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The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Pagami Creek Fire
By September 18, 2011 the Pagami Creek Fire in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCA), the United States’ most used designated Wilderness Area under the Wilderness Act of 1964 and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Act of 1978, had burned about 94,000 acres (147 square miles, 380 square kilometers). It had burned approximately 1/10th of the entire preserve, which sets aside 1 million acres of lakes connected by portage trails in a relatively undeveloped state. Pagami Creek Fire History According to InciWeb, the website used by fire management to communicate information to the public, the Pagami Creek fire started from a lightning strike on Thursday August 18th, 2011.…
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Boundary Waters Routes: Sag and Sea Gull Loop
Two large lakes dominate the terrain at the end of the Gunflint Trail. To the north at Trail’s End, Saganaga Lake stretches through the Boundary Waters and into Canada. To the west, Sea Gull Lake runs for miles. A Boundary Waters Canoe Area entry point serves each lake and both are connected through a set of portages. These portages make it one of the easy Boundary Waters routes that make a loop. Distance: 29 miles (450 rods of portages) – This area has several variation, so you could do a shorter route and still see most of it. Entry Points: 55, 55A, 54, 54A Trip Rating: Intermediate. The portages are…
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Fall and Early Spring Canoe Camping Checklist – Extend Your Paddling Season
In the late fall, most of the paddlers have put away their canoes and wouldn’t dream on heading to a canoe camping destination where snow, sleet, cold rain and even ice are possible. Yet, these times of the year offer the best time for solitude, reflection and camaraderie. If you want the former, you spend plenty of time alone, see no one and with the short days you’ll have time to think. For the later, the night comes quickly, so you find yourself sitting around a campfire trying to get warm and laughing with friends. With the right gear, it needn’t be a miserable experience. Here’s a fall canoe camping…
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THE SKELETON COAST: Paddling Lake Superior’s Desolate Southeast Shore
I’ve spent the last few summers working as a sea kayak guide for Woods and Water Ecotours in Hessel, Michigan and loved every minute of it. The long days, working with clients, teaching lessons and kayak surf sessions with the guides all added to the mystique. In the fall, reluctant to let go of my summer freedom as I went back to engineering school, I would go kayak surfing on Whitefish Bay when the gales of November would come slashing out of the north. The Big Water has a way of stripping away everything that isn’t important. It becomes just you and the Lake. For a spring expedition I decided…
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High Angle Vs. Low Angle Paddling
Typically, the difference between high angle vs low angle paddling styles is explained as the height of the upper hand during the forward stroke, because the height of the upper hand changes the angle of the paddle’s shaft when referenced from the water. For example, if the hand is shoulder high or above, it’s consider a high angle stroke because the angle of the shaft is high. If the hand is shoulder high or below, it’s considered a low angle stroke because the angle of the shaft is low. Typically, the stroke type then dictates the type of kayak paddle to use. For a high-angle style stroke, a shorter paddle…
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More Kayaking Accessories for Beginners
A first-time kayaker may not realize what kayaking accessories he or she may want or need when getting into kayaking. In the first part of this article, Kayaking Accessories for Beginners, I listed items that I think are necessary for beginners. In this list, I’ll highlight items that an entry-level kayaker may want to buy right now. Eventually, most kayakers end up with some of these items, especially those who want to paddle further than swimming distance from shore and in less than perfect weather. Note: If you paddle in water colder than 60 degree Fahrenheit (15.5 Celsius), then you need a wetsuit or a drysuit. I’ve covered that before in…
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Get Your Kayak Wet at the Gales Storm Gathering
During fall on the Great Lakes, strong, dense winds blow across the flat expanses of Canada and collide with the relatively warm waters of the Great Lakes making explosive sea conditions. Those steep waves — the old timer fishermen called them square because almost vertical wave faces separate the wave’s tops from their bottoms — provide a mess of peaks and valleys to chuck yourself and your kayak into. In the past, the big names in kayaking, such as Nigel Dennis and Stan Chladek, staged a yearly November (statistically the stormiest month but stupidly cold) event on Lake Superior that challenged paddlers from around the world. Rumor has it that…
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Siskiwit Bay Skin-on-Frame Sea Kayak Plans
