022: Summer Solstice

Episode Transcript

[0:00:34 – 0:00:40] Adam: Welcome to episode 022 of Tumble Home, a Boundary Waters podcast.
[0:00:41 – 0:00:41] Adam: I’m Adam.
[0:00:42 – 0:00:43] Adam: Hello, I’m Eric.
[0:00:44 – 0:00:51] Adam: And today, we’re sitting here staring the sunset in the face, live in the field.
[0:00:52 – 0:00:56] Adam: Well, it’s like a field audio, but with a studio setup.
[0:00:56 – 0:00:57] Erik: Yeah, on the fly.
[0:00:57 – 0:00:58] Adam: We’re in a wild studio here.
[0:01:00 – 0:01:01] Adam: Have studio, will travel.
[0:01:02 – 0:01:06] Adam: So we’re sitting here staring into the sun, and tomorrow is the solstice.
[0:01:07 – 0:01:08] Adam: That it is.
[0:01:08 – 0:01:13] Adam: And you’ll be hearing this a couple days after the solstice, but still lots of sunshine out there.
[0:01:15 – 0:01:16] Adam: So that’s the topic of today’s show.
[0:01:17 – 0:01:18] Adam: The solstice.
[0:01:18 – 0:01:26] Adam: The solstice and the vast amounts of daylight that you have in which to paddle or camp in the Boundary Waters.
[0:01:26 – 0:01:27] Erik: How best to enjoy it.
[0:01:27 – 0:01:32] Adam: We’re going to kind of talk a lot about day trips and just real long days on the water that are made possible by this time of year.
[0:01:33 – 0:01:39] Adam: Before we get to that, Tumble Home is, of course, brought to you by Clearwater Historic Lodge and Outfitters.
[0:01:40 – 0:01:41] Adam: As always, thank you.
[0:01:42 – 0:01:47] Adam: And this week, we have a special brew sponsor.
[0:01:48 – 0:01:57] Adam: As I, this morning, had a couple of wines going, and we racked them today in the house.
[0:01:58 – 0:02:08] Adam: So, and if you remember, listeners, way back when, there was an episode where Eric and I harvested some maple sap.
[0:02:09 – 0:02:11] Erik: Oh, is this the product?
[0:02:11 – 0:02:12] Adam: Yeah, this is the wine.
[0:02:13 – 0:02:13] Adam: Oh, my.
[0:02:13 – 0:02:26] Adam: We used five gallons of maple sap and then 15 pounds of various fruits featuring rhubarb, concord grapes, and organic pluots.
[0:02:27 – 0:02:33] Adam: as the backbone to this wine and has been fermenting and it’s been pretty quiet.
[0:02:33 – 0:02:40] Adam: So I did the first rack today and we’ll let that sit for at least another month and possibly rack it one more time before bottling.
[0:02:40 – 0:02:40] Erik: Nice.
[0:02:41 – 0:02:46] Adam: So it should be ready for bottling by the end of summer for sure, but possibly end of July.
[0:02:47 – 0:02:49] Adam: So this is just the first batch here.
[0:02:49 – 0:02:53] Adam: I’ve dubbed it the Cadence Special 2018.
[0:02:54 – 0:02:57] Adam: So this is the end of the rack barrel.
[0:02:57 – 0:03:00] Adam: So it’s a little cloudy, but it’ll give us an idea of what we’re dealing with here.
[0:03:00 – 0:03:03] Erik: It’s in that green bottle, so it looks like Mountain Dew right now.
[0:03:03 – 0:03:07] Adam: Yeah, it’s in a large sparkling spring water bottle.
[0:03:07 – 0:03:09] Adam: I just poured a little in there before I drove over here.
[0:03:09 – 0:03:12] Adam: So let’s take a—here, why don’t you have the honors, sir?
[0:03:12 – 0:03:13] Erik: All right.
[0:03:13 – 0:03:26] Erik: There’s no satisfying corking or bottle popping, but I’m holding a 33.8-fluid-ounce bottle of delicious—well, potential delicious wine.
[0:03:26 – 0:03:26] Erik: We don’t know.
[0:03:26 – 0:03:27] Erik: It could be disgusting.
[0:03:27 – 0:03:28] Adam: Oh, my God.
[0:03:28 – 0:03:35] Adam: It really, it will be much better in the future, but it shouldn’t be bad now.
[0:03:35 – 0:03:36] Adam: It’s pretty light.
[0:03:37 – 0:03:40] Adam: The ABV on this should be around like 6% or 7%.
[0:03:40 – 0:03:41] Erik: That’s nice.
[0:03:42 – 0:03:46] Adam: So it’s going to be a little bit lighter than some of the wine, most of the wines I’ve done in the past.
[0:03:47 – 0:03:49] Adam: I’ve been upper 9, 11, 12.
[0:03:49 – 0:03:50] Erik: Those blinders that you made?
[0:03:50 – 0:03:50] Erik: Yeah.
[0:03:51 – 0:03:52] Adam: Well, those were back in the day.
[0:03:52 – 0:03:53] Adam: I didn’t know what I was doing.
[0:03:53 – 0:03:54] Adam: I was putting a little too much sugar in.
[0:03:55 – 0:03:55] UNKNOWN: Yeah.
[0:03:55 – 0:03:57] Erik: Well, you know, we’re always learning.
[0:04:00 – 0:04:05] Adam: So this one, I cut the sugar back even more because of the maple sap.
[0:04:06 – 0:04:11] Adam: What I was told is maple sap’s like, you know, 3% sugar or something.
[0:04:11 – 0:04:12] Adam: I don’t know.
[0:04:12 – 0:04:12] Adam: I’m sure.
[0:04:13 – 0:04:15] Adam: You better call us up with a fact checker hotline.
[0:04:15 – 0:04:16] Adam: Do we have that number handy?
[0:04:17 – 0:04:18] Adam: I didn’t.
[0:04:18 – 0:04:22] Erik: I was on the way down here in the… Insert fact checker number here.
[0:04:22 – 0:04:23] Adam: Give us a good…
[0:04:25 – 0:04:26] Erik: There we go.
[0:04:27 – 0:04:28] Erik: No, I was on the way down.
[0:04:28 – 0:04:31] Erik: I was like, I think that’s the one thing that I don’t have.
[0:04:31 – 0:04:33] Erik: I’ve got printed pages off of Reddit.
[0:04:33 – 0:04:34] Erik: We have printed Reddit.
[0:04:34 – 0:04:36] Adam: I have printed pages off of Facebook.
[0:04:36 – 0:04:39] Adam: This is what it takes people to record in the field.
[0:04:39 – 0:04:40] Adam: The wild studio.
[0:04:40 – 0:04:41] Adam: The wild studio.
[0:04:41 – 0:04:42] Adam: Studio W.
[0:04:43 – 0:04:47] Adam: So, yeah, here in Studio W. So what did you think of the Cadence special there?
[0:04:47 – 0:04:47] Adam: Good.
[0:04:48 – 0:04:48] Erik: I liked it.
[0:04:48 – 0:04:48] Erik: Smooth.
[0:04:49 – 0:04:51] Adam: We’re up here in the Cadence headwaters.
[0:04:51 – 0:04:51] Adam: Yes, we are.
[0:04:51 – 0:04:56] Adam: So it’s only fitting that you and I try this first stage wine.
[0:04:56 – 0:04:59] Adam: I don’t know what the proper term is for what the wine is at right now.
[0:04:59 – 0:05:03] Adam: It’s done fermenting, but it’s not done resting, and it certainly isn’t ready for bottling.
[0:05:03 – 0:05:03] Adam: Well.
[0:05:04 – 0:05:05] Adam: It’s like a first draft.
[0:05:05 – 0:05:07] Adam: It gives you an idea of what you’re working with.
[0:05:07 – 0:05:08] Adam: Yeah.
[0:05:09 – 0:05:10] Erik: Any Vintners out there, fact check us.
[0:05:11 – 0:05:13] Erik: What stage in the process are we at?
[0:05:14 – 0:05:15] Erik: We haven’t been fact checked in a while.
[0:05:15 – 0:05:16] Erik: I don’t even know.
[0:05:16 – 0:05:16] Adam: Call us up.
[0:05:16 – 0:05:18] Adam: There’s no Vintners out there.
[0:05:18 – 0:05:20] Adam: Email us.
[0:05:20 – 0:05:20] Adam: So, yeah.
[0:05:21 – 0:05:28] Adam: that’s, uh, it’s going to be good, but yeah, I don’t know what the actual sugar content is of that maple set, but anyways, it’s got some sugar in there.
[0:05:28 – 0:05:33] Adam: So I just cut the normal amount of sugar back on my recipe and, uh, went from there.
[0:05:33 – 0:05:36] Adam: So yeah, like I said, it measured out a little bit lighter, uh,
[0:05:39 – 0:05:41] Adam: But yeah, I think it’s got potential.
[0:05:42 – 0:05:42] Erik: Oh yeah.
[0:05:42 – 0:05:44] Adam: Nothing’s really striking me about it.
[0:05:44 – 0:05:47] Adam: It’s not too sweet or too bitter.
[0:05:48 – 0:05:49] Adam: Nope.
[0:05:49 – 0:05:50] Adam: It’s got a nice blend there.
[0:05:50 – 0:05:51] Adam: Thanks for that.
[0:05:51 – 0:05:51] Adam: Yeah.
[0:05:51 – 0:05:56] Adam: So thanks to the home brewer out there for the sponsorship.
[0:05:56 – 0:05:57] Adam: Sponsoring yourselves.
[0:05:57 – 0:06:02] Adam: I already sponsor this podcast by showing up every week, so I can’t sponsor say more, but
[0:06:02 – 0:06:06] Adam: We’ll have to try it when it’s done and truly bottled in a future episode.
[0:06:06 – 0:06:09] Adam: We’ll break out some more Cadence special 2018.
[0:06:09 – 0:06:09] Erik: Yes.
[0:06:10 – 0:06:13] Adam: So we’ve agreed to meet in the field today.
[0:06:14 – 0:06:14] Erik: Yes.
[0:06:14 – 0:06:26] Erik: The schedule’s aligned just so that we were able to make it work out here on the shores of, for now, an unnamed lake.
[0:06:27 – 0:06:28] Erik: They may eventually get named.
[0:06:28 – 0:06:29] Erik: Probably.
[0:06:31 – 0:06:36] Adam: The hint is that we’re in the Cadunce Headwaters region of Cook County.
[0:06:36 – 0:06:41] Adam: If you know anything about the Cadunce watershed, you can put two and two together.
[0:06:41 – 0:06:42] Erik: I don’t know why we’re keeping it a secret.
[0:06:42 – 0:06:44] Erik: It’s not like we’re out here catching huge fish.
[0:06:44 – 0:06:46] Adam: I don’t catch fish anymore anyways.
[0:06:46 – 0:06:47] Adam: We’re just sitting on the shore.
[0:06:47 – 0:06:49] Adam: We’re on Mink Lake.
[0:06:49 – 0:06:51] Erik: We went 45 seconds between saying.
[0:06:51 – 0:06:52] Adam: I can’t keep this in.
[0:06:52 – 0:06:53] Adam: It’s beautiful out here right now.
[0:06:53 – 0:06:53] Adam: It is.
[0:06:53 – 0:06:55] Adam: We basically got this place to ourselves.
[0:06:55 – 0:06:56] Adam: Yeah.
[0:06:56 – 0:06:58] Adam: Here in the east end of the lake on a beach.
