handmade white cedar canoe
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BWCA Exploration Adventure into the WILDERNESS!

May 2, 2020
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This is a true BWCA exploration adventure into the wilderness! True wilderness adventures do not involve roads to travel on, or electricity to provide conveniences, nor cell signal can be available. Character will see you through! Life’s challenges, when responded to correctly, are character builders. God is interested in our ever-developing character.

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“Wilderness is a necessity there must be places for human beings to satisfy their souls.”  ~John Muir

 

I must preface this blog post with disclosing that I knew what I was agreeing to before I married my husband! He was clear, as was his family, that they had this FAMILY TRADITION in place well before I arrived on the scene in his life! His family had been enjoying this excursion since my husband was in his early twenties as a family. It sounded like quite an adventure! I had grown up camping at state parks, so I thought it wouldn’t be much different. HA! I was wrong!

  • 1999
  • 2005

When I say that I “knew” what I was getting into…I meant that we had “talked” about his passion for wilderness camping and fishing, but talking (imagining) about something and (physically) doing it are two very different things entirely!

2017 SAWBILL CAMPGROUND
  • 2017
2017

So, I am always up for an adventure or an idea of exploration! I have even developed a BUCKET LIST of future travel ideas! Several times while sitting around campfires, we have dreamed up ideas for exploration from the maps.

I love surmising a side trip, unplanned, to just see what’s there. The idea of the unknown sparks the adventurer in me.

  • 2019

Tradition in my husband’s family is taken very seriously. The canoe tradition that coincides with summer BWCA adventures must be explained, as well. A work ethic along with craftsmanship ability are nurtured concepts in our children. It is their choice to embrace these ideas as their own over time.

Both my husband Galen, and his brother Charles, handmade award winning canoes while in high school. Charles routinely uses his thirty year old handmade redwood canoe on current BWCA trips. Galen used his until it was necessary to make severe fiberglass repairs (which he performed this past winter). The cover photo for this post highlights Charles’ canoe and my son Jacob’s handmade white cedar & redwood canoe. Jacob finished his canoe his junior year of high school. He won first place in the State of Michigan’s Industrial Arts open division and was named the Grand Award winner in the State of Michigan in 2017. This is the canoe he will use for a lifetime of exploration and adventures in BWCA!

  • Interested in owning your own white cedar canoe? Currently booking orders for custom made canoes 1 year in advance @ www.robinsonwoodshop.com

Below, Jacob is portaging his canoe on a recent BWCA trip. He did add Kevlar to both ends of the canoe as the BWCA is full of jagged rocks! He also added copper nose tips to both ends to protect the pivot points when flipping the canoe while upside down.

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  • BWCA Exploration Adventure into the WILDERNESS!

BWCA Exploration Adventure into the WILDERNESS!

I digress, sorry, back to the story. The wilderness trip actually starts months prior to the permit date of entry. Tons of planning occurs many weeks ahead of time to ensure safety, enjoyment, and equipment needs. The Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA) is a 1,090,000 acre national park located within Superior National Park located in the Northeastern part of Minnesota connected to Canada on the north, administered by the U.S. Forestry Service.

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The premise behind this wilderness experience is to portage (carry your canoe over land) and pack (carry all of your belongings) through a circuit of lakes over a duration of time in the wilderness. The land and your pack must provide for all your needs for the duration of your wilderness excursion. Careful planning (by the ounce of packed weight), ensures a successful, enjoyable experience. Lightweight pots & pans, sleeping bags, limited clothing, lightweight hammocks, etc. Your foul weather gear and hiking boot choices are probably the two most important gear choices you will make along with your canoe weight and length! Choose wisely or misery will follow!

The adventure of camping, fishing, paddling, and surviving proves to oneself the ability to “live off the land” while creating lifelong bonds and memories with your group! It is a test of endurance, ability, strength, determination, and physical prowess. Boy, does it feel good to show yourself what you are capable of achieving! Each of my boys learned this at an early age. They each started joining this trip after five years old. Jacob began carrying his own canoe and being responsible for his partner in the canoe front while in middle school. His younger brother Josh began this role later while in high school. Each boy is more than capable to captain their own canoe with an inexperienced partner.

