Archive for November 2022
The Ten Types of BWCA Campsite
Every traveler to the BWCA has their ideal of what a campsite should look like and what features it should have. Perhaps it has a sprawling camp kitchen or a nice overlook. Perhaps it’s perched on an island or alongside a sprawling beach. But whether the campsite is easy to access or is tucked back…
Read MoreLet’s Break the Ice on a BWCA November Canoe Trip!
It’s been snowing all week here in Ely which points to a winter season fast approaching. In the meantime, this is one of the more challenging seasons for wilderness travel with many big lakes still open, smaller lakes starting to freeze, and trails and forests covered in fresh, wet snow. To the majority of…
Read MoreA Fire Perspective: 200 Years of Wildfires
Few natural processes inspire the fear and awe that wildfires do. And in nature, fire is a seeming paradox of death and new life. Gigantic, swirling infernos which engulf the landscape in an unheeding wall of flame become landscape-level scars healed by green shoots and wildflowers. And here in the southern edge of the boreal…
Read MoreThe Lost BWCA Entry Points
The Boundary Waters have always been steeped in discussions of how to manage the number of people who visit it. Unlike western wildernesses, there is no natural filter which prevents large numbers of visitors from enjoying it. Many wilderness areas are remote, buffered by dozens of miles of existing land that one must travel through…
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