[0:06:58 – 0:07:01] Adam: There’s a nice little beachy launch down here.
[0:07:01 – 0:07:03] Adam: Carry down launch type deal.
[0:07:03 – 0:07:04] Adam: Very nice beach.
[0:07:04 – 0:07:04] Erik: Beautiful.
[0:07:05 – 0:07:15] Adam: And, uh, last time we came down here with the canoe and the pup, there’s like a, a teen, a teen youth, a solo youth sitting here, camped out on this spot.
[0:07:15 – 0:07:20] Adam: And there is a fire grate and there is sort of a flat spot and that’s where he has tent.
[0:07:20 – 0:07:22] Adam: But then I walked down, there’s another spot down by the water.
[0:07:23 – 0:07:28] Adam: That would be a very poor tent pad, so we’ll give a quick field review on this.
[0:07:28 – 0:07:30] Adam: The landing is exceptional.
[0:07:30 – 0:07:31] Adam: The fire grate looks nice.
[0:07:31 – 0:07:32] Adam: The tent pads, there’s two of them.
[0:07:32 – 0:07:33] Adam: They’re both pretty weak.
[0:07:34 – 0:07:35] Adam: This one’s not bad, I guess.
[0:07:35 – 0:07:36] Adam: One decent one.
[0:07:37 – 0:07:39] Adam: And, wow, the view for the ages down here.
[0:07:39 – 0:07:40] Erik: Nice view.
[0:07:40 – 0:07:42] Erik: A couple of sweet hammock trees.
[0:07:43 – 0:07:45] Adam: You got your own outhouse back here.
[0:07:45 – 0:07:46] Adam: Plenty of parking.
[0:07:46 – 0:07:46] Adam: Yeah.
[0:07:47 – 0:08:13] Adam: yes um so i’m gonna go ahead and give this uh mink lake campsite uh remote campsite here on mink a b plus b straight b straight b yeah i mean too nice yeah it is it’s a little public i mean it’s no boundary water site we’ve had a number of cars drive by on the road we’re kind of off the road here um but yeah there’s quite a bit of traffic on trout lake road here
[0:08:13 – 0:08:16] Erik: There is a crapper across the parking lot, too.
[0:08:16 – 0:08:18] Adam: Yeah, no, your own personal auto house, basically.
[0:08:19 – 0:08:19] Adam: You’re kind of…
[0:08:20 – 0:08:22] Adam: Got a nice view down here at the sunset.
[0:08:24 – 0:08:26] Adam: Probably pretty good fishing out here.
[0:08:26 – 0:08:30] Adam: I’ve caught a few out here ice fishing, but yeah.
[0:08:30 – 0:08:44] Erik: Any news, updates from your life or the woods in general before we get into some stories of us taking advantage of the longest day of the year?
[0:08:45 – 0:08:46] Adam: Uh, no, I don’t know.
[0:08:46 – 0:08:50] Adam: I’m just working on the house a lot and my free time right now.
[0:08:50 – 0:08:56] Adam: Uh, parents and, uh, brother Andrew and the parents are coming up next week on our days off.
[0:08:56 – 0:08:59] Adam: So, uh, yeah, just trying to get the house in order.
[0:08:59 – 0:09:00] Adam: I cleaned out the woodshed today.
[0:09:00 – 0:09:01] Adam: That’s my personal news.
[0:09:01 – 0:09:02] Adam: It feels good.
[0:09:03 – 0:09:08] Adam: Um, got that looking nice and, uh, need lots more wood before winter.
[0:09:08 – 0:09:12] Erik: Yes, winter, you know, after tomorrow, it’s all downhill.
[0:09:13 – 0:09:13] Erik: Winter is coming.
[0:09:14 – 0:09:15] Erik: Yeah, pretty much.
[0:09:16 – 0:09:17] Adam: This is the peak right here.
[0:09:17 – 0:09:22] Erik: Yes, and it’s a little much for me.
[0:09:23 – 0:09:26] Erik: I think we were talking about it maybe last week or the week before.
[0:09:26 – 0:09:29] Erik: When’s the last time you’ve actually seen pure darkness?
[0:09:30 – 0:09:34] Erik: And I can’t think of the last time that I’ve actually seen like pitch black.
[0:09:35 – 0:09:35] Erik: Yeah.
[0:09:35 – 0:09:37] Erik: Besides like my eyes.
[0:09:37 – 0:09:49] Adam: I don’t stay up that late very often, although I did make it to like past midnight the other day, which was pretty unusual and went out for a little bit of fresh air before bed and did get to see some pretty nice stars.
[0:09:49 – 0:09:50] Adam: So that was nice.
[0:09:50 – 0:09:56] Adam: But it’s, yeah, pretty rare this time of year for me to make it that late to where it’s dark, dark.
[0:09:56 – 0:10:00] Erik: Well, now that we got that crap wine out of the way, let’s get into…
[0:10:00 – 0:10:00] Erik: There we go.
[0:10:01 – 0:10:02] Adam: The true sponsor.
[0:10:02 – 0:10:03] Adam: The true sponsor.
[0:10:03 – 0:10:05] Adam: No, this is an unnamed sponsor.
[0:10:05 – 0:10:10] Adam: This is just general… General, yeah, recording beers.
[0:10:11 – 0:10:11] Adam: Yeah.
[0:10:12 – 0:10:22] Erik: So, well, I think that the show, the concept of it, I don’t know if I can necessarily point a finger to when I first remember…
[0:10:24 – 0:10:28] Erik: thinking that that’s something that you could take advantage of in terms of light.
[0:10:29 – 0:10:35] Erik: You know, how far do you think we could paddle if we got up at sunrise and paddled sunset?
[0:10:36 – 0:10:39] Erik: I think it was probably one of my first few years up here.
[0:10:40 – 0:10:51] Erik: And it kind of started as more of a challenge, and it has morphed from that kind of back into just being something more to celebrate than an actual challenge.
[0:10:52 – 0:10:55] Adam: Yeah, you don’t need to go as far as possible.
[0:10:55 – 0:10:55] Erik: No.
[0:10:56 – 0:11:01] Adam: Just taking a really nice long day trip this time of year in celebration of the amount of light you have.
[0:11:01 – 0:11:08] Adam: And you don’t have to necessarily even paddle the whole day, but you certainly have the opportunity to do that if you are interested.
[0:11:08 – 0:11:08] Adam: Yeah.
[0:11:09 – 0:11:19] Erik: No, yeah, and I think the celebration of it for me is more a celebration of the days are going to start becoming more reasonable in length.
[0:11:20 – 0:11:29] Erik: And we can actually look forward to, you know, spending some time around the campfire when the sky is dark without having to stay up until 1230 at night.
[0:11:30 – 0:11:39] Erik: I sound probably like a bit of a curmudgeon about the light, but… You know, I’m ready for winter, honestly.
[0:11:39 – 0:11:40] Erik: 16 and a half hour days.
[0:11:41 – 0:11:41] Adam: They’re nuts.
[0:11:42 – 0:11:44] Adam: Light when you go to bed, it’s light when you wake up.
[0:11:45 – 0:11:47] Erik: But it is fun to take advantage of that.
[0:11:48 – 0:11:48] Erik: And…
[0:11:50 – 0:12:03] Erik: So just in terms of overall long days, I think the question as I posed it was, you know, literally and metaphorically, because it doesn’t necessarily have to be the solstice to be a long day.
[0:12:03 – 0:12:04] Erik: No.
[0:12:04 – 0:12:06] Erik: Can have some struggles out there.
[0:12:07 – 0:12:18] Erik: But just to start with where my like longest day started from in terms of utilizing the light was trying to take advantage of the
[0:12:20 – 0:12:35] Erik: whole clear water loop in a day with the geologist wife that is a big ambitious idea well the other thing is you know you have to consider it’s not always going to be calm just because it’s the solstice
[0:12:35 – 0:12:37] Erik: Doesn’t mean you’re not going to have wind to deal with.
[0:12:38 – 0:12:40] Erik: And we got really lucky that day that we did it.
[0:12:40 – 0:12:42] Erik: And it was kind of really impromptu.
[0:12:42 – 0:12:46] Erik: We were just hanging out the night before, had the next day off.
[0:12:46 – 0:12:51] Erik: We almost considered just going out at like, it was like 11 o’clock, still kind of light out.
[0:12:51 – 0:12:56] Erik: I was like, well, it’ll be a couple hours where it’ll be dark, but for the most part, we’ll be fine.
[0:12:57 – 0:13:00] Erik: But we waited until the next morning and got up.
[0:13:00 – 0:13:22] Erik: before the sun rose which is basically we were on the water at like 4 15 and i think we were all the way to mountain before the sun actually came up yeah but by the clear water loop we mean uh clear water up to mountain the little you’re doing the over the top over the top version there’s a couple different varieties variations on this yep uh and then down to moose the fowls
[0:13:24 – 0:13:46] Erik: back through john east pike west pike back on clear water and it was about 14 hours on the water and about 40 miles but it was about as calm as it is right now what we’re looking at pretty much glass all day dead calm and all we had is a canoe yeah if you’re traveling light day packs
[0:13:47 – 0:13:50] Adam: Yeah, what did you, like, bring with you for any snacks?
[0:13:50 – 0:13:56] Erik: Just, like, a couple of bags of, like, trail mix and some water bottles.
[0:13:56 – 0:13:57] Erik: It was really light.
[0:13:58 – 0:13:58] Erik: Mm-hmm.
[0:13:58 – 0:14:01] Erik: And we just, I mean, we just burned across portages.
[0:14:01 – 0:14:04] Erik: That was back in the day when I had the Min 2 Hun.
[0:14:05 – 0:14:05] Erik: Ah.
[0:14:06 – 0:14:06] Erik: The gel coat.
[0:14:06 – 0:14:08] Adam: Yeah, the twin boat to Ghost.
[0:14:08 – 0:14:09] Erik: Yeah.
[0:14:09 – 0:14:12] Erik: Yeah, ghost’s long lost brother.
[0:14:12 – 0:14:13] Erik: Who knows where that thing’s at?
[0:14:13 – 0:14:14] Adam: I still see that boat around town sometimes.
[0:14:15 – 0:14:15] Adam: Really?
[0:14:15 – 0:14:19] Adam: Yeah, I’ve seen it around on a handful of occasions, and it’s like, huh?
[0:14:19 – 0:14:20] Erik: Wow.
[0:14:21 – 0:14:26] Adam: It’s been a while since my last sighting, but after you got rid of it, I was seeing it quite often down there, and then…
[0:14:27 – 0:14:29] Adam: Yeah, I swear it was like last year, all of a sudden, this one day, there it was.
[0:14:30 – 0:14:33] Erik: I thought I sold it to somebody that wasn’t a local, but I could be wrong.
[0:14:33 – 0:14:36] Adam: Yeah, but I think it was like a situation where they had come back up with it.
[0:14:37 – 0:14:37] Erik: Oh, sure.
[0:14:37 – 0:14:41] Adam: The boat had willed itself back to Cook County.
[0:14:41 – 0:14:41] Erik: Yeah.
[0:14:43 – 0:14:44] Adam: I could have been wrong, though.
[0:14:44 – 0:14:46] Adam: There’s a lot of old white gel coats out there.
[0:14:46 – 0:14:54] Erik: Well, there’s not too many that have had the Winona letters rearranged to spell out H-O-N with an umlaut over the O.
[0:14:55 – 0:14:55] Adam: Very few.
