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
