Well its back to real life and now I have the time and the technology to tell you about our wonderful adventure in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA). Just click the link to read more about it and to help you understand the magnitude of our undertaking. We were like living real life survivor in the wilderness with no cell phone service, no civilization, no one to help us if we got injured or lost in the woods. We had to gather firewood, boil our drinking water, and navigate the lakes and woods with a compass and map. It definitely is not for everyone and it was a challenge, even for us.
We planned this trip back in May when I discovered a Minneapolis Groupon deal for a 4 day BWCA trip for just $249. Voyageur Canoe Outfitters provided us with all the gear we would need including canoe, paddles, life vests, gear packs, tent, sleeping bags, air mattresses, cook stove, rope, shovel, saw and tarp. We brought our own food and clothing.
I have 15 posts planned for documenting this experience, so you'll get to read about our trip for 2 whole weeks! I also have lots of video clips of portages, canoe experiences and camping to share with you but they some splicing and editing.
So Monday 8/31/15, we drove 5 hours up North to Grand Marias, MN, and turned on Gunflint Trail and drove another fifty miles to reach our destination. The outfitters had a nice set up on the Seagull River and provided us with a private bunkhouse to stay the first night. They reviewed our route with us and gave us a sparkly new map of the lakes and wilderness. They gave us a Duluth Pack (bag for gear) for our personal stuff so we started unpacking our stuff to see if it would all fit. And it did fit, but we couldn't even lift the bag. It weighed over half my body weight. So we had to start over and get rid of lots of clothes and food (both of which we brought too much!). The weather was forecast to be lows in the 60's and highs in the 80's with no chance of rain. That allowed us to discard rain gear, ponchos, warm shirts and long pants from our pack. We also pared down the meals we brought, hoping to catch some fish to supplement our menu. We still had a pretty heavy bag though.
We were so excited to get going and it was fun to talk to other people that were leaving the next day as well. We were plenty prepared and hoped to have a great day after our first nights sleep in the bunkhouse.
