1/17/2001

Sorry about the lack of entries over the last few days.   Tundra and I have spent much of the time in the car dropping of food and equipment at our resupply point along the route.  Yesterday we drove from International falls to the Indian Reservation on Lac La Croix.  We spent several hours there and talked with some of the native people.  Some of their students will be following along and they are interested in setting up a video conference with some of the other schools while I am on the reserve.  I  hope that it works out.  We are now at Sawbill Outfitters which is about 50 miles West of the Grand Portage where the adventure will begin.  The next few days will be spent working on material for the website, training for the adventure by skiing and pulling our toboggan.  Hopefully we will get some good pictures while we are out training to post on the web.

1/13/2001

After our day of rest we rose early and were on the trail by 9 am.  We had arranged to be picked up at Bearskin Lodge at 5 PM which we thought was about 14 miles away.  The conditions were fast and we made very good time.  Soon we were crossing the height of land portage between North and South Lake.  The height of Land Portage separates the water that flows into Lake Superior which flows into the Atlantic Ocean, and the water that flows into the Hudson Bay and the Arctic Ocean.   This portage was very important to the Voyageurs because when they crossed the portage heading north they were heading down stream for the rest of their journey.   Avery performed the traditional height of Land Ceremony by striking us on the head with a cedar bow and making us recite the Voyageur Oath.  After crossing the portage we headed west into Rose Lake.  Its cliff lined shores form a spectacular backdrop and the stairway portage leading out of Rose Lake is one that we will never forget.   It took two and sometimes three people to haul each sled up and over the 1/4 mile portage.  A good portion of the portage is comprised of stairs because it is so steep.

Height of Land Portage	Tundra resting before the Stairway portage, with the cliffs of Rose Lake and Arrow Lake in the Background

  After crossing the Stairway portage we headed for Bearskin Lake proud of our speedy progress and the fact that we were two hours early getting to Bearskin Lake where we thought we were going to get picked up.  However, we soon found that Bearskin Lodge is actually on East Bearskin Lake which is located four miles and several lakes away from Bearskin Lake.  We knew we would have to hurry if we were going to make it on time so we set off at once.  Over hill and dale we skied, crossing lakes and ponds along the way.  We soon came to a portage filled with blown down trees.  A kind resort owner saved the day by giving us permission to use his groomed ski trails for the final two miles.  This allowed us to bypass the portage, which would have taken hours.  The ski trails provided for a wild and comical ride.   We trudged up steep hills and then went sailing down the other side on perfectly groomed trails.  Passing skiers decked out in spandex stared in wonder at this group of raggedy men hooting and hollering their way around the track.  We arrived at the lodge just as our ride pulled in and were soon loaded in the van, marveling at how fast we were traveling down the road, headed for four large pizzas!  Everyone is now going their separate ways but I have a feeling that there will be more adventures to come.  

Tundra and I still have our work cut out for us and only two weeks left until the big adventure begins.  February 1st is not long off and I am already getting excited about hitting the trail again.  I will spend the next two weeks dropping of supplies at different re-supply points along our route and fine tuning our gear for the adventure.  I am very pleased with how the training trip went and very optimistic about the upcoming adventure.  I hope you enjoyed the adventure and will continue to follow along as the next adventure unfolds!

1/12/2001

We awoke to the pitter patter of rain on the tent, which is not a good sound in the winter.  By this point we had come to the realization that our goal of reaching Lake Superior by Sunday morning was not very realistic and so we had a leisurely breakfast and decided to spend the day resting and relaxing instead of pushing on in the rain.  The rain stopped around noon and I set off to explore our surroundings.  I found a beaver lodge close by and noticed that it was active.  It had a chimney on top where the warm, moist air from the beavers' breath keeps a hole free of snow and ice and had formed a cap where their breath had frozen as it exits the hole in the top of the lodge.  The beavers also have a good supply of food in the form of tree branches frozen in the ice which they will use as food all winter long.

It was a dreary day but we spent it reading, relaxing, and drying our gear in the warmth of the tent.  Constant laughter and cheer made the day fly by.

