Boundary Waters Trip - Minnesota by Sarah Lambie

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Boundary Waters Trip - Minnesota

~ Sarah Lambie (8/11/2008 @ 4:36 PM)

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Camp

Chris with the only fish caught

I thought I would be a nice sister and make my brother a BEAUTIFUL hat to wear on the trip! He loved it!!

My brother, Chris and I went on a Boundary Waters trip over the fourth of July weekend which was both relaxing and quite exhausting. We quickly learned that having four portages was not a fun adventure, not to mention having to do each portage three times because of the amount we packed. Once we finally got to our campsite on a little island in Shell Lake, we quickly set up our home for the next few days and settled in.

The mosquitoes weren't all that bad, but the ones that were around were fought off with plenty of citronella candles and Off. We made one trip to get water out of the middle of the lake, which lasted us for the rest of the stay. After we made and ate dinner, it took us a while to figure out how to hang the food to keep it away from those beastly bears. We went to bed early that night - me with my top of the line sleeping back and comfortable blow up mattress pad, and Chris with his little fleece sleeping bag with a broken zipper and a mattress pad that had its troubles inflating. I think it's easy to guess who got the better sleep that night. Chris was up early the next morning with his fleet farm coffee mug in hand.

The first day was probably one of the more eventful days, however, there were the frustrating nights for Chris when I'd beat him in the card game Phase 10 (and of course I'd be accused of cheating), and there were days when I'd lose in other card games but hardly would complain to him.

One day, after I woke up from a nap, I find Chris out on the rocks with his swimsuit on. Of course, I snuck up on him and scared him, but the most shocking part was his plan to swim from our island across to the other shore (in very cold water that neither of us could stomach to get in to prior to this fantastic idea). I laughed, got my camera, and took pictures of his attempt. Chris got about halfway across and had to turn around. At least he tried!

During this whole trip, a main goal of ours was to fish. We must have used every bait possible, except live bait because a guy at the outfitter's said we'd be perfectly fine without them and Lord knows I wasn't about to touch any live leeches. Despite all our efforts, we caught only one little walleye, which resulted in throwing it right back. Now before this trip I have never tried fish, and I was going to go out of my food comfort zone. However, we ended up eating mashed potatoes, ramen noodles, and other sorts of "just add water" foods.

Knowing that there was bad weather on the way, Chris and I packed up camp a day early to head out before the rain came. Let's just say unpacking was quite a bit easier than packing it all up again. After experiencing the great pains of the portages on the way in, we knew what we were in for. Chris and I decided to try to compact our three trips on each portage into just two trips on each portage. For one trip, I had to carry both tents, the front and back Duluth bags, two lifejackets, two oars, and hang the folding chairs around my neck. There were times when I didn't quite remember who I was or what the hell I was doing. The moment I'd stop to take a breather, I would be attacked by mosquitoes, so that wasn't really an option. The Yukon never looked so appealing once we finally got to it.

Overall, the trip was worthwhile and a great graduation present from my brother. It also serves as a very good learning experience for a future trip up there!

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Preparing for the swim across	Halfway there!	Getting ready for a day of fishing	Chris' side
My side	Our island	The canoe's all packed to head home.	A final portage
Myrtle was laying eggs	Campfire	Chris after losing in Phase 10
Chris and the sunset	A loon	Lounging	Our moquito defense
Chris' two favorite hats	The canoe		We named our island after this little bugger - Dragonfly Mating Island. I don't care to ever see two dragonflies mate again.
A closer look at the keep-away-bears-from-food contraption
	Yertle
	Morning	Myself with our water supply and the brightest latern in the world when lit	Sunset
Chris with his bear confounder contraption in the background
The view	I had to frequently look back to make sure he was paddling.	The view from the front of the canoe	Chris sure is ready to go.
I had to lean forward to balance myself	The overpacked Yukon

Comments

Mike Lauenstein

Member Since: 7/12/2008

RE: Boundary Waters Trip - Minnesota
Posted On: 8/11/2008 5:22 PM

Very cool, Sarah! I'm not going to lie, the hat you made Chris is priceless!

Cheers!

"Lauey"
Mike Lauenstein
CrazyOutdoorsmen Managing Partner
http://www.crazyoutdoorsmen.com

Chris Lambie

Member Since: 7/14/2008

RE: Boundary Waters Trip - Minnesota
Posted On: 8/11/2008 6:04 PM

I think I have to rate this a 10...it's an unwritin rule in the world of CO with family members. Nice write up Sarah. Again, I wish we caught more fish. That is starting to become an unwelcoming trend with me latley.

Mike Lauenstein

Member Since: 7/12/2008

RE: Boundary Waters Trip - Minnesota
Posted On: 8/12/2008 12:18 PM

Don't worry, Chris... I like drinking with you just as much as trying to catch fish.

Cheers!

"Lauey"
Mike Lauenstein
CrazyOutdoorsmen Managing Partner
http://www.crazyoutdoorsmen.com

Matt Johnson

Member Since: 7/12/2008

RE: Boundary Waters Trip - Minnesota
Posted On: 8/11/2008 8:21 PM

Great Journal!

Dean Olejniczak

Member Since: 8/14/2008

RE: Boundary Waters Trip - Minnesota
Posted On: 8/13/2008 11:04 PM

Great photo's however without any fish, I believe that these could have been taken just outside the city. :-) I don't remember having a screened porch on a portage canoe trip but living the life of Riley isn't a bad way to go. Next time, bring about a dozen Mr. Twisters.

Dean "Dino" Olejniczak
Catch and Release for the pleasure of the sport; Please!

Nic Dittbrenner

Member Since: 8/5/2008

RE: Boundary Waters Trip - Minnesota
Posted On: 8/18/2008 9:44 PM

Very nice write up Sarah...one thing though, I did not see any pictures of BBB...that's probably why you guys didn't catch many fish.

Sarah Lambie

Member Since: 8/11/2008

RE: Boundary Waters Trip - Minnesota
Posted On: 8/20/2008 6:39 AM

The BBB was only brought out one night, and I have to say, it's an acquired taste! Just ask Chris how priceless my face was.

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