Tanya Piatz says she comes to the Boundary Waters for birding and to develop a deeper understanding of the connection between wildlife and the land. She also does this to reconnect with nature and get away from the hustle of everyday life.  

For the first time in her birding adventures, Tanya participated in an official bird count this year. The event she chose was in Grand Marais on Dec. 14. The 2025 Grand Marais Audubon Christmas Bird Count was a successful event once again this year, with more than a dozen birders seeing a combined 1,400 individual birds across an area from Lake Superior and up toward the Cascade River and inland toward Devil Track Lake, found near the start of the Gunflint Trail. 

The next morning, the day after the official count, the Paddle and Portage Podcast crew traveled approximately 40 miles up the Gunflint Trail with Tanya for some additional birding. In this episode, we invite you to join us. 

This episode is sponsored by Loons Nest Coffee, Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness, and Borderland Lodge.

Snow. Freezing temps. This was a theme across Minnesota during the final week of November. And with it, came the first ice to the Boundary Waters. 

The first ice of the season can mean a lot of things. In this episode, we learn what it means for the Paddle & Portage Podcast duo as they venture onto the frozen water. Joining them on the first outing of the season was their old pal, "Omaha" Erik Dickes. 

This episode is sponsored by Sawtooth Outfitters and Loons Nest Coffee. 

Minnesota has more wolves than any other state, outside of Alaska.

In fall 2025, researchers with the Voyageurs Wolf Project released an updated study on wolf activity and the population of wolves in an area located about 10 miles southwest of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, which is found in the far reaches of northeastern Minnesota. The report tallied about 100 wolves in the study area near the BWCA and Voyageurs National Park. Some media reports highlighted that number as a "crash" of the population. Tom Gable, who leads the project, said the region's deer population ebbs and flows, as does the local wolf population.

The duo from the Paddle & Portage Podcast met with Gable in late fall to learn more about the wolf population near the Boundary Waters. Together, they paddled and portaged on the trail of a wolf, one suspected of killing a deer near a remote lake not long before they arrived to the scene. In this episode, we invite you to tag along.

This video is made possible by our Paddle & Portage member-subscribers, and by our sponsors, including Sawbill Canoe Outfitters, Sven-Saw, and Ely Outfitting Company.

Constance Simes circumnavigated Lake Superior solo in 2022. When the trip was complete, she'd paddled approximately 1,200 miles around Lake Superior in 57 days. She encountered high waves, of course. She also found deafening silence that moved her to tears. 

Simes, who grew up in Iowa and now resides in Wisconsin, spoke with M Baxley about paddling Lake Superior at Canoecopia in Madison, Wisc. 

This episode is supported by Loons Nest Coffee and Solbakken Resort on Superior. 

Erin Soderberg Downing grew up exploring the forests, lakes, and trails near Lake Superior and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Now an accomplished writer, Erin says her best ideas for stories often come to her deep in the woods, where she can find plenty of creative space to explore and imagine. 

Erin is the daughter of Barb Soderberg. Barb Soderberg’s career with the Forest Service started in 1967 on Superior National Forest, and she was intricately involved with crafting the 1978 BWCA Wilderness Act. She retired from the Forest Service in 2007.

Erin and Barb were in Grand Marais for the North Shore Readers and Writers Festival in early November. They met up with Joe Friedrichs from the Paddle & Portage Podcast at Artist's Point to talk BWCA issues, writing, and family life.

This episode is supported by Cascade Vacation Rentals. 

Shannon McGrath got her start paddling when she was 12 years old. By the time she was 16, Shannon had completed the Grand Portage from Lake Superior to the inland border lakes of the Boundary Waters. Then came a multi-month canoe trip to the Arctic Circle via the Coppermine and Hood rivers, including a week on the Arctic Ocean.

Now in her late 30s, Shannon continues to be a prolific paddler. She makes frequent trips to the Boundary Waters, including this fall, on an annual trip she makes with some of her friends to the BWCA. This year's trip will be perhaps most memorable as it featured a bachelorette party for Shannon. 

The Paddle and Portage Podcast met up with Shannon and her crew at Artist's Point in Grand Marais, just before they headed up the Gunflint Trail to start their fall adventure to the Boundary Waters. 

This episode is supported by Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness and Northstar Canoes.

The Paddle and Portage Podcast have been on the move in October. The Winter Camping Symposium was a highlight of the month, as was a recent trip to the far west end of the Boundary Waters to meet with one of the nation's top wolf researchers. 

In this update from the road, we hear from the podcast duo about who they've been talking with for video podcasts and what brought them to the western edge of the Boundary Waters in search of wolves. 

Stephanie Hansen’s first cookbook took readers to her family outpost on an island on Burntside Lake near Ely, on the edge of the BWCA. Now, True North Cabin Cookbook Volume Two, released this year, focuses on “the cozy months” of October through April. 

We hear from Stephanie in this episode of the podcast. We also cook some smoked trout and wild rice chowder that was inspired by the cookbook. We caught the fish. We smoked the fish. We made the chowder. We ate the chowder. 

This episode is sponsored by Bending Branches Canoe & Kayak Paddles, Williams and Hall Outfitters, and Solbakken Resort on Superior.