Author Archives: boggessjournal

After hanging out in the U.P. for longer than expected, we thought that our trip into Canada would be a quick dash across Ontario with perhaps a brief stopover in Montreal. Buy some maple syrup, let Carson dust off his French, check out the most European city in North America, and then head on to Boston for some early American history.

We crossed the bridge over the Soo locks into Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario as another giant freighter was heading off toward Lake Superior, made a quick stop at the customs checkpoint, then turned east on 17, the Trans-Canadian Highway. It was a beautiful drive – some fall colors lingering in the boreal forest, lots of boulder strewn shorelines and hills, and numerous signs warning drivers to be careful of moose and deer on the road at night. We stopped early evening in the town of Sudbury, checked the tourist information we’d picked up at the border, and headed for the Lake Laurentian Conservation Area for a hike before dark. En route, we passed a large complex called Science North. Hmmm… Back at the bus a quick Google search had us intrigued – science museum, planetarium, and IMAX? Here?

We decided to check it out the next day, assuming that we would spend a few hours before hitting the road again. Wrong! It was spectacular! We got to pet a beaver named Drifter and a porcupine (porc-épic in French) named Quillan, helped feed the skunk named Rosie (ha!), and generally had the run of the place. We did experiments on the effects of weightlessness with a micro-zero-gravity apparatus, built and raced electronic cars, polished rocks in the lapidary lab, and watched a 4D movie about Canadian firefighters. Everyone there was helpful, friendly, and extremely knowledgeable about their particular fields (we met lots of -ologists!). We couldn’t believe it when they kicked us out at closing time! “Wait, we didn’t see everything!”

So, we stayed another night, hit the museum a second time, and still didn’t see it all. This wasn’t a huge place, either, just really well laid out, well executed, and extremely engaging. Kicked out at closing time for a second straight day and we were on the road again.

We spent Sunday exploring Old Montreal, the waterfront quays, and the downtown area of Quebec’s capital city. It was odd to be just an hour from Vermont but feeling like we were back in Europe. We had been noticing the bilingual signs all across Ontario, French and English on everything, but as soon as we crossed the province border into Quebec, it was only French. We ate poutine (the local French fries, gravy, and cheese dish that’s a full week’s supply of calories and salt), saw an excellent exhibition by First Nation artists, and just walked the city and soaked up the cool atmosphere. Our last stop was the Montreal Botanical Garden to see the annual Gardens of Light exhibit, a beautiful way to end our day.

Au revoir, Québec! Next stop – Boston!

From St. Ignace we headed north to Tahquamenon Falls State Park. Our plan was to see the falls that evening, see the Shipwreck Museum the next morning, then head for Sault Ste. Marie and the Canadian Border. When we got to the campground it was packed, and there were kids and pumpkins everywhere! Turns out we stumbled into the annual Tahquamenon Falls Fall Festival. We missed the chili cook-off and pumpkin carving contest, but we were just in time for trick or treating. We decided the falls could wait. We had 45 minutes to come up with a costume for Bridger and find some Halloween candy to give away!

The state park is kind of in the middle of nowhere. Luckily the convenience store just up the road had some Halloween candy, I’m sure in anticipation of campers like us. Now we just had to figure out a costume. No problem! We recently bought a couple of faux bearskin rugs for the boys’ room after complaints of cold feet. Two bearskin rugs, Sam’s leather longline, and one pair of Uggs later, we had a caveman! Did I mention I’m the queen of homemade Halloween costumes? Brian created a weapon based on Bridger’s sketches and we were all set! Carson and I stayed in camp to carve a jack-o-lantern and pass out candy while Brian and Bridger went hunting and gathering. It was so much fun. People had gone all-out to decorate their campers and campsites. Everybody was totally into it and the kids had a blast!

The next morning we made it to the Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point. It’s a small, privately owned museum dedicated to the many shipwrecks on and near the Point. It houses a 3rd degree Fresnel lens and information and artifacts from many of the discovered shipwrecks, including the bell recovered from the Edmund Fitzgerald. It’s an amazing little museum. One of the most dramatic exhibits was about Surfmen of the U.S. Life Saving Service, a group of first responders I had never even heard of. They were forerunners of the Coast Guard, basically lifeguards on steroids. It’s a fascinating history— if you get a chance, you should look it up.

