Wolves were howling so we howled back.

We visited our 500th body of water on the 363rd day of our Year in the Wilderness. Crashing through wet branches and soggy moss, over rotting white pine trunks and through balsam thickets, we slowly bushwhacked towards Reflection Lake. The final 100 yards was a soupy, boot-sucking bog. Before we paddled into the Wilderness nearly Read More

“Wilderness is the stash of seeds for the world garden.” Don Watson sent us these beautiful words yesterday.

For the first time in many months I felt the urge to burrow my head into my sleeping bag to warm the tip of my cold nose. More and more flecks of color appear in the forest each day. It is clear that fall will win its timeless battle with summer once again. A blanket Read More

We portaged past Curtain Falls for the last time during A Year in the Wilderness yesterday. We are traveling upstream through Crooked Lake, the Basswood River and Basswood Lake as we prepare to exit the Wilderness in ten short days.

Tank was all business on the portage between Rush Lake and Dark Lake. It’s not surprising because he seems to enjoy portaging far more than canoeing. It is probably due to all the smells along the portage trail and trees to mark. Dark Lake was the 497th body of water that we have visited during Read More

As we made breakfast Amy noticed this pine marten peering down at us from the crotch of a small cedar tree 8 feet above our heads. Soon Tank noticed it and was whining and pacing below. The marten seemed pretty agitated at first, but after a few minutes we tied Tank up a healthy distance Read More

Golden fog blanketed the lake again this morning. We slowly sipped steaming mugs of coffee and ate oatmeal with an extra dollop of peanut butter as delicate waves of mist washed over the lake. A few tendrils of fog remained when my coffee and oatmeal were gone so I suggested we make more coffee and Read More

Gazing over the swaying carpet of green, I watched Bert guide their canoe through the rice as Johnnie rhythmically guided kernels onto a growing pile of rice in the widest part of their canoe. Bert expertly adjusted the canoe’s speed to match Johnnie’s flails as they bent the rice over the gunnel and gently brushed Read More

Scanning the lake for our seven glistening white neighbors has been a real joy during our stay on Nina Moose Lake. Trumpeter swans were hunted to near extinction but they are coming back and each year we have started seeing a few more in the Boundary Waters. The seven magnificent birds, that seem content to Read More