077: The Louse River

Episode Transcript

[0:00:35 – 0:00:50] Erik: Welcome to Tumble Home, a Boundary Waters podcast coming to you for the first time ever from actual Studio A.
[0:00:55 – 0:01:11] Erik: upstairs studio a upstairs studio a we will explain before we uh get into that i should say that we are joined we um i am joined as always by my good friend adam hello
[0:01:12 – 0:01:12] Erik: Hello, Eric.
[0:01:13 – 0:01:16] Adam: I don’t know if you can tell, listeners.
[0:01:17 – 0:01:22] Erik: The voices are just a little reserved, a little held back.
[0:01:22 – 0:01:26] Erik: Not in any real whatever we were doing a couple of weeks ago.
[0:01:27 – 0:01:29] Erik: Coming in awkward and quiet.
[0:01:31 – 0:01:34] Erik: Mostly due to the fact that we are literally in the lodge.
[0:01:35 – 0:01:36] SPEAKER_00: Upstairs in a lodge.
[0:01:37 – 0:01:39] Erik: We are, and there’s guests upstairs.
[0:01:39 – 0:01:40] Erik: There are guests upstairs.
[0:01:40 – 0:01:48] Erik: It’s that time of year where there are very few nice warm spots to record, and it’s kind of getting a little chilly out there.
[0:01:49 – 0:01:52] Erik: Chilly enough that it’s hard to just sit in one spot for an hour.
[0:01:53 – 0:01:53] Adam: Right.
[0:01:53 – 0:01:57] Adam: I don’t know if anybody else can tell, but Eric and I are also sitting on the same side of the table.
[0:01:58 – 0:01:58] Adam: Yeah.
[0:01:59 – 0:02:00] Adam: Yeah, that might be a first too.
[0:02:00 – 0:02:01] Adam: I don’t know if you can tell.
[0:02:02 – 0:02:03] Adam: Yeah.
[0:02:04 – 0:02:09] Erik: How do you feel about couples that go out to eat and they get seated at a booth?
[0:02:09 – 0:02:09] Erik: Mm-hmm.
[0:02:10 – 0:02:10] Erik: Where are you?
[0:02:10 – 0:02:11] Erik: Opposite?
[0:02:11 – 0:02:11] Erik: Same side?
[0:02:12 – 0:02:15] Adam: At most, we’ll sit on the corners.
[0:02:15 – 0:02:24] Adam: If you get just a square table, we’ll sit on the corners on a square table occasionally if it’s in the corner or something.
[0:02:24 – 0:02:27] Erik: Oh, I guess I meant just specifically in a booth though.
[0:02:27 – 0:02:29] Adam: Never, never on the same side.
[0:02:29 – 0:02:29] Erik: Yeah.
[0:02:29 – 0:02:31] Erik: Same side seating on a booth.
[0:02:31 – 0:02:32] Erik: Like I see people doing that.
[0:02:32 – 0:02:33] Erik: I’m like, what are you doing?
[0:02:33 – 0:02:34] Adam: I’m like Margie in Fargo.
[0:02:34 – 0:02:36] Adam: Like, well, you know, I can’t see you sitting here.
[0:02:36 – 0:02:39] Adam: I got to sit across from her and see her pretty face.
[0:02:41 – 0:02:43] Erik: That’s a pretty good Margie.
[0:02:43 – 0:02:44] Erik: That one’s pretty good.
[0:02:45 – 0:02:46] Erik: Yeah.
[0:02:46 – 0:02:46] Erik: So.
[0:02:46 – 0:02:47] Erik: You’re such a super lady.
[0:02:49 – 0:02:53] Erik: Yeah, we’re sitting on the same… What was that guy’s name?
[0:02:55 – 0:02:55] Erik: Tim?
[0:02:57 – 0:03:00] Erik: It was like a very Midwestern name, but with a very Japanese last name.
[0:03:00 – 0:03:02] Erik: Mark Watanagi?
[0:03:02 – 0:03:04] Erik: Yeah, something like that, I think.
[0:03:04 – 0:03:05] Adam: We’re going to have to Google it.
[0:03:06 – 0:03:07] Adam: Fact check us on the fly, folks.
[0:03:07 – 0:03:08] Adam: Thank you.
[0:03:09 – 0:03:11] Erik: Yeah, so intro to the show.
