First Trip as an Interpreter

And I’m back! The trip went great, despite the worst weather I have ever seen here. My crew (5 people) was great; I am not going to go into details to protect their privacy, but suffice it to say that they were fantastic. Our trip lasted 7 days and 6 nights and covered about 63 miles. We had one layover day (we were wind-bound on Lake Agnes).

Canadian Portion of our Trek

Day 1: Base (Moose Lake) to North Bay (Basswood Lake)

            The first day we got out of base at a reasonable time, 8:50 (at least considering how long it’s been taking many people as the system shakes itself out). We made Prairie Portage before 11:30, and were able to check in and eat lunch before any other crews arrived. As we were getting ready to leave a couple came up. As far as portaging goes, the day was actually one of our easier days. We had Prairie Portage, Yellow Brick Road, and two out of Burke Lake out to North Bay. We camped on one of the northern islands that was right next to an eagle’s nest.

Day 2: North Bay (Basswood Lake) to Grey Lake

            Day two was a lot rougher than the first. We had several portages, one which we river walked. We had some difficulty finding the portages from out of Shade Lake and to Grey Lake, but we eventually were able to find them. The portage into Grey Lake took us through a swamp which was interesting. There were logs through the swamp that served as a path, but after a couple of days of rain they were slick. Everyone except our two adult leaders fell in the 2-3 foot deep moose muck at some point (including myself). If it wasn’t tricky to get out it would have been hilarious. Around 2-ish we decided to call it a day and camp on Grey Lake instead of pushing all the way to Kahshahpiwi due to rainy weather and rough portages. The campsite was fairly nice, although it was a little hidden back on the point.

Overview of our Grey Lake Campsite

Day 3: Grey Lake to Trant Lake via Kahshahpiwi

            It turned out that deciding to camp on Grey Lake instead of going on to Kahshahpiwi was a great choice. We had another rough day of portaging, including one that took us up a rock face. After arriving on Kahshahwipi and eating lunch at an old campsite (sadly now burned), we decided to push on to Trant Lake.

            To give a little background on the Kahshahwipi-Trant portage, it runs through a valley with a stream/swamp. On older Fischer maps, the portage is actually marked as two separate portages. In 2004 when I crossed it, it had become a single, longer portage, a change which new Fischer maps reflect.

            Now after arriving at the portage, I helped load up my crew and started them along the trail before getting my stuff together. As I go up the trail a stream diverts onto it. I pass by a fairly sizable beaver dam and keep going. About 20 yards later, I run into my crew backed up. The portage trail has disappeared into the beaver’s new pond. We backtrack, scale the beaver dam and load the canoes.

One of the Beaver Dams

It slowed us down a little, but it wasn’t too bad. Hey, it was a little less portaging we had to do! So we paddle down the new pond, passing swamped pine trees, some alive, some dead, until we reached another beaver dam. Without too much issue we crossed it too. After a short paddle, we ran into a third beaver dam. Fortunately, after crossing it we found the portage trail again and were able to finish up without difficulty.

            The Trant campsite was really pretty nice, and one of my participants was able to catch a nice bass, which unfortunately, was the only fish we got the chance to catch all trip (often due to weather).

Day 4: Trant Lake to Agnes

            The next day down to Agnes through Silence Lake wasn’t too bad, although it was a windy day. We were mostly on small lakes, so were not affected too much. Several of the portages had recently down trees (we actually had to break out the saw for one), so we were probably one of the first groups down this route this season.

Once we hit Agnes, we spent about an hour eating lunch and trying to wait out the wind. I did a little bushwhacking to try to find a close by campsite (I found two) that we could stay at for the night. The wind never died down, but we were able to paddle to the campsite without too much difficulty.

Day 5: Wind-bound on Agnes

             The original plan was to dawn paddle down Agnes. However, the weather did NOT cooperate. When I awoke at 3 am, the wind was still howling and the rain still coming down. After reanalyzing and talking to the crew later that morning, we decided to have a layover day and try again the next day.

