Monthly Archives: December 2014

The following blog post is a piece I wrote for the Winter 2014 Boundary Waters Journal Collective Wisdom section. It is published and available now on the news stand. It’s a great issue with a lead winter camping story by Bear Paulson. My  take on the Collective Wisdom assignment has kind of quirky Christmas feel so I don’t think Stu will mind me putting it on my blog today as long as I proclaim, “first published in the BWJ.”  

Stu asked “Suppose you could take just one last trip in the BWCAW/Quetico. Where, when, how and with who would you spend this special trip? What aspects of wilderness canoe tripping are absolutely the most precious to you, and why?” I recommend you buy the magazine and check out what my colleagues wrote, but below is my take (unedited).

It’s tempting when conjuring a fantasy canoe trip to remember my most … Continue reading →

After ten days north of sixty I have completed over 30 hours of recorded interviews and maybe more important I reestablished a solid “feel” for the North. Up here in December, if you blink, the short day is over and your eyelids have frozen together. Jean Carter put me up, fed me fish almost every day and was a fantastic host. I just focused on the book. The only bad thing about that is I have not been promulgating my Rio Grande river trips very well, all 3 of them still have openings. Please help me spread the word. I am going regardless of how many paddlers we have but i would like the Continue reading →

I am in Hay River collecting stories and photos of Merlyn Carter.

The journey to Hay River was an adventure. Minnesota has had an unseasonably cold November and as I drove across Minnesota and North Dakota the temperature continued to drop. I had removed the passenger seat of my Subaru so I could sleep in the car, but the first night was a bit chilly -17 F. The next day and not long after I drove into Saskatchewan the snow and wind began. It was white knuckle driving bashing through drifts and straining to see the road with only a brief stop for a Thanksgiving hamburger. I did make it across the entire province and spent my second night in Lloydminster, Alberta (in a motel). It snowed all night and by morning the town was blanketed. With high winds predicted for the afternoon I timed my drive ahead of the … Continue reading →