Tag Archives: Camping

Countdown to the BWCA ~ Part 5

Seriously – I’m posting part 5 today! It seems as though I was just at the local library picking up a copy of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Western Region book almost as a joke to see what the big fuss was about the BWCA, and now just 8 months later I am dreaming wildly of my first paddle stroke into the wild.

Everything is starting to run together now, but all that we really have to procure now is paddles and new fishing poles – because – eh – why not.

I recently purchased an Exped mat at the recommendation from my new friends over at bwca.com. I asked the kind folks of REI if I could “play” with one before I purchased so I pumped it up like I was giving my mat CPR (kind of wondering if all of this CPR pumping was worth the Exped) and then it was finally to the desired firmness, and I laid on it. I instantly was sold and probably laid in the store on that mat for far longer than I should have. (Later that evening I had a 12 hour drive ahead of me to Oklahoma) so I was taking advantage of the five minute snooze fest on the floor of REI. I’m sure they’ve seen far worse but I digress.
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Nature is releasing its grip on winter down here near the cities with all of the snow gone, and ice out on much of the lakes. It is making me crave the wild places with an increased and renewed hunger. I recently spoke with some people from Ely who said the snow is gone-baby-gone (Hallelujah), but alas there is still two feet of perfect glass ice that is holding fast. Each day I am checking the Ely weather forecast to see if it will be warm enough to melt that ice – but ultimately I have to let nature do its thing and not worry about it. “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life?” ~ Luke 12:25. My worrying about it won’t make the ice melt any faster. Well said Jesus. Well said.

At the end of this month I’m heading to the Outdoor Adventure Expo at Midwest Mountaineering and can’t wait! We went to the Sportsman Show at the Minneapolis Convention Center last weekend, and it was pretty underwhelming. Mostly RVs, big boats, and lodges. We did run into a few canoe outfitters, and I did purchase a subscription to the BWJ so I can dork out with a magazine too!
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I think that’s it for now. Minimal things left for the month. To do’s include buying my 48″ bending branches espresso bent shaft paddle – leaving the fishing pole stuff up to the husband, and watching lots of videos on how to pack your canoe pack. The way I have it now I nearly tipped over like Reece Witherspoon in Wild.

❤ Linds

Countdown to the BWCA ~ Part 4

Well February just went SCREAMING by! Maybe because there were only 28 days in the month – but really – screaming by!

In the past month we did a lot of research on bwca.com (my favorite website) and purchased a LOT of BIG items.

1.) We bought a canoe! After firmly deciding that we were not going to haul the beast of a fiberglass canoe that our friends had borrowed us, we were thinking about renting a Kevlar canoe from the boundary waters. We poured hours upon hours into which brand and model canoe we wanted and landed on the one below.  When doing the math – after just two or so trips we would have an entire canoe paid for – so we ended up purchasing a 2013 Wenonah Boundary Waters Canoe from Dan Waters up at Canadian Waters Inc. in Ely. It was a used outfitting boat that’s in great condition. He is storing it up at his place until we come.

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2.) After a co-worker borrowed me his #4 and #3 Duluth Packs I determined that I would rather have a portage pack, so I returned my awesome purple Crestrail 65L for an even more awesome CCS Pioneer Hybrid pack (in Red). This sucker takes the practicality of a portage bag and marries it with the convenience and comfort of a framed hiking pack and BAM! You have a CCS Hybrid bag. The best part is that it’s not only made in the USA, its made right down the road from me!

I had the luxury of visiting CCS headquarters and meeting owners Dan & Karen who are avid paddlers, and know a thing or two about the BWCA! While I was there I got loads of free advice, and picked up a Pathfiner Thwart Bag as well to hold our map, bug spray, sun screen and anything else we want to keep handy in the canoe.

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What else happened? We reserved our bunkroom with Canadian Waters, Inc. as well, and it seems like a very very good deal. We plan to head up to the bwca on a Friday and put in on a Saturday – instead of waking up around 3am to drive up to Ely and get in [the entry point] early enough to avoid canoe traffic at the major portages.