We finally made it to Sault Ste. Marie, or the Soo as the locals call it. As with everywhere else in the U.P. we spent more time there than expected. When we got to the Soo Locks the first morning there were no vessels scheduled to pass through until evening. We decided we couldn’t leave without seeing the locks in action. So we learned all about the locks at the visitor’s center, met a bookstore owner who shared some local history with us, caught up on the laundry, made a visit to Grooves music store for new guitar strings, then back to the locks. We watched the Cason J. Callaway, up-bound to Lake Superior, pass through. It was worth the wait. Those freighters are just awesome and watching them go through the Soo Locks is pretty unforgettable.

*On a side note: Remember the freighter we watched load up and put out in Marquette? Turns out there was a reason that thing looked so huge. It was the Paul R. Tregurtha, the biggest laker on the Great Lakes! It’s 1013 ft long and 105 ft wide. The widest of the Soo Locks is 110 ft. It must be exciting to watch the massive Tregurtha squeeze through!

After the Callaway, Brian and I checked out the Soo Brewing Co, a great little brewery with a real feeling of community. No TVs, no kitsch, just conversation and conviviality. The owner introduced us to Skittles, an English pub game that’s addictive. So much fun!

We had a great time in the U.P., and we fell in love with Lake Superior but we really did have to leave! So, on to… Canada! Headin’ across the border to get some french fries and gravy…

More soon, eh?

Did I mention that, as the keepsake coffee mugs say up here, “I yoosta be a Yooper!” back in grade school? Lots of fun memories from back then: going to a really small school (only 4 other kids in my grade and 3 teachers for grades 1-10), walking a mile and a half home along a country road, ice skating on the frozen river that runs through town, building snow forts. The list could go on and on.

We drove down to see my old stomping grounds, stopped in at Camp Sagola, and met up with Aaron Berger, my best friend from those years, and his family. We had such a good time that when they invited us to come down to their farm we happily agreed to turn the bus back toward the Lake Michigan shore.

We got to Wilson just in time to help with the evening milking on their third generation family dairy farm. It was amazing! Aaron, his brother, and their dad welcomed us in, answered all of our questions, gave us a great “behind the scenes” tour, and even let us help with the milking. Really, I don’t think I can adequately describe how smooth, efficient, and well thought out their milk parlor is but it was very impressive. They milk about 70 cows in just over an hour, use well water to cool the milk, then use that heated water to warm and wash the barn. After the chores it was Reuben pizza, remote controlled cars in the driveway, looking at grade school yearbooks and family photos, and catching up. It was funny how the years just seemed to fall away, even though we both have boys now who are about the same age we were when I moved away. It felt like a family reunion and we’re already looking ahead to the next time we can get together.

Aaron and Cindy recommended the Straits Park in St. Ignace as our next stop. It’s right on the northern end of the Mackinac Bridge, the third longest suspension bridge in the world and the only connection between Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and the rest of the state. It’s pronounced “mack-i-naw” thanks to the early French influence here. Also, Carson built an awesome model for his science and engineering class last year based on this bridge, so it was cool to finally see it in person. The Mighty Mac is also the reason Yooper’s refer to their fellow residents from down state as “trolls” – they live under the bridge! We parked the bus within sight of the bridge and hopped a ferry to Mackinac Island in Lake Huron, a fudge mecca and site of Fort Mackinac on a bluff overlooking the Straits of Mackinac. No cars are allowed there, even for locals, so we rented bikes and rode the 8 mile loop all the way around the island on M-185, the only state highway in America with no cars and trucks. We stopped along the shore to mark our passage with a rock cairn, re-energized with some famous fudge, and caught the last ferry back to the mainland.

