The two adventures for this project are David
Freeman and Tundra.
The Adventurer
 When
I first visited the border country twelve years ago, at the age
of twelve, I was hooked. Since that first trip, I have spent several
hundred nights in the border country traveling by canoe in the summer
and skis in the winter. I have enjoyed exploring the hundreds of
lakes and rivers that make up this truly unique wilderness. At the
age of seventeen, I started spending my summers living and working
at Sawbill Canoe Outfitters located on the edge of the BWCAW. College
took me from a Chicago suburb, where I grew up, to the University
of Colorado where I studied Anthropology and Biology, furthering
my knowledge of the natural world and its people. I spent my free
time in the mountains, skiing, climbing, and honing my winter travel
and camping skills, returning to Sawbill Canoe Outfitters each summer
to live and work in the border country. After graduation in the
spring of 1999, I returned to northeastern Minnesota and secured
a job with Wintergreen Dogsled Lodge, where I spent the winter guiding
dog sledding trips in and around the BWCAW. From this job, I was
able to improve my winter travel and camping skills and learn to
utilize sled dogs in winter travel. I spent July of 2000 on a 300
mile, 25 day wilderness canoe trip through northern Ontario and
Manitoba. During this trip the Border Country Wilderness Adventure
was conceived, and soon it will become a reality.
Tundra
Hi, my name is Tundra. I am an Malamute sled dog and I will be
helping Dave pull a polk during the Border Country Wilderness Adventure.
I was born in Wisconsin in 1993 and I am about to have my 8th birthday.
I am one of the largest types of sled dogs and I weight about 90
pounds. I love to pull and can pull 75 to 100 pounds all day long.
Dave and I will be pulling about twice that much weight so we will
share the work, each pulling about half of the weight. I also enjoy
eating, sleeping, playing with other dogs and people. I love people
and will make a very good companion for Dave during the adventure.
I have lived outside of Ely, Minnesota with my owner Dill since
I was two years old. I spend most of my days exploring the woods
around my home and pulling dogsleds in the winter. I have been pulling
sleds for my whole life and have taken many people on dogsled trips
in the border country. I am excited about the Border Country Wilderness
Adventure because I will be able to explore many areas of the border
country that I have never seen or smelled. I love to smell things
and my sense of smell is much better than yours. I can tell if there
is a moose or a wolf around long before humans can because of my
good sense of smell. I am perfectly adapted to winter in the border
country because I have a thick coat of fur that keeps me warm. I
love pulling when it is -20 degrees Farenheit. I think that is the
perfect temperature. When it gets above freezing I think it is too
hot! I would much rather eat snow and lay around in the shade. At
night Dave has to set up a tent and sleep in a big sleeping bag
to keep warm. I will just eat a nice dinner of high quality dog
food and a little fat to help keep me warm and then curl up in a
ball and go to sleep. I think winter is the best time to explore
the border country. I hope you enjoy following Dave and I on our
adventure.
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