It is $20 per night for a room (per person) of private bunk beds, and Sadie can stay with us too – and breakfast is included at Britton’s Cafe across the street. If you ask me – thats one heck of a deal!

In this next month we will be purchasing sleeping bags for both Miss K’s  and myself and three Exped or Thermarests mats to get us up off the freshly thawed ground and a few more clothing items as needed.

Jason did discover there is quite a few items of interest at Fleet Farm at a pretty good discount. Dry bags which are in the same fashion as our REI purchased ones, and these super awesome flexible ties. He also purchased a handful of bungee cords and a handful wool sox as well.

One other website that I found is this awesome one: Paddle Planner. You can put in your entry point to your desired daily location and it will tell you (in miles) how far you have to travel and the estimated time it will take you to get there. They also have campsites listed with photos and reviews! I already have my eye on several campsites I would like to make my home for a few days!

This next month we should have everything fairly buttoned up in terms of the majority of our supplies. Here’s to more “hunting and gathering”.

~ Till next time.

Countdown to the BWCA ~ Part 2

The days are ticking by and with the merriment of the holidays and our daughters play we hadn’t been quite as immersed in planning as before. That changes this month however with requesting of our permit at the end of the month.

Everyone entering the bwca must have a permit to enter and between April and October you usually have to put in notice ahead of time. The key date to get your permit is on Wednesday January 28, 2015, at 9 a.m.  I of course have my calendar set already!

Between Christmas gifts and my birthday gifts we got much of the rest of the items that we were looking for including the epic Bio Lite stove. We even test drove it on Christmas night, and were able to boil water in 8 minutes flat! (I think that’s faster than my own stove-top and certainly faster than my regular camp stove!) We even used the pot that we are bringing to the BWCA so that we could have the most realistic practice.

I got out the Playtupus Gravity Works filter system and hooked that baby up too (apparently it was test all of our products night)! Water started filtering like a BOSS! I couldn’t even believe how fast the water filters through this thing!  Jason and I decided that right when we get to a campsite we will do the water, then set up the tent, while Kiki gathers twigs for our Bio Lite stove.

Unfortunately I need to return it though, because there is a gash in the tubing on the clean water side, bummer! Other than this – it works exceptionally well, so I will be making a trek down to REI this upcoming weekend. (Plus its their garage sale weekend – so hopefully we score some good deals and we can go rock climbing!)

Later this month we plan to buy the rest of the food that we are planning to bring, to get that all packed in the bag as well. (Just to make sure everything fits – so that if i need to order a Granite Gear Pack) I will know ahead of time.

So far we have a few Mountain House meals, and a few of the Bear Creek soups which we will just purchase pouch chicken for to add to it. We also will be brining a box or two of Rice-a-Roni and again adding either dried beef, or summer sausage to that etc. Breakfasts we plan to just bring oatmeal, and we’re still working out lunch and if left overs might be a possibility, or bring crackers and the pre-mixed tuna salad you can find in the tuna aisle.

Other than this – we are just trying stuff out to make sure it works, securing a bit more para cord, and at least one one other dry sack (or two). Beyond this – we will likely be renting a canoe from an outfitter, just to make our first experience the best one possible.

This next month we will be spending time procuring food, checking our list for whatever else we might need, and of course getting our permit!

Mid-month we’re heading up to the winter cabin that our family rents (sans kids) to play games, relax and me hopefully do a little hiking or snow shoeing!

Happy New Years everyone!

Countdown to the BWCA ~ Part 1

Join me in this six part series! The Countdown to the BWCA posted on the 1st of each month!

As you may know, since mid-August we’ve been looking forward to obsessed over our upcoming trip into the BWCAW.  Its something I personally am feeling really called to do and have been doing research near daily since. After about 8 weeks of pouring over maps and trip reports we’ve decided to enter in at Mudro and head north instead of east towards Basswood falls where most go.

