rocky for dog sleds. We tied off the dogs at the end of the portages and walked and snowshoed through the deep snow down the gorge. After half a mile, our hard work was rewarded by a magnificent sight. Long sheets of ice lined the cliffs and formed miniature jail cells with bars made of ice. Jacob, Amy, and I all took turns being locked in jail.
The Goldsteins have been coming to the Boundary Waters in the summer and the winter since Joseph was a small child. He and his brothers love the Wilderness and we are always excited when they come and visit. Joseph was diagnosed with leukemia in the fall of 2014. Despite his illness he is working tirelessly with the Campaign to Save the Boundary Waters to protect the Wilderness from the sulfide-ore copper mines that are being proposed along the southern edge of the Wilderness.
Winter camping is a challenge no matter how you slice it. Most people visit the Wilderness in the summer. The extra skills and energy required to camp in the Boundary Waters in the winter discourage many people from visiting during this magical time. Joseph is determined to resupply us once a season during #wildernessyear to @savetheBWCA. In between chemotherapy treatments Joseph and his dad and brother have now visited us twice– once in the fall, and now in the winter. Joseph’s courage, dedication, and determination are a true inspiration.
Please join Joseph and thousands of others like him who are working tirelessly to protect this national treasure. Please sign the petition by following the link in our bio. Donate, volunteer, call your elected officials, and make your voice heard.