[0:14:56 – 0:14:57] Adam: I’ve only seen the one.
[0:14:57 – 0:14:59] Adam: Well, maybe it’s the Hun.
[0:15:00 – 0:15:00] Adam: I hope so.
[0:15:01 – 0:15:05] Adam: Yeah, I’d love to see those two boats back on the water together again someday.
[0:15:06 – 0:15:07] Adam: Double white canoes.
[0:15:07 – 0:15:08] Adam: So you took that canoe?
[0:15:09 – 0:15:09] Erik: Yeah.
[0:15:09 – 0:15:10] Erik: Nice.
[0:15:10 – 0:15:11] Erik: And we were on the water with the hun.
[0:15:11 – 0:15:13] Erik: That’s actually that trip.
[0:15:13 – 0:15:20] Erik: The one portage that we actually stopped and kind of sat down for lunch is when I peeled off the letters and rearranged it to spell that.
[0:15:20 – 0:15:21] Erik: Ah.
[0:15:21 – 0:15:25] Erik: So that is the genesis of the name of that boat.
[0:15:25 – 0:15:25] Erik: I did not know that.
[0:15:26 – 0:15:27] Erik: Yeah.
[0:15:27 – 0:15:34] Erik: At the East Pike side of the John to East Lake, the John to East Pike Lake Portage.
[0:15:36 – 0:15:41] Erik: Just hanging out there, eating our peanuts and raisins.
[0:15:42 – 0:15:45] Erik: Definitely not enough to sustain us, but we made it through.
[0:15:45 – 0:15:50] Erik: The arms on Clearwater I know were about as hurting as I’ve had arms in the past.
[0:15:51 – 0:15:57] Erik: It was more the exposure to the sun over the course of the day because it was just blue skies, dead calm.
[0:15:57 – 0:15:59] Erik: We were roasted by the time we got in.
[0:16:00 – 0:16:01] Adam: Yeah, cooked.
[0:16:01 – 0:16:03] Erik: Yeah, zapped, as you like to say.
[0:16:03 – 0:16:05] Adam: Zapped, you probably were zapped.
[0:16:05 – 0:16:06] Adam: We were zapped.
[0:16:07 – 0:16:07] Adam: I can relate.
[0:16:07 – 0:16:10] Adam: So, I mean, that is, nothing has beaten that one.
[0:16:11 – 0:16:11] Adam: 40?
[0:16:11 – 0:16:12] Adam: You said 40 miles?
[0:16:12 – 0:16:13] Adam: Yeah.
[0:16:13 – 0:16:14] Adam: Yeah, that’s a lot.
[0:16:14 – 0:16:15] Erik: That is a lot.
[0:16:16 – 0:16:27] Adam: Huh, yeah, I don’t think I got anything 40, but the first long trip we did was to Mueller Falls.
[0:16:31 – 0:16:35] Erik: These are the trials and tribulations of recording in the field.
[0:16:36 – 0:16:40] Erik: Literally just had a red canoe go portaging by down a road.
[0:16:41 – 0:16:42] Adam: Oh, we failed to mention.
[0:16:42 – 0:16:44] Adam: Yeah, we had some people jog by too from the camp down the way.
[0:16:45 – 0:16:48] Adam: And there was a muskrat then that swam by while we were in pause mode.
[0:16:48 – 0:17:13] Adam: yeah these are the things that happen when you’re just out in the woods portages you never know what you’re gonna see see this is maybe a b for this campsite was a little high yeah a lot of traffic in here who knows you might as well be over at the kimball creek the kimball lake campground yeah yeah no that uh muller’s falls day was long just in terms of like overall being awake too yeah that was and then we even had like a bonus start to that day yeah we’re uh
[0:17:15 – 0:17:16] Adam: We were camped on Clearwater.
[0:17:17 – 0:17:17] Adam: Yes.
[0:17:17 – 0:17:19] Erik: Let’s just say we were camped on Clearwater.
[0:17:19 – 0:17:23] Adam: We were camped out on Clearwater and then, uh, you know, we both had the next day off too.
[0:17:23 – 0:17:26] Adam: And I don’t know, we were just had gone out late to camp on Clearwater.
[0:17:26 – 0:17:29] Adam: We didn’t, weren’t really doing a trip out of there or anything.
[0:17:29 – 0:17:38] Adam: And then, so we had to paddle in and then, then we went and did the Mueller Falls trip after the paddle.
[0:17:38 – 0:17:44] Adam: And so we already had like a bonus two miles or a mile and a half on the arms to start just to start the day for breakfast.
[0:17:44 – 0:18:01] Erik: Yeah, we had gotten out late the night before, gone out, and then camped out and basically got up before the sun rose, got home, and then loaded up a canoe, drove up to Round Lake, and put in at Round, and did the trip out to…
[0:18:03 – 0:18:05] Erik: Gabamichigumi.
[0:18:05 – 0:18:06] Erik: Gabamichigumi.
[0:18:08 – 0:18:08] Erik: That’s a fun one.
[0:18:08 – 0:18:16] Erik: Up to Agamok, and then in between Agamok and Ogishkamunsee, Gabamichigami.
[0:18:16 – 0:18:17] Erik: That’s the one.
[0:18:17 – 0:18:18] Erik: Gabamichigami.
[0:18:19 – 0:18:19] Erik: Yeah, you nailed it.
[0:18:21 – 0:18:22] Erik: Yeah, daytripped out to Mueller Falls.
[0:18:22 – 0:18:23] Erik: One of those has to be right.
[0:18:23 – 0:18:31] Erik: And then came back through Ogish, Jasper, Alpine, Seagull.
[0:18:32 – 0:18:33] Erik: And then that was the, we talked about the.
[0:18:33 – 0:18:35] Erik: Yeah, we had to hitchhike back to our own.
[0:18:35 – 0:18:37] Erik: Yeah, to get down back to our car at Round Lake.
[0:18:37 – 0:18:40] Adam: We always got dragged off by a Texan in a minivan.
[0:18:40 – 0:18:41] Erik: Yep.
[0:18:41 – 0:18:44] Erik: This seems questionable, hon, but I am trying to be a good Samaritan.
[0:18:45 – 0:18:49] Erik: As they quickly pull away without me 100% in their vehicle.
[0:18:50 – 0:18:50] Erik: But I don’t know.
[0:18:51 – 0:18:55] Erik: I think I’d put that one in the around 30 mile range.
[0:18:55 – 0:18:56] Adam: Yeah, that was a good one.
[0:18:57 – 0:18:58] Adam: Plus the bonus start mileage.
[0:18:58 – 0:19:00] Erik: Yeah, that added to like the delirium.
[0:19:01 – 0:19:02] Adam: Yeah, we were pretty zapped on that one.
[0:19:02 – 0:19:10] Adam: It was really another hot, sunny… We had some wind on that one, at least, but even by the end of that one, it really, like, laid down to nothing.
[0:19:10 – 0:19:10] Erik: Yeah.
[0:19:10 – 0:19:17] Adam: I remember on that one, there was one point on Ogish where we, like, swore we were seeing northern lights in the daytime.
[0:19:18 – 0:19:18] Adam: Yeah.
[0:19:18 – 0:19:18] Adam: That’s…
[0:19:19 – 0:19:24] Erik: Well, that was one of the reasons we went out the night before to camp on Clearwater was to watch the northern lights.
[0:19:24 – 0:19:24] Erik: They were supposed to be good.
[0:19:24 – 0:19:26] Erik: We heard they were supposed to be good lights.
[0:19:26 – 0:19:26] Erik: And they were non-existent.
[0:19:27 – 0:19:29] Adam: Yeah, we saw like a glimmer of them and then nothing.
[0:19:30 – 0:19:34] Adam: So then the next day, you know, because it was supposed to be like a KP of eight or something insane.
[0:19:34 – 0:19:35] Erik: Yeah.
[0:19:35 – 0:19:36] Adam: So, yeah, we’re paddling down on a gush.
[0:19:36 – 0:19:40] Erik: I’m like, I think I see northern lights in the daytime.
[0:19:40 – 0:19:40] Erik: Yeah.
[0:19:41 – 0:19:42] Adam: I don’t know, it must have been some sort of weird sun effect.
[0:19:43 – 0:19:48] Erik: I think it was just the way that the sunlight was moving and angling through the clouds.
[0:19:49 – 0:19:49] Erik: I don’t know.
[0:19:50 – 0:19:59] Erik: I think we were obviously, we were zapped, we were sleep deprived, and we were clearly not seeing the northern lights in the day.
[0:19:59 – 0:20:02] Adam: I think I might be seeing things because there’s another canoe just portaged by.
[0:20:02 – 0:20:05] Adam: There’s another canoe just portaged by down the road.
[0:20:05 – 0:20:07] Adam: They must be doing it as like a workout or something.
[0:20:07 – 0:20:08] Adam: It’s a really stupid workout.
[0:20:08 – 0:20:10] Adam: Portaging down to the road and then back up to camp.
[0:20:10 – 0:20:11] Erik: I guess.
[0:20:11 – 0:20:15] Adam: So there’s this little camp on Mink here and there’s been all sorts of activity.
[0:20:15 – 0:20:19] Adam: Figured we’d sit, we got down here and we’re going to have a nice quiet wilderness studio.
[0:20:19 – 0:20:22] Adam: And it’s just been nonstop children portaging canoes by us.
[0:20:23 – 0:20:28] Adam: And then somebody just pulled in and idled a van right next to us for a good five minutes and then drove off.
[0:20:28 – 0:20:30] Erik: There was a jogger, a group of joggers.
[0:20:30 – 0:20:33] Adam: Multiple joggers, very rude muskrats.
[0:20:33 – 0:20:33] Erik: Yeah.
[0:20:33 – 0:20:35] Erik: But this kind of reminds me of just this time of year.
[0:20:36 – 0:20:42] Erik: The summer solstice, it is in conjunction with the arrival of the circus.
[0:20:42 – 0:20:43] Erik: It is, yeah.
[0:20:44 – 0:20:48] Erik: I’ll tell you, it’s amazing how fast you learn.
[0:20:49 – 0:20:53] Adam: Not even learn, but just remember May and most of June.
[0:20:54 – 0:20:55] Erik: Oh, sending people out on the water.
[0:20:56 – 0:20:58] Erik: They kind of look like they know what they’re doing.
[0:20:58 – 0:21:01] Erik: And then you get to the end of June and into July.
[0:21:02 – 0:21:08] Erik: And then some of these groups that go out or some of the people that you see on the water, they are a traveling circus.
[0:21:09 – 0:21:11] Erik: And I had a traveling circus this morning.
[0:21:11 – 0:21:11] Adam: Yeah.
[0:21:11 – 0:21:13] Adam: Tell me about this circus.
[0:21:13 – 0:21:16] Erik: Well, I’d never seen a canoe dragging a trailer before.
[0:21:17 – 0:21:21] Erik: They literally had the most loaded down canoe I’ve ever seen.
[0:21:21 – 0:21:22] Adam: Like they had a mini boat trailer?
[0:21:23 – 0:21:23] Adam: Yeah.
[0:21:23 – 0:21:24] Adam: Like a floating trailer.
[0:21:24 – 0:21:28] Erik: Yeah, a floating mini canoe with more crap in it.
[0:21:28 – 0:21:29] Adam: A barge.
[0:21:29 – 0:21:29] Erik: Yeah.
[0:21:30 – 0:21:31] Adam: A supply barge, if you will.