No visit to the U.P. would be complete without a stop at The Mystery Spot! The lore surrounding this geographical oddity is that some surveyors in the 1950s discovered a 300 yard oval of land here where their equipment didn’t work right, their sense of balance was thrown off, gravity acted funny, and water ran uphill. Could it be the rich deposits of iron ore in the ground? A supernatural nexus of some sort? The reality is that is was just as cool as I remembered from visiting some 30+ years ago, we saw water run uphill, and Carson seemed to grow a foot right before our eyes. 🙂 We were literally climbing the walls before we left!

Mystery Spot – check!! On to the next adventure…

We might have found a new home. OK, we won’t be retiring the bus anytime soon but this town really rocks! A couple of days turned into a week, new friends, and serious consideration of the U.P. as an eventual stopping point. Great downtown, awesome breweries, waves crashing along the shore of Lake Superior, miles of running and biking trails, fishing, paddling, skiing, hunting – it’s perfect… except for the mosquitoes that will carry you away in the summer. Still.

Backing up a step – on the way out of Houghton we stopped at the Adventure Mining Company to explore an old copper mine. There’s no electricity in the mine so you have to wear a hard hat and headlamp. Our guide, a recent graduate in chemical engineering from Michigan Tech in Houghton, took us through two levels of the old mine. We were all excited to see bats hanging on the walls and ceiling, then there were more bats, and more bats, and more bats. At the last annual official count of bats in this mine, there were 25,000! We turned off the headlamps and saw the interior by candlelight, tried our hand at pounding boreholes with a hammer and steel rod, then rappelled down an 80-foot mineshaft to the second level, some 200 feet below ground. It was good, muddy fun.

Once we hit Marquette, we ate down by the old ore dock, day hiked around Presque Isle, scrambled out along the piled-boulder breakwater to the small lighthouse, and sat there in the sun to watch an iron ore freighter cruising out into the deep waters of Lake Superior. We found some great microbreweries, including possibly the coolest open mic night ever at Blackrocks, hosted by the owner, Andy, on guitar and throwing what felt like an awesome house party. We got our first snow of the season, drove down to see my best friend from grade school, and explored my old stomping grounds. For the record, my driveway really was a half-mile long, even if it wasn’t uphill both ways!

From Marquette we headed over to Munising, just down the road and a great stepping off point to hike in along the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. We parked the bus in a relatively empty park that is right on the shore of Lake Superior. We had a beautiful view of the waves, some islands, and the shoreline that was just 50 feet from our campsite. Grabbed some pasties to go (pronounced “pass-tee”, a regional favorite!), packed our raingear, and headed for the shoreline. A six mile round trip hike took us past Chapel Falls, Chapel Lake, and Chapel Rock, one of the most beautiful natural rock formations on the Lakeshore. We got a little more Superior beach time, then hiked back up through an amazing beech and birch forest to the trailhead. On the way, we walked right up on a doe and her two fawns grazing just off the trail. After a long while of posing for pictures, they literally high-tailed it off into the woods. We love the U.P!

The BWCAW is the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, a 1,000,000+ acre network of rivers, lakes and wilderness in northeastern Minnesota. Our week on the water, paddling just a small piece of it, started as an idea over a year ago when we began planning this adventure. Since our arrival in the states, the canoeing expedition has been the hard date driving much of our schedule. I have always wanted to explore this area of the country and this seemed like the perfect time. We scheduled the put-in date and guide service back in January with an eye toward avoiding mosquitoes and crowds while still catching nice weather.

Day 0 – 1: Jason, our guide and owner of the Ely Outfitting Company and Boundary Waters Guide Service, met us on Friday to go over our route, our packing lists, and the BW regulations. Saturday morning we had a quick breakfast, left the bus at Jason’s shop and loaded our packs into the canoe trailer for an hour-long drive to the Moose River entry point. First canoeing task? The 160-rod portage to the Moose River.  For the unacquainted, a portage is an overland path connecting two bodies of water, and a rod is a unit of measure dating back to the French-Canadian voyageurs, about 16.5 feet or 5 meters. Our stuff? Two 19-foot Kevlar canoes, eight packs (personal packs for 6 people, plus food and supplies for a week), paddles, PFDs, and leeches. (Can’t forget the live bait!) At a half mile, our first portage was our longest and we quickly adjusted our thinking based on that trek. “Today’s longest portage is only 80 rods? Not bad!”

