BWCACAST- Standard Definition Boundary Water Canoeing

While paddling from boulder bay in Lac LaCroix, we came across a ranger station nestled in the woods at the edge of the lake. Tim a Wilderness Ranger who is based out of the LaCroix ranger station in Cook, MN was out working around the buliding and asked to see our permit.. After showing him our documentation I asked if we could get an interview. Tim was gracious enough to ablige and gave us the skinny on what goes on behind the scenes to keep camp sites and portages up and running as well as enforcing the rules and regulations that keep the BWCAW a quiet place in nature we can all excape to.

Jesse Glass helps me on this beautiful day trip out to the Devils Cascade. The sun was shining and with a little head wind we headed up the Little Indian Sioux River. On the river we saw a couple deer standing in water along the shoreline. We paddled against a pretty steady head wind on Upper Pauness before taking the short portage into Lower Pauness. It was a quick paddle across Lower Pauness to the Portage into the Loon River. At the portage is where you’ll find the Devils Cascase. The water was rushing through the narrow canyon, spilling over rocks with a high cliff face on the far side of the river.

Our camping trip had to come to a close. We started out in Mudro Lake and had a great time on Lower Basswood River and Crooked Lake. This episode has us portaging out of the bottom of Friday Bay in Crooked Lake and going through a number of lakes including Boot, Fairy, 4 Town, and back into Mudro to finish the trip. Along the way we had a number of portages, one as long as 300 rods. It was a doozie leaving us with tired shoulders and a few mosquito bites. We had hoped to camp right after that portage, but all of the camp sites on Gun Lake were full. So we ended up camping on Fairy lake. That evening we caught a beaver on the shore chowing down on some tree branches and a turtle at the edge of the water. We continued the next day through 4 Town Lake where we saw an immature eagle eating some fish. Our trip finally came to an end back in Mudro. It was a great trip and we hope you enjoyed experiencing it with us through the video.

Our last day on Crooked Lake was a great one. We had beautiful weather and a nice little current helping us along our way. We were lucky enough to watch some mergansers take off and a couple loons doing what they do best… Fishing…

The pictographs on Crooked Lake are not quite as vivid as the ones on North Hegman lake, but the location is just breathtaking. The cliff face coming up out of the water containing the pictographs creates mirrored images off the water that can look like abstract paintings.

On day two of our June camping trip we spend the day exploring around Lower Basswood Falls. It was a beautiful day out with the sun shining. The falls had a large volume of water flowing over them which really made for a great trip.

The first of three shows covering our last camping trip out of Mudro Lake. This shows our journey from the beginning of the trip on into Horse Lake, down the horse river, and finally arriving at the Basswood river to camp. We see some animals along the way, and paddle up to Wheelbarrow falls. Jim offers up some background on how the border between Canada and Minnesota was decided and shows us the the first steps in using that dehydrated burger we made in a previous show.

Hegman Lake is a great little day trip out of Ely. It has historic pictographs believed to have been painted by ojibwa native americans. If your into canoeing it's a great episode to check out.

Our first show in the water!! We were able to find some open water amidst the slush and icy shoreline. Our destination... Table Rock Falls. We encounter flocks of ducks rafted up on the lake feeding the falls, and some pretty amazing shots of the raging water surrounded by a snowy setting.

Another cooking tip from Jim. How to save money by making your own dry meals. Dehydrated hamburger is the first step in making lightweight delicious meals for out in the wilderness. This is something we have used over the years and feel like we have not only saved a ton of money, but also felt like our meals may have been a little more tasty. If you look at the cost of freeze dried meals in camping stores these days and feel like they are a bit spendyhopefully this video will help you on your way to keep a few dollars in your pocket on your next trip into the wilderness.