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On January 25th at 9am CST, reservations for Boundary Waters Canoe Area permit system opens. Popular permits for busy weekends will go quickly. If you’re looking to get a permit for the BWCAW for a specific time and location, you best get your permit at 9am. You can reserve your permit at Recreation.gov. The background on the reservation system is that Boundary Waters’ permits work on an entry point and quota system. The area is divided up into entry points and those are the only locations you can enter. Each day the US Forest Service only allows so many groups into each entry point. Last year, they reduced the quotas…

If you’re an avid paddler, camper, or outdoors enthusiast, you know that a compass is an essential tool for navigation. But have you ever stopped to think about the different parts that make up a handheld compass? Knowing the parts of a compass helps you understand your primary tool for navigation. A compass typically consists of the following parts: Some compasses may also have additional features, such as luminous markings, a rotating bezel lock, or a bubble level. Other compasses may have built-in clinometers, thermometers, barometers, or altimeters to provide additional information about the user’s environment. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced navigator, understanding the different parts of a…

I’ve been messing around with ChatGPT, which is an artificial intelligence chat bot. It’s interesting to mess around with. The other day, I asked it to “Tell a story about sea kayaking on Lake Superior.” This is what it wrote. While it’s a little generic and has some mistakes, it seemed surprisingly accurate. The fish part was a mistake. It’s rare to see a school of fish in Lake Superior. What do you think? Did it do a good job? Tell a story about sea kayaking lake Superior It was a beautiful summer day, and the sun was shining brightly in the clear blue sky. I had been looking forward…

I remember one of my first adventures screaming downhill on a flexible flyer across an ice-encrusted snow at what seemed like breakneck speed. It thrilled my second-grade mind. Flashforward to my first experience on cross country skis. We skied from near the back door of my high school to the football field, across the practice field and straight down a steep slope. I’d never been on skis before, and it was terrifying. Eventually, I learned how to snowboard and that resulted in many trips from the Midwest to Colorado. It took until I moved to the north shore of Lake Superior before I took up xc skiing again. Cross country…

If I thought more like an affiliate marketer instead of a I-wish-it-was-still-the-glory-days-of-blogging blogger, I’d be on the ball about promoting all the sales going on across the internets. Instead, I’m dreaming about how I can finish my Winchell documentary (is there anyone out there that wants to help for free?). Or if I was feeling motivated today, I’d spend less time dreaming about how I need to get my dry suit’s neck gasket fixed so I can go winter kayaking, and I’d just get that done. Anyway, here’s my attempt at promoting sales across the internet. First, go check out the long-time advertisers of this website. For Black Friday weekend,…

I joined Twitter in November of 2008 because I was planning a trip and needed to secure sponsors and funding. At the time, that’s one of the steps that you’d take. The whole influencer thing wasn’t what it is now. While doing that, I helped create a thriving sea kayaking and canoeing community on Twitter with the help of other bloggers (remember those days) and other paddlers. The paddling companies embraced it. There was authentic dialog between the companies, the users, and sponsored paddlers, and it was great. I raised a bunch of sponsorships in gear and cash for the trip I was planning to do. I ended up failing…

This time of year feels bitter sweet. Ice has started to form on the lakes, so it’s time to hang up the canoe paddles, oil the gunwales and store the canoes for the winter. Next up is xc ski season. But, there isn’t enough snow to xc ski yet. After the maintenance is done on the canoes, it’ll hopefully be time to get the skis waxed. Here’s a canoe selfie from sunrise, and here’s raising the paddles to the end of another great paddling season. I hope you had a great season of paddling.

This year, I made a Minnesota 2023 Canoe Country Calendar. These are images from northern Minnesota and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. I’ve taken these images over a number of years, so this won’t be a yearly calendar. It’s just a special one that I made this year. The images are mainly beauty shots and include an image that was taken on the same morning as the image that inspired the post Ranting about Painters — WITH a Paddle in IT! There are a few shots that include paddlers, but mostly it’s pictures of canoes on the shorelines of calm lakes. Here are all the images in the calendar.…

Knives are basic outdoor tools that every outdoors person should know how to safely use. You should probably have one with you. They are handy and helpful. While paddling and when working with tow ropes, painters or otherwise, you should have a paddling knife handy. The knife is the fall back if something fails in your rope handling skills, and you end up with an entanglement issue that you need to cut someone out of. Rope handling skills should be your priority, and you should learn them from a qualified instructor. The more rope handing skills that you have the less of a chance of needing a knife. Also, if…