Less than an hour on the water, rounding the bend to the very first portage (not counting the entry point!), we came across a cow moose and calf in the river – an amazing way to start the day. We crossed a couple of beaver dams, ate lunch on a rocky bluff overlooking the winding river, and camped on a beautiful little point jutting out of the northern shore of Nina Moose Lake. After we set up camp, we put some hooks in the water just for fun. I caught a small walleye that was promptly filleted, fried, and added to dinner. Awesome! Tents up, campfire crackling, stars like you wouldn’t believe, and we called it a night.

Day 2: Up not too early, coffee was already pressed, and we broke camp. It was a long day of paddling and portaging north before we pulled up at our campsite on Lac La Croix. Jason directed us to a perfect campsite, one the Voyageurs must have also loved – a sandy cove on the north side of the point, a granite gravel cove on the south side, trees leading up to a small cliff face to our west, and smooth rocks to fish from jutting out into the lake to the east. The fire grate, logs to sit on, a makeshift table made from a slab of found granite, and level tent sites were the icing on the cake. Jason cooked hotdish for dinner (that’s Minnesotan for a casserole — Nudelauflauf for our German friends!). Later, s’mores and jokes around the fire, then off to bed.

Day 3: So, t-shirt weather is behind us. We were expecting the weather to turn cold on day three. It didn’t get as cold as expected but we definitely had a drop in temperature. We had a hard time convincing Bridger to come out of his sleeping bag. Good thing we packed layers — and plenty of hot chocolate!

One thing we were really looking forward to on this trip was fishing, especially for northern pike. I remember catching a lot of walleye and a few northerns in Canada when I was a kid and was hoping for a repeat with my dad and boys. After breakfast and some map recon, we set out with Jason leading the way for a long paddle and short portage to Kelsey Lake, which he assured us was prime territory for landing nice northern pikes. It was a lot cooler, with a stiff breeze, but on the smaller lake we were able to find calmer waters near the shore. Within an hour we had a full stringer with four northerns (score card: my dad x 2, Carson x 1, Bridger x 1), each about 24 inches long. We took pictures, had lunch, and set out for the portage site to head back to camp. I grabbed the pole with the lucky lure while we waited for the other boat to get unloaded and on about my third cast pulled in my own 18+ inch northern. Sweet! We already had almost too much to eat, so I let him go. Of course we had fish for dinner — delicious!

Day 4:  Another fishing day, this time for smallmouth bass. We paddled north in the sunshine to Fish Stake Narrows, then drifted with the wind back to the south, stopping for lunch on another beautiful grassy campsite. To get some idea of the atmosphere, picture your favorite park or bit of woodland, then remove all of the trash, crowds, noise, and pollution. No motorized boats are allowed on the US side of the park; the three times a motorboat passed by on the other side of the border it seemed shocking. The fish avoided us like crazy all morning, then hit hard in the afternoon. Three times we had two or more bass hooked on different lines, each one fighting and splashing. Ayrril landed the biggest one, roughly 16 inches long and about 5 pounds. Carson might have challenged for the title but he had two big fish get away – one in the water and one that got away from me as I was handing him over to Jason for the stringer. D’oh! Ayrril named her lunker “Fish Tacos” and that’s what we had for dinner.

On our way back to the campsite we paddled over to the pictograph cliffs we could see from our campsite. These are aboriginal rock paintings held sacred by the Chippewa of Lac La Croix. It was pretty impressive to paddle up to this massive cliff face and imagine how they were painted there so long ago.

Day 5: We were sad to leave our 5-star campsite on Wednesday but the wind had turned, blowing up Lac La Croix from the south, and we didn’t want to fight back through it all in one long day. Wearing all our layers, we paddled down the lake, hugging the shoreline when possible, then took the Boulder River route for its protection from the wind. Rounding a bend in the river we spotted an enormous beaver lodge near the bank. As we marveled at the size of it, a moose stood up rather gracelessly from the tall grass on the shore behind it, stared at us for a few minutes, then walked off into the woods. We were quicker with our cameras this time! Soon after, we portaged into Lake Agnes, 115 rods. A squall blew up during the portage and we pulled out our rain gear for the first time. We set off across Agnes and that’s where the serious wind picked up! We paddled directly into the waves for what seemed like hours, though in reality it was probably only a little more than one hour. It felt like being on a rowing machine at the gym – all effort but without actual forward progress. We were tired, cold and hungry. It was too cold and windy to enjoy a fire so we set up camp, ate dinner and turned in early.

