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Wagonteamster

8-7-17, Ely, MN

Near the end of July, I took a trip to Northern Minnesota to do a repeat of an adventure that was done 25 years ago. Back then, my son Daniel was 7 years old and had his first big wilderness adventure, canoeing a chain of lakes in the north woods of Minnesota with his dad and uncle Jim. Stepping forward 25 years to the present, my son Daniel is 32 and his son Aiden is now 7 years old.  It’s was time for Aiden’s first wilderness adventure.  Accompanying us on the trip was Jamie, my son’s girlfriend, and Dave, a friend from my youth.

Sunset in Boundary Waters

My only selfie on the trip - canoeing through an area that burnt a few years previously in a forest fire.

9 days and 80 miles of paddling

We took the same route we did 25 years ago.  The biggest difference - there were about 10 times as many people enjoying this beautiful place as there were 25 years ago.

With no motorized boats, pristine waters and fairly good fishing, it’s a great place to enjoy mother nature.

Dan and his family.

Aiden was a real trooper and always carried his fair share across the portages between the lakes.

Learning how to jump off small cliffs into a lake is an important part of a young lad’s upbringing.

Catching supper is pretty fun too.

This snapper really enjoyed chowing down on the remains of a 4 lbs bass we had for supper. His shell was about 18 inches long.  While fairly good sized, he was small compared to the one that hung out by are camp 25 years earlier. That one had a shell 3 1/2 feet long and was probably several hundred years old.

Last camp on Lake Disappointment. 

This was a really great trip!