Chimney in the top of the beaver lodge	Food stored in front of the beaver lodge

1/11/2001

We finished the Granite River today!  A glorious, sunny day greeted us as we packed up and headed off with the goal of getting to the west end of Gunflint Lake by night fall.  We knew that there were many challenges in the four miles that we would have to navigate to get to Gunflint Lake where we would find easy, fast travel.  Bushwhacking was the order of the day and in the first three hours of travel we only covered 2 miles!  Most of which we spent dragging our sleds through the brush and over cliffs.  We were laughing at lunch about our slow going, but were satisfied with our progress and ready to continue.  Several hours later we were sailing down Gunflint Lake making 3 miles an hour as the setting sun cast a red glow over the western horizon.  A great end to a great day. 

1	2	3 heave!

We had to build a log bridge over open water and then hoist our sleds up a 15 foot cliff to avoid open water on the Granite River.

Little Rock Falls was our last obstacle on the Granite River

1/10/2001

Trying to decide where to make camp	Negotiating a tricky set of rapids on the Granite

Skiing along today I was overwhelmed by feelings of joy and satisfaction.  What a wonderful adventure we are having.  Yes there are times when we are tired, our hands are cold and we can't feel our toes, but all and all we are living the good life!  The day started with about two miles of fairly straight forward lake travel.  Then the fun began.  We were faced with a very tricky stretch of river and opted to blaze a trail through the narrow part of what the map showed as a swampy peninsula.  It turned into quite a slog.  We spent about an hour and a half pulling sleds through very thick alder and black spruce.   This set the pattern for the day.  About a mile of wide river travel where we could travel on solid ice with little trouble followed by rapids where we had to hug the shore and haul our sleds through the brush and even over small cliffs to avoid open water and bad ice.  Boy it was a great day.  We are now camped on Clove Lake and are hoping to finish the Granite River tomorrow.  It is wild and majestic country and I think we are the first and maybe last travelers that the river will see this winter.  Sitting in our warm tent eating hot bagels we are ready for the adventure that tomorrow will bring.

1/9/2001

Today went much better.  We covered about 15 miles and made it all the way from Swamp Lake which is on the West end of Saganaga Lake to the Granite River which is on the east end of Saganaga Lake.  We had beautiful weather and saw a mink playing in some open water, a set of wolf tracks, and a place where a grouse was killed and eaten by a hawk.   We ended the day with about 200 yards of dragging our sleds through downed trees and brush where there used to be a winter portage.  This brought us to a small lake where all of the trees have been destroyed by forest fire and wind storms, leaving a very surreal back drop.  The full moon rose in the east and the sun set in the west making the perfect end to a wonderful day.

A close up of a wolf track	a lone wolf's tracks across Saganaga Lake

The remains of a grouse in the snow

The Gang relaxing in the tent after a long day

1/8/2001

Today was a very hard day.  We encountered a lot of slush and only covered 7 miles, wading through up to 10 inches of slush for what seemed like hours.  We spent most of the day on Ottertrack lake which seems to be an appropriate name because we saw many otter tracks and holes in the ice which they use to enter the water. 

Anders and Steve wading through a section of slush on Ottertrack.

1/7/2001

Tundra is King of the Castle

Beaver Lodge	Hole in the ice used by Otters

Things are going great.  We loaded everything up Saturday morning and drove out to Moose Lake.  It was drizzling when we departed, but we did not let that dampen our spirits.  The conditions were fast and we were able to make good time.  The first six miles went by very quickly. We were amazed how fast we were able to travel.  We encountered some open water going into Splash Lake and while Anders, Jeremy, Avery, and Steve cleared a trail Karl and I went exploring.  We found a really cool abandoned beaver pond and a lot of Otter tracks.  You can see one of the holes that the Otters keep open all winter so that they can enter the water in the picture above.  After leaving Splash Lake we skied the length of Ensign Lake and then took a beautiful winter portage into Vera.  Part way through that portage we found a great big beaver pond and a large beaver lodge pictured above.  The portage out of Vera into Knife Lake was difficult, there were many big hills and the going was very slow.  We finally made it to Knife Lake where we set up camp in the dark.   It was a long day but very rewarding.  Today we headed northeast in Knife Lake.  We encountered a lot of slush which freezes to the skies and sleds and makes for slow traveling.  We had to stop many times to scrape the ice off of our sleds and skies.  It was sunny and calm all day and besides the slush it was a wonderful day.   We are now camped about a mile southwest of the portage into Ottertrack Lake.   It is such a wonderful feeling to sit by the warmth of the stove and send our thoughts and photos to the world.

