November 29, 2015 at 10:04AM

The mercury quickly dropped into the single digits last night and the wind died. Around 10 o’clock we put on an extra layer and walked down to the lake before crawling into our sleeping bags for the night. Their was no wind, the lake was mirror smooth, and stars blanketed the sky, reflecting off the lake. Silence filled the air, a silence that was remarkable even when surrounded by this vast Wilderness. Amy said she had never heard such silence when the lakes weren’t frozen; when even the slightest breeze blows, you can hear it in the tree branches and lapping water. Our surroundings were even devoid of that faint sound last night in the perfect stillness.

There is a lot of emphasis on the water pollution that sulfide-ore mines are notorious for creating and the risks they would bring to the Boundary Waters watershed if the proposed sulfide-ore mines are built. These risks are very real, but after crawling into my sleeping bag, I couldn’t help but think of the massive rock crushers, giant trucks the size of houses that are increasingly driven remotely by people from hundreds of miles away, and all of the machinery that run 24/7 in industrial mining zones.
The noise and lights of a industrial mining zone would have a dramatic effect on the dozens of resorts, campgrounds, outfitters, wilderness schools, and other business that surround Twin Metals proposed mine site and would carry well across the Wilderness boundary.
True silence is one of Boundary Water’s greatest assets. Standing by Knife Lake last night was a wonderful reminder of how valuable true silence is.
This morning ice rimmed the shore of the bay behind our campsite. The lake steamed as it cooled in the 8 degree morning air. The silence was broken by a gentle tingling sound, reverberating from the line where ice meets open water.

Please support @savetheBWCA and their efforts to the protect the silence and all the other things that make the Boundary Waters a national treasure.
#wildernessyear #savetheBWCA #BoundaryWaters #silence #peace #wilderness #onlyinMN #sunrise #beautiful