March 26, 2016 at 10:13AM

Gone are the days when I wake up in the dark to light the stove. I lay in bed this morning listening to the wind and watching dawn slowly bring light into our world. I was struck by the sheer silence that surrounds us. I found myself wondering what it be like to hear cars and trucks, fans, phones, sirens, TVs, door bells, and all the other noisy clutter that fills life outside the Wilderness. I feel very lucky to have woken up in a tent several thousand times over the course of my life. Listening to nature seems a fitting way to emerge from sleep whether it’s the crack of thunder during a midnight storm, or a silent, still, foggy dawn.

This morning we ate a quick breakfast, harnessed the dogs, and headed out to explore a couple of nearby lakes. Muskrat and Trinity are small, dead-end lakes just a stone’s throw from Fraser. I have paddled through Fraser several times, but have never taken the time to visit Muskrat or Trinity. Large white pines dotted the portage trail into Muskrat; Trinity was lined with mature pines as well.
We collected water quality data in both lakes, drilling through 14 inches of ice and lowering our probes down the hole. The spring weather makes it easier to take measurements, but handling the wet cable is still a cold job. It is really nice to not have to worry about drifting while taking measurements though. When we record data from our canoe it can be hard to stay in place!

#wildernessyear #savetheBWCA #BoundaryWaters #water #BWCA #science #silence #wilderness