Day 6: Agnes to Burke

            Sadly, we were unable to dawn paddle the next day either. We still got up earlier than usual and were on the water by 6. We made it down Agnes quickly despite wind and rain. We stopped briefly at Louisa Falls (no swimming in the bathtub this time) before heading on to the B&B (two back-to-back half-mile portages. The name doesn’t come from Bed & Breakfast). My crew, which had sharpened their teeth on the difficult portages up to Kahshahwipi pushed through that portages with ease.  Without further ado, we passed through Sunday Lake on our way to Burke Lake. We got a nice island campsite that overlooks the Yellow Brick Road portage. There is a nice hill behind the campsite that overlooks Burke, the portage, and a small part of Basswood Lake beyond.

            I learned a valuable lesson as an interpreter this day. When we got into camp, I made doughnuts for lunch. NEVER eat doughnuts with Hudson Bay Bread.

From the Hill behind our Campsite: Burke, Yellow Brick Road, Basswood

 Day 7: Burke to Base (Moose Lake) via Prairie Portage

            Our last day was our only sunny day the entire trip. We slept in – woke up at 7:00 – and packed. We made it to Prairie Portage early, so we relaxed there for a while (we cannot come into base before 2:00). We were about an hour early on Moose Lake, but instead of hanging out on Scout Island like most crews, I took my group over to a small rock face and took them swimming, since they hadn’t gotten to all trip. Overall it was a great trip.

I’m sorry I didn’t get to make this entry longer, but I’m already being sent back out on trail today – 9 days on water, Basswood River entry point. We’ll be doing a modified Argo-Darky loop.

On Trail!

Today I head out on water with a Kahshahpiwi entrance point. Be back in 7 days!

Kahshahpiwi in the morning, courtesy of Dad, 2004

Brigade Swamper Campsite Evaluation

When I started this blog, I foresaw a couple of different uses for it. Firstly, it would function as a way for family and friends to be able to keep up with my summer adventures. Secondly, it would serve as a kind of journal for myself. Thirdly, it might encourage people to attend Northern Tier, work up here, or even just make time to take a trip up to the Boundary Waters. Finally, it would become a resource for other canoeists to use.

            This entry evaluates the campsites that I stayed at during my Brigade Swamper trip to help other canoeists plan their trips. I evaluate campsites on along the following criteria:

-          -Number and Quality of Tent pads

-          -Canoe landing quality

-          -Campfire & common area

-          -General cleanliness of the campsite

Other criteria might also be considered:

-          -Swimming area

-          -View from campsite

-          -Traffic

-          -Nearby points of interest

In the B.W.C.A.W., each campsite is given a number, which can be found on the latrine. Although there is no official map publically available showing these numbers, I will use this system of labeling. For each campsite, I will show its location on the map, give a brief description, and rate it on a scale of 1-5 stars.

Basswood Lake Campsite #103 – Back Bay

3 Stars

Back Bay Campsite 103

Back Bay Campsite 103

This campsite is on an island in Back Bay. It has enough room for tents, but the canoe landing was only moderate. The campsite was also trashy; we found a car charger, cans (not allowed in the Boundary Waters), a welcome mat, and more. The campsite lies in a motorboat zone and so receives heavy traffic. We did see a beaver at this campsite however.

Fourtown Lake Campsite #1

4 stars

Fourtown Campsite #1

View of the rocks & flowing water by the campsite

This campsite is on the south-eastern side of Fourtown lake. It lies next to a small set of rapids, which aren’t big, but are impossible to walk. Unfortunately, this means that the portage trail runs straight through the campsite. The section of the lake on the downstream side is a nice place for swimming; it is comparatively shallow, so it is not as cold as other lakes. The site itself has room for about 3 tents (in close quarters). There are also large rock areas that provide a place to dry one’s feet or just to lie out.

Crooked Lake Campsite #13 – Mouth of Friday Bay

3 – 4 stars

The few places to put tents up in the campsite on Crooked

This camps site was previously rated 4 stars by my family. It has a sloped rock landing, which makes getting in and out of the canoe (wet or dry foot) difficult. The campsite also has limited tent pads. However, the campsite does have several perks. Firstly, it has large rocks that are great for drying, sunning, and sitting. Secondly, there a very nice jumping rock nearby (by Northern Tier policy, a jumping rock must be no greater than 5 ft. high and must have at least 12 ft. of unobstructed water beneath it. This rock satisfies these requirements, although it must be checked every time to make sure changes in water level have not rendered it inappropriate). Thirdly, there is an old, rusting out car on the Canadian side of the lake nearby that can be visited. Fourthly, the campsite has a nice view over parts of Crooked Lake.

