Back to Base

6/29/2007 -- Moose Lake, MN

Leaving Horseshoe Island this morning, everyone was upbeat about arriving back at base camp and taking a long shower. Funny, five days without a shower didn't really seem so bad when we all smelled alike!

On the homebound stretch, we still could not get Schyler to travel with the group. Despite my admonitions about buddy boats and safety, he often got nearly a half-mile ahead of the rest of us and simply would not wait for the rest of his crew.

My biggest frustration this trip has been trying to deal with him as the crew leader, as he simply does not respond to coaching or guidance, yet doesn't take any leadership role himself. Every day, it's the same thing: "Schyler, shouldn't you have the boys set up the tents now?" "Schyler, you might want to send someone out to set up the bear bags." "Schyler, we need wood for a fire." Each time, he'd say "OK," but continue doing what he was doing.

Thank goodness we have Stephan in our crew. Not only is he a good friend of Schyler's, but he's also got good leadership skills and a congenial personality. Because of his relationship with Schyler, he can get things done without offending Schyler.

Nick has been a good asset to the crew too. The youngest Scout in our crew, and possibly on the whole trip, Nick is very quiet, but a hard worker. One day he sat for probably two hours, doing nothing but pumping water without complaint. At the portages, he'd heft a canoe onto his shoulders and carry it across to the next lake.

The last youth in the group is Casey, a quiet, congenial and thoughtful young man whose dad, Keith, accompanied him. Casey doesn't mind doing his chores, but needs some direction with them. His dad says Casey won't push himself physically and doesn't like anything that causes exertion, such as carrying the canoe or the packs. Often, Nick--the smaller boy--would carry a canoe on his shoulders, while Casey carried the paddles and one or two other small items.

Back at the CBO base camp now, we met up with Wes' crew, which arrived about 45 min. before us. They've already had their showers and are regaling us with tales of their trek. The adults are extremely complimentary toward Kyle, their crew leader, for taking charge and handling every detail. One of the dads, Bob, said the adults didn't need to do anything, as Kyle arranged it all.

Don's crew has arrived too, pulling in a short time after us. He had some challenges with Andrew, his crew leader, but they've probably canoed 50-60 miles, so at least they've had a good trek.

Keith and I shake our heads, feeling short-changed that we didn't get as far into the back-country as we had hoped. We didn't have the physical challenges experienced by the other two crews, nor the longer, tougher portages. On the plus side, though, all of our guys appear to have enjoyed themselves and everyone arrived safely back at base. And, yeah, the long hot shower really felt good!

Horseshoe Island

6/28/2007 -- Horseshoe Island, New Found Lake, BWCAW, MN

Ahh! Relaxing at our best site yet. Day Four was a good one for Crew 2. After spending a good night on Knife Lake, we arose at 5:30 a.m. and were on the water at 6:44 a.m. Had we been able to do that every day, we could have put on some serious mileage.

Just after 7 a.m., we were starting the Big Knife Portage and Carp Portage, back into Carp Lake, then Birch Lake and beyond. The small lakes between the portages were idyllic, quiet and calm. Most of us simply floated our way across the lakes, soaking up sunshine and enjoying the remoteness of the wilderness. None of the portages were challenging and everyone, myself included, was happy we were on a homebound stretch of our trek.

By mid-afternoon, we made it all the way to New Found Lake and located a campsite on the north shore of Horseshoe Island. The site was by far the nicest one we've had. A quiet little lagoon with deep water made it easy to get ashore. Ample sites for our tents and gear. A convenient location for bear bags.

Once we settled in, most of the boys began jumping from a 6-8 ft. rock into the water, swimming, laughing and having a good time. Brian took a long nap and missed the action, but he had been exerting himself a lot, carrying canoes and gear regularly. I've been worried about him the entire trip, as he needs to have heart surgery later this summer. He's a great kid who's been close to our family for years, so I'd hate to see anything happen to him due to overexertion on our trip.

Tonight we had a feast for dinner, cooking up our last dinner, plus some of the side dishes and desserts we didn't make at previous meals. Ben whipped up a second dessert, some sort of chocolate mousse pie, which was a big hit with the boys.

At our closing campfire, we all agreed today was our best day yet and that we finally pulled together as a crew. The canoeing was easy, as were the portages, so there were no physical demands on the boys. They had a chance to swim and relax, making it a fun day for them. And they capped it off with a good meal.

For me, one of the highlights of the day was climbing to a high point on the island and spotting a bald eagle atop a dead birch tree across another peninsula of the island. It sat there regally, scanning the horizon, then effortlessly lifting off when its mate appeared from the west. Together they flew off and caught the thermals to climb high into the sky.

Far Point Station

6/27/2007 -- Knife Lake, BWCAW, MN

We finally got on the water about 9:40 a.m. today after taking a long while to complete breakfast. There has been some discontent among the crew, not the least of which is between the crew leader and the adult leaders. We've been challenging Schyler to make our trek more than a lazy canoe trip around the lake, but he's not interested. Keith and I have suggested heading for the waterfalls between the south arm of Knife Lake and Eddy Lake, but Schyler is fighting us every step of the way.

