Forty Seven Years in the Boundary Waters

When I got an invite to tag along on a Boundary Waters Canoe Area trip recently they did have the common sense to ask if I had ever been there before.  Well, yes I had.  In fact my first trip there was before all but one of the other members of our party had even been born.

Forty seven years ago.....1971.

I was a Boy Scout, member of Troop 8 on the north side of Minneapolis.  The Scouts at that time had their own canoe base near Ely, and going on one of these jaunts was kind of a big deal.  You needed a certain number to make up an ideal party so a couple of us that were on the young side got tapped to go.   

The BWCA* was a wilder place then.  No Kevlar canoes, they were aluminum and while indestructible they were darned heavy.  Each canoe had a crew of three.  One paddler front and aft and a "duffer" who sat in the middle.  We younger scouts mostly got this duty.

Portages between lakes were naturally done in one operation.  One carried the canoe, one carried a pack with food and gear, one carried a pack with personal stuff - clothes, sleeping bags etc - for three.  On our recent trip we did not come anywhere close to this enviable level of efficiency.

I suppose I've been to the Boundary Waters a dozen times.  But no trip rivaled this one for sheer ambition.  We went way, way up into the Canadian side of the wilderness.  Up so far that you still saw crumbling remains of early logging camps.  Up so far that our final destination was on a little lake where there was a container with a message book.  It was labeled, for no reason I can recall, MOBBS.  And the prior entry to ours was several months back.

Looking over the photo brings back memories.  I of course am the good looking kid in the front row right side.  Our guide was a fellow named Bill Bebee from Texas.  The adult who came along on the trip was Mr. Day.  I remember him being a WW II vet who worked as a butcher at the local market.  His two sons came along (one seems to not be in the picture).  Their names are long forgotten, I think they were just known as Big Day and Little Day.  Also on the trip were Big Riemer and Little Riemer, Garry Kowalski - who I remember considering the funniest person ever to walk the face of the earth - and a few others with less distinct pictures.  Rob, who I stayed in touch with for a number of years. He developed a drinking problem.  The big tall guy who more than anything resembles a Garry Larson cartoon of a boy scout.  I think his name was England.

The Boundary Waters experience has changed a lot in nearly a half century.  My recollection is that on the Scout trip we had canvas tents.  Probably US Army surplus but modified so that you could use your canoe paddles as tent poles.  The diet was monotonous.  Lots of oatmeal.  Every night we cooked a concoction called "bannock" for lunch the next day.  We paddled every day, all day apart from a half day rest up at our final destination, the enigmatic MOBBS lake.**

In the 21st century the equipment has gotten much lighter and generally better.  But there seems to be a need to carry a lot more "comforts of home" along.  Many of the other travelers we saw - and there were a lot more than in 1971 - were older folks moving at a leisurely pace with heavily laden canoes.  This is neither good nor bad, just different.  Although I can point to a few things that are great upgrades.  Despite having more padding than I did at 14 the ground has become a very unpleasant thing to sleep on.  The new "Thermarest" mattresses are very comfortable and don't go flat after a day or two like the old ones.  Much recommended.

As to other changes I can report that I am able to portage a lot more now than I could then.  Mostly my more stubborn adult nature I suspect.

It's not as if there have been any other substantive changes over the years....

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* It did not formally become the BWCA until 1978.  I think it was just the Superior National Forest in 1971.

** Possibly Bent Pine Lake.