Posts by Clearwater Staff

This morning started out beautifully, with a simultaneous sunrise and moonset. The morning quickly deteriorated into gray skies and drizzle. We packed up camp and headed for Atikokan. It took us a little over an hour to reach the landing at Nym Lake. We stashed the canoe and walked through an empty parking lot down to the Trans Canadian Highway, a mile to the...

Camping in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area is typically what people think of when they think of camping in Cook County and more specifically the Superior National Forest.  These are campsites within the road less wilderness that require some effort to access, whether by canoe, foot and in some areas boat.  There is something to be said about taking the...

Even though the days grow longer, we are still in the throes of a an interminable winter.  Thoughts of soft water, warm nights and new routes through the BWCA and Quetico increase as we draw closer.  The mind travels, but unfortunately the body cannot follow, yet.  At best we can relive old trips, and plan new ones.  The best part...

In 1964, Jocko and Lee Nelson purchased Clearwater Lake Lodge and the four remaining cabins.  Outside of the Boostroms the Nelson family is the longest tenured and well known owners of the lodge.  With the Boundary Waters being officially established in 1964, they had to remove all the motor boats from within the parks boundaries and reestablish the canoe outfitting...

Recently we wrote a blog listing some of our favorite quick hikes off of the Gunflint Trail.  These were hikes that take between 1-3 hours with a couple of them even being under an hour specifically for people with limited time on their hands, children, or are new to hiking.  We will be expanding on our list of hiking options...

Best Short Hikes on the Gunflint Trail The plethora of hiking options on the Gunflint Trail can be overwhelming, especially if it is your first time visiting or have limited time, or even worse both.  There are hiking trails that run on for 40 miles in one direction, or trails that have so many turns and loops you should not...

Periods of heavy rain assault our tents throughout the night. We linger in our sleeping bags listening to the wet world. For now we are warm, dry and satisfied. We try not to think about the inevitable. Eventually the rain wears us down mentally, never letting us forget about all that water we have been drinking. Finally we are forced...

A disorienting field of gray cloaks everything. I raise my head up out of my hammock far enough to see the thickest fog imaginable. We very well could be camped on the top of a mountain. My eyes provide me with the only information available; I’m hanging between two trees. It takes a bleary second but my mind reminds me...

My eyes and mind adjust to the confusion of oriented strand board as I wake. It takes me a second to recall my surroundings. We squeeze out of our narrow bunks and begin packing yesterday’s purchases. Our story may have included a weary retreat if it had not been for Jim and the people at Canoe Canada Outfitters, we are...

Over the years in talking with people on a daily basis in the summer about what we do up here in the winter I have come to the conclusion that what keeps most people from enjoying the Gunflint Trail and Boundary Waters in the winter is their fear of the cold.  Although I am not advocating that everybody jumps right...