[0:03:12 – 0:03:18] Erik: This is a trip recap show coming out after I’m gone.
[0:03:19 – 0:03:21] Erik: I’m on the other side of the world right now.
[0:03:21 – 0:03:21] Erik: Can you believe that?
[0:03:21 – 0:03:24] Erik: This hot air balloon experience is probably…
[0:03:25 – 0:03:26] Adam: Taking pictures of the Sphinx.
[0:03:26 – 0:03:28] Erik: Going swimmingly right now.
[0:03:29 – 0:03:30] Erik: Which way are you going first?
[0:03:31 – 0:03:32] Erik: Whatever way the wind blows.
[0:03:32 – 0:03:33] Adam: You don’t even know.
[0:03:33 – 0:03:34] Erik: I don’t know.
[0:03:34 – 0:03:37] Erik: I signed on and the guide is just in charge.
[0:03:38 – 0:03:39] Erik: You have a guide though.
[0:03:39 – 0:03:40] Erik: At least I feel better.
[0:03:41 – 0:03:44] Erik: I don’t know how to operate the ups and downs and lefts and rights.
[0:03:44 – 0:03:47] Adam: How many podcasts are out there for people going around the world in a blimp?
[0:03:48 – 0:03:49] Erik: Yeah, what would you call that show?
[0:03:50 – 0:03:51] Erik: Whichever way the wind goes.
[0:03:52 – 0:03:53] Erik: Whichever way the wind blows.
[0:03:54 – 0:03:58] Erik: A hot air balloon podcast with the Blimpie Boys.
[0:04:00 – 0:04:00] Erik: Oh, man.
[0:04:01 – 0:04:05] Erik: Yeah, so we are recapping a trip from a couple of years ago.
[0:04:06 – 0:04:10] Erik: We hinted at, I think this was the genesis.
[0:04:11 – 0:04:15] Erik: I think this trip was the genesis of the portage scale.
[0:04:15 – 0:04:19] Adam: It absolutely was the beginning of the Danielson scale.
[0:04:20 – 0:04:20] Erik: Yeah.
[0:04:21 – 0:04:23] Adam: So I think we’re going to have a lot of discussion on that.
[0:04:23 – 0:04:26] Adam: Again, just we’ll officially lay it out.
[0:04:27 – 0:04:28] Adam: We’re going to go over the entire route.
[0:04:28 – 0:04:30] Adam: It was a pretty tough route.
[0:04:30 – 0:04:33] Adam: It was… One of the tougher routes you can get out there.
[0:04:33 – 0:04:34] Adam: A lot of people talk about the Frost River.
[0:04:35 – 0:04:35] Erik: Yeah.
[0:04:35 – 0:04:41] Adam: A lot of these famous river routes, but I remember when you hatched this plan, I said, where?
[0:04:42 – 0:04:43] Adam: I didn’t know.
[0:04:43 – 0:04:45] Adam: I had no idea where the Laos River was.
[0:04:45 – 0:04:48] Adam: I’m guessing a lot of the people listening to this have never heard of it.
[0:04:49 – 0:04:53] Adam: Maybe if you saw the episode title, you’ve gone on a map and found it, but…
[0:04:54 – 0:04:54] Adam: It’s out there.
[0:04:54 – 0:05:05] Adam: It’s not a common route and it shows in the portages, which is why we all attempted to try and classify the difficulty of portages because it’s not just the distance.
[0:05:06 – 0:05:07] Adam: Difficulty.
[0:05:08 – 0:05:10] Adam: That determines how difficult a portage is.
[0:05:10 – 0:05:13] Adam: It is often how well it’s maintained and
[0:05:14 – 0:05:15] Adam: the terrain it’s on, and so forth.
[0:05:16 – 0:05:18] Adam: The Laos River is wild country.
[0:05:19 – 0:05:19] Adam: It is.
[0:05:19 – 0:05:20] Adam: It is wild.
[0:05:22 – 0:05:24] Erik: Insert cougar noise.
[0:05:25 – 0:05:27] Erik: Yeah, that was a mountain lion for sure.
[0:05:27 – 0:05:28] Erik: I think that counts as a Halloween noise.
[0:05:28 – 0:05:30] Erik: We were talking about Halloween noises.
[0:05:30 – 0:05:33] Erik: We are still in the spooky time of the year.
