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The Magic of a Winter Wilderness
The Boundary Waters of northern Minnesota are special. There’s no denying that. Every year, hundreds of thousands flock to this northern wilderness area to experience a landscape where canoes outnumber the cars and a wild landscape is, in some ways, locked in time. But every winter as the canoes are tucked away, the summer tents…
BWCA Superlatives – Setting the Facts Straight
It all goes back to a BWCA trivia contest. That’s when it sank it anyways. I consider myself a BWCA nerd, down to the root, so maybe these things are more obvious to me. In any case, an organization that should have been experts in the topic were incorrect in the answers they provided for…
The Route Planning Game
“Probably the best remedy for the canoe freak is map watching. Pouring over maps can often get you through the canoeless season when nothing else can. I recommend it highly. If you coat the maps with plastic, you can even use them as tablecloths, curtains, and all sorts of things. However, no matter what you…
The Tail of the Thunderbox
A few weeks back, we delved into the story of the BWCAW fire grates. No story of the BWCAW campsites would be complete, however, without the other ever-present campsite feature. The feature goes by many names: the latrine, the throne, the BIFF, the privvy, the facilities, and so many others depending on your group. Just…
Gear Features: We’ve got your back(straps)!
At Portage North and Sundog Sport, we sell gear that we would want to use and that we can trust. In that pursuit, we are constantly improving our gear so that it can be more enjoyable to use, more trustworthy, and easier to make to a high standard. Much has changed since Portage North…
What’s Old is New Again on Chapman St. – Ely, MN
Summer is nearly upon us and the streets of Ely are bustling with canoeists, campers, and fishermen eager to enjoy their trips to the BWCA. Hopefully we’ll talk with many of them at Portage North and Sundog Sports in our new and improved retail space which we look to reopen sometime this June. And as…
Map Mondays – Week 7 – Larch Creek to Brule Lake
As part of our continuing series on the “route planning game,” we are creating routes using randomly selected entry points, exit points, and number of days to create unique and fun BWCA routes. Let’s check it out! Total Mileage: 52.5 milesNights: 6Paddle Distance: 42.8 milesPortage Distance: 9.7 miles Day 1: Miles: 13.6Target Campsite: Saganaga Lake,…
Wildlife in Wildlands – A History of BWCA Wildlife
The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, Superior National Forest, and Voyageurs National Park make up the largest wild landscape in Minnesota as well as being one of the largest wild spaces east of the Mississippi in the US. Combine that with wildlands directly across the border in Quetico Provincial Park and the surrounding crownlands, and…
The Lost BWCA Entry Points
The Boundary Waters have always been steeped in discussions of how to manage the number of people who visit it. Unlike western wildernesses, there is no natural filter which prevents large numbers of visitors from enjoying it. Many wilderness areas are remote, buffered by dozens of miles of existing land that one must travel through…
Smoke On the Horizon – How Fire Towers Changed BWCA History
A drive out from Ely today, and you won’t see many fire towers. They’ve vanished as antiquated methods of dutiful rangers past. But less people remember how those fire towers have shaped our wilderness experiences.
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