 Basswood Lake Campsite #64 – Mouth of Basswood River

3 stars

Campsite a little bit off the mouth of the Basswood River

The landing at this campsite was probably the worst of our trip. There is a small flat area of rock followed by a steep incline, which you have to take your canoes up when you take them out of the water. Strong winds on Basswood make the landing more difficult. There are places for tents, including one down on the end of the peninsula. The peninsula in particular can be subjected to strong winds. The area has a significant amount of traffic, as it is right near the mouth of the Basswood River and Basswood Falls.

Basswood Lake Campsite #128 – Between Rice Bay and Prairie Portage

3-4 stars

Front side of the campsite just past Rice Bay

We actually arrived at this campsite at 8:30 after our dawn paddle. The front side of the campsite has a so-so landing and can be subjected to strong winds. However, if you go around to the back (Prairie Portage side), there is a nice landing and sheltered places to put tents. The campsite’s proximity to Prairie Portage can make it a nice last night stop before heading into basecamp. Other than the wind, I only complaint I have is that there is a lot of motor boat traffic that passes it going to or from Prairie Portage.

End of Staff Training & Departure of Interpreters

So this blog is a little late, as we actually finished training about a week ago. It’s just been so busy that I haven’t gotten around to it. After we got back from our swamper trip, we jumped straight back into training. We covered a couple of important topics, such as customer service, but then we got to a variety of interesting seminars put on by the Alumni Association. I personally attended “Advanced Fire Starting,” “Advanced Baking,” and “Stolen Tricks that work.” All were very interesting and should prove helpful on trail. Other seminars offered included fishing, advanced paddle strokes, a nature walk, local wildlife, local geology, and the stargazing.

            That evening, the Alumni Association threw for us the “3^rd Annual Paddle Ball,” which was surprisingly fun for someone who doesn’t usually dance. There are some pretty impressive dancers on staff here.

            Most of the staff got a day off after training. I went down to Virginia with Bobby and couple of other people to see X-men: First Class. I thought it was pretty good, although it did move a little fast.

            Almost sadly, now that training is over, interpreters are heading out on water. I may not see friends that I’ve made during training for the rest of the summer, especially if our schedules don’t match up. Even if we manage to see each other on water, the most we’ll likely be able to do is the Interpreter Hug. In the meantime, it was fun being able to spend time with friends before heading out on trail, whether it was just hanging out with them in the lounge or helping to plan trips.

An Interpreter Life

So what do interpreters do when they are not on water? Contrary to popular belief, we unfortunately don't get trip after trip after trip. So what do we do? Well, firstly there are Daily Duties. Daily Duties are just a way to help out around base when we don't have a crew. These include cleaning the Sandy Bridges Program Center, bathrooms, and the cabins, but also can helping maintenance fix things, commissary pack food for people, outfitting outfit people and history staff entertain and teach participants. Some of the Dailies can be fun, or at least interesting, but others, such as the cleaning, are just annoying (at least to me). Fortunately, once the season gets really up and going, interpreters won't be stuck on them for two long.

An interpreter's schedule might look like this:

Day I: get a crew
     -find out information about your crew, pack food packs, gear packs, plan your route with your crew, and do a shakedown with your crew
Day II: get on water as soon as possible after breakfast
Day III-Day ?: the trek
     -treks can last anywhere from 5-10 days
Day ?: get off water
      -get off water after 2:00 PM, shower, clean up, go to rendezvous (voyageur campfire)
Day ?+1: see your crew off
Day ?+2: Work day!
       -When you don't have a crew, you do you do Daily Duties!
Day ?+?: Day off
       -One or two days between crews, you get a day off

The cycle repeats, although occasionally a wrench gets thrown in: a crew shows up a day early, a voyageur brigade (no interpreter) comes, or there was a planning fluke and they need to send you right back on water. Or you might just have one day off and and then you get another crew.

Sadly, things don't always work this way at the beginning of the seasons. With all the new staff getting out of training, there are more interpreters on base than can be quickly sent out on water, even with large days (our first day of the season was 16 crews). There wasn't enough cabins free for us, so we had to move to a tent town. I counted 25 tents and 2 hammocks in the area around me, but I know there were more.

Tent city

Fortunately, this shouldn't happen too often during the season, although it's no big deal if it does. I'm just a little bit antsy sleeping in a tent but not yet being out on the water yet. 

