I will usually carry a diary when I’m out camping. At the end of the day if I’m not too tired I’ll record observations and thoughts about the day’s events. Sometimes there is a story to tell. Sometimes I fall asleep with the pen in my hand. It’s a good way to settle in at night.
2008 was the year that I went on my first canoe camping trip with a couple friends. Little did I know what our exploration of the Gunflint Trail side of the Boundary Waters would awaken within.
In 2011 I would return to the Northland with a partner from my first trip. However, this time from the Ely side of the Boundary Waters and in the middle of September.
2012 was the first time I brought one of my kids into the wilderness, along with a couple of his friends and their dads. We checked out a wilderness area closer to home in the UP of Michigan, the Sylvania Wilderness.
2015 saw another trip to another new place. This time a friend I made through Scouts and I checked out one of Wisconsin’s flowages while my oldest was up for a week of summer camp near by.
2016 had two canoe adventures: A spring paddle down the Kickapoo River in Wisconsin with the Scouts, and then later in August to the Boundary Waters with a buddy and our kids.
2018 was a good year, canoeing-wise. In May, a buddy and I took a canoe I had newly refurbished for a christening run down the Nippersink Creek in lieu of the cancelled Des Plaines Marathon. A month later, my youngest and I did a Father’s day weekend float on a section of the Wisconsin River. Then in August I took my 10 and 5 year old kids on a easy loop off of the Gunflint Trail in the BWCA.
2020 brought the pandemic and lots of uncertainty. Thankfully, canoe camping is well situated for social distancing. I got to check out the area near Lac La Croix with the Scouts in July. Mid September I also took my brother Charlie on his first canoe camping trip. (Trip reports yet to be published)
2022 had a few overnight paddles. The Scouts wanted to paddle a piece of the Wisconsin over Labor Day weekend, and then Joe and I got away for 10 incredible days & nights of late September BWCA goodness.