[0:05:33 – 0:05:36] Erik: And next week will be the spooktacular.
[0:05:36 – 0:05:37] Adam: I’m excited for that.
[0:05:37 – 0:05:39] Adam: I’ve already carved my pumpkin.
[0:05:39 – 0:05:56] Erik: yes nice like borderline like half season finale um if you’re listening to this it is already too late uh if you haven’t responded sorry um it’s too late on spooky time yeah eric is already in the blimp so i’m in the blimp right now edit any further
[0:05:57 – 0:05:57] Erik: Yeah.
[0:05:57 – 0:05:58] Adam: But, you know, there’s always a way.
[0:05:58 – 0:05:59] Adam: You can always get in later.
[0:06:00 – 0:06:01] Adam: Yes.
[0:06:01 – 0:06:07] Adam: We’ll touch on that with our new and frequent every week.
[0:06:08 – 0:06:09] Erik: It’s becoming a segment now.
[0:06:09 – 0:06:11] Adam: Yeah, it’s a regular segment now.
[0:06:11 – 0:06:12] Adam: It’s How’s She Going By?
[0:06:12 – 0:06:13] Adam: And should we…
[0:06:13 – 0:06:16] Erik: I think you’re fully on the how is she going by boat.
[0:06:16 – 0:06:18] Erik: I am on correspondence.
[0:06:19 – 0:06:27] Adam: Who was the… Yeah, the original beer sponsor on the show 075 when we came up with the idea that we just have a…
[0:06:28 – 0:06:31] Adam: A segment at the beginning getting into our correspondence.
[0:06:31 – 0:06:32] Erik: Yeah, so…
[0:06:33 – 0:06:35] Adam: Correspondence.
[0:06:36 – 0:06:36] Erik: Yeah, I don’t know.
[0:06:36 – 0:06:41] Erik: I kind of like correspondence, but I think How’s She Going By has more longevity.
[0:06:41 – 0:06:42] Erik: Yeah, probably, but…
[0:06:43 – 0:06:49] Erik: But speaking of beer sponsors, we should get to this one before we delve into that.
[0:06:50 – 0:06:53] Erik: Instagram heavy responses this week.
[0:06:55 – 0:06:57] Erik: This is from Brandon.
[0:06:57 – 0:06:57] Erik: Brandon.
[0:06:58 – 0:07:02] Adam: I love how you have all these beers labeled with the donor’s name on them.
[0:07:02 – 0:07:03] Erik: The donor.
[0:07:03 – 0:07:04] Erik: Yeah.
[0:07:04 – 0:07:15] Erik: Well, they just come in and I’m like, if I don’t write it on literally, it’s like athletic tape with the name just like scrawled on and Sharpie.
[0:07:15 – 0:07:16] Adam: Because if I don’t do it, I’ll totally forget.
[0:07:16 – 0:07:17] Adam: I’ll be like, God.
[0:07:17 – 0:07:18] Adam: It works.
[0:07:18 – 0:07:19] Adam: You got to keep them.
[0:07:19 – 0:07:19] Adam: Yeah.
[0:07:19 – 0:07:20] Adam: Gotta keep them straight.
[0:07:20 – 0:07:25] Adam: This is one of the more interesting bottles I have seen in the entirety of Tumble Home.
[0:07:26 – 0:07:26] Erik: Oh, yeah, for sure.
[0:07:26 – 0:07:27] Erik: That’s saying something.
[0:07:27 – 0:07:34] Adam: We’re now into episode 076 of Tumble Home, and we have a new shape of bottle.
[0:07:34 – 0:07:35] Erik: A new shape of bottle.
[0:07:35 – 0:07:40] Erik: It is one bottle, and it is from Hammerheart.
[0:07:40 – 0:07:40] UNKNOWN: Hammerheart.
[0:07:41 – 0:07:43] Erik: Brewing Company.
[0:07:43 – 0:07:51] Erik: It’s got a beautiful, I love that artwork on the front with a little snowscape scene, maybe some footprints going down the way there.
[0:07:51 – 0:07:54] Adam: Very intricate border design.
[0:07:54 – 0:08:00] Erik: I took the easy way out and pronounced the Brewing Company.
[0:08:00 – 0:08:02] Erik: What’s the name of the beer itself?
[0:08:03 – 0:08:04] Erik: It’s a Himveveter.