Day 6: A short paddling day, as we were headed back to Nina Moose Lake for our final night.  We came across a white trumpeter swan, one of less than a dozen in the BWCAW. He let us watch him for quite a while as my dad snapped pictures. We found a campsite that was mostly out of the wind, then Jason loaned the boys his joke book and they entertained us while he made popcorn and pizza for dinner. Yes, pizza. On trail. Happy, happy Carson and Bridger! At our campsite that night we heard a beaver slapping its tail on the lake within 20 yards of our fire, listened to loons calling across the water, and ate our last fresh fish of the trip, a northern pike I caught while paddling around the lake with my dad as the sun went down behind the White Pines.

Day 7: We finally saw the elusive beaver swimming across the bay in the early morning light. His brief appearance was followed by loons, bald eagles, and a number of other birds. Old pros by now, we rolled up tents and sleeping bags, loaded canoe bags and fishing gear, swept the camp for trash and forgotten gear, and paddled away toward the Moose River. I told Carson and Bridger that we were a well-oiled machine – oiled with bacon and trail mix! On the way out we saw a pair of otters playing in the shallows, a spruce grouse roosting on the shore, but no more moose. Then another sunny portage – 160 rods! – and we were Ely bound. Half and hour after arriving back at the shop, a cold hard rain hit. Perfect timing!

A quick word about our guide. Yes, Jason is an amazing guide to the best fishing and camping sites in the Boundary Waters, but he’s also a great camp cook, an excellent storyteller and an endless source of information on the wildlife, history, and lore of the north woods. His love for the Boundary Waters is contagious. He made the trip for us, start to finish. Thanks, Jason, for everything!

Even though we’re retired, we’re always up for a team party! Dom and Jodi threw a great weekend long party for us, took us to Manitou Springs, and even took us to happy hour at the country club. It was awesome! We’ve got great friends.

So, there are some gaps in the record here, including a very interesting stretch of time between New Mexico and our return from the Boundary Waters trip. Hmmm… Black out? Early onset of senility? Lazy blog writer? Lots of factors, actually, not least of which was the need to get to Minnesota by our entry date. What did we do in those weeks? A lot!

We left Las Cruces, heading north toward Santa Fe. After a night in the ABQ (Albuquerque, for the non-Breaking Bad fans), we hit Tent Rocks National Monument for some early morning hiking through an amazing slot canyon. Oh, and we saw a 4 foot rattlesnake stretched out sunning himself on the road. When we piled out of the Jeep to take pictures, he quickly slithered away into the roadside underbrush. Tent Rocks – awesome!

Then we hit Santa Fe just in time for the annual burning of Zozobra, a local event that signals the start of the fiesta season. In a word – bad. Think of the Burning Man festival but without the freaks, revelry, music, and fun. Avoid at all costs!

We hit Colorado Springs for a team reunion party (hosted by the amazing Ventimiglias!) caught up with old but very good friends, then pushed on through Denver to South Dakota to see the Crazy Horse Memorial and Mount Rushmore. The Black Hills were beautiful and just covered with deer. Seriously, we stopped counting at 200. We even saw a bison!

Long flat slog across the plains of eastern South Dakota, brief detour to see the Biggest Ball of Twine (Made By One Man!) in Minnesota (thanks Weird Al!), on to Ely for our canoe expedition, and that’s been our last few weeks!

After a full week of paddling, portaging, and camping in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, referred to affectionately here as “the B-Dub,” we are back in the land of hot showers and cold beverages. We had an amazing trip, complete with fishing, moose sightings, jokes around the campfire, early morning loons, and the best trail guide ever.

We’re writing this from a laundromat in Ely – our trail pants really need it! Can’t wait to tell you all about it, but first the laundry.