[0:21:31 – 0:21:32] Erik: Yeah, I don’t know.
[0:21:32 – 0:21:33] Erik: I was like, well, maybe it’s in the water.
[0:21:33 – 0:21:37] Erik: Maybe it’s bait or something, but it didn’t look like bait.
[0:21:37 – 0:21:39] Erik: It was about the size of a…
[0:21:41 – 0:21:42] Erik: I don’t even know.
[0:21:42 – 0:21:44] Erik: It wasn’t the size of anything that I can relate to.
[0:21:44 – 0:21:48] Erik: It was like three feet long, maybe two feet wide, just like this little mini.
[0:21:49 – 0:21:52] Erik: It was like a big-looking football that floated in the water behind the main canoe.
[0:21:53 – 0:21:54] Erik: Like enclosed?
[0:21:54 – 0:21:58] Erik: Yeah, enclosed with like a lid thing on top that you could unscrew.
[0:21:58 – 0:21:59] Erik: Wow.
[0:21:59 – 0:22:00] Adam: Never seen anything like it.
[0:22:01 – 0:22:01] Adam: Oh, my gosh.
[0:22:01 – 0:22:04] Adam: Are you sure it was just the tip of the iceberg, actually?
[0:22:04 – 0:22:04] Adam: Oh, it was.
[0:22:04 – 0:22:07] Adam: It was a large submersible.
[0:22:07 – 0:22:07] Erik: Yeah.
[0:22:07 – 0:22:10] Erik: I’m sure they were trying to trap crawdads or something on the fly.
[0:22:11 – 0:22:11] Erik: Wow.
[0:22:12 – 0:22:17] Erik: But yeah, I mean, they were loaded to the brim, these canoes.
[0:22:17 – 0:22:19] Erik: They were like stressing the canoes.
[0:22:19 – 0:22:20] Erik: I felt bad for them.
[0:22:20 – 0:22:21] Erik: The canoes.
[0:22:21 – 0:22:21] Adam: Yeah.
[0:22:21 – 0:22:22] Adam: Not the people.
[0:22:22 – 0:22:22] Adam: No.
[0:22:22 – 0:22:25] Adam: They were going to be well taken care of with all that gear.
[0:22:25 – 0:22:36] Erik: There was a, I’ve never seen one of these before, but it was a 12-pack of Old English 40s that they had packed a lot.
[0:22:37 – 0:22:38] Adam: Plastic bottles, yes.
[0:22:39 – 0:22:39] Erik: Yep.
[0:22:40 – 0:22:49] Erik: And at one point, there was just a loose bag of Sam’s Club-sized kettle chips that somebody just tossed into a canoe.
[0:22:49 – 0:22:50] Erik: Gotta love that.
[0:22:50 – 0:22:51] Erik: Yeah.
[0:22:53 – 0:22:53] Adam: Yeah.
[0:22:53 – 0:22:55] Erik: And I was like, I hope they’re not portaging.
[0:22:55 – 0:22:57] Erik: I really hope they’re just camping on Clearwater.
[0:22:57 – 0:22:59] Adam: You don’t know what their intentions were?
[0:22:59 – 0:23:02] Erik: No, I did not ask.
[0:23:02 – 0:23:07] Erik: I don’t think I could have kept a straight face if they said they were doing the Clearwater Loop or something.
[0:23:07 – 0:23:08] Adam: We’re going for Little Caribou.
[0:23:09 – 0:23:09] Erik: Oh, yeah.
[0:23:09 – 0:23:11] Erik: I’m sure we’re going for the campsite on Little Caribou.
[0:23:12 – 0:23:13] Erik: You know, it’s a really nice site.
[0:23:14 – 0:23:16] Adam: We’re going to really love our kettle chips out there.
[0:23:16 – 0:23:17] Adam: Yeah.
[0:23:18 – 0:23:20] Erik: Now that there’s seven less listeners to the show.
[0:23:22 – 0:23:23] Erik: It’s crazy.
[0:23:23 – 0:23:24] Erik: Every year you’re like, oh, I don’t know.
[0:23:25 – 0:23:27] Erik: Everybody seems like they know what they’re doing.
[0:23:27 – 0:23:33] Erik: And then you get to July and August and people are portaging in water and pre-cut firewood and bags of chips.
[0:23:35 – 0:23:38] Erik: So anyway, off on a tangent there, but it did kind of remind me.
[0:23:39 – 0:23:39] Adam: Yeah.
[0:23:41 – 0:23:43] Adam: So that was…
[0:23:44 – 0:23:46] Adam: That was a pretty big day to Mueller Falls.
[0:23:47 – 0:23:54] Adam: And then last summer, we did a Clearwater Loop, more of a southern route.
[0:23:55 – 0:23:56] Adam: The inner loop, yeah.
[0:23:56 – 0:24:08] Adam: Yeah, when the inner to south, we started down Clearwater, West Pike to East Pike, John, McFarland, and then back down Pine with a pit stop at Johnson Falls.
[0:24:09 – 0:24:12] Adam: See, I think this is the way to do it because you get to stop at Johnson Falls.
[0:24:12 – 0:24:12] Erik: Right.
[0:24:13 – 0:24:13] Erik: Yes.
[0:24:14 – 0:24:15] Erik: I don’t know what’s weirder.
[0:24:15 – 0:24:23] Erik: Somebody portaging by us while we’re podcasting or somebody out portaging who looks over and sees two people just sitting in chairs podcasting.
[0:24:23 – 0:24:31] Adam: Well, at first we were like hitting pause and you’ll be able to tell we’re a little disjointed in the opening segment because we had all these visitors.
[0:24:31 – 0:24:31] Erik: Yeah.
[0:24:32 – 0:24:33] Adam: And yeah, but what’s weirder?
[0:24:33 – 0:24:36] Adam: Like at first I thought maybe we were just going to record in the truck.
[0:24:37 – 0:24:37] Erik: Yeah.
[0:24:37 – 0:24:39] Adam: Because, you know, but no, it’s so nice.
[0:24:39 – 0:24:40] Adam: We’ll just sit right here.
[0:24:40 – 0:24:48] Adam: And so, yeah, I go, yeah, what’s weirder, seeing that or looking over while portaging than seeing two guys with microphones sitting on the beach.
[0:24:48 – 0:24:50] Erik: Talking into an Apple computer.
[0:24:51 – 0:24:52] Adam: A little table.
[0:24:53 – 0:24:54] Erik: And a little table.
[0:24:54 – 0:24:58] Erik: Yeah, so the loop we did at the end of last year.
[0:25:00 – 0:25:10] Erik: That’s the route that we had set up for the, unfortunately, never came to be, Bostrom Classic.
[0:25:12 – 0:25:21] Erik: We had intentions, not necessarily to make a race out of it, but to have times.
[0:25:21 – 0:25:23] Erik: And I still think that there’s a way we could do this.
[0:25:23 – 0:25:24] Erik: Yeah, definitely.
[0:25:24 – 0:25:27] Erik: But we had it set up so that it did seem like a race.
[0:25:28 – 0:25:32] Adam: We’re going to try and get a bunch of people to do this route, this big loop all on the solstice.
[0:25:33 – 0:25:33] Erik: Yeah.
[0:25:34 – 0:25:38] Adam: And name it for the founder of Clearwater Lodge, Charlie Bostrom.
[0:25:38 – 0:25:38] Adam: Yeah.
[0:25:39 – 0:25:40] Adam: And get everybody to go.
[0:25:40 – 0:25:46] Adam: And then to get around the big group issues, we’re going to like launch people in like half hour like segments or whatever.
[0:25:46 – 0:25:47] Adam: So everybody would be spaced out.
[0:25:48 – 0:25:48] Adam: Staggered.
[0:25:48 – 0:25:49] Adam: To start at least.
[0:25:49 – 0:25:50] Adam: Staggered start.
[0:25:50 – 0:25:50] Erik: Yep.
[0:25:51 – 0:25:58] Adam: So we thought we were golden and, you know, you had called up the Forest Service and left a bunch of messages and never heard anything back about…
[0:26:08 – 0:26:12] Erik: At any point in time and, you know, it’s all going to be on a day permit.
[0:26:12 – 0:26:15] Erik: We’re not taking advantage of any overnight use permits.
[0:26:15 – 0:26:19] Erik: So I was under the assumption we’re good to go.
[0:26:19 – 0:26:19] Erik: Yeah.
[0:26:19 – 0:26:24] Erik: So we actually, like, we had logos, we drew it all up and there was dates and times and we were.
[0:26:24 – 0:26:26] Erik: Yeah, we had an announcement on the website.
[0:26:26 – 0:26:26] Adam: Mm-hmm.
[0:26:27 – 0:26:29] Erik: Yeah, and it was going to be one of those things where it was.
[0:26:29 – 0:26:31] Adam: Just a fun thing to promote the park.
[0:26:32 – 0:26:32] Erik: Yeah.
[0:26:32 – 0:26:34] Adam: Get people out paddling on the longest day of the year.
[0:26:34 – 0:26:39] Adam: Just a celebration of summer and of paddling in general and of the Clearwater Loop.
[0:26:39 – 0:26:39] Erik: Yeah.
[0:26:39 – 0:26:40] Adam: All good things.
[0:26:41 – 0:26:41] Erik: Exactly.
[0:26:42 – 0:26:48] Erik: Yeah, and like we said, it wasn’t going to be like a mass start where there was a bunch of ferocious paddlers.
[0:26:48 – 0:26:48] Erik: Right.
[0:26:48 – 0:26:57] Erik: And you were like, I can imagine if you’re at a campsite in the Bongeoirs and you just see like a mad froth of paddlers go by, like, okay, well, this isn’t what I signed up for.
[0:26:57 – 0:26:58] Erik: Yeah, no.
[0:26:58 – 0:27:05] Erik: But nine times out of ten, you wouldn’t be able to tell if somebody who went paddling by was involved in a, you know, basically a time trial is what it was.
[0:27:06 – 0:27:12] Erik: You know, you’re going around the lap, you’re doing the lap, and how fast can you do the lap?
[0:27:12 – 0:27:13] Erik: And that’s what we had set up.
[0:27:14 – 0:27:26] Erik: And then right when we got to the point where we were ready to really start launching it or signing people up for it, we got a call from the Forest Service and they pretty much put the kibosh on it.
[0:27:28 – 0:27:29] Erik: And it was… No fun.
[0:27:30 – 0:27:40] Erik: For the reasons that they’re under one of the sub-bylaws, there’s not supposed to be any competitions held in the wilderness.
[0:27:42 – 0:27:42] Adam: Right.
[0:27:42 – 0:27:48] Erik: So not at any time ever, like even the most basic forms.
[0:27:48 – 0:27:55] Erik: So the next time you’re out there and you’re in camp, you should probably just throw that cribbage board right in the fire.
[0:27:55 – 0:27:55] Adam: Yeah.
[0:27:56 – 0:27:57] Adam: And don’t like split it up for kindling.
[0:27:58 – 0:28:00] Adam: Don’t try and see who can cut the most firewood.
[0:28:00 – 0:28:00] Erik: No.
[0:28:01 – 0:28:04] Erik: Or, hey, I’ll race you to that pine tree over there on that point.
[0:28:04 – 0:28:06] Adam: No prizes for the biggest fish caught on a trip.
[0:28:07 – 0:28:07] Adam: No.
[0:28:07 – 0:28:07] Adam: Definitely not.