[0:08:06 – 0:08:09] Adam: Oak smoked wheat India pale ale double.
[0:08:09 – 0:08:10] Adam: Wow.
[0:08:10 – 0:08:11] Adam: I think that’s
[0:08:11 – 0:08:12] Adam: I think I did it justice.
[0:08:12 – 0:08:13] Erik: I think you did.
[0:08:13 – 0:08:15] Erik: I think it’s going to be delicious, and we’re going to pop it.
[0:08:23 – 0:08:25] Adam: Really hacking away at, use the thing.
[0:08:25 – 0:08:26] Erik: There is no thing.
[0:08:26 – 0:08:27] Adam: Oh, dear.
[0:08:32 – 0:08:33] Erik: Himberwerter.
[0:08:33 – 0:08:36] Erik: That was almost a borderline emergency there.
[0:08:42 – 0:08:47] Erik: There’s one little juice cup of beer for you there, my friend.
[0:08:47 – 0:08:53] Adam: We’re actually, just to be clear, we’re using these small juice cups from the Clearwater China.
[0:08:55 – 0:08:58] Adam: You probably have had some juice in your breakfast.
[0:09:03 – 0:09:04] Adam: In one of these cups.
[0:09:04 – 0:09:06] Adam: Oofy.
[0:09:07 – 0:09:07] Erik: Oofed up.
[0:09:08 – 0:09:13] Erik: That’s, uh, yeah, that’s smoked beer, my friend.
[0:09:13 – 0:09:15] Erik: Hmm.
[0:09:16 – 0:09:17] Erik: Oh boy.
[0:09:18 – 0:09:19] Erik: I don’t know that one.
[0:09:19 – 0:09:22] Erik: That one might grow on me right away.
[0:09:22 – 0:09:25] Erik: I’m, uh, I don’t know how I feel about that.
[0:09:26 – 0:09:26] Erik: It’s not good.
[0:09:26 – 0:09:27] Erik: It’s not bad.
[0:09:27 – 0:09:30] Erik: I mean, I think it’s, I’m a little intimidated.
[0:09:30 – 0:09:32] Adam: I think, yeah, maybe that’s what it is.
[0:09:33 – 0:09:36] Adam: That’s a, that’s a very powerful statement.
[0:09:36 – 0:09:36] Adam: Yeah.
[0:09:36 – 0:09:38] Adam: I didn’t mean a strange looking bottle.
[0:09:39 – 0:09:40] Erik: I didn’t mean to say that it wasn’t good.
[0:09:40 – 0:09:43] Erik: I just, I can’t put my finger on it.
[0:09:43 – 0:09:44] Erik: I don’t know.
[0:09:44 – 0:09:47] Erik: It might be going to, it’s, it might be too good.
[0:09:47 – 0:09:50] Adam: It’s too good for us, but we do have the finest China out.
[0:09:50 – 0:09:52] Erik: So we, we got the China, right?
[0:09:52 – 0:09:53] Erik: Hmm.
[0:09:53 – 0:09:58] Adam: We’re going to have to… Yeah, it’s going to take us some time to process this beer for sure.
[0:09:59 – 0:10:00] Erik: Yeah, it’s perfect for this time of year.
[0:10:00 – 0:10:06] Erik: We’ve had it in the fridge since summer, but I think it’s going perfectly with the… Holy moly.
[0:10:06 – 0:10:08] Erik: The hot dog.
[0:10:08 – 0:10:09] Erik: The fall vibes.
[0:10:10 – 0:10:11] Erik: Got leaves blowing around on the ground.
[0:10:12 – 0:10:14] Erik: Got saunas loaded up on it, dump trucks.
[0:10:15 – 0:10:16] Erik: It’s just that time of year.
[0:10:16 – 0:10:19] Adam: Yeah, when you see saunas on dump trucks… You know.
[0:10:19 – 0:10:20] Adam: You know it’s time for…
[0:10:24 – 0:10:25] Adam: Fimbulvator.
[0:10:26 – 0:10:29] Erik: Oh, smoke, sweet double India pale ales.
[0:10:30 – 0:10:32] Erik: How’s she going by?
[0:10:32 – 0:10:34] Erik: How’s she going by?
[0:10:35 – 0:10:43] Adam: who have we heard from since we got a couple of friends on Instagram that, uh, chimed in and, uh, I’m apologies.
