Our winter season is ending abruptly, and we’re making the most of it. Ice skating is a great way to be out on the lakes now at the end of the season. On a warm and sunny late-winter day, the snow on top of the ice melts into water. Then, over the course of a…
While we’ve fortunately had adequate snow for dogsledding this winter, we sure haven’t had the typical piling on of the white stuff. This week I guided a couple of families from the Twin Cities area. They arrived from the brown landscape of the Cities and enjoyed the fresh falling snow on White Iron Lake. About…
With some advanced planning, you can be sleeping in the Boundary Waters under your choice of a full moon or a new moon. A full moon provides perfect light for night paddling and other nighttime activities. The moon rays cast shadows across the rocks, and the beams shimmer off the lakes. Such a setting may…
Plan your next Boundary Waters canoe trip for the best chance of seeing shooting stars! You’ll escape light pollution and find the Boundary Waters is a great location to view meteor showers. Imagine lying on your back after a day of paddling and seeing shooting stars all around you! Here are the dates and descriptions…
View Larger Map Depending on who manufactured the maps you’re looking at, you may find the Little Gabbro Lake portage listed as 104 rods, 200 rods, or 290 rods. It’s the only BWCAW portage I’m aware of that has such wildly different lengths listed on different maps. It’s not unusual for the same portage to…
The US Forest Service provided the following information on campsite changes for the start of the 2012 paddling season: Some BWCAW lakes and rivers will have fewer campsites open for use as a result of the Pagami Creek Fire. Forest Service crews will be opening most impacted campsites early in the 2012 season. However, some…
The US Forest Service has notified us of the following changes due to the Pagami Creek Fire: Forest Service staff evaluated BWCAW campsites within the Pagami Creek Fire burn area and determined that some need to be closed until they can be rehabilitated. Some campsites have safety hazards such as hazard trees and some have…
This unique Photo Workshop trip is a great opportunity to develop your photography skills under the direction of renowned magazine and nature photographer Layne Kennedy. A Minneapolis-based professional photographer, Layne’s newest book on the Boundary Waters, titled “Paddle North,” was released in November 2010. Layne’s work is also featured frequently in Smithsonian, Life, Newsweek, Forbes,…
Summer BWCAW canoe camping trips still require quota entry permits, but the Forest Service has changed the way early planners apply for those permits. For years, early planners applied for permits during a Dec. 1 to Jan. 15 “lottery” period. In the lottery, you selected a desired entry point and date. At the end of…
Some guests spent a week paddling one of my favorite BWCA canoe routes recently. Besides some amazingly warm and lovely late-season weather, they also had a front row seat to a spectacular northern lights display. Kudos to them for bringing along a nice camera and tripod that allowed them to capture this image of the…