“A wilderness, in contrast with those areas where man and his own works dominate the landscape, is hereby recognized as an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain.”  -Wilderness Act of 1964 The Wilderness Act of 1964 created a legal definition of wilderness in […]

It’s amazing how fast things change in the north woods.  After a seemingly unending, unchanging six months of white the transitions that occur during the first few weeks of spring are startling and can be hard to keep track of.   The changes are not just those of the natural variety.  While the woods are exploding with an unwavering fecundity that […]

After an interminable winter that came on early and didn’t give up without a fight the ice is finally out, the green up has just begun and the open water season is here up in the great north country.  There is truly a love hate relationship with winter up here and it is front loaded.  Those first flakes that fly […]

Today we finally broke our ties with Fall Lake and Ely by paddling 12 miles out to Canadian Point on big Basswood. The day brought mostly sunny skies, temperatures in the mid 50’s and light winds. It was a perfect day to be in a canoe. A 90 rod portage became a 200 rod portage as we maneuvered gear around low water and […]

We paddled in the snow today, definitely a first for me. Making our way off of Eden Island early we made it to the portage into Beaverhouse in under an hour. The portage out of Quetico Lake seemed ancient, as it was littered with old water heaters and frames from what must have been Model-T’s. Beaverhouse is an enormous lake. We were relieved to […]

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 […]