Beavers at Work

One of the most industrious critters we see in the Boundary Waters is the beaver. I’m amazed at how quickly they can build a dam. I’ve paddled into the wilderness where the was no beaver dam, and then paddled out the same stream five days later to find a new large one. We typically see…

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Video of a Typical BWCA Portage

This video shows a typical Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness portage. It is the portage going west out of Jordan Lake in the BWCAW. Portages are trails connecting bodies of water.  They are the efficient route for carrying your canoes and gear between lakes on a wilderness canoe trip. I tell people if you think…

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The No-Name Lake

Many years ago, I bushwacked into a no-name lake in the heart of the wilderness.  On my map, the lake had no depth markings, so I didn’t know if enough depth existed to support fish – though it had enough surface area that I sensed it might.  And I decided to trudge in with a…

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