Boundary Waters Wilderness Trip September 14-22, 2019
Submitted by Paul Beebe
Two road warriors (Rory Gleadhill and Paul Beebe) departed Memphis on September 12 towing a customized canoe trailer carrying three lightweight Kevlar canoes. After surviving a mini-Dorian (3+ inches of rain fell) while camping at Rock Cut State Park near Rockford, IL, we arrived at Seagull Outfitters the afternoon of Sept 14. If you are a map person, we were on the north end of Sea Gull Lake near the end of the Gunflint Trail. We were met later in the day by three airborne travels (Beverly Hollingsworth, Ken Joerger, and Mark Raggio.)
We spent the night at the Seagull Outfitters Lodge (fancy name for bunkhouse) and put in Gull Lake the next morning, all bright eyed and bushy tailed. We were all excited albeit a little anxious at the same time. We paddled north through Gull Lake to Sea Gull River (no current) and into Saganaga Lake. We found a campsite on American Point where we could look across into Canada. It was a great first day…9 miles in cool weather and very little wind. Saganaga is a very large lake so wind can cause real problems.
The next day we paddled down along the US/Canada border through Swamp Lake, across Monument Portage into Ottertrack Lake. This was our longest day of paddling. All the campsites were occupied so we ended up paddling about 11 miles by the time we found a vacant campsite.
The next morning we portaged into Knife lake and over the next 5 days we paddled and portaged through Bonnie Lake, Spoon Lake, Pickle Lake, Kekekabic Lake, Kekekabic ponds (5 portages to get through the “ponds”), Eddy Lake, Jenny Lake, Annie Lake, Ogishkemunci Lake, Jasper Lake and into Alpine Lake for our last night of camping.
Alpine is a beautiful lake but a large wildfire in the not too distant past killed all the large trees. The two tree dwellers (hammock sleepers) in the group had to get creative on hanging hammocks. We finally found a really neat campsite that had trees large enough to tie off and sling hammocks.
The last morning (Sept 22) we portaged into Sea Gull lake and headed back to the take out. This was the longest portage at 105 rods (1/3 mile) but probably the easiest as the landings were great and the path very level. We had our most wind this day. It was a tail wind for the most part, but still not fun trying to keep a canoe from swamping in the waves. We all made it to the take out without any major mishaps.
All and all, we traveled 57+ miles across 18 lakes and 18 portages. The shortest portage was 10 rods (165 ft) and the longest 105 rods (1/3 mile). None of them were really difficult, some just a little more challenging than others. We were very fortunate and had good weather for the most part. Rain kept us in camp one afternoon but other than that it was good. A little wind occasionally but again, not bad. Wildlife sightings included loons, beavers, bald eagles, and of course, chipmunks and red squirrels. One morning an American marten, also called a pine marten, came to visit, giving us a nice show. So cute! And the sunsets and sunrises!!! Oh my gosh!! So gorgeous!!
Speaking of wildlife….well, not really wildlife, just a very interesting young man. We had finished portaging into Kekekabic Lake and were loading the boats when a young man with a kayak comes down the portage trail. Meet Mark Zimmer. Mark has spent the last 7 or 8 years, from May until October paddling the Boundary Waters. He has taught himself to basically live off the land. He works construction (sheet metal) in the winter to fund his summers. He camped near us and spent the afternoon visiting and eating supper with us. He is no dummy. I know that because he sleeps in the same type hammock that I do, and we have very similar rain tarps.
In summary, it was a great relaxing trip, at least in the opinion of this paddler. Plans are already underway for next year’s trip. Probably less paddling and more time for fishing for those who want to fish.