[0:28:08 – 0:28:09] Erik: No competitions.
[0:28:10 – 0:28:13] Adam: You wouldn’t want to ruin your camping trip with these kind of shenanigans.
[0:28:13 – 0:28:21] Erik: Yeah, I mean, I could see how one canoe going by your campsite every hour would be horrendously disruptive.
[0:28:21 – 0:28:23] Erik: Maybe these guys are having a portaging competition.
[0:28:23 – 0:28:29] Adam: They’re just constantly portaging in a loop around Mink Lake all for 24 hours straight on the solstice.
[0:28:30 – 0:28:33] Erik: But I still think there’s a way, you know, I mean, they do that up in Quetico.
[0:28:33 – 0:28:37] Erik: They have the Hunter’s Island loop where you can, you don’t have to like do it on a certain day.
[0:28:37 – 0:28:38] Erik: You just do it.
[0:28:38 – 0:28:38] Erik: Kind of log it.
[0:28:39 – 0:28:40] Erik: And you log it like that.
[0:28:40 – 0:28:45] Erik: I would like to try to get to a point where we still have it, where if you want to come up.
[0:28:45 – 0:28:46] Erik: Yeah.
[0:28:46 – 0:28:49] Adam: If you want to come up and do it, you can come up and do it.
[0:28:49 – 0:28:50] Adam: Do it on the solstice.
[0:28:50 – 0:28:51] Erik: Do it whenever.
[0:28:51 – 0:28:52] Erik: Do it in August.
[0:28:52 – 0:28:55] Erik: You know, we’re not going to like need necessarily.
[0:28:55 – 0:28:56] Adam: Do it on skis in the winter.
[0:28:56 – 0:28:57] Erik: Yeah, there you go.
[0:28:57 – 0:28:58] Erik: It’s all year long.
[0:28:59 – 0:29:00] Erik: Didn’t even think of that.
[0:29:00 – 0:29:00] Adam: All forms.
[0:29:02 – 0:29:03] Adam: Yeah, I think we can still do it.
[0:29:03 – 0:29:08] Adam: So we threw a time down just to throw one down and measure it.
[0:29:08 – 0:29:09] Adam: Do you remember what that was?
[0:29:09 – 0:29:11] Adam: We came in sub 12.
[0:29:11 – 0:29:12] Erik: Under 12.
[0:29:12 – 0:29:15] Adam: It was like 11 hours and like 47 minutes or something to that effect.
[0:29:16 – 0:29:19] Adam: I’d have to go back into our records and look, but we made it just under 12 hours.
[0:29:20 – 0:29:25] Adam: And we did take like a one hour break at Johnson Falls just to go swim and rejuvenate.
[0:29:25 – 0:29:27] Adam: Because by the time we got done with pine, I was really tired.
[0:29:28 – 0:29:30] Adam: And then we swam for a little bit and took a nice break.
[0:29:30 – 0:29:36] Adam: And then you have a nice time lapse video almost of our paddle down caribou.
[0:29:36 – 0:29:37] Adam: And remember the haze?
[0:29:38 – 0:29:39] Erik: That was a weird, like, I think it was a fire.
[0:29:39 – 0:29:44] Adam: There was a big fire up in, I don’t know, northwest of us somewhere up in Canada.
[0:29:44 – 0:29:52] Adam: There was a big fire going on up in Saskatchewan somewhere, I think, and it was puking snow down, or smoke.
[0:29:52 – 0:29:55] Adam: Puking smoke on the Boundary Waters region.
[0:29:55 – 0:29:57] Adam: So, like, the whole day it was really sunny, but…
[0:29:57 – 0:29:59] Adam: It was this weird haze in the sky.
[0:29:59 – 0:30:04] Adam: I saw the pictures and videos from that trip are like real orangey, uh, hued.
[0:30:04 – 0:30:05] Erik: Yeah.
[0:30:05 – 0:30:06] Adam: Blood red sun.
[0:30:06 – 0:30:06] Adam: Blood red sun.
[0:30:07 – 0:30:07] Adam: Yeah.
[0:30:07 – 0:30:13] Adam: But we got back in pretty, like we didn’t leave all that early and then we got back in with like plenty of daylight left.
[0:30:14 – 0:30:19] Adam: And as you said, you know, we took a couple extra stops and we stopped for a pretty long break at Johnson Falls.
[0:30:19 – 0:30:21] Adam: So we just threw one down.
[0:30:21 – 0:30:22] Adam: I’m sure it can be bested.
[0:30:22 – 0:30:24] Erik: Yeah, I mean, we stopped at some campsites.
[0:30:24 – 0:30:27] Adam: We were doing some campsite reviews on John.
[0:30:27 – 0:30:28] Adam: We had to pick a couple.
[0:30:28 – 0:30:29] Adam: And East Pike.
[0:30:29 – 0:30:31] Erik: I got my East Pike campsites in on that trip.
[0:30:31 – 0:30:34] Erik: So, yeah, I mean, I think you could definitely improve on that.
[0:30:35 – 0:30:36] Adam: But it was still a pretty good time.
[0:30:36 – 0:30:37] Adam: Yeah.
[0:30:37 – 0:30:38] Adam: Do we know the mileage on that route?
[0:30:39 – 0:30:39] Erik: That one’s closer to 30 miles.
[0:30:40 – 0:30:42] Adam: Yeah, that’s not over 30, though.
[0:30:42 – 0:30:45] Adam: So, yeah, I think that’s my second longest day trip behind the Mueller Falls day.
[0:30:46 – 0:30:46] Erik: Yeah.
[0:30:46 – 0:30:54] Adam: And then we have some really long days on our Quetico trip that were in, like, the mid-20s, but we were, like, taking huge packs with us, too, through that.
[0:30:54 – 0:30:56] Adam: Like, this wasn’t just, like, a fast-paced day trip.
[0:30:57 – 0:30:57] UNKNOWN: Yeah.
[0:30:57 – 0:31:20] Adam: actually involved like actually portaging like and i would and that was in october and i consider that a much harder overall day well you’ve got the shorter days yeah but i think the one that i remember the most in terms of just overall length was uh table rock into ely yeah no we’ve talked about that one on the show for sure that was that was a very that was probably the toughest day i’ve done
[0:31:20 – 0:31:24] Erik: We just had like the Bucky burgers on a stick out in front of us, like paddling towards that.
[0:31:24 – 0:31:25] Adam: Cold beer on a stick.
[0:31:26 – 0:31:26] Adam: Yeah.
[0:31:26 – 0:31:29] Adam: There’s no way I would have done it if I knew I wasn’t ending at like a bar.
[0:31:29 – 0:31:32] Adam: Here comes our idling friend again, I think.
[0:31:32 – 0:31:32] Erik: Yep.
[0:31:33 – 0:31:35] Erik: We’re truly, truly out here in the field.
[0:31:36 – 0:31:40] Adam: This is what it’s like in wilderness, especially after the solstice.
[0:31:40 – 0:31:42] Erik: Never said it was the wilderness, just in the field.
[0:31:42 – 0:31:45] Adam: Yeah, we’re boundary waters adjacent today.
[0:31:45 – 0:31:46] Adam: That’s a different car.
[0:31:46 – 0:31:46] Erik: Yeah.
[0:31:47 – 0:31:48] Erik: How busy is this camp?
[0:31:49 – 0:31:49] Adam: Yeah.
[0:31:50 – 0:31:51] Adam: What’s going on down here?
[0:31:51 – 0:31:52] Adam: I mean, anyhow.
[0:31:53 – 0:31:56] Adam: So, yeah, that’s some nice big trips.
[0:31:56 – 0:32:13] Adam: But, yeah, I really like the idea of just having, like, a sheet somewhere in Clearwater Lodge that you can, like, sign, just a little logbook that you can just sign in on the honor system, like, who did it, the day you did it, and then what your time was, and then any general comments.
[0:32:13 – 0:32:14] Erik: Yeah, exactly.
[0:32:14 – 0:32:18] Adam: Just a Charlie Bostrom logbook, and anybody who’s listened to this podcast can show up
[0:32:18 – 0:32:25] Adam: To Clearwater Lodge and lay down a time and just know which route you took and whatever.
[0:32:25 – 0:32:28] Adam: It doesn’t have to be a competition any more than just amongst yourselves.
[0:32:29 – 0:32:33] Adam: You can pay if you do have an entry, then you do get to like look through the book a little bit.
[0:32:33 – 0:32:43] Erik: Yeah, I wasn’t trying to throw anybody under the bus when I was talking to the U.S. Forest Service about this, but I was like, well, I know there are some folks at the end of the trail who do the Dairy Queen Challenge.
[0:32:43 – 0:32:44] Erik: Ooh, the Dairy Queen Challenge.
[0:32:44 – 0:32:54] Erik: And they paddle from Saginaw to the Dairy Queen in Ely, and they need to prove that they did it within 24 hours by returning with a receipt.
[0:32:55 – 0:32:55] Erik: Yeah.
[0:32:55 – 0:32:58] Erik: So, I mean, that’s kind of competitive.
[0:32:58 – 0:32:59] Erik: Yeah, it’s the same thing.
[0:32:59 – 0:32:59] Erik: Yeah.
[0:33:00 – 0:33:02] Erik: I don’t think they understood how the race was going to work.
[0:33:03 – 0:33:03] Erik: It wasn’t a race.
[0:33:03 – 0:33:10] Adam: They were picturing like a gun at the shot, you know, a shotgun at the starting line and fireworks at the end or something.
[0:33:10 – 0:33:17] Erik: So I think we should definitely try to get to a point where we can have, yeah, a sign up thing where it’s like, okay, I did it and this is how long it took me.
[0:33:18 – 0:33:18] Erik: Yeah.
[0:33:18 – 0:33:20] Erik: And it’ll be just kind of one of those fun things.
[0:33:20 – 0:33:23] Adam: You have the little books in the cabins that people can like write about what they did.
[0:33:23 – 0:33:24] Adam: Yeah.
[0:33:24 – 0:33:24] Adam: I don’t know.
[0:33:24 – 0:33:25] Adam: Yeah.
[0:33:25 – 0:33:26] Adam: It’s an unofficial competition.
[0:33:26 – 0:33:27] Adam: Yeah, exactly.
[0:33:27 – 0:33:29] Adam: So honorable competition.
[0:33:29 – 0:33:31] Adam: The Bostrom classic kind of.
[0:33:31 – 0:33:34] Adam: I think you should just get a book at the front desk starting tomorrow.
[0:33:34 – 0:33:38] Adam: And once people hear this, they can start letting you know their times.
[0:33:38 – 0:33:43] Erik: Died before it ever came to life, but maybe it will resurrect itself in some kind of ghost.
[0:33:43 – 0:33:46] Adam: You’ve got to have a secret password in order to make an entry.
[0:33:46 – 0:33:47] Erik: Yeah.
[0:33:47 – 0:33:51] Adam: So you’ve got to ask for the secret password at the desk before you go.
[0:33:52 – 0:33:53] Erik: What’s the secret password?
[0:33:53 – 0:33:54] Adam: Wait.
[0:33:54 – 0:33:56] Adam: And then when you finish, you’ve got to tell us the secret password.
[0:33:56 – 0:33:57] Adam: That doesn’t work.
[0:33:57 – 0:34:06] Erik: Well, no, you have to tell us the secret password before we write your name down in the book, and then you need to tell us another secret one on the way back in.
[0:34:06 – 0:34:09] Erik: And the password will be at McFarland.