  • Interested in owning your own white cedar canoe? Currently booking orders for custom made canoes 1 year in advance @ www.robinsonwoodshop.com

Permitted groups in BWCA can be no larger that nine people and 4 canoes per wilderness campsite that is marked with a fire grate and a trail leading into the wilderness where at the end of the trail you will find a latrine. Some lakes if they are large may have a handful of campsites, some lakes when you get there may not have any if they are small. You rely on your map. If the campsite is taken…you must push on to find a vacant one at the next lake or retrace your steps (or paddles) to return to where you may have passed up a vacant site.

Well, let’s start by saying that I am pretty great at assimilating to new situations that I may find myself within, usually. I will admit at first (the first few years that my husband’s family did this annual late July/ early August trip) that while I enjoyed myself and the time spent with family, I wondered why I was torturing myself with this hot, sweaty, dirty, physical exertion in the wilderness with bugs that drive you bananas and ever present signs of bear, without a shower, indoor plumbing, or ice cubes in my drinks? I would find myself DAYDREAMING OF LUXURY VACATIONS while roughing it! Let’s just say that now twenty something years later…I really do get it! It truly is an AMAZING ADVENTURE everyone should experience! I’ll explain!

  • Unparalleled family bonding! PIN IT #6
BWCA stream photos
“The wilderness is a place of an encounter with the creator.” ~Lailah Gifty Akita PIN IT #9

Something magical happens when you spend a week with your family or friends (whomever make up your group of no more than nine.) Bonding happens. No electronics (no signal), no distractions, no deadlines, no time keeping. It’s about the elements and survival and relying on your group. Each person in the group is a spoke in the wheel of success or failure.

You have your water supply person, your camp cook, your camp cleaner (dishes), your wood gatherer, your fire starter, your bear rope preparer (food storage system 6 feet off the ground suspended between two large trees), your fishermen or fisherwomen, who is going to clean the fish, tent or hammock set-up for each person, also. All the jobs have to be performed. Once landing at your intended destination, the first task is setting up shelter.

We traditionally used tents, but in recent years have transitioned to hammocks.

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Next is to start the water purifier, collect firewood, and set-up the “bear ropes” to secure your food rigged up in the trees. Once those tasks are complete it’s time to swim, prepare a meal, or explore and fish!

Of course fishing is the highlight of the trips! Fishing happens daily from first light until dusk. Each trip we can’t wait to see who will catch the first fish. Who will catch the biggest Pike, Walleye, or Bass, etc. My oldest son, Jacob, reeled this in last year in disbelief! The fish were biting aggressively that day!

I MUST preface this section with the fact that Galen, my husband, is normally the guy with the camera on these trips, ironically, he is also probably the best fisherman in the group. He’s typically the first one to catch a fish each year and when we are hungry for a meal…he’s the first one out fishing and usually has the best stringer at the end of the day! Notice few photos of him with the fish? That’s because he was taking all the photos and not posing!

Another big consideration is tackle! Each person believes their tackle is the BEST! From mister twisters to long-A-bombers and everything in between. Many fishing regulations have changed from year-to-year on “how many” of “what length” by species fish can be kept. Please consult your current fishing license to determine what can go on your stringer or what must be catch and release each fishing season! These photos are from various years, obviously!

We’ve each had our moments of fishing glory during these adventures.

But the glory I want to share with you is about a lost camera!

So, one particular year we ventured up to BWCA’s Horse Lake in July. I was reeling this guy in (below), of coarse I was screaming and hopping around in the canoe seat, etc. So, my husband was trying to steady the canoe as we were in the middle of the lake. He was twisting and turning in his canoe chair, kneeling, trying to get the pike out of the water for me, etc. Bottom line, somehow the camera and case were no longer at his waist on his belt where he had placed them when we finally had landed the fish.