We recently took a trip down to the mothership REI in Bloomington, Minnesota where we stocked up on a lot of our gear!

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It was so hard not to become distracted in the store, you know with the canoes hanging from the ceiling and myriad backpacks screaming for you to buy them and pretty much everything that was on an end cap looked super inviting to buy too!

After speaking with a super knowledgeable employee in the tent department we finally decided upon the Kelty four person backpacking lightweight tent. Perfect for the three of us. Light enough for Jason to carry but roomy enough for the dogs to come in if we ever decided to bring them along in the future.

I had my mind made up that I wanted Granite Gear Quetico Portaging pack but they didn’t have any portaging packs except Chicago IL or Duluth MN. Kiri chanted, “Mama just get one of these packs!” as she was pointing to the hiking style backpacks while being fitted for her own.

I was now at a crossroads. In doing a lot of research at bwca.com, the way to go is either a Granite Gear portaging pack, a Duluth Pack or a CCS pack. But my family was trying on their packs and my husband brought up a good point… If we ever wanted to do either the POW WOW trail, the Superior Hiking Trail, myriad back pack camping sites at the state parks, or take a trip out west the backpacking pack would be my best bet.

I begrudgingly tried one on, but was instantly impressed with comfort and potential performance. With the thought in the back of my mind if I ever took a trip over to CCS, I could easily return the hiking one, but it is 65L so I think chances are I will keep it.

Here’s a list of items we’ve purchased so far:

GSI Outdoors Pinnacle Camper Cookset
Kelty Discovery 4 Tent
Platypus Gravityworks Water Filter System – 4 Liter
Osprey Exos 58 Pack (for Jason)
REI Crestrail 65 Pack – Women’s (for Lindsey)
REI Flash 22 Pack (for miss K)

Amongst the basics we already own, over the next month we will buy the food we plan to take to ensure that it fits nicely in our pack and secure about 2 miles of paracord, and plenty of stuff sacks including a few hydro bags! We also have to make the choice to use our friends fiberglass canoe [read 80lbs], rent a kevlar from an outfitter near Ely, or borrow our friends Kevlar. Eventually we would like to own our own Kevlar and ditch our motorboat. (We’re fully committing here). I’ve been scouting out the Boundary Waters, the Minnesota 2 and the Quetico 17 so far.

For those of you who have been to the BWCA- what is your “Do Not Leave Home Without” item(s) and tips?

 

Minnesota – Week 21

Camping 101 in our family.

#1 – Bring a big tent!
I absolutely cannot stress this enough! Having a big tent allows for a queen sized cot for my husband and I. A twin blow-up air mattress for our daughter and an extra large kennel for the dogs, plus room for our clothing, and to be away from the sides in case it were to rain. Someday I would like to own this one. 

 

#2 – Pack sufficiently
This is really a pro-and con statement. I’ve gotten smarter about what to pack and what to leave at home, but I usually bring WAY TOO MUCH STUFF! And WAY TOO MUCH FOOD!!!!  I re-purposed these pullout drawers to stack our silverware, clicker lighter, and other cooking utensils. etc so I don’t have to go digging around a huge bin looking for a fork when I’ve come off the lake after dark to start cooking dinner.

Not my photo (but I do the same thing) – click the picture for the source

 

#3 – Bring games for the kids!
With most of us being adults its important to bring stuff that the kids will enjoy too! I’ve found going to the dollar store to stock up on glow sticks, and other toys is a fantastic idea – because if anything gets lost or broken ya only spent a buck on it. Plus the dollar store has different kinds of toy type things than regular stores. I’ve also printed off sheets of scavenger hunts which has been a huge hit!

 

#4 – Don’t spread out too much!
We learned this one the hard way this last time we went camping. We had our tent on one end of the camp… dropped some stuff off about 300 feet away from our tent, and our kitchen was another 500 feet away from that. This made everything completely ridiculous in terms of packing up, and took much longer than expected. Next time we will put our kitchen right next to our tent, which will be right next to our truck and so-forth.

 

What are your camping tips?