Steve would like to say hello to his wife, family, and his friends at Retek.

1/5/2001

It works!  This is the first journal entry sent via satellite!   I got the phone this morning and have been able to transmit data to the internet with the satellite phone hooked up to my laptop computer.  In the morning we will hit the trail and I will use the phone to update the site with pictures and journal entries throughout the trip!

1/4/2001

Now that is a styling ride if you ask me!  I will wax the bottom of the toboggan tonight and take it out for a test pull in the morning; I can't wait!

1/2/2001

I made it to Minneapolis this afternoon.  It is fairly cold and snowing.  In the morning I will head for the border country!  I am meeting with Don from the Four Dog Stove Company to pick up my wood stove for the adventure.  I will also be picking up the satellite phone in Grand Marais  and the toboggan from Hansen Boat Works!  It should be an exciting day.

1/1/2001

So that's what 180 pounds of food looks like crammed into the trunk of a Honda.  There it is, beautiful isn't it.  Now I just have to put all of my gear inside with Tundra and a 14 foot toboggan on top.  Now that is going to turn some heads!

12/31/2000

Happy New Year everyone!  Food packing is coming to an end.   I made about 60 meat balls for Tundra today.  I will supplement his dog food with a ball of meat and a chunk of lard every day to give him the extra protein and calories that he will need during the adventure.  My car is having some problems so I have been delayed in my departure for the northwoods by a day or two.  I am planning to leave on Tuesday now and am using the extra time to rest, relax and get ready at a slower pace.  Only 5 more days until we are on the trail for the training trip; we are all starting to get really excited. 

12/30/2000

Only 55 more bagels to go!

That's right one bagel down 55 left to cut.  After you have tried to cut an uncut, frozen bagel at 20 below you will never forget to precut your bagels again!  I have been wanting to send more journal entries over the last few days but I have been very busy packing food.  20 pounds of gorp (good old raisins and peanuts and chocolate chips), 15 pounds of beef jerky, 12 pounds of butter, 9 pounds of bacon, and a whole bunch of other stuff later I am still plugging away, but ready to be done with the whole food packing process.  Only 13 burrito dinners and I will be finished!  My brain is pretty scrambled from trying to figure out how many calories of each thing I need to give me 5,500 calories per day.  I wonder how many calories I will consume over the six week adventure?  If anyone can help me out with that one please send me an e-mail when you have figured out how many calories I will eat during the adventure.  It's time to get back to the food packing!     

12/26/2000

drying food for the adventure

I have been busy drying food for the adventure.  I can decrease the weight Tundra and I will have to pull considerably by drying meat, vegetables, and sauces.  So far I have dehydrated about 20 pounds of vegetables,  16 cups of spaghetti sauce, and 10 pounds of beef jerky!  I still have about 20 more pounds of meat to go.  I am using a standard food dehydrator for all of my drying.  It is a great way to pack food for all types of camping.  The dehydrated food takes about twice as long as freeze-dried food to rehydrate but it is much less expensive and you end up saving a lot of weight because you can pack in bulk and do not have any tinfoil packets to pack out.

Strips of raw meat soaking in soy sauce and other spices.	The meat after it has been in the dehydrator for a few hours.

Dehydrated veggies!  I will divide these up into smaller bags for each of the six stages of the adventure.

No  more fundraising- yeah!

My goal of raising $5,000 to cover the cost of the adventure has been met!  A flurry of contributions over the last few days have put me over the top just in time to meet my personal goal of having the money raised by the new year.  A great big thank you to all of the people who have contributed to the adventure.  Without your help this learning adventure would not be possible.  I hope everyone is as excited as I am.

12/24/2000

Skiing at last!

    With the training trip starting in less than two weeks I am trying to train as much as possible to get ready for winter travel in the border country.  The weather in Chicago has been snowy and well below freezing for the last few weeks.  Skiing in the forest preserve, about a mile from my parents home, has been excellent.  With over a foot of fresh, powdery snow I have felt the wonder of gliding through untracked snow and enjoyed tracking the movements of the Gray Squirrels and Deer by following their tracks in the snow.  I long for the border country, its silence and grandeur, and I look forward to sharing  my adventures with you.

Squirrel tracks that I found while skiing in the Chicago land Forest Preserve