[0:10:43 – 0:10:53] Adam: Uh, you’ve already heard from me at this point, friends, but I had the other day, I opened up the Instagram and it was like, you got four messages on here.
[0:10:53 – 0:10:57] Adam: It’s like, well, Oh, I haven’t, I haven’t checked Instagram in like a week.
[0:10:58 – 0:10:59] Adam: My apologies.
[0:10:59 – 0:10:59] Adam: Uh,
[0:11:00 – 0:11:05] Adam: Sometimes life, you know, just does its thing and you don’t check Instagram for a week.
[0:11:05 – 0:11:06] Adam: It happens.
[0:11:06 – 0:11:16] Adam: So I responded to everybody, but we had a couple of folks on here with some interesting correspondence that we wanted to get to.
[0:11:16 – 0:11:16] Adam: So.
[0:11:17 – 0:11:25] Adam: Starting with John, our good friend, John, uh, got in here and, uh, said writing in reference to the game changer episodes.
[0:11:25 – 0:11:30] Adam: When I started to listen to part one and heard the question, I was shocked not to hear the answer that popped into my head.
[0:11:31 – 0:11:33] Adam: Maybe it’s the way I interpreted the question.
[0:11:34 – 0:11:36] Adam: My game changer was my first boundary waters trip.
[0:11:37 – 0:11:42] Adam: That first trip a decade ago was not only a game changer, but a life changer.
[0:11:43 – 0:11:43] Erik: Nice.
[0:11:43 – 0:11:43] Adam: Nice.
[0:11:44 – 0:11:44] Adam: Yeah.
[0:11:45 – 0:11:46] Erik: Thinking big picture.
[0:11:46 – 0:11:47] Adam: Yeah, for sure.
[0:11:48 – 0:11:53] Adam: I don’t think anybody really put it in those terms on the Game Changer.
[0:11:54 – 0:11:54] Adam: No, I don’t think so.
[0:11:54 – 0:11:55] Adam: It’s big time.
[0:11:55 – 0:12:02] Adam: We’ve talked about it on the podcast before, like our first trips and first impressions of the park.
[0:12:02 – 0:12:03] Adam: I’m very jealous.
[0:12:03 – 0:12:04] Adam: I always say that.
[0:12:04 – 0:12:07] Adam: I’m very jealous when I hear somebody’s going on their first trip.
[0:12:08 – 0:12:10] Adam: Like, ooh, you’re really in for something.
[0:12:10 – 0:12:11] Adam: That is a Game Changer.
[0:12:11 – 0:12:12] Adam: It really does.
[0:12:13 – 0:12:15] Adam: We think about it now in terms that we go –
[0:12:15 – 0:12:29] Adam: on lots of trips and like what what changes from trip to trip but really that first one is the biggest leap probably in like mentality oh it’s tough to beat the memories that are forged during that first trip those ones are the hardest
[0:12:31 – 0:12:32] Adam: We have another Corey.
[0:12:33 – 0:12:37] Adam: This is not the Corey from Correspondence, but Correspondence, nevertheless.
[0:12:38 – 0:12:44] Adam: Fun to listen to episode 74 and hear similarities between the Northwoods and living in a village in northern Alaska.
[0:12:45 – 0:12:49] Adam: Cons, finishing projects and waiting for parts, prices, satellite internet.
[0:12:49 – 0:12:52] Adam: Pros, the quiet, figuring things out on your own.
[0:12:53 – 0:12:55] Adam: The fish, the beauty right out your front door.
[0:12:56 – 0:13:24] Erik: yeah that was i mean i think it’s pretty obvious over the course of those almost two hours and i don’t think we ever really just said it but i think you know the area is just beautiful yeah it’s just pretty to be around i believe my response to that was uh you know mostly it was just like yeah the pros obviously far away the cons yeah we all agree on this one i’m not we’re preaching to the choir yeah there’s somebody in alaska listening that’s awesome
[0:13:24 – 0:13:25] Adam: Yeah, love it.
[0:13:25 – 0:13:25] Adam: Shout out.
[0:13:26 – 0:13:28] Adam: Shout out to everybody listening in Alaska.
[0:13:28 – 0:13:29] Adam: We thank you.
[0:13:29 – 0:13:33] Adam: Do you have any recommendations for similar podcasts from somebody in Alaska?