The Siskiwit Bay SOF is a multi-chined version of the original Siskiwit Bay cedar strip boat. It’s a great modern British-style sea kayak that a builder can scale down to suit their size. These free kayak plans are for builders desiring a skin-on-frame version of the boat built in Yost-style. For stitch and glue plywood builders, the Siskiwit Bay MC is also available. The plans come as full-sized drawings that you can print. Note: The sheerline and design features sweeping curves that might challenge first-time Yost-style builders. If you haven’t built a Yost-style SOF before, this might not be the best option. The basic process of a wooden framed Yost-style…
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Builders Photos of the 1910 St. Francis Canoe
The 1910 St. Francis Canoe in Bark Canoes and Skin Boats of North America is one of the Free Canoe Plans that I offer. It’s also one of the most graceful canoes in Bark and Skin. It’s high ends and sweeping sheerlines lead the eyes from tip to tail without interruption. The canoe measures just over 15 feet and its 36 inch width makes for a stable ride. It’s appearance is more modern than many of the other canoes in Bark and Skin, and it’s easy to imagine that this could be commercially manufactured today. It’s not surprising that builder’s flock to this design. 1910 St. Francis Skin-on-Frame Canoe Builder:…
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Ninja Paddling – The Path of the Ninja Paddler
The word ‘ninja’ brings to mind silent assassins running through the forests of medieval Japan and cheesy B action movies with terrible plots and even worse special effects. The word itself has become heavily overused in modern society. People are obsessed with ninjas. Movies, cartoons, anime, and even paddling equipment makers like NRS have used the name ‘Ninja’ as a hook to draw people in, but for me the name brings to mind a special activity, something I like to call “Ninja Paddling.” Once a month at Woods & Water Ecotours we guide a moonlight kayak trip where we take clients out to watch the sunset and then to watch…
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22 Ways to Improve Your Kayaking Skills Forever
We paddle because it’s fun and relaxing and sometimes challenging and risky. When it isn’t fun, it’s usually because our skills aren’t up to the challenge. In those circumstances, we can either grit our teeth and deal with it, or we can try to improve our skills so that next time we can smile and laugh instead of grinding the grit from our teeth. Improve your kayaking skills and kayaking techniques today by trying one or more of these 22 ideas. Set up a training schedule. As with any physical activity, if you train for it, you grow your skills. Although you might rather stand on your head and drink…
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Kayak Paddle Stuck Together? This Is How To Get It Apart
At the end of a full-day of paddling, you load your car, put away your vest and rescue gear. You get ready to put away your paddle, but after you push the spring-lock button, the paddle won’t split apart. It’s stuck. Likely, a barely-noticeable, fine sand found its way into the connection before you joined the parts together. With luck on your side, the paddle comes apart when you tug on one end and a friend tugs on the other. On a normal day, it feels like someone super-glued the paddle together. When it feels like glue keeps your kayak paddle stuck together, break out the hair dryer and a…
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Waving Your Arms Past Your Head While Spinning in Circles
Jon Turk begins Part 4 of The Raven’s Gift: A Scientist, a Shaman, and Their Remarkable Journey Through the Siberian Wilderness with a discussion about the mythology surrounding the raven in aboriginal cultures. He relates a myth about Raven dropping a walnut on a man’s head and then laughing about it. The man’s feelings are hurt, so he asks Raven, “Why?” Raven stops laughing and tells the man that he isn’t mocking the man, but just ‘playing’ with him to have fun. Jon interprets the story this way: …Ravens may drop walnuts on your head, storms may batter your canoe, blizzards may scatter your reindeer, but lighten up; nature is…
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Boundary Waters Day Trip: Bower Trout Lake BWCA
The eastern side of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area has many great day trips, but one of the best starts at the Bower Trout Lake BWCA entry point. This route is an out and back paddle, so you decide how long of a trip you want. The fishing is good on several of the lakes, and moose often frequent Bower Trout late in the evening. Combine those factors with the burned area further west along the route, and you get a diverse day trip with plenty to see. Start early in the morning on this one, because there’s so much to explore Distance: 1 to 10 miles – This is…
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Printed Canoe Plans and Kayak Plans Plus Electronic Nestings
PaddlingLight offers a significant number of historic canoe and kayak plans and several original designs. In the past, those free kayak plans and free canoe plans came as a drawing on one sheet of paper. The plans showed the stations at 1-foot intervals with the stems drawn over the station. Only my commercial plans and a few were available with nestings. I’ve decided to start offering nestings for all the plans. I’m also offering a new service. I’m printing the nesting and stem and station plans on 24- by 36-inch paper. These two new services come with a fee. While I’ve made these plans available without expecting to make any…
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