BWCA, Duluth, and northern Michigan

Jordan Lake, on our way to Ima Lake in the BWCA

A week ago, Rachel and I got back from a trip to the Boundary Waters in northern Minnesota.  With over 13 years since our last real vacation, it was a welcome trip, and the BWCA did not disappoint.  It's an amazingly beautiful place, a veritable network of island studded lakes, rocky outcrops, and stunted boreal forests.  The fishing wasn't what I'd call fantastic, but it wasn't bad, either.  

Though we've done some canoeing before, this was our first involving portages.   In a typical day, we tried to be on the water by 7, often traversing 4-5 lakes and as many portages, anywhere from 5 to 220 rods in length (there are 320 rods to the mile).  That way we could be looking for a camp by noon, which is something of a requirement due to the large number of visitors (BWCA is the single most visited wilderness area in the country).  We'd usually meet 3-4 groups on a given day, typically at the portages.  We found moose tracks and wolf scat, but saw none of their makers.

Loons, beavers, and eagles were in abundance, as were the campsite chipmunks and red squirrels.   One camp had an enterprising groundhog who announced his presence with a loud "thump!" as he hopped off a rock ledge and casually ambled over to our equipment, which he tried nibbling on before being scolded and running away.  We had a family of river otters check us out, and also saw the biggest snapping turtle I've ever seen (by far) -- I'd guess a shell length of 30".  

Unfortunately, there was a campfire ban in place while we visited, and it was definitely not unjustified.  Dead brown trees and bushes were everywhere.  This year's blueberries were a complete no-show, causing some bears to become problematic at the many campsites.  I chose not to share this fact with Rachel, who has sensitivity to bears resulting from a college backpacking trip and a friend who left peanut-butter-honey bagels in their tent while they slept. 

Wildfires just north of the border kept the skies filled with smoke, with the sun casting an orange light for the first few days of the trip.  This weekend the USFS closed the entire BWCA to all uses for the first time since it was established.  We're lucky we didn't schedule our trip for late August, as that was the timeframe I'd originally hoped for.

Beginning of the portage from Ima
 to Hatchet lake

For the trip home, we took a few days and came down through Michigan's upper peninsula, staying a night in Grand Marais (MN), Marquette, and Mackinaw City.  The UP was surprisingly desolate, with long stretches of stunted northern forests occasionally punctuated by old mining downs in various states of decay or attempts at renewal.  Marquette (a university town) seemed surprisingly vibrant;  perhaps a little *too* vibrant with all of the newer big box stores on the edge of town.  

In Mackinaw city, we visited Fort Michilimackinac, first established by the French in the 1700s.  Really enjoyed the "living history" staff and presentations as well as the archaeological displays. On the morning of our last day, we stopped at the restored 1700s reciprocating sawmill, which I really liked.  Many of the boards on our 1870 barn were milled on a similar mill (some also on the "new" circular blade mills), as evidenced by the straight saw marks.  

Me demonstrating the use of Ojibwe 
birchbark "sunglasses" I made
for Rachel to replace a pair she'd lost. 
  She wasn't ready to adopt such high fashion,
 as it turns out

We also stopped in Duluth on our way north, apparently a hot new destination for climate refugees from California.  It strikes me as a neat town, and I like the proximity to the BWCA and Lake Superior, but I fear their summers are only slightly cooler than those I'm ready to flee.  On the plus side, jobs are available, and housing is quite affordable.   

At the moment, I'm interested in Juneau.  No heat or smoke there yet.  Their job market looks more promising than Sitka, but they're still relatively scarce and the cost of housing and living is atrocious.  

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This looks to be a fantastic apple year in our orchard -- a great improvement from last year when we had just enough to make a single pie.  The dry spring has given way to a relatively wet summer, with our pastures still growing well.  On the downside, the lack of spring rain dried up most of the local ponds, eliminating the predatory mosquito eating insects.  The summer rains have re-established the ponds where mosquito larvae now have free reign, resulting in the absolute worst mosquitos we've seen since living here.  In a typical year, I would see a few dozen (mosquito eating) dragonflies patrolling our garden and orchard at any given time, but this year there are hardly any to be seen.