Boundary Waters Trip

Finally getting around to letting you all know about my trip to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in Northern Minnesota.

I met bro-in-law Ryan in Albert Lea and then we headed north to Matt's (my college room mate) house just north of the cities. That was our starting point and where the 14 of us (friends of Matt's from church, college, and elsewhere) met one another and started the caravan moving on what was to be a long night of driving. We loaded up our 4 vehicles with food, fishing gear, canoes, and other necessary camping equipment. Included in those four vehicles was my Explorer, which I believed to be in a sound mechanical state.

We left Matt's house around 5 p.m. that Friday and were making good time until we got just a few miles south of Duluth when my rig totally crapped out while going up a hill. We coasted to the side of the interstate and the motor was running but it would not move. Finally the motor died and would not start again. I'm freaking out thinking that it is a dead tranny, broken fly-wheel, or some other expensive fiasco that would bankrupt me and not let me get back home the next week. Thankfully, I was with a bunch of great guys offering humor and moral support in my time of crisis. Among our bunch were at least 4 I.T. guys, a dentist, two MN DNR officers, a PhD chemist, a carpenter with a PE degree, a few business mgmt types, and me the elementary principal--not one mechanic among us. Had a hard drive crashed, needed tax advice, or we needed someone to write a citation for exceeding the walleye possession limit, we were in great shape. Mechanical issues were not our strength.

Thankfully my car insurer Liberty Mutual had roadside assistance and Scott from Dave's Towing was there within 30 minutes. Being a Friday at 7:30 p.m., no service shops were open to even talk to a mechanic so Scott told me he'd haul it to Northstar Ford in Duluth and I should just keep going on my trip and give the dealership a call on Monday morning. We took Scott's advice, unloaded the gear from my car and away we went.

We had supper in Duluth (a fancy little restaurant called Wendy's) and then kept going north (I didn't think it was possible to go north of Duluth either). We stopped outside Duluth to borrow a vehicle from the parents of Kris as we were a bit crowded after my car died. 110 miles north of Duluth we made it to Grand Marais, MN which is right on the north shore of Lake Superior. From there we headed west on the Gunflint Trail another hour until we got to the landing on the lake where Matt's family has their cabin. So in the dark at about 11:30 p.m. we loaded up the canoes, kayak, and boats to trek across Little Iron Lake to the Struve compound. We had a little help from the moon and made it with no problems the .75 miles from the landing to the camp landing.

Matt's family bought 200 acres of land about 8 years ago in what was almost the deal of the century for some complicated reason Matt explained but I couldn't quite follow. Struve's aren't typically known for making sense and I'm not typically known for listening well or paying attention. Anyway, their land borders two lakes (Little Iron and Benning) and these lakes connect to Tucker Lake and Iron Lake. Over the past few years, they've built a small cabin with a deck, a sauna building, an outhouse, and a bunk house. There is no electricity or running water, but we could comfortably sleep indoors and had a propane fridge and grill for storing and cooking food.

For those of you who really know the BWCA and are confused about the cabin and motorized boat issues, half of Tucker Lake is in the BWCA and the other half is in "civilization" so cabins and motors are fine. We didn't quite rough it like many do who go to the BWCA.

The next morning I tried to get the whole car fiasco out of my mind with a little early morning fishing. I went out in one of the motorboats (motors on this particular set of lakes are limited to 10 HP) with Doug and we caught a bunch of little northerns (in-line spinner and white jigs) and had fun. I couldn't get the motor started to head back to the cabin for breakfast. After messing with the choke and pulling the start cord 20-30 times I realize that we are out of gas. We got a little exercise rowing the boat back home.

After breakfast we all loaded up to head to Tucker Lake which is traditionally the best walleye water. I get in the back of one canoe and while Ryan was getting in the front, things got a little wobbly and of course I frickin fall in the lake. Dead Explorer, boat motor problems, fall in lake... This is a great vacation and I hope it never ends. Everyone knows I'm snakebit, so they avoid me like the plague and do not want to share a boat with me, with the exception of Ryan. Maybe he felt obligated since we're somewhat related (but not technically brothers-in-law) or maybe he stuck with me since IT WAS HIS FAULT FOR TIPPING THE CANOE OVER WITH ME IN IT!!

We got a tow over to the portage and finally made it to Lake Tucker and are ready to fish. Well, not really ready because the fishing reel I've brought for Ryan is broken. Dead Explorer, boat motor problems, fall in lake, broken reel... Oh yeah, I would have had more fun at a convention of Young Republicans. But, thankfully Jeff had a spare reel he loaned Ryan and I got through my pity party. Ryan and I fished with Jeff and Kris that day and they knew the lake well and actually had with them a portable Lowrance flasher so we did well in finding some good water. We had two canoes and strapped them together with two 10 foot 2 by 4's to look somewhat like a catamaran. This actually made the two canoes very steady so we could actually stand and cast and NOT FALL IN. We also had a motor so we had quite the fishing rig. Not quite a decked-out Skeeter, but it was top-notch under the circumstances.

Within an hour, Ryan said he had a "snag" only for that snag to turn into a very nice 21 inch walleye. In the next ten minutes I caught two walleyes and then all was right in the world. Who cares about the dead Explorer? I'm with some great people in an incredibly beautiful part of the world catching walleyes. For those of you who love details, we caught our fish this day in about 8 fow with green jigs tipped with a small piece of crawler. The wind was blowing just right for us to drift and drag the jigs over the rocks beneath us. Also, the walleyes are a very dark color--almost orange in the belly where I'm used to seeing them white. We caught a few more northerns and then headed back to the cabin for lunch, card-playing, naps, and swimming. After supper it was back out on the lake for fishing until just after dark. Our group as a whole boated some more walleyes using jigs and crankbaits (shad raps, countdowns, rattle traps).

Sunday was much like Saturday--up early to fish, then breakfast, then fishing, then lunch, then cards, swimming and naps, then supper then fishing. I love fishing, but the card-playing and shooting the breeze was almost as fun. We played a lot of euchre and cribbage. We ate well on the trip and had different crews to make breakfast and supper (lunch was coldcut sandwiches on your own). A couple of the guys were excellent at preparing the fish and it was fantastic.

Monday morning Matt took Ryan and I over to Loon Lake Lodge to use the phone so I could call the Ford dealership and see what was going on. I gave them the details of the breakdown and they told me after looking it all over it was a just a "mass airflow sensor" (yup, just what I thought) and that for $300 they'd have her running Tuesday when we came back through town. That's pretty cheap these days for car repairs so I was thrilled and we headed back to the lake to get in some more fishing. Ryan and I fished together that day on our own and had a blast. The weather was gorgeous and we figured out a killer pattern for pike. We were in one of the motorboats and were trolling plugs (shad raps and Fat A Bombers) in about 12 feet of water and just absolutely hammered the fish. We lost count after 20 and I was amazed at how ferocious these fish were. They hit hard, fought hard, and would try to take a finger from you when you'd unhook them. We were pulling in fish left and right in front of some other boats and had doubles on at least two times.

Once we inducted ourselves into the Little Iron Lake Fishing Hall of Fame, we put down our lethal equipment and went swimming on The Rock. It is a crop of rocks about 10 feet above the water with 10+ feet of water below it. It was fun.

The next morning we packed it all up, got my rig from Duluth, and then headed back to the Cities to disperse. Ryan and I got to his truck in Albert Lea about 8 p.m. and then I made it home by 11. It felt good to get home and see the fam and sleep in my own bed.

It was a great trip and one that I'm glad that I'll be able to do again as Matt is making it an annual even the first weekend in August.