When we mapped out our trek back at CBO's base camp, our intent was to complete a portage at the falls and make our way to Kekekabic Lake, then eventually portage our way back to Knife Lake and home. At this point, we won't even make it out of Knife Lake.

Schyler lacks a competitive spirit. When Keith asked him how he'll feel when we get back to base on Friday and learn the other two crews had longer treks with tough portages--but lots of true wilderness high adventure--Schyler simply said he didn't care.

I feel the guys on this crew are doing a disservice to themselves by not pushing harder. Every attempt to get them to do more, though, has been met with resistance. I want to let them make their decisions democratically, yet I'm inclined to overrule them. What a quandary!

At least I got them to push to the far end of what we call Thunder Point Island. Mid-morning we stopped for a short hike to the top of the point, then proceeded to the easternmost tip of the island for a trail lunch. We were probably at least three miles from the falls at Eddy Lake and a stiff wind was blowing, so I realized there was little chance I could convince the boys to push further. Our lunch spot would be the far point on our trek.

After lunch, we hugged the shore of Thunder Point Island, already fighting the wind. Once we reached Thunder Point, we had to cross open water, which was the toughest canoeing of the trip. I was quite nervous about the safety of our four little canoes, laden down with heavy packs, as waves buffeted us while we crossed the lake. As was becoming a typical pattern, Schyler's canoe was far ahead of the others, despite my coaching about the need to stick together and always travel with buddy boats. Had one of the canoes swamped in the middle of Knife Lake, we could have been in trouble.

Fortunately, we made it across safely and proceeded toward Robbins Island, where we looked for a vacant campsite. Both of the sites there were occupied, so we continued on until finding a site on the south shore. It was situated on a small peninsula and had a nice breeze, indicating the bugs would not be bad.

The Big Rain

6/26/2007 -- Knife Lake, BWCAW, MN

Not much progress today. We've only canoed about 3 1/2 miles. After breakfast on Carp Lake, Crew 2 made it through the series of portages to get to Knife Lake, which took a couple of hours. We slipped past Robbins Island and made it to a campsite on the south shore where we decided to have lunch.

Keith McCann and I fished for a little while, which was somewhat successful. I caught four smallmouth bass, only one of them a "keeper." But since one fish wasn't enough for a meal, I released it as well. It was great fun catching fish, something I haven't done in years.

While we were fishing, it started to rain and big thunderheads appeared on the western horizon. Lightning soon followed and the rain started to come down hard.

Unfortunately, all of us were completely soaked and in need of a dry change of clothing. No one had hypothermia per se, but there were eight cold guys in need of dry clothes. Not only that, but the afternoon had progressed to the point where canoeing to another site further up the lake was pointless, so we decided to stay at the site for the night and worked as a team to set up tents.

Four guys held up the tent fly, while the other four erected the tent underneath it. Once each tent was up, we'd attach its fly and move on to the next tent. That way, we were able to put up all four tents without getting them soaked.

Today's biggest challenge was hanging bear bags. Thick ground cover made it difficult to walk outside the site, then the trees were either birch trees with no big, accessible branches for a bear rope, or they were tall pine trees, on which most of the lower branches were dead. We struggled until 9:30 or so putting up the bear bags, by which time the mosquitos were out in full force. We needed our head nets and long sleeves to protect us from the bloodthirsty swarm.

The guys in the crew are not pulling together well yet. Schyler is not taking charge, whether it's due to his illness or inexperience as a leader. He is not interested in pushing himself or his crew, whether it's doing all of the daily camp chores or setting goals for the trek. We'll see what happens tomorrow.

Carp Lake, BWCAW

6/25/2007 -- Carp Lake, Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wildnerness, Minnesota

Sitting on rocks chilling in our campsite after a late lunch. Getting ready to try my hand at fishing.

Crew 2's first day on the water was fairly easy in some respects, challenging in others. Some of us are not experienced canoeists or lack physical strength. Our crew leader, Schyler, is resting, as he has been ill.

Today we paddled about 10 1/2 mi. from Moose Lake to Carp Lake. There were only two easy portages, but getting the crew to work together had its challenging moments. We never really hit a stride in which everyone was able to make good time. One canoe would get ahead, then have to wait up for the others. Often, the trailing boat would then take frequent rests, slowing down everyone.

We made our way northeast from Canadian Border Outfitters' base camp at the end of Moose Lake, spotting more than a dozen bald eagles along the way. From there, it was on into New Found Lake, Sucker Lake, then the first portage, which was only five rods (about 80 ft.). After that quick stop, we were in Birch Lake. We travelled its length to get to the second portage, a small stream right on the Canadian border. The 40-rod portage was a little more challenging than the first, but not at all bad.

So now we are camped on a small arm of Carp Lake. It's quiet, not too hot--overall, quite pleasant. Not many mosquitos yet, but plenty of houseflies biting my ankles.

Tomorrow we have to cross Big Knife Portage, a series of what appears to be five portages from 15 to 75 rods. That will put us in Knife Lake, where we'll spend the next leg of our trip.