We head west in this episode, to the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness. M Baxley joins a group of paddlers who came together under the leadership of Jordan Taylor and Sandra Newbury to travel on the Salmon River in Idaho. One of the great rivers of the West, the Salmon rolls through the Frank Church, the largest federally managed wilderness in the United States outside of Alaska. Confluences River Expeditions provided the group with rafts and raft guides while the other boaters traveled the river via canoes and kayaks. Join us as we head to the river of no return.

This episode is supported by Bent Paddling Brewing Company, Sawtooth Outfitters, Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness.

The Paddle and Portage Podcast team spent time paddling and talking around a fire with Minnesota author Joe Whitson in early August. Joe is the author of the new book, “Marketing the Wilderness.” 

Joe’s book pulls back the curtain on the outdoor recreation industry, on the glossy images, the feel-good branding, the well-meaning campaigns, and asks, “What’s being left out?” It traces how the idea of “wilderness” in the U.S. was built through marketing strategies that romanticize land as empty and pristine, while erasing the Indigenous people who’ve always been there.

Joe discusses the concepts he raises in his book on this episode of the podcast. 

Abby Golden has been teaching at an organization called Wilderness Water Safety for 15 years. She is a certified lifeguard, wilderness first responder, and experienced wilderness trip leader. She has led trips in the Lake Temagami area as a trip leader for Camp Wabun and has traveled extensively throughout the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Born and raised in the St. Croix River Valley, she talks about water safety and shares stories of danger and death and what we can learn from these anecdotes from the BWCA and beyond.

This episode is supported by Rutabaga Paddlesports and Ely Outfitting Company.

Kari Kennedy is the producer of Almanac, a popular and long-running news program on Twin Cities PBS. She's also in love with the Boundary Waters. The Gunflint Trail has become a home away from home, and trips to the BWCA Wilderness are a big part of that experience. Kari shares her story in this episode of the podcast. 

Support for this episode comes from Northstar Canoes, Loons Nest Coffee, and Williams & Hall Outfitters. 

He first paddled on Seagull Lake. It didn't go well. A fishing boat had to rescue him. A few days later, he drove a transport tow. In a blizzard. 

Graham Schatz is working at Seagull Canoe Outfitters this summer. He is not a typical "Trail Kid," those who lug canoes and clean cabins at the resorts on the Gunflint Trail each summer. Graham is an actor who has been attending acting school in Los Angeles. This summer, when he came to the Gunflint, it was his first time experiencing the Boundary Waters. 

Graham's story illustrates something about the BWCA: The power of this place to transform knows no boundaries. 

Music on this episode from the Upstream Drifters and the Blue Dot Sessions. 

This episode is supported by Chik-Wauk Museum & Nature Center and Borderland Lodge. 

Checking in with an update from their epic paddle are the Hudson Bay Girls. The four paddlers left Lake Superior and the Grand Portage in May. They're bound for Hudson Bay and share this update from Norway House, just north of Lake Winnipeg. In an update sent to Paddle and Portage July 21, they report: "We’re checking in from Norway House! We have been through so much so far. From navigating backcountry travel restrictions, dodging wildfires, a trip altering injury, and ever changing weather conditions- we have been busy!"

Listen to the full audio report in this episode of the podcast. 

Photo from @aidant_007 on Instagram. Music on this episode from Canadian folk singer Ian Tamblyn and the Blue Dot Sessions. 

This episode is supported by Bent Paddle Brewing, Save the Boundary Waters, Drury Lane Books. 

Kate Wright is the director of marketing for Bending Branches Canoe & Kayak Paddles. An experienced paddler, Kate and her husband are taking their young child to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in the summer of 2025 for the first time as parents. Kate spoke with guest host Erin Walker from the Lost Lakes YouTube Channel for this episode of the podcast. 

This episode is supported by Canoecopia, Women's Wilderness Discovery, Friends of the Boundary Waters, Sawbill Canoe Outfitters, and Cascade Vacation Rentals.  

We've shared multiple news stories in recent weeks about permits for the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. From the cost of permits to the record number of permit cancellations last year, the Paddle and Portage Podcast team break it all down in this episode. Joining the podcast duo on the episode is a Minnesota resident and BWCA regular who goes by the name Fish Brain Shane. Earlier this summer, Shane disagreed with an online post from the P&P team that supported the proposal to increase the permit fee for the BWCA. How does it go on the podcast when conversation takes over from social media posting? Tune in and find out. 

This episode is support by Williams and Hall Outfitters. 

As promised, here's an update from the Solitude of Four. The group shares this update just as they're preparing to start the lengthy paddle of Lake Winnipeg, a key benchmark on their journey to Hudson Bay. 

Backstory: Four paddlers and canoe guides from Wilderness Canoe Base on Seagull Lake at the end of the Gunflint Trail are paddling north this summer. Leaving Seagull May 31, the group, paddling under the name Solitude of Four, are on a 1,250 mile canoe journey from our camp to Hudson Bay, Canada. It is a 2.5 month expedition through some of North America’s most remote waterways. The group includes Ryan Mohr, Kathleen Grube, Maren Johnson, and Timea Vrabcová. 

This episode is supported by Northstar Canoes and Loons Nest Coffee. 

In February 2022, a Minnesota man was sentenced to four years in prison for sexually assaulting a Cook County woman at a condominium on Ski Hill Road in Lutsen, not far from Lake Superior and the Boundary Waters.

According to the criminal complaint, on Jan. 25, 2020, Cook County law enforcement responded to North Shore Health, the local hospital in Grand Marais, where a woman being treated for medical issues reported that she was sexually assaulted. The woman told medical personnel and law enforcement she had been raped.

The woman who is the victim of this crime has spent the past five years trying to connect more with nature, including the Boundary Waters. She shares her story in this episode of the podcast. 

This episode is supported by Bending Branches Canoe and Kayak Paddles and by Ely Outfitting Company.