Our 6 member team for the August 11-15th BWCAW canoe trip
Somewhere during the long 16 hr. drive from Akron, OH to the Gunflint Trail north of Grand Marias, Minnesota
Wisconsin farmland
Welcome to Duluth, Minnesota
Downtown Duluth, Minnesota
A visit to the Duluth Pack store
Chuck and Cort examining a map
Tons of Duluth Packs!
Vincent gets a little friendly with a Moose
Through the tunnels on the coast of Lake Superior
Lake Superior Trading Post, Grand Marias, Minnesota
Traditional trailhead of the Gunflint Trail
Along the Gunflint Trail are many trees burnt from recent forest fires
Our canoe outfitters, Way of the Wilderness
Bill at our campsite Sunday evening
Sam digging through his infamous backpack (he never did tell us what all he had in there)
Monday morning before our wildernnes entry
Cort unloads gear at our entry point
Loading up
First strokes: Sam and Bill depart from our entry point
The uncommonly smooth Lake Saganaga (we made record time with such calm waters)
A perturbed Bald Eagle flys a circuit above the water befoer disappearing over the next hill
Cort and Vincent taking powerful strokes
At the end of Monument Portage (our second portage on the way out)
Leaving Monument Portage
Chuck entering Ottertracke Lake
Base camp, Rabbit Lake
Tired from the long days paddle (about 12 miles)
The view across from our base camp
Hanging our food packs up where the bears can't get at them
Goodnight Rabbit Lake
Day 2: Chuck with his snorkel (some of the team members swam every morning and evening)
Bill's three seater Ultralight canoe
Moose poop!
Chuck on a hike through the wooks (it was this thickly forested everywhere!)
“Bear Poop Mountain” from the Lake Ester side (there is a story behind the name)
Vincent on “Bear Poop Mountian”
Cort reaches for his camera (I beat him to it)
Through the monocular
Ah, that's better! (our campsite is somewhere over there)
A view of the southern end of Lake Ester
Panorama from “Bear Poop Mountain”
One of the two man tents
Evening settles on Rabbit Lake
Blueberry pancakes for breakfast!
Blueberries grow wild here (these are some of the biggest we found)
Day 3: Fishing trip
Entering Gift Lake
A Loon flaps its wings
A pretty waterfall between two lakes we traveled through on our fishing trip
Big bug!
Chuck fishing from a rock in Fish Lake
Chuck's first fish (it was too small to keep for the frying pan)
After lunch and a long day of fishing on Fish Lake
Fish Lake was in a forest fires in 2006 (notice how quickly vegitation is growing back and how a few trees survived the fire)
A HUGE spider
Another group picture
Paddling back to base camp, fish in tow
Getting ready to portage
Vincent's catch (a Northern Pike)
Sam holds all of the fish we caught that day (his big fish got away before he could reel it all the way in)
Josiah and Bill filleting the days catch
Fish fry!
Bill read from his book that he is writing about Rolf Skrein the founder of Way of the Wilderness outfitters
Day 4: Packing up base camp
Vincent and Cort pulling up to a portage off Lake Ester
Vincent portaging strong
Sam, making his pass on the Lake Ester portage (carry the heavy stuff first and enjoy a lighter load the second time through!)
Bill with a tumpline on his forehead to help him carry the heavy canvas Duluth Pack on his back
Cort portaging the aluminum canoe
Chuck carries the sleeping bags in a 50 year old Duluth Pack
Grandfather and grandson (Chuck and Josiah) at the International Boundary Line on Monument Portage
Vincent and Cort, canoeing partners
A secci disk we used to measure water clearity (the clearest lake we could see over 25 feet down)
Light breezes, Lake Saganaga
Our campsite on Long Island, Lake Saganaga
Hungery for Dinner (Broccoli Cheese Soup, the best freeze-dried food on the whole trip)
A family of ducks
Sunset on Sag
Vincent on Lake Saganaga
Day 5: Morning breaks
Sleepy Sam
Paddling back to the trailhead
Back at the entry point, tired, sunburnt, and hungry
Loading up our gear
Last photo on the Gunflint Trail
Catching shut-eye
Grand Marias harbor, Minnesota
Artist's Point, Grand Marias
Grand Marias harbor, U.S. Coast Guard outpost
Sunset on the harbor, Grand Marias, Minnesota
Moon over Lake Superior
Smoke in the sunset, Grand Marias, Minnesota
The end
