Dave's Knot Here! - Canoeing - 2003 BWCAW Trip Log

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Saturday, Sunday and Monday — Getting There and Going Out

2003 Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Trip Log — Part 1

This is the Trip Journal of David L. Largent

(Crew members: Dave, Jon, Brian, Zach, Brad and Dustin – one crew of three from the troop)

Saturday, July 19, 2003

5:00 AM -- I arose after going to bed at 2:00 AM (I was packing and waiting for Jon’s laundry to finish – he’d been at Camp Mack the week before). Jon and I arrived at the troop room at 6:10 AM. After packing and repacking the vans, we eventually got everything in and left Muncie at 7:00 AM – only 25 minutes late.

10:15 AM – First rest/gas stop in Bloomington, IL (15 minutes)

Noon – Stopped for lunch at a rest stop. We were back on the road at 12:35 PM.

2:00 PM – 15 minute rest/gas stop

3:40 PM – Arrived at Mill Bluff State Park in Wisconsin, our home for the night.

4:30 PM – Tents set up; headed into Thoma for dinner.

6:30 PM – Arrived back at state park.

7:00 PM – A few of us went on a hike with a State Park naturalist to study wild flowers. We also hiked to the top of Mill Bluff, where we had a great view of the surrounding area. This and other surrounding bluffs were islands in the “glacial” Lake Wisconsin.

8:30 PM – Back at campsite. The youth started a small campfire and headed to bed around 10:30 PM. Brian and I stayed up talking until 12:30 AM.

End of day 1 – all in all a good day.

Sunday, July 20, 2003

5:15 AM – I arose and went to find a good venue to watch the sun rise then waited fifteen minutes for the sun to rise above the clouds on the Eastern horizon. I headed back to camp and packed up my gear. Breakfast of cereal, doughnuts, juice and bananas followed.

6:50 AM – Short Scout’s Own led by Brad. Each of us shared what we like about the out-of-doors. Afterwards, Jon led us in the Scout Oath, Scout Law, and the Outdoor Code.

7:30 AM – On the road again… headed for Gooseberry Falls, and then Tuscarora Lodge and Canoe Outfitters north of Grand Marais, MN.

10:25 AM – Rest/gas stop – 25 minutes.

11:15 AM – We’ve entered Duluth and therefore Minnesota!

11:55 AM – Lunch at Two Harbors, MN

12:30 PM – Lunch is done and we’re headed to Gooseberry Falls.

1:00 PM – Arrived at Gooseberry Falls. The temperature has dropped. It was in the high seventies (F) until we got to Duluth; it’s around sixty (F) at the falls! Everyone was free to walk around the falls with a buddy. Brian and I followed the new boardwalk and foot bridges across the river and circled around under the road bridge. We then followed a trail down to Lake Superior. The cold air coming in off the lake was hitting the warmer inland air and forming a think fog that you could see rolling in.

2:30 PM – Headed to Grand Marias.

3:45 PM – Arrived at Grand Marias; filled up with gas, looked around town and ate dinner.

5:40 PM – Headed up the Gun Flint Trail to Tuscarora Lodge and Canoe Outfitters. When we left Grand Marais, it was overcast and around sixty degrees (F). As we headed inland, it warmed up into the mid sixties and started raining. I called Lois before we left Grand Marais to say “hi” and let her know we made it this far.

OK, it’s no longer raining. It is POURING BUCKETS of water! I hope Mother Nature is getting this out of her system now and that this is not a hint of what we have in store for us the rest of the week! As we turned onto the road for Tuscarora Lodge and Canoe Outfitters, the sun came out, although it was still raining. A great big beautiful rainbow appeared. Thank you Lord!

6:45 PM – We arrived at Tuscarora Lodge and Canoe Outfitters. The rain has stopped. We moved into bunkhouses 5 and 6; one for youth and one for adults. We then headed up for orientation with the outfitters. Our crew was the first to plan our route. There’s hope of going fifty miles.

8:30 PM -- We finished up and headed over to the trading post to buy fishing licenses, and back to the bunkhouse to pack our gear into the Duluth packs.

10:30 PM -- Off to bed. I almost got to sleep and then…

10:45 PM – Kent and Ben showed up; they had another activity that meant they couldn’t leave with the group Saturday morning.

Monday, July 21, 2003

5:30 AM - I arose to an overcast sky with a few small patches of blue sky, so there’s hope. I got a picture of the sunrise – sort of. Went back to the bunkhouse and finished getting my gear packed. All ready for breakfast!

7:00 AM – Breakfast in the outfitter’s dining hall: French toast, strawberries and bananas, hot chocolate and orange juice – all good. All of our crew was ready before breakfast, so I went and told the outfitter we were ready. Thirty minutes later we were on our way to the Sea Gull Lake entry point. We had our canoes packed and were on our way around 9:00 AM. Our first lake: Sea Gull.

The wind was nothing like I experienced on this lake five years ago, although it was still strong enough to provide a few small whitecaps in the main part of the lake. Fortunately, the wind was either behind us, or coming from our right (East) as we traveled through the lake. We took the Northerly route across the lake. After we got about a third of the way across, I realized we should probably have taken the “wind route” to the West. We pushed though and did make it. Some of the waves were big enough that we had to be careful to not get our canoe parallel to the wave or we’d have taken on water! As it was, with Jon in the bow and me in the stern, many of the waves were breaking over the sides because the bow was a bit lower than the stern.

We made it to our goal of Jasper Lake and found a nice little campsite. A little more tent space would have been nice, but we made do. There were lots of ripe raspberries up the trail to the latrine. Arriving at the campsite mid afternoon, we didn’t rush to make dinner. Some of the crew members waded in the water, some fished and others just relaxed. Eventually dinner was prepared (steaks!), cleaned up, and the crew relaxed for a while.

At the end of the evening, we gathered around our small campfire and reviewed Safe Swim Defense and Safety Afloat. (I planned to do this on the drive up, but never quite got it done!) We reflected on what worked, and what needed changed about today’s activities. I also read the first part of the paper about the Voyageurs. Jon led us in a discussion about the first three points of the Scout Law (trustworthy, loyal, and helpful) and how they related to our experiences of today. Soon after, the crew drifted off to bed. We had a great sunset this evening.

Last changed on 12/10/05.