The end of the Polar Pure Age for Norther Tier?

Love it or hate it (as I know some of my crews did certainly did), Polar Pure has always been a constant at Northern Tier. Even if you used other methods for purifying water (I used bleach, chlorine tablets, filters, or boiling were this last summer), Northern Tier has always required crews to take out Polar Pure.

But now, that may change in the not-so-far-off future. The DEA has made it near impossible for 88-year-old Bob Wallace to continue to produce Polar Pure because iodine (the active ingredient in Polar Pure) is used in the production of crystal meth.

DEA Says Polar Pure is being used by Meth Labs

At this point it's unknown what will happen to current stocks of Polar Pure, but I would suspect that they'll be left alone. Given how long each bottle of Polar Pure lasts (2,000 quarts water purified), Northern Tier's stock could last a long time, especially since we got a shipment from Philmont this year (Philmont has switched away from Polar Pure to chlorine tablets - they sent us their remaining stock). Polar Pure, however, is one of the most frequently lost or broken pieces of equipment that the Bay Post sends out, so well see how long it lasts before it's the of Polar Pure at Northern Tier.

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An End and a Beginning

There's a lot I can say about this summer, but if there is one thing that sums it up more than anything else, it was that this summer was absolutely AMAZING. I loved the people I met this summer, whether it was the people I worked with or the crews that I guided. You all made my summer great.

Unfortunately, it was so great I did not get enough time to finish all the blogs I wanted: my last couple of trips, another on the new Sandy Bridges Program center, one on Leave No Trace. Hopefully I'll get around to writing them eventually, but for the moment I have a new adventure: studying abroad in Germany.

Thank you everyone for the fantastic summer.

To end, I have this poem from Sam Cook:

“Up North is a certain way the wind feels on your face and the way an old wool shirt feels on your back. It’s the peace that comes over you when you sit down to read one of your old trip journals, or the anticipation that bubbles inside when you start sorting through your tackle box in the early spring.

Up north is the smell of the Duluth pack hanging in your basement and the sound of pots clinking across the lake. It’s a raindrop clinging to a pine needle and the dancing light of a campfire on the faces of friends.

Up north is a lone set of cross-country ski tracks across a wilderness lake and wood smoke rising from a cabin chimney. It’s bunchberries in June, blueberries in July and wild rice in September.

Each of us has an up north. It’s a time and place far from the here and now. It’s a map on the wall, a dream in the making, a tugging at one’s soul. For those who feel the tug, who make the dream happen, who put the map in the packsack and go, the world is never quite the same again.

We have been Up North. And part of us always will be.”

-Sam Cook as quoted from his book "Up North."

3rd Trip - Horse River I

So I am finally getting around to writing this blog. As I mentioned in my last post, I was unable to take pictures on this trip. It's been a while and I have had 2 trips in between, so I may have forgotten some of the finer details of the trip as well.

In summary, my crew (who were a lot of fun) paddled for 5 days for a total of 75 miles. I only did 65 of those miles because I stayed in camp for the other 10. We had Alumacraft canoes.

Day 1: Moose Lake (Base) to Pipestone Bay (Basswood) via Hoist Bay

Our first day we left base and quickly hit the portages in and out of Wind Lake. Both portages are about a half-mile long and can be rough for new crews. We had a floating lunch after getting passed Wind Bay. From there we pushed down through Hoist Bay, up Back Bay, and across into Pipestone Bay, where we made camp. The campsite we had is one of the biggest I've seen in the BWCA, which was nice. That night I tried making apple pie (with apples saved from lunch) for the first time. It was delicious.

Day 2: Pipestone Bay (Basswood) to Basswood River via Horse Lake

We pushed hard our second day. From Pipestone Bay, we portaged into Jackfish, paddled a creek, went through Sandpit Lake, Tin Can Mike Lake, Horse Lake, and up the Horse River. All told we had 8 portages and 4 or 5 river walks that day. We had lunch on Horse Lake and camped on a peninsula between Lower Basswood Falls and Wheelbarrow Falls.

Day 3: Basswood River to Basswood Lake

Day three was short. Before loading the canoes, we went west past Lower Basswood Falls to visit the pictographs on Crooked Lake. We ate breakfast at the falls. We then pushed back east up the Basswood River through the Horse Portage to our campsite, which wasn't far.

Day 4:

We were hoping to do a dawn paddle down the length of Basswood, but unfortunately the wind was still kicking when I woke up at 3:00 AM. We delayed wake up a while and still ended up getting on the water early. We saw a large group of bald eagles rounding United States Points: 3 or 4 mature and 7 or 8 immature eagles (immature eagles do not yet have the white head or tail feathers). Unfortunately, the campsites that I had hoped to stay at were taken by motor boater campers, so my crew decided to push on to Horseshoe Island in Newfound Lake. It was a good long day. The campsite on Horseshoe I. is great for swimming, so we took advantage of that.

Day 5:

Our last day we slept in (a little) before having oatmeal and cinnamon rolls for breakfast. My crew did the necessary laps around the island to push them up to 75 miles for the trip and we headed off to Scout Island and base.

For their skit the, the did a rewrite of "In the Jungle, the lion sleeps tonight." If any of you are reading this, I want the lyrics.

Although I'm generally not a fan of short trips, the crew was great, the trip was great, and I would have loved to make it longer.