The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness is a large tract of land in Northeastern Minnesota, on the Canadian Border, which has been set aside as a wilderness area. Minnesota is the "land of 10,000 lakes" and the wilderness is full of them both large and small. Motors are not allowed through most of the BWCAW and the canoe is the preferred method of transportation. The area is very scenic with birch, poplar and fir forests sprouting out of the rocky landscape. Sheer rock cliffs rise out of many of the lakes and islands are abundant. Wildlife includes Moose, Wolf, Black Bear, Beaver, Otter, Eagles, Osprey, and waterfowl including the Minnesota State Bird; the Loon. Fishing is fantastic on many of the lakes. There are also a lot of bugs at certain times of the year including black fly, no-see-ums, deer fly, ticks and mosquitoes. Camping is primitive with most sites being equiped with only a fire grate and a non-enclosed latrine. It is paradise for those who really like to get away from it all.

With my interests in camping and canoeing as well as living in the upper midwest most of my life, I often dreamed about going on a trip to the Boundary Waters. But, it took me until August of 1992 (when I was over 40) for my dreams to come true. That year, I went as a chaperone with a church youth group. We entered on Lake One and followed Lakes Two and Three into Lake Four. We camped for 2 nights on Lake Four. I took two of the youth (my daughter included) on a day trip into Hudson Lake, and looped via Fire Lake back into Lake Four. On our third day, we paddled back to Lake One, camped on an island overnight, and exited the Boundary Waters the next day. It wasn't a very challenging trip, and it definitely did not get us away from the crowds but, it set the hook!

Three years later (June 1995) I was back with a vengence. First I went on a 6 day trip with a group of mostly adults from our church (although my then 16 year old daughter was along). We entered at the Little Indian Sioux River, Travelled through Shell, Oyster, Rock, Green, Gabeonequet, Pocket, Finger, Thumb, the Bear Tracks, and into Lac La Croix at Snow Bay. From Lac La Croix, we went into Loon Lake, then down the Loon River to Little Vermilion Lake and finally, out Crane Lake. This was much more challenging and, for the most part, more remote than that first trip, although we shared the waters on the last day with several motor boats.

Four days after the church trip, I was back in the Boundary Waters again -- this time on a five day trip with a Boy Scout group (4 boys, one other adult). We entered on Lake One and spent the first night camped on an island on the east end of Hudson Lake. The second day, we moved the short distance to Lake Insula where we spent the next 3 nights before returning to Lake One on the last day. While at Insula, we made a day trip through Alice Lake into Fishdance Lake to see the Indian Pictographs. It seemed like everywhere we turned we saw moose on this trip. They were almost as numerous as the Loons!

For a change of pace, in June 1998, I led a group of scouts on a 2 day backpacking trip on the Angleworm Lake trail. It was interesting seeing the Boundary Waters from the high ridges and cliffs instead of at water level.

A couple of weeks after the backpacking trip, I was back again for another 6 day canoe trip with a group from church. We put in at the Little Indian Sioux River again and to start with followed pretty much the same track as we did in '95 but, instead of going on Lac La Croix, we went south through Section 3 Pond and Slim Lake into East Loon Bay, then portaged over to Heritage Lake and back into Shell and returned to the Little Indian Sioux River. This again was a challenging trip, but much more enjoyable than the time we came out at Crane Lake. This was the first time I saw significant rainfall in the Boundary Waters. We had some rain almost every day with rain almost the entire 3rd day. But, we had a great time anyway.

January, 1999 -- another change of pace. I went on a 3 day cross country skiing/camping trip with 2 men from Minneapolis/St. Paul. We entered through Sawbill and set up camp on Alton Lake. From there, we went on day trips to Beth and Ella Lakes. It's definitely different up there during the winter but very beautiful in a different way.

In September, 1999, I talked my wife into a day-tripping excursion to the BWCAW area. We camped at the Fenske Lake NFS campground and day tripped from there. The first day, we set up camp and paddled around Fenske Lake. On the second day, we put in at South Hegman Lake and traveled up through North Hegman to Trease Lake, stopping to see the pictographs on the way. We then exited through South Hegman again and returned to our camp at Fenske. The third day, we day tripped up the Little Indian Sioux River, through the Pauness Lakes to see the Devil's Cascade. After this, the weather turned cold, windy, and wet so we just toured Ely for the rest of our stay, visiting the International Wolf Center and the Dorothy Molter Museum among other things.

I just couldn't get enough in 1999. The second weekend of October, I returned to the Angleworm Lake Trail for a solo backpacking trip. The weather and colors were great!

In 2000, I took 6 trips to the Boundary Waters, a winter campout in February, a solo attempt to hike the Pow Wow trail in April, a canoe trip with my Dad in the Isabella Lake area in July/August, another solo attempt to hike the Pow Wow trail in October, a hike on the Angleworm Lake Trail with 5 others in November, and another winter campout on New Year's weekend.

Trips in 2001 included a 4 day trip over the Memorial Day weekend in the Crab Lake area, and my first canoe solo in the Lake One to Insula Lake area. The latter trip also included my first visit to a Primitive Management Area (PMA).

So far, I have pictures from the 2nd of the 1995 trips, the 1998 trip, the winter 1999 trip, the September 1999 trip, the October 1999 trip, the Summer 2000 canoe trip, the October 2000 backpacking trip, the November 2000 backpacking trip, the New Year's 2000/2001 winter campout, the Memorial Day 2001 canoe trip, and the June 2001 solo canoe trip posted on this site. Hopefully, I'll have more soon. Enjoy!