Before I launch into this post, let me say that my laptop has been giving me trouble. It has been sometimes working and sometimes not. This has caused a delay in my ability to write here. As much as I am doubtful that anyone is waiting with bated breath for this post, I wanted to mention it in case you wondered.

As I mentioned in my previous post, we slept exceptionally well on this trip. We’ve carried our Flicker UL Wide Quilt Feathered Friends sleeping bags on all of our trips, and they’re the best as far as we’re concerned. They can be zipped together for extra warmth, which is great when it’s very cold. The single Therm-a-Rest inflatable sleeping pads are comfortable, light weight, and are preferred to sleeping directly on the ground. This is what we’ve been using all along before now BUT with slippery sleeping bags and a slippery pad, there’s a tendency to slide off onto the ground during the night and wake in less-than-ideal (ie painful) positions. For this trip, Shannon had the best idea ever, which was to get the Ultra 3R Duo double sleeping pad . This was an absolute game changer for us in terms of comfort. I should note that it’s not a light weight item and therefore, not the best choice if you’re going to be backpacking. As we were in canoes and had short portages, it was no problem. The double sleeping pad also fits perfectly into the bottom of our tent, the Copper Spur HV UL2 Big Agnes. ( All products here are linked). Needless to say, we were as comfortable as could be and slept peacefully and soundly all 8 nights.

From my trip notes: ” Saturday, day 7. Wake to beautiful, cool, sunny day. Breakfast by the campfire. Hammock sitting wrapped in sleeping bag and drinking hot chocolate. Shannon fished and caught and released a pike and a smallie. Sat and watched the sunset by the lake. A fantastic last day. Sunday, day 8. Paddled out 2.5 miles in the wind and rain and met the shuttle at American point pick up location”

The shuttle above took us about 6 miles by boat. Then, a couple of miles by van, and we were back to the outfitter. They offered us a cold beer on return, which evidently is a tradition in the BWCA. We were both disappointed to be leaving this beautiful place, but not at all disappointed to be able to get in the hot shower at the outfitter and finally be able to reach our families by cell phone. I’m always so relieved to hear that everyone is ok after no contact for over a week. We decided to head over and check out the Chik-Wauk museum and Nature Center in Grand Marais, before lunch.

From the website linked above, ” The museum presents the Gunflint Trail’s cultural and natural history in a friendly, accessible manner that will appeal to all ages. Learn what life was like when the Gunflint Trail was only plowed twice a winter and how early Gunflint Trail pioneers handled education for their children. Videos and hands-on interactive display present the history of Native Americans, the fur trade, mining, logging, and tourism in this remote corner of northeastern Minnesota.“

From there, we headed to the Trails End restaurant for burgers and shakes – a must when coming off of over a week of dehydrated hiking meals. Excellent food in a very quaint and rustic setting. After lunch, we drove on into the adorable lake-front vacation town of Grand Marais, MN. It was a beautiful, clear, sunny day with sweeping views of Lake Superior. I had a great time perusing the Lake Superior Trading Post , and walking a few blocks, poking in and out of artsy shops. After an ice cream stop (yes, 2-3 hours after milkshakes at lunch), we headed over to Duluth.

Shannon had been telling me in the weeks leading up to this trip, that Duluth was a really cool town. For some reason, I did not have the best impression of it in my mind and I can’t say why that is? Needless to say, my pre-conceived impression was wrong. It is such a great town! Like Grand Marais, it is also on Lake Superior. We enjoyed strolling along the beautiful Lakewalk and Boardwalk in Duluth’s Canal Park. According to the link, it has a 5 star rating on TripAdvisor and is listed as the #2 thing to do in Duluth. It is either 3 or 4.2 miles in length depending on where you look and who you ask.

Shannon, in his pre-trip research, had learned about a longtime resident of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, who was famous for making Root Beer. Her name was Dorothy Molter, and she now has an entire website and museum in her honor. The bottom right photo (above) is our first taste of Dorothy’s, (found at the Duluth trading company). From the linked website: ” Using root beer syrup (either from the Ely A&W, the grocery store or ordered in bulk through the Boy Scout Base), sugar and yeast, Dorothy took the clear, cold water from Knife Lake to home-brew her very own root beer. Her recipe was not a secret (and is available at the museum) but the end product did have tendency to vary. The carbonation came from the yeast processing, or fermenting, the sugar, thus creating bubbles. Dorothy’s recipe called for the bottles to “sit” and ferment for three days up to two weeks depending on the temperatures.” The website also tells of Dorothy’s off-grid living, in an area of Knife Lake knows as “Isle of Pines”. Shannon has it marked on his map, and we talked about making her place part of our route, but opted out as it would have been a few too many miles out of the way this time. She’s an interesting lady, with an interesting life, and we enjoyed her Root Beer!

We had a fun couple of hours at the Bent Paddle Brewing company, in Duluth, and we left a sticker there!

Bent Paddle is a nice brewery, with comfortable and inviting indoor and outdoor seating, and shelves full of games. Over some chips and salsa and continued regaling of our BWCA trip, we had a nice time there! It is family owned and operated, and has a community and environment -friendly focus (and also cool t-shirts!). We were talking with one of the bartenders, who had a BWCA trip upcoming, and we all had fun looking at our routes together on a large table – which was a map of the BWCA.

After a good night’s sleep at the Radisson hotel downtown, we made our way back to Minneapolis to spend a final night in a hotel before our flight back home. We chose a hotel in close proximity to the airport, which also happened to be directly across the parking lot from the Mall of America. I’d heard of the Mall of America and knew it was something people liked to visit, but when I tell you I was un-prepared for it… I had NO idea! First of all, there’s an indoor amusement park. There are many different action-packed experiences available inside the Mall, and we talked about trying one of them but ultimately decided against it. Under “attractions” on the website are the following; Movie Theater, Sea life aquarium, Mirror maze, Flyover America (a flight simulation experience), Escape Rooms, ClimbZone, Adventure golf, Museum of Illusions, Double Dare Human Crane, an indoor ropes course, and a Crayola experience with 20 hands-on activities – to name a few.

We settled for dinner at Margaritaville, and a stop in one of the huge candy stores for $80 worth of treats we devoured in our hotel room.

As a first time visitor to Minnesota, I am now a huge fan. First and foremost for the incredible expanse of natural beauty that is the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Shannon and I agreed that not only do we intend to return, but that we’d consider moving there full time in the summers. It is a wilderness sanctuary, with untouched and raw natural beauty unlike anywhere else we’ve been. A very special place!