[0:34:13 – 0:34:16] Adam: Yeah, and we’ll let you know where to look to find the password at McFarland.
[0:34:16 – 0:34:19] Adam: And that’ll prove that you made it all the way to McFarland.
[0:34:19 – 0:34:20] Adam: It’s a double whammy.
[0:34:20 – 0:34:30] Adam: Because if we were going to just put a book in the entry permit box, then you had to rip out, say, page 60 of that book and bring it back with you to prove that you had gone.
[0:34:31 – 0:34:31] Adam: But this works too.
[0:34:32 – 0:34:35] Adam: And then the Forest Service can’t just steal a copy of Watership Down.
[0:34:37 – 0:35:02] Adam: out of the uh day pass box there will be yeah there will be something clearly written or marked somewhere that you will be able to bring back and and tell us what the the password is to get your official time right in the book and then if when somebody comes in to say like hey we’re leaving to attempt it um you know can you tell us the directions to find the password you have to first then say like well do you work for the forest service yeah
[0:35:02 – 0:35:04] Adam: And they have to legally say yes or no.
[0:35:04 – 0:35:05] Adam: I believe, yeah.
[0:35:05 – 0:35:11] Erik: If I’ve learned anything from the movies, U.S. Forest Service, they have to officially recognize themselves as such.
[0:35:11 – 0:35:15] Adam: They would have to answer that question truthfully, so then you could say, I don’t know what you’re talking about.
[0:35:16 – 0:35:21] Adam: Or if they say no, then you tell them that it’s located so-and-so out in McFarland.
[0:35:22 – 0:35:23] Adam: So I like it.
[0:35:23 – 0:35:26] Adam: I think this is a good rough outline for it, and we should really get this going.
[0:35:26 – 0:35:27] Adam: So right now the current record is
[0:35:28 – 0:35:33] Adam: 11 hours, 47 minutes, laid down by Adam Mella and Eric Danielson.
[0:35:33 – 0:35:34] Erik: There you go.
[0:35:34 – 0:35:36] Adam: There’s our names out there in the public.
[0:35:36 – 0:35:37] Erik: First and last.
[0:35:38 – 0:35:39] Erik: Bleep that out.
[0:35:39 – 0:35:40] Adam: Yeah, we’ll bleep out the last names.
[0:35:41 – 0:35:42] Adam: We just did.
[0:35:42 – 0:35:42] Adam: Yep.
[0:35:43 – 0:35:43] Erik: It’s happened.
[0:35:44 – 0:35:53] Erik: So, yeah, basically we’ve just been using this podcast for brainstorming efforts, but let’s get to some… Are you good on your long day trips?
[0:35:54 – 0:35:57] Adam: I think we got to all our points that we… See?
[0:35:57 – 0:35:58] Adam: See?
[0:35:58 – 0:36:00] Adam: The loons are ready for printed Reddit.
[0:36:01 – 0:36:02] Adam: Hashtag printed Reddit.
[0:36:02 – 0:36:05] Erik: Sometimes you get random portagers and joggers.
[0:36:05 – 0:36:08] Erik: Other times you get sweet, sweet natural loons.
[0:36:10 – 0:36:19] Adam: All right, we’re going to start with some comments from our friends and listeners on Tumble Home Facebook with some printed Facebook.
[0:36:21 – 0:36:24] Erik: It’s kind of like not even feeling snappy anymore because it’s a little humid out here.
[0:36:24 – 0:36:25] Adam: A little humid, I guess.
[0:36:26 – 0:36:40] Adam: Our good friend and regular contributor, Shannon, says, I think I kind of shared this story before, but the day of the Grand Portage, the day before, we traveled the Pigeon River and had to stop early due to extreme winds and trees falling.
[0:36:41 – 0:36:44] Adam: There were over 20 foot waves on nearby Lake Superior that day.
[0:36:45 – 0:36:48] Adam: The day of, we had further to travel than expected to get to the portage.
[0:36:49 – 0:36:53] Adam: We missed it, almost went over a waterfall before we realized we had to walk our canoes back upstream.
[0:36:54 – 0:36:57] Adam: Found the portage, but we did not finish before dark.
[0:36:57 – 0:37:02] Adam: We were hallucinating due to the darkness and exhaustion, and it looked like the leaves on the ground were glowing.
[0:37:03 – 0:37:31] Adam: had a had a pickup waiting for us at the end i finally went back to the end many years later to see what it looked like and uh then a second uh secondary note here they did the grand portage with a wood canvas canoes that’s hardcore that is hardcore so it sounded like they were maybe a little zapped seeing the glowing leaves that’s right up there with the daytime northern lights yeah i’d say nice nicely done i’ve still never done the grand portage neither have i
[0:37:32 – 0:37:36] Adam: It’s probably something that’s going to be the topic of a future episode, I’m thinking.
[0:37:36 – 0:37:39] Adam: We’ll do it sooner rather than later.
[0:37:39 – 0:37:46] Erik: We were really close to a couple of falls ago, but we looked into the levels of the Pigeon River and they were extremely low.
[0:37:46 – 0:37:46] Erik: Super low.
[0:37:47 – 0:37:47] Adam: Wouldn’t have been fun.
[0:37:51 – 0:37:52] Adam: Well, moving on.
[0:37:52 – 0:37:53] Adam: Moving on to Hannah.
[0:37:53 – 0:37:54] Adam: Thank you for that story.
[0:37:54 – 0:37:56] Adam: I think Hannah is responding to Shannon here.
[0:37:56 – 0:37:58] Erik: They must have done the trip together.
[0:37:59 – 0:38:00] Erik: The leaves were so bright.
[0:38:01 – 0:38:02] Erik: Remember that crazy day?
[0:38:02 – 0:38:03] Erik: So was us.
[0:38:03 – 0:38:03] Erik: So crazy.
[0:38:03 – 0:38:04] Erik: Jumped right in the van.
[0:38:04 – 0:38:05] Erik: Yes.
[0:38:05 – 0:38:06] Erik: I can’t imagine.
[0:38:07 – 0:38:08] Erik: 11 miles?
[0:38:09 – 0:38:09] Erik: Grand Portage?
[0:38:10 – 0:38:13] Adam: I thought it was like 7 or 8, but still, that’s a long way.
[0:38:13 – 0:38:14] Erik: I think it’s between 8 and 11.
[0:38:15 – 0:38:16] Adam: Yeah, fact checker.
[0:38:17 – 0:38:21] Erik: Yep, again, fact checker, we need vintners and Grand Portage experts.
[0:38:23 – 0:38:28] Erik: So yeah, pretty good, more printed Facebook here out in the woods.
[0:38:29 – 0:38:34] Adam: Andy, I hit one of those weeks that would seem perfect nearly 90 and sunny all week.
[0:38:34 – 0:38:37] Adam: Perfect until we got to an area that burned the year before.
[0:38:38 – 0:38:43] Adam: Needless to say, the one tree not burned in the area was not enough shade for a full group after a full day of paddling.
[0:38:45 – 0:38:45] Adam: Yeah.
[0:38:45 – 0:38:46] Adam: Hot.
[0:38:46 – 0:38:47] Erik: Hot days.
[0:38:47 – 0:38:54] Erik: Yeah, that’s the one thing at the end of these long solstice-y days, you’re just waiting for that sun to go down.
[0:38:54 – 0:38:58] Erik: I’ve been on some trips where you’re like, this is a beautiful campsite.
[0:38:58 – 0:38:59] Erik: It’s got nice sun, and then…
[0:39:01 – 0:39:30] Adam: four hours later you hurt from staring at that sun this sun needs to go away yeah you are cooked and you cannot put enough sunscreen on no on a long day like this and really something i found that really helps is the like the the lip balm oh your lips will get blasted if you don’t put something on those for sure you know big big brim hat huge sunglasses going over your regular glasses and lots of sunscreen
[0:39:31 – 0:39:34] Erik: That’s Oh Sunscreen brought to you by SPF.
[0:39:35 – 0:39:39] Erik: This last one off of the Facebook is from the geologist’s wife.
[0:39:40 – 0:39:40] Erik: Hey.
[0:39:41 – 0:39:45] Erik: The 14-hour solstice paddle with you, hon.
[0:39:45 – 0:39:47] Erik: That’s me.
[0:39:48 – 0:39:50] Adam: Did you spell hon the way the canoe is named?
[0:39:50 – 0:39:51] Adam: H-O-N. Uh-huh.
[0:39:52 – 0:39:54] Erik: Clearwater loop in one day.
[0:39:54 – 0:39:54] Erik: Yep.
[0:39:54 – 0:39:56] Erik: All these questions that you’ve had.
[0:39:57 – 0:39:58] Erik: Lots of gorp and sunscreen.
[0:40:00 – 0:40:00] Adam: Yeah.
[0:40:00 – 0:40:07] Erik: I will never forget the fog that early summer morning and the day turning into glass calm water and zero wind.
[0:40:08 – 0:40:10] Erik: I’ll also never forget the sunburns we got.
[0:40:11 – 0:40:12] Erik: Yeah, we got roasted.
[0:40:14 – 0:40:14] Erik: Lobsters.
[0:40:14 – 0:40:19] Erik: Also mentioned a hellish, hellish day in Quetico.
[0:40:20 – 0:40:21] Erik: Or at least one of them.
[0:40:21 – 0:40:23] Erik: There were multiple hellish days.
[0:40:23 – 0:40:27] Erik: Paddling through a massive headwind down effing Hurlburt.
[0:40:28 – 0:40:34] Erik: Only to find the first campsite on Trant was a piece of garbage and having to keep paddling.
[0:40:34 – 0:40:40] Erik: Oh, and I think we hit a deadhead or something that made me completely stop and I swore like a sailor and then cried.
[0:40:41 – 0:40:42] Erik: What a day.
[0:40:42 – 0:40:43] Erik: Yes.
[0:40:43 – 0:40:46] Erik: The biggest issue with Hurlburt is, yeah, it was like…
[0:40:48 – 0:41:12] Erik: god-awful headwinds but there were campsites marked on the fissure and we’re like well we just get around this point there’s a campsite yeah and there was no false hope we were just like that’s a straight up cliff there’s not a campsite there creative camping yeah so thanks for that facebook friends long days in the park do you want to pick up uh the uh
[0:41:12 – 0:41:14] Adam: Yeah, let’s get into some printed Reddit.
[0:41:14 – 0:41:15] Erik: Printed Reddit.
[0:41:15 – 0:41:19] Erik: We’ve got a nice username here to start us out.
[0:41:19 – 0:41:20] Adam: Printed Reddit.
[0:41:20 – 0:41:21] Adam: R-B-W-C-A.
[0:41:28 – 0:41:45] Adam: Gobi in my pants, our good friend Gobi in my pants, with six points, my longest day, hands down, is leaving Sarah Lake at 9 a.m. and traveling all the way to Konnipi and then up one of its longest, what’s that?
[0:41:45 – 0:41:45] Erik: That’s a while.
[0:41:45 – 0:41:46] Erik: Wow.
[0:41:46 – 0:41:54] Adam: Yeah, and then up one of its branches, arriving around 8 p.m. We did stop to fish a bit, which slowed us down, but it was still a long haul.
[0:41:54 – 0:41:54] Adam: Yeah.
[0:41:54 – 0:41:56] Adam: I don’t know.
[0:41:56 – 0:41:59] Adam: Do you have any idea on the mileage for that off the top of your head?