  • The pike that triggered the “lost camera”.

We were elated about the fish, but devastated at the lost camera. The murky water was deep, the lake large, and photos from other trips were still on that SD card…(VERY BAD PRACTICE…learn from our mistake!) We were bummed! We looked everywhere…no camera to be found and we knew that we’d had it with us when we left to go fishing!

We were sick about the lost SD card mostly, but also the camera. We prayed about it and asked God to help us locate the camera, more importantly the SD card somehow! Cameras can be replaced, but not those precious photo memories!

After the trip, back at the outfitter, SPIRIT OF THE WILDERNESS (the nearest form of civilization where we’d stopped to shower) the man there asked if anyone had caught anything worthy of a local fishing competition submission. I said that I had landed a big pike and commenced to submit my information relaying this story on my form along with the photo from my brother-in-law’s (above) camera that he’d taken for us. Below is what was published in their local paper and sent to me. (I was famous for 15 minutes in Ely, MN population 3,724!) BIG THANKS TO THIS OUTFITTER!!!

We returned home disappointed that we’d lost our favorite camera, but more importantly ALL THOSE PHOTOS from the 32 G SD card…probably a years worth of photos.

August 23, later that month, the blessed phone call arrived! The waterproof camera had been found! It had changed hands several times prior to finding its way to us! We don’t know the specific details, but either someone dove to retrieve it, or it washed up on shore (A BLACK CASE with an orange camera inside.) It was handed off to a US Forest Service Ranger who was out on a two week circuit. He carried it around for who knows how long before it was turned into someone who thought they had seen the newspaper article. Apparently, someone turned it on, the batteries still worked, the SD card had photos that matched my face from the newspaper to give them a name. Then, the dots were connected back to my name being cross referenced by the registered BWCA permit information, provided contact info., etc. What are the odds of that ever happening? Well, …the odds were great because God answers prayers!

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Here is the lesson that we’ve learned about asking God to take care of problems in our life. Whether they are BIG or SMALL problems, pray about it! He is no respecter of a problem (size) not being significant to him. ALL of our cares are significant. Try Him and see! The impact of this moment reminded us of that fact. I hope you will also have such a moment to remind you that He does care about you. BIG or SMALL problems. Trust in HIM!

God uses our problems to PERFECT us. Problems, when responded to correctly, are character builders. God is interested in our character. Our relationship to God and our character are two things WE WILL take with us into eternity.

“Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” Romans NIV 5:3-4

I hope you will consider a trip into the wilderness on your next travel adventure! Bonds you’ve never dreamed possible develop for a lifetime amongst your group. Experiences like no other are achieved. I challenge you! Stretch your character!

Leave a comment below to let me know of a time where God met you with a learning moment over a problem you encountered!

Did you notice some affiliate links along the way?? If you plan to buy any of the products we mentioned or search for other purchases, please consider clicking through our link on this page. It won’t cost you a dime, and it will help our website continue running and offering you further inspirational travel adventures!

Inspirationally Yours,

Barbara

BIO: https://www.inspirationaltraveladventures.com/about-us/

About Me

A 1993 graduate of Michigan State University, Barbara earned a BS in Social Science Pre-Law. She is a Business Manager/HR Director. Her passion is travel, discovering new places, experiences, cuisine, cultures while enjoying temperate climates. Barbara is a newly transitioning empty-nester who became a travel blogger. She’s a great photographer, talented writer, and has a great family to highlight in her high school/college athlete football sons.

WEBSITE: www.inspirationaltraveladventures.com

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TRAVEL BLOG🛩 * ADVENTURE🛶 * INSPIRATION🌞 Thanks for exploring our travel blog! We hope to assist you in your next adventure through learning from ours! We are transitioning empty-nesters perpetually seeking our next luxury snorkeling adventure! Daily God’s awe inspiring inspiration surrounds us with all of His natural beauty in every direction if we but slow down to observe. Take a moment each day to ENJOY!

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