Sunday, October 17, 2010

Touching a Paddle in the Boundary Waters of Minnesota

Cathy said, “I want to visit Minnesota”. So off we went.

We flew to Minneapolis, rented a car, and spent seven days traveling in northeastern Minnesota. We saw beautiful country, visited unique places in the Lake Superior area, and most of all we met wonderful Minnesotans. We now have new friends and great memories of Minnesota and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW). 

The BWCAW is a region of wilderness straddling the Canada–United States border between Ontario and Minnesota. It is composed of over 1 million acres of forests and thousands of miles of water routes. No motored vehicles or boats are allowed within the parameters of the wilderness area. Permits are required for all visitors of the BWCA. A limited number of permits grant access to each BWCAW entry point.

Cathy and I spent three days in Ely, Minnesota at the Blue Heron Bed and Breakfast, close to entrance 31 of the BWCAW. Ely provided us:
• A two hour kayak paddle to South Farm Lake, an area in the BWCAW
• A three hour canoe paddle from North Farm Lake into the Kawishiwi River, another entrance into the BWCAW
• Visited the International Wolf Center to see wolves in a two acre habitat
• Visited the Northern Bear center and saw bears in their natural environment
• An evening at a lakeside campfire learning how to “howl” to see if we could get a reciprocal howl from wild wolves.

Enjoy our video as Cathy and I share a taste of the boundary waters and the Ely attractions. Two of our Minnesota friends will give you an upfront demonstration of wolf howling.



Next September friends and I will never have to say, "We wish We had paddled a week in the Boundary Waters."

If you have interest in the boundary waters visit:
BoundaryWatersCanoeArea.com
CanoeKayak.com

Click slideshow  to see all the pictures and videos of our Ely visit.
  •  Gift an inscribed copy of Steve’s latest book, Outdoor Enthusiast: Never say, “I wish I had…” for the upcoming holidays. E-mail Steve at mailto:steve@outdoorsteve.com?subject= Order Outdoor Enthusiast. Give Steve the number of copies and the inscription for each book. The price is $34 per book, and this special price includes the cost of shipping.