[0:41:59 – 0:42:00] Adam: We don’t have a map out here on Mink Lake.
[0:42:00 – 0:42:01] Adam: We don’t.
[0:42:01 – 0:42:04] Erik: We are without materials.
[0:42:04 – 0:42:05] Erik: I didn’t print a map.
[0:42:05 – 0:42:05] Erik: Yeah.
[0:42:05 – 0:42:07] Erik: I should have printed a map.
[0:42:07 – 0:42:08] Erik: They should make maps on paper.
[0:42:08 – 0:42:15] Erik: Sarah, up to Konnipi, I mean, Sarah is down in the kind of north of Basswood.
[0:42:16 – 0:42:18] Erik: And Ka Nippy is up like north of Sag.
[0:42:18 – 0:42:23] Erik: So that’s, uh, I would give that, I would put that in the 30 mile range.
[0:42:23 – 0:42:24] Erik: Yeah.
[0:42:24 – 0:42:24] Erik: Give or take.
[0:42:25 – 0:42:25] Adam: Pretty good.
[0:42:26 – 0:42:26] Erik: Yep.
[0:42:26 – 0:42:28] Adam: And they stopped a fish, so.
[0:42:28 – 0:42:28] Adam: Yeah.
[0:42:28 – 0:42:29] Adam: Bonus points.
[0:42:29 – 0:42:29] Erik: Yep.
[0:42:31 – 0:42:32] Erik: CJP underscore UX.
[0:42:32 – 0:42:39] Erik: I was wondering what the question, what the acronym stood for.
[0:42:40 – 0:42:47] Erik: Q-O-T-W. Yeah, it does stand for question of the week, not question of the wild.
[0:42:49 – 0:42:58] Erik: Longest day ever for me was when I was leading our break-in trip of summer staff at a Y camp we portaged out of Angleworm.
[0:42:59 – 0:43:03] Erik: Due to hydration and some wonky naps, we accidentally went on the Angleworm Advanced.
[0:43:05 – 0:43:08] Erik: Angleworm, 19-mile loop for a few miles.
[0:43:08 – 0:43:12] Erik: Canoes and Duluth packs on our backs instead of the quarter-mile portage.
[0:43:13 – 0:43:18] Erik: Once we were a few hundred feet above lake level, we realized something was wrong.
[0:43:20 – 0:43:24] Erik: On top of that, it was 90 degrees, and we weren’t close to any water.
[0:43:25 – 0:43:26] Erik: My God, the heat.
[0:43:27 – 0:43:30] Erik: Severe dehydration and dumb mistakes had me feeling pretty foolish.
[0:43:30 – 0:43:33] Erik: That said, we made it, and it was a great trip.
[0:43:33 – 0:43:36] Erik: I ended up the next day on a lake called Mudrow, which was gorgeous.
[0:43:38 – 0:43:41] Erik: Had a gorgeous vertical ridge on the south side of the lake covered in trees.
[0:43:42 – 0:43:46] Erik: Low expectations with a name like Mudrow, but it remained one of my favorites.
[0:43:46 – 0:43:49] Erik: That’s because it’s pronounced Moodrow.
[0:43:50 – 0:43:50] Erik: Moodrow.
[0:43:51 – 0:43:51] Erik: Sorry for the long rant.
[0:43:52 – 0:43:54] Erik: I just realized I need to move back to Minnesota.
[0:43:54 – 0:43:55] Adam: No apologies.
[0:43:55 – 0:43:56] Adam: No apologies.
[0:43:56 – 0:43:57] Adam: Yeah.
[0:43:57 – 0:43:59] Adam: We live for the long rants.
[0:43:59 – 0:43:59] Erik: Yeah.
[0:43:59 – 0:44:19] Erik: Somebody who responded back by saying the Engleworm is a two-mile portage, which reminded me of a trip that I started a few years back where we were going to put in an Engleworm and camp at the Fenske Lake Campground the night before the trip.
[0:44:20 – 0:44:36] Erik: All of the campsites were taken, so we went up to the Angleworm Public Access Landing, which is basically where the portage starts, and it is a 640 rod portage, and hung out until midnight when our permit technically kicked in.
[0:44:36 – 0:44:36] Erik: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[0:44:37 – 0:44:42] Erik: And portaged the two miles in the dark and did the same thing that Gobi in my pants did.
[0:44:43 – 0:44:46] Erik: Ended up on that trail that hikes around the whole lake.
[0:44:46 – 0:44:46] Erik: Uh-huh.
[0:44:47 – 0:44:47] Erik: And…
[0:44:48 – 0:44:53] Erik: I don’t think we made it quite as far as they did, but we definitely added some portaging to our day that day.
[0:44:54 – 0:44:54] Erik: In the dark.
[0:44:54 – 0:44:55] Adam: Yeah, in the dark.
[0:44:55 – 0:44:56] Adam: The worst part about that.
[0:44:56 – 0:44:57] Adam: The rare dark.
[0:44:58 – 0:45:00] Erik: In the dark was that there’s, like, a boardwalk.
[0:45:00 – 0:45:03] Erik: Like, it’s six feet, like, elevated above a swamp.
[0:45:04 – 0:45:06] Erik: And halfway across, there’s, like, a 90-degree turn.
[0:45:07 – 0:45:07] Erik: In the dark.
[0:45:09 – 0:45:10] Adam: I couldn’t believe it.
[0:45:10 – 0:45:11] Adam: The first step is a doozy.
[0:45:11 – 0:45:12] Erik: Yeah, that’s a drop.
[0:45:13 – 0:45:16] Erik: So, yeah, that sounds like a long day.
[0:45:16 – 0:45:22] Erik: Getting turned around on that Angorn porridge, I think, is a common occurrence.
[0:45:22 – 0:45:25] Erik: I think we’re at Hopalicious down here.
[0:45:25 – 0:45:27] Adam: Hopalicious.
[0:45:28 – 0:45:47] Adam: three points never had a long day in the b-dub in a terrible sense anything short of almost dying is better than a day at work that’s one way to look at it i like that i like that yeah that’s a nice perspective yeah really you know as long as you’re still going at the end of the day it was pretty good
[0:45:47 – 0:45:48] Erik: Yep.
[0:45:49 – 0:45:49] Erik: You can read another one.
[0:45:50 – 0:45:50] Erik: All right.
[0:45:50 – 0:45:54] Erik: I had a long paragraph from the underscore.
[0:45:54 – 0:46:01] Adam: A good friend working in a coal mine says, my longest day was last summer at the end of July.
[0:46:01 – 0:46:05] Adam: Put in at Sawbill early and headed up to Little Sag via the Long Portage.
[0:46:05 – 0:46:08] Erik: Ooh, that sounds like Lou Janita at a Zenith.
[0:46:08 – 0:46:09] Adam: Zenith, huh?
[0:46:09 – 0:46:09] Erik: Yeah.
[0:46:10 – 0:46:11] Adam: Yeah.
[0:46:11 – 0:46:12] Adam: She probably went through…
[0:46:14 – 0:46:14] Adam: How would you get to?
[0:46:15 – 0:46:16] Adam: I got to keep reading, I guess.
[0:46:16 – 0:46:16] Erik: Yeah.
[0:46:16 – 0:46:17] Adam: At lunch on Hub.
[0:46:18 – 0:46:18] Erik: Oh, yeah.
[0:46:19 – 0:46:23] Adam: I was setting up camp around 6 or so on the main lake on a point across from the burn area.
[0:46:24 – 0:46:25] Adam: Had a layover the next day.
[0:46:26 – 0:46:31] Adam: First time I did the Long Portage Northbound and also the first time doing it on day one with a full food pack.
[0:46:31 – 0:46:32] Adam: Yeah.
[0:46:32 – 0:46:32] Adam: Yeah.
[0:46:33 – 0:46:35] Adam: So, yeah, that is a pretty good day.
[0:46:35 – 0:46:37] Erik: Sawbill to Little Sag, that’s a heck of a day.
[0:46:38 – 0:46:38] Erik: Jeez.
[0:46:39 – 0:46:44] Erik: Especially including the Luginita, like, what is that, 475 rod portage?
[0:46:45 – 0:46:45] Erik: At least.
[0:46:45 – 0:46:46] Erik: Yeah.
[0:46:46 – 0:46:46] Adam: At least.
[0:46:46 – 0:46:47] Adam: There’s some boardwalks on that one, too.
[0:46:48 – 0:46:49] Erik: How many growlers did you carry across with your forearms?
[0:46:49 – 0:46:51] Erik: How many beers did you have with us?
[0:46:51 – 0:46:54] Adam: They said they had a full food pack, but did you have any beer?
[0:46:54 – 0:46:54] Erik: No.
[0:46:55 – 0:46:57] Erik: In a cooler that you were holding awkwardly.
[0:46:58 – 0:46:58] Adam: It’s not one of them.
[0:46:59 – 0:47:03] Adam: Working on a coal mine, you get four stars for that answer.
[0:47:03 – 0:47:04] Erik: Good job.
[0:47:05 – 0:47:07] Erik: Dang, I want to look at that on a map now.
[0:47:07 – 0:47:07] Adam: Yeah, I know.
[0:47:07 – 0:47:09] Adam: That’s pretty hardcore.
[0:47:09 – 0:47:10] Adam: That is no joke.
[0:47:10 – 0:47:13] Adam: That is a no-joke portage with a full food pack and a canoe.
[0:47:14 – 0:47:15] Erik: Yeah, we’ve got Planet Sedna.
[0:47:16 – 0:47:19] Erik: Never paddled the BWCA, but I’ve hiked a ton.
[0:47:20 – 0:47:23] Erik: Longest day was on a through hike of the Border Rod Trail.
[0:47:23 – 0:47:26] Erik: We were about halfway through and camped down on Pine Lake.
[0:47:27 – 0:47:29] Erik: Might be Pike campsite right on the portage.
[0:47:30 – 0:47:34] Erik: No, that’s Pine, on the north side of Pine where you can walk down from the trail.
[0:47:34 – 0:47:34] Erik: That is Pine.
[0:47:34 – 0:47:35] Erik: Sure.
[0:47:37 – 0:47:39] Erik: Oh, we had some sick girlfriend.
[0:47:39 – 0:47:40] Erik: That’s not good.
[0:47:40 – 0:47:45] Erik: Didn’t have the energy to hike out, so we spent an extra day at the site to see how she felt in the morning.
[0:47:45 – 0:47:46] Erik: That was pretty scary.
[0:47:46 – 0:47:47] Erik: Yeah, I imagine.
[0:47:48 – 0:47:49] Erik: Out there, hiked in.
[0:47:50 – 0:47:54] Erik: Luckily, she did feel better the next day, and we were able to complete our hike.
[0:47:55 – 0:47:55] Erik: Yeah.
[0:47:56 – 0:48:00] Erik: That’s not just like hopping in the canoe and being like, hey, I’ll paddle you out.
[0:48:00 – 0:48:00] Erik: Right.
[0:48:01 – 0:48:02] Erik: Hiking, you’re on your own.
[0:48:03 – 0:48:05] Erik: Yeah, you can jump in my pack, hun.
[0:48:07 – 0:48:11] Erik: Do042 responded to that with another BRT story.
[0:48:12 – 0:48:19] Erik: Pretty limited on campsites, and I struck out at like 7 p.m. on the Far East Rose campsite.
[0:48:19 – 0:48:24] Erik: Next closest campsite was on the north end of Daniels, pulled in at dusk.
