May we see your photos, please?

We have returned from the Boundary Waters! It was a great trip! The worst thing that happened was when the canoes came untied from the roof of the truck while we were speeding up 35W. The Weenonah swung out at an angle right into the next lane! Luckily, nobody hit us and we pulled over and retied everything. (And then I threw up!) (Almost).





The lake is like glass in the early morning.











One of the best things about going so far north (almost to the Canadian border), is having time to reconnect with each other.










This beaver lived right by our camp on Basswood Lake. He was awake all night and splashed and chewed and made a racket. At least I blamed every noise I heard on him, I'd rather think it was him than a BEAR!








Lucy loves to go to the BWCA. She jumps in the lake every 5 minutes to get a drink (why she needs to be up to her belly in water to get a drink is beyond me!). She doesn't jump out of the canoe, though, she likes to nap on top of the Duluth packs.








At our first campsite, we had to evict a Red Eared
Slider. It spent the whole time we were there just floating offshore and watching us. I think it was eating ants by the firepit.











At every campsite after that, we were watched by turtles. This is the head of an enormous snapping turtle that had the last day's watch. We called this the "Turtle Surveillance Network". They may have been spy drones controlled by the park rangers, or else all the forest creatures are in it together. We knew we were being watched and followed all the rules.






Nick makes his pizza, his favorite camping meal.

















This is the latrine. A person was in danger of being carried away by mosquitoes (or dying of blood loss) just by getting near it. I wore complete rain gear and LOTS of DEET.
















Remember the spaghetti sauce? Here it is re-hydrating. (It was delicious!)












Nick caught a walleye! He caught quite a few, actually.












Nate caught fish, too. This is a perch.


















Look, I caught fish, too! This is a Northern and a Walleye. They were delicious! Almost as delicious as the swim I took that afternoon.
















Paul is pumping water through the filter for us to drink. We don't want to get Giardia or some other awful disease.











I made Lucy a backpack so she could carry her own food. She looks pretty cute in it on the portages.











Washing dishes in the rain. It only rained twice, both times at night.

I hate this picture, (I'm posting it on the fridge) but I am comforted knowing that I actually LOST weight on this trip. (Maybe if I carry the canoe around the yard every day.......)







Nick demonstrates the use of the "tump-line" on the Duluth packs. The portages we went over were for canoes AND boats. The boaters slip wheels under their boats and haul them over the land. We kept paddling until we were out of the area where boats are allowed.














Nate carries a canoe over the portage. These were portages around waterfalls.

















We left the woods and went to the big city of Ely. Sadly, our motel had our reservations wrong, so we had to go to the (Ultra-plush) Grand Ely Lodge! They have cushy queen-size beds and lots of pillows, yay! After a very long shower, I slept like a log. Probably because I didn't have to listen for bears all night.







On our way home on Sunday we stopped for lunch in Cloquet. If you ever go through Cloquet, stop at "Gordy's Hi-Hat" for burgers. They are soooo goood! I had to march around the backyard with a canoe on my head for a long time to work that off!