In February, our family sat at the dinner table and discussed our summer vacation options. My husband surprised us all by suggesting a Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA) canoe trip. Really? I being the only member of the family with camping experience silently groaned. It wasn’t the beautiful views or the thought of canoeing 17 miles—it is the portages. In case you don’t know what these are…a portage is where you carry all your camping equipment, including your canoes, across dry land.
They try to soften the blow by measuring the length of portages in “rods” rather than saying 16.5 feet. But let me tell you 105 rods = 1,732 feet and it is still a long way to carry three canoes and seven backpacks.
Once the destination was decided I was on the Internet in a flash to find an outfitter as we don’t have much in the way of camping equipment other than a couple of Spiderman sleeping bags. I found the Voyageur Canoe Outfitters at the end of the Gunflint Trail, so after two days of enjoying the Fisherman’s Picnic the six of us headed out for a four-night, five-day adventure. Here is what I learned:
1. Practice your squats.
I guarantee you will need this skill as you squat over the campfire, the cook stove, the dishpan and the latrine. As these are not muscles you normally use, you might be ready to smack someone just for dirtying a spoon as you know washing it is going to bring on a case of the screaming Mimi muscles.
2. Bring chewable aspirin.
After paddling seven hours and portaging for two hours, just a walk of 50 yards for a cup of water to take a couple of Advil will seem insurmountable. Chewable aspirin will save your life.
3. Wet Naps, Wet Naps, Wet Naps.
These will be your best friend in the wilderness. Nuff said.
4. $37 worth of bug spray.
If you bring this much mosquito spray, I guarantee you will never see a bug. Leave it at home and they will carry you away like cannibals in the night. They know when you are armed.
5. Fire sticks are not cheating.
Save your matches. No one remembers how to start a fire with a stick and a rock…at least no one in this camping party. Let me tell you after a quick dip in the lake, either planned or unplanned, nothing beats a warm campfire in a hurry.
6. Bring two grasshopper cook stoves.
These might not look sturdy but let me tell you these are the best invention since electricity. We had lightly browned pancakes and perfect hash browns all without severe smoke inhalation or scorched fingers on my part. 7.
Tie your camera to the canoe!
I lost all of the beautiful pictures and videos from the trip as my camera slipped from my pocket into Saganaga Lake. I know it would take a miracle to recover these pictures now. To think this could have been avoided with 10 cents worth of string just breaks my heart.
Finally, plan on doing nothing. I of course packed in eight skeins of alpaca yarn and knitting needles with the idea I would knit a poncho while sitting around the campfire. At best I put my sleeping pad (another must) by the lake and wrote you this column. True Peace. Nature is the art of God.
Thomas Browne
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