[0:13:33 – 0:13:34] Adam: I’d love to listen to that.
[0:13:34 – 0:13:37] Erik: Yeah, Life in the Great Frontier.
[0:13:37 – 0:13:38] Erik: The Last Frontier.
[0:13:38 – 0:13:39] Adam: Oh, wait, is that Space?
[0:13:40 – 0:13:41] Adam: No, it’s Alaska.
[0:13:41 – 0:13:42] Adam: Okay.
[0:13:42 – 0:13:42] Erik: Yeah.
[0:13:42 – 0:13:44] Erik: Isn’t that what it says on their license plate?
[0:13:44 – 0:13:44] Erik: Something like that.
[0:13:45 – 0:13:45] Adam: Yes.
[0:13:45 – 0:13:46] Erik: Okay.
[0:13:47 – 0:13:54] Adam: And finally, from Jonathan, had a knee surgery done, meniscus repair.
[0:13:55 – 0:13:57] Adam: Listening to the podcast and not able to walk.
[0:13:57 – 0:14:00] Adam: You guys mentioned instant coffee as a game changer.
[0:14:01 – 0:14:02] Adam: I have to agree 100%.
[0:14:03 – 0:14:04] Adam: If instant coffee couldn’t get any better…
[0:14:06 – 0:14:08] Adam: This comes along and changes the game changer.
[0:14:09 – 0:14:09] Adam: Wow.
[0:14:09 – 0:14:13] Adam: These are really good, and it’s a link to these coffee cubes.
[0:14:13 – 0:14:16] Adam: It looks like a bouillon cube.
[0:14:16 – 0:14:18] Erik: It looks like two stacked brownies, like really dense brownies.
[0:14:18 – 0:14:24] Adam: It does look like a brownie in the picture here, but I’m picturing it more like the size of a bouillon cube for soup.
[0:14:24 – 0:14:25] Adam: Oh, sure.
[0:14:25 – 0:14:33] Adam: And you just… Yeah, instead of a powder or a crystal, this is more of a moist bouillon cube of coffee goodness.
[0:14:33 – 0:14:33] Adam: Apparently…
[0:14:34 – 0:14:35] Adam: Yes.
[0:14:35 – 0:14:37] Adam: Jonathan says they are really good.
[0:14:37 – 0:14:40] Erik: No, those look, I mean, they look solid.
[0:14:40 – 0:14:42] Adam: So I’m going to have to check those out next time we’re out.
[0:14:42 – 0:14:43] Adam: We’ve got to get some of these.
[0:14:45 – 0:14:46] Adam: These Java cubes.
[0:14:46 – 0:14:50] Erik: I’ve almost entirely transitioned to instant even in my just day-to-day.
[0:14:51 – 0:14:52] Erik: It’s crazy.
[0:14:52 – 0:14:53] Adam: It’s Jiva cubes.
[0:14:53 – 0:14:54] Erik: Are you shouting out the brand?
[0:14:54 – 0:14:55] Erik: Jiva.
[0:14:55 – 0:14:55] Erik: J-I-V-A.
[0:14:55 – 0:14:57] Adam: Oh, shout out the brand.
[0:14:57 – 0:14:57] Adam: G-I-V-A.
[0:14:58 – 0:14:58] Adam: Cubes.
[0:14:59 – 0:15:04] Adam: If Jonathan thinks they’re good enough to get a shout out, then we weren’t mentioning brands during the shout out.
[0:15:04 – 0:15:05] Adam: I’ve never heard of them.
[0:15:06 – 0:15:08] Adam: Maybe there’s multiple coffee cube companies with it.
[0:15:09 – 0:15:12] Adam: Is it a coffee cube or a coffee bouillon?
[0:15:12 – 0:15:34] Erik: well what well there’s bullion cubes yeah but this is a coffee bullion what does bullion mean it’s just like a concentrate of uh flavor what about uh what about uh uh gold bullion isn’t that a thing oh that’s uh different yes it’s the same but different okay how about ingot
[0:15:36 – 0:16:00] Adam: ingrid so i popped a beat i i popped a bullion cube in my mouth one time as a kid because i thought it was candy oh dear it comes in those silvery like red packages yeah you know it looks like candy one time we were at like a christmas in the old pioneer village thing and there’s these like