reader job does Author Sue Leaf a wonderful bringing her along on her Boundary Waters Canoe Area adventures.
“I’ll always turn to the North” is Sue Leaf ’s mantra as she recounts her adventures in the sometimes wild, sometimes mild landscape of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area and elsewhere in her book, Portage: A Family, a Canoe, and the Search for the Good Life. Even after experiences with strong wind, storms, and mishaps on rapids, Leaf continues to venture onto new lakes with her family in search of “the good life.
Each chapter in Leaf ’s book contains the story of a particular canoe trip and includes beautiful descriptions of scenery, wildlife, and the occasional misadventure. Recounting her experience on Kettle River in 1994, Leaf describes how she and her eldest son, Andy, take the canoe through a set of rapids, an adventure that ends with an unexpected dunk in the lake and a capsized canoe. In spite of the experience, which leaves the entire family feeling disgruntled, many more jaunts in the wilderness follow.
On another trip, this one taking place on the Upper Missouri River, Leaf and her husband face heavy rain and wind. Though they pass the night in a cold, damp tent with a howling wind accompanied by the potential danger of hypothermia, they are still able to appreciate the following sunshiny day and beautiful scenery. They also take note of the historical significance of the area, watching for the campsites where Lewis and Clark stayed and remembering the explorer’s own observations of the wildlife there. Throughout the remainder of the trip, however, Leaf admits that her eyes are regularly roaming the sky in anticipation of another storm.
In spite of some exciting and unsettling experiences, Leaf returned with her family again and again to the lakes with their canoes. A biologist and avid birder,
Leaf ’s account of their adventures often includes anecdotes from history as well as those featuring her own family’s adventures. She describes Lewis and Clark’s experiences on the lakes as she paddles and shares the story of the French explorer Louis Jolliet and Father Jacques Marquette and their exploration from Wisconsin to the Mississippi River in 1673. Leaf ’s occupation as a birder culminates in her first and much longed for sighting of Kirtland’s warbler, a very rare bird species.
Leaf does a wonderful job guiding us visually and experientially through the lakes she herself has canoed. Vivid descriptions of the land and the wildlife paint clear visions of the scenery that she was fortunate enough to see. Fascinating and comical anecdotes featuring the historical figures who visited some of the lakes, capsized canoes, stormy lakes, and long paddles lend color and excitement to the story.
Leaf is also the author of Potato City: Nature, History, and Community in the Age of Sprawl, The Bullhead Queen: A Year on Pioneer Lake and A Love Affair with Birds: The Life of Thomas Sadler Roberts. Her book is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online bookstores.
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