But tomorrow I get a crew!

Brigade Swamper

            Thursday afternoon we got back from our swamper trip. Swamper gives new staff the opportunity to get some firsthand training on trail. Our brigade was led by two more experienced guys, Mat and Roni. After a couple of days of showing us how to do things, they stepped back and let us run the show by appointing one of us the “Leader of the Day,” who was supposed to act and lead like an interpreter would. I thought it was a brilliant system, although our brigade was naturally more efficient and trained than a regular crew would be.

            The trip itself was great! Our planned itinerary was changed very quickly after we left base. Instead of doing the Horse River Loop, we decided to extend the trip and go past Horse Lake into Fourtown Lake. Our new itinerary was as follows:

Day 1: Moose Lake (Base) to Back Bay (Basswood) via Wind, Indiana and Good Lake.

Day 2: Back Bay to Fourtown Lake via Pipestone Bay, Jackfish Bay, Sandpit, Tin Can Mike and Horse Lake.

Day 3: Fourtown Lake to Friday Bay (Crooked Lake) via

Day 4: Friday Bay to the mouth of the Basswood River on Basswood Lake

Day 5: Basswood Lake to Basswood Lake

Day 6: Basswood Lake to Moose Lake (Base) via Prairie Portage and the Moose Chain

Our Trek

            The first day, we had breakfast on base, checked out our fuel, PFD’s, and canoes, and finally left. We paddled across Moose Lake and portaged into Wind Lake. From Wind Lake, we portaged into Basswood. We wanted to hit some smaller lakes instead of going around the peninsula, so we paddled down a creek and portaged into Indiana Lake. From there, we went to Good Lake, where we had a floating lunch. I like floating lunches. Instead of pulling over at a campsite and getting eaten by bugs, you pull your three canoes together and eat on the lake. Anyways, from Good Lake we portaged onto Basswood Lake, where we made camp on an island in Back Bay. That evening, a beaver came up and started eating by our campsite! I don’t remember seeing beavers up here before, so it was pretty cool to see one right on the first day.

            The next morning we got up early to get across Pipestone and Jackfish Bay (both of Basswood Lake). From there, we did a little creek paddling through Sandpit and Tin Can Mike Lakes to Horse Lake. We made camp by some small rapids on Fourtown Lake.

Rock area by our campsite

Before we changed into dry clothes, we took the opportunity to practice swamping drills. It was fun to get into the water and swim around, even wearing boots and a PFD (Northern Tier policy).

Fourtown in the Evening

            Our third day was also interesting. It was characterized by creek paddling, portaging and smaller lakes. We traveled through Fourtown, Boot, Gun, Wagosh, Niki, Chippewa, and Papose Lake and finally ended up on Friday Bay on Crooked Lake. Our campsite was next to a nice swimming place, which we took advantage of for a little while before deciding the water was too cold. We stopped for lunch on Niki Lake, where, unfortunately, the bugs were rather bad, which led Roni (who is Jewish), to complain that the horseflies were “Anti-Semitic.” We saw another beaver during breakfast, several eagles throughout the day, and even a river otter on Papose Lake.

Crooked Lake at Sunset

If you ever doubted the bugs here, doubt no more. This is what we would wake up to.

            On the fourth day we ran into weather issues. We got up early and managed to paddle about 3 miles before the storm caught us, but we were forced to pull over and hide erect the dining fly. After the thunder subsided, we got back and the water and finished paddling Crooked Lake to the Basswood River, stopping only at the petroglyphs. The petroglyphs, which you are not allowed to take photos of, are one of the most complete and extensive sets in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. Also along the Basswood River are several sets of waterfalls. The falls are spectacular, but I was unfortunately unable to get pictures of them this trip as my camera was packed at the bottom of my bag. We ended up camping at the mouth of the Basswood River on Basswood Lake. Despite the rain earlier, the day actually turned out fairly nice.

Camp on Basswood

            The fifth day was absolutely amazing. We decided to do a dawn paddle on Basswood, as we had a long way to go, no portages, and wanted to beat the wind. We woke up at 3 am and were on the water by 4:00. As we paddled, we watch the sun rise. It is always a beautiful sight. We stopped briefly for breakfast, but we still made it to camp at 8:30, where we learned the wonderful tradition of I.N.T., or interpreter nap time. Alex, Adam, and I had out tent up by 9:30. I slept from then to around 5:30, with a brief break for lunch. It was wonderful.