[0:48:25 – 0:48:27] Erik: Thankfully, that stretch is all old rail bed.
[0:48:28 – 0:48:30] Erik: Yeah, that’s a nice stretch of hiking there.
[0:48:30 – 0:48:31] Erik: You can practically run it.
[0:48:31 – 0:48:32] Erik: I do.
[0:48:32 – 0:48:58] Erik: actually uh rustic trail hot fighting fighting water management the brt is not just plain hiking it has some unique challenges two pups through i was trying i thought i was trying to kill them bright moments were surprising a moose on the stream up to daniel’s 15 feet away as we came out of some trees and a beautiful sunset to end the night at one of my now favorite campsites
[0:48:59 – 0:49:08] Adam: Yeah, when you do one of the long trips like that, and if you’re overnighting, then wherever you end up for that day, that campsite’s always got a special place in your heart.
[0:49:08 – 0:49:10] Erik: It has a little bit of a glow to it in your memory, for sure.
[0:49:10 – 0:49:11] Adam: Yeah, the campsite’s glow.
[0:49:13 – 0:49:20] Adam: Last but not least, Union Thug has weighed in with a big day.
[0:49:21 – 0:49:24] Adam: Swan, Vernon, Brule, South Temperance.
[0:49:24 – 0:49:25] Adam: Wow.
[0:49:25 – 0:49:26] Adam: It’s all the way across Brule.
[0:49:27 – 0:49:28] Adam: Some big portages in there.
[0:49:29 – 0:49:29] Erik: And Brule.
[0:49:29 – 0:49:31] Adam: I mean, Brule’s- Oh, Brule.
[0:49:31 – 0:49:34] Erik: Seven, eight miles of potential brutal wind.
[0:49:35 – 0:49:39] Adam: Okay, this was in a solo canoe, and that was a lot of paddling.
[0:49:39 – 0:49:39] Adam: Yeah.
[0:49:39 – 0:49:50] Adam: From the paddle planner, total distance 14.5 miles, 5 hours and 52 minutes paddling time, and 11, I’m sorry, it was 11.2 miles of paddling and 14.5 miles of total distance.
[0:49:56 – 0:50:01] Erik: To start on Swan though like that and do that 300, I was just out there.
[0:50:01 – 0:50:01] Erik: Yeah.
[0:50:01 – 0:50:08] Erik: So yeah, that’s a heck of an accomplishment getting across that portage and that body of water.
[0:50:08 – 0:50:11] Erik: Brule is rarely friendly, I’ll tell you that.
[0:50:12 – 0:50:15] Adam: He gave himself 30 minutes for loading and unloading time.
[0:50:15 – 0:50:22] Adam: So, yeah, it looks like he was paddling at 3 miles an hour and portaging at about 2 miles an hour.
[0:50:23 – 0:50:26] Adam: It felt so much longer at the time, though, is the final comment there.
[0:50:27 – 0:50:31] Adam: Yeah, well, on a solo, too, that changes the mathematics on a long day as well.
[0:50:32 – 0:50:33] Adam: You’re doing it all.
[0:50:33 – 0:50:34] Erik: Yeah, the solo.
[0:50:35 – 0:50:39] Adam: Yeah, you know, it’s a little bit tougher to do the super long day, I would imagine.
[0:50:39 – 0:50:42] Adam: I don’t know if I have anything, like, even remotely…
[0:50:43 – 0:51:07] Adam: considered long in a solo yeah like a solo that’s like a 14 mile solo is like a 28 mile i think the worst i’ve ever done was like going out to gojibik from clearwater like after work one night and just and it was kind of stormy oh yeah and then yeah just like just busted it up to gojibik and like thankfully the campsite was open and then like just like it was really hustling
[0:51:08 – 0:51:11] Adam: Like, to the point where I was kind of getting a little, like, feeling a little off.
[0:51:12 – 0:51:20] Adam: And then got into Gojiba camp and then set up my rainfly in my hammock and I immediately just dumped.
[0:51:20 – 0:51:21] Adam: Rain or butt?
[0:51:22 – 0:51:23] Adam: Just rain.
[0:51:24 – 0:51:24] Adam: Then I had brats.
[0:51:26 – 0:51:31] Adam: And then the next morning, well, that’s a story for another episode.
[0:51:31 – 0:51:31] Erik: Oh, wow.
[0:51:32 – 0:51:32] Erik: Look at this.
[0:51:32 – 0:51:34] Erik: This is like radio theater out here.
[0:51:34 – 0:51:37] Adam: A loon has just surfaced directly in front of us here.
[0:51:39 – 0:51:40] Adam: In the wilderness studio.
[0:51:41 – 0:51:43] Adam: So that brings us to the end of print Reddit.
[0:51:44 – 0:51:44] Erik: There it is.
[0:51:45 – 0:51:45] Adam: Loon?
[0:51:46 – 0:51:47] Adam: Nope.
[0:51:47 – 0:51:47] Adam: Loon’s gone.
[0:51:47 – 0:51:48] Adam: Loon’s gone.
[0:51:48 – 0:51:48] Adam: Loon has no comments.
[0:51:49 – 0:51:49] Adam: Nope.
[0:51:49 – 0:51:49] Adam: Unfortunately.
[0:51:49 – 0:51:51] Adam: What’s the longest day you’ve ever done, Loon?
[0:51:52 – 0:51:57] Adam: Well, I went from the Gulf of Mexico all the way up to northern Minnesota in one hop.
[0:51:58 – 0:52:02] Erik: I got stuck on boys and I had to circle for six hours to get out of there.
[0:52:04 – 0:52:04] Erik: Well…
[0:52:06 – 0:52:07] Adam: So I think that brings us to the end of this.
[0:52:08 – 0:52:11] Adam: And the sun has appropriately set below the trees.
[0:52:12 – 0:52:15] Adam: And tomorrow is the solstice, so…
[0:52:15 – 0:52:17] Adam: I think this is a good spot to leave it for tonight.
[0:52:18 – 0:52:19] Adam: Yeah.
[0:52:19 – 0:52:23] Adam: Kind of a fun episode just talking, you know, theory almost.
[0:52:25 – 0:52:26] Adam: What do you do with all this sunlight?
[0:52:27 – 0:52:31] Adam: I think the best thing and what we’ve kept coming to is just that you got to celebrate it, embrace it.
[0:52:31 – 0:52:31] Adam: Yep.
[0:52:32 – 0:52:33] Adam: And enjoy it.
[0:52:33 – 0:52:43] Erik: Whether it’s a celebration of the light being here or it’s a celebration of the light leaving slowly but surely.
[0:52:44 – 0:52:49] Erik: There is reason, especially in our northern climes, to celebrate it.
[0:52:50 – 0:52:53] Erik: I don’t imagine people on the equator are celebrating the summer solstice.
[0:52:54 – 0:52:56] Erik: Us northerners, I think, are, you know.
[0:52:56 – 0:52:58] Adam: It’s a bigger deal up here.
[0:52:58 – 0:53:03] Adam: And I also celebrate the shortest day of the year as well.
[0:53:03 – 0:53:04] Erik: Yeah, for sure.
[0:53:04 – 0:53:05] Erik: Kind of for the same reason.
[0:53:06 – 0:53:06] Adam: In a different way.
[0:53:07 – 0:53:07] Adam: In a different way.
[0:53:08 – 0:53:09] Adam: I look forward to that episode now.
[0:53:10 – 0:53:10] Erik: Yeah.
[0:53:10 – 0:53:12] Erik: Ooh, the bookend.
[0:53:12 – 0:53:13] Erik: Completely different.
[0:53:13 – 0:53:13] Erik: We’ll see.
[0:53:13 – 0:53:15] Erik: I don’t know if we’ll be doing that one in the field.
[0:53:16 – 0:53:17] Adam: No, we must now.
[0:53:17 – 0:53:19] Adam: We’ll set up the wall tent.
[0:53:20 – 0:53:20] Erik: We have to.
[0:53:20 – 0:53:22] Erik: You fact check us on that one.
[0:53:22 – 0:53:23] Erik: You know, for balance.
[0:53:24 – 0:53:25] Erik: Wow, there you go.
[0:53:25 – 0:53:27] Erik: We’ve put it down.
[0:53:27 – 0:53:28] Erik: We will be… We’re setting up.
[0:53:29 – 0:53:31] Adam: Yeah, we’re doing that, and we’re doing the Grand Portage at some point in the future now.
[0:53:31 – 0:53:38] Erik: At some point, the Grand Portage is happening, and we will be recording in a wall tent on the winter solstice of this year.
[0:53:38 – 0:53:38] Erik: Mark it down.
[0:53:38 – 0:53:39] Erik: Yeah.
[0:53:40 – 0:53:40] Erik: Keep us to it.
[0:53:40 – 0:53:41] Erik: So…
[0:53:41 – 0:53:42] Adam: All right, well, let’s get out.
[0:53:42 – 0:53:45] Adam: You know how to find us, Fact Checker Hotline.
[0:53:46 – 0:53:58] Adam: We will plug it into the show notes since we’ve failed to bring it with us here in the camp, but I can tell you you can find us on Instagram, tumblehomecast, and on Gmail, tumblehomecast at gmail.com.
[0:53:59 – 0:54:02] Adam: Also, you can find us in person at Mink Lake Campsite.
[0:54:02 – 0:54:07] Adam: We will be here all week to come on, jog on by or portage your canoe on over and say hi.
[0:54:07 – 0:54:08] Erik: Yep.
[0:54:08 – 0:54:14] Adam: Or, you know, look for me in town if you can find my vehicle and, you know, just track me down.
[0:54:14 – 0:54:15] Adam: Go have a pint.
[0:54:16 – 0:54:18] Adam: Also, Tumble Home Cast on Facebook.
[0:54:19 – 0:54:21] Adam: Tumble Home, a Boundary Waters podcast.
[0:54:22 – 0:54:22] Erik: That’s right.
[0:54:22 – 0:54:25] Adam: And on Reddit, check us out.
[0:54:25 – 0:54:28] Adam: Interact with us there on Reddit, RBWCA.
[0:54:29 – 0:54:32] Adam: Always on there trying to interact and hear what you guys have to say.
[0:54:33 – 0:54:33] Erik: Exactly.
[0:54:34 – 0:54:38] Adam: So thanks for joining us for episode 022 in the books.
[0:54:39 – 0:54:39] Adam: I’m Adam.
[0:54:40 – 0:54:40] Erik: I’m Eric.
[0:54:41 – 0:54:42] Erik: A happy solstice to you.
[0:54:42 – 0:54:47] Adam: And happy paddling wherever you may be headed.
[0:54:47 – 0:54:48] Adam: Arrivederci.
[0:54:48 – 0:54:48] Adam: Arrivederci.
[0:54:50 – 0:54:51] Adam: Pesla Madieri.
[0:54:52 – 0:54:54] Adam: Pesla Madieri.
[0:54:54 – 0:54:56] Adam: The end.
[0:56:06 – 0:56:06] Adam: Okay.
[0:56:07 – 0:56:08] Adam: Just a random thought though.
[0:56:08 – 0:56:14] Adam: But if you were ever sitting in camp in the park and a goat just walked up to you out of the woods, what would you do?
[0:56:15 – 0:56:16] Adam: Not saying it’s happened.
[0:56:18 – 0:56:19] Adam: We’re just thinking about it.
[0:56:20 – 0:56:20] Adam: What would you do though?
[0:56:21 – 0:56:21] Adam: Seriously?