Friday, June 5, 2009

Boundary Waters

Closing out our tour through the mid-west we found time to slip up to the Boundary Waters for three days of paddling and camping on the Kawishiwi River.  National Geographic was right when they selected this area for the top 50 must-do trips of a lifetime.  Our days were filled with paddling and portaging deep into the wilderness where we discovered just why this area draws so many people each year.  Even though we saw several other boats on the water, this area is so vast that the majority of the time we had that wondrous feeling of solitude.  Each day we would paddle to our next camp and each night we were rewarded with great campsites where we were the only ones around.  

The Boundary Waters is host to a diverse array of wildlife including, bears, wolves, moose and deer, as well as a variety of water fowl, fish, and turtles.  Due to the volume of visitors, the National Forest Service requires that all visitors must run through a checklist related to Leave No Trace Skills and Ethics.  We will say that this has managed to keep the area relatively pristine, but still there are some folks who do not heed the permit regulations, and desecrate the land by leaving trash and food, and having fires in undesignated locations and burning their trash.  All these abuses damage the land, threaten wildlife, and impact other visitors experience.  With all this said, the fact still remains that this is an amazingly beautiful, and spiritual area.  

Happy Trails, 

Topher & Alexis  

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