            Unfortunately, my nap caught up with me the next night. I wasn’t able to sleep as well that night and ended up waking early and wandering around camp.

Basswood in the morning

After we finally got up, we paddled a short distance to Prairie Portage, where we got small tour. As I have a Quetico Pass this summer, it was useful to hear where everything was done there. We went down the Moose Chain and waited on Scout Island for about 20 minutes before going into camp at 12:30.

            One thing that annoyed me on this trip was the trash. We found a lot of trash in our campsites, from cans, bullet casings, a carpet rug, to a porcelain toilet.

I kid you not, a toilet.

We found the toilet our 4^th night, by the mouth of the Basswood River. As the devoted followers of Leave No Trace that we are, we decided to portage it out. Besides, it was completely hilarious. The next day we ran into some rangers who had been looking for the toilet after getting a complaint. Moral of the story? Pack out your crap!

Mat on his throne

            Overall, the trip was great. It was so different from my other trips up here. I loved getting to know the other brigade members. We ended up doing somewhere between 70 and 80 miles, over 16 lakes, and 2 mile-long portages. 

Swamper II

Back from Swamper! Details to follow...

-Andrew

Swamper I

     Today we leave for our swamper (interpreter training trip). It's a six day, five night trip. Our planned itinerary is the Horse River Loop:
Moose Lake to Good Lake via Wind Bay
Good Lake to Pipestone (on Basswood)
Pipestone to Horse Lake
Horse Lake to Basswood via the Horse River
Basswood to Rice Bay (on Basswood)
Rice Bay to Moose Lake (Base)

       We should see some cool stuff on the trip, including some pictographs and Basswood Falls. We are currently planning a night/dawn paddle on Basswood too. On the down side, we there may be some marshy areas with moose muck and there are lots of open areas that could give us wind problems. I'm pretty sure it should be fine though.
       Although we aren't doing a lot of miles, this is a training trip. For instance, we are taking a piece of every type of equipment the Bay Post has so we can experiment and figure out what works for us. We're also going to be practicing things like swamping recovery, strokes, and cooking with the Northern Tier food.
      See everyone in six days!

Training Continues...

            And so training continues… The last couple of days I’ve been getting certified in Wilderness First Aid. It was a lot of information to process in a short amount of time, but the instructors put on several scenarios to help us practice. It was a humbling experience, as it showed how little I really knew about wilderness first aid. I just hope that I never have to use it out on the trail this summer. Yesterday we had a talk from the Forest Service and then took a short canoe trip to practice some skills. We didn’t go far, maybe four miles in a round trip to the end of Moose Lake and back. We used Alumicraft canoes, which weren’t nearly as bad as I thought they would be. Our brigade leaders had us start by portaging them down to the public landing instead of taking them to our boat landing. Still, not nearly as bad at all. I still need to work on setting them down however. My new boots are also working pretty well. There was a pinch on the top of my left foot (like my ski boots), but since I got them wet it feels like they might have stretched a bit to accommodate my weirdly sized feet.

            Now that they’ve handed out all our complete uniform, it’s a little bit weird to be wearing the same thing as almost everyone else you see, but that should change once crews start arriving. The pants that they gave us are really nice. Very durable but comfortable too.

            Today we plan our swamper trip, learn about food and gear packs, and get ready to leave tomorrow. I’m looking forward to swamper. We have some general plans, but nothing is finalized yet. I think we should be able to handle a good trip though. I think we have a pretty good brigade. It should be a good six days.

            Free time around base has been pretty chill. Every night there are board games, TV, or movies going on in the lounge. Right next door there is a great room with pool, ping pong, and a piano, which is pretty cool. There’s a foosball table too, but it has some issues. Maybe I’ll working on repairing it this summer in my free time.

            Last night I went on down to Blackstone Lake (Fischer Map 10, between Flash and Moose Lake) with a couple of people. We set up a nice fire, despite it being ridiculously windy. One guy brought his fishing rod and caught a Northern Pike, which he showed us how to filet. We cooked it over the fire, and it actually turned out to be OK. It was a cool evening.

            All in all, I’m getting really excited about getting on water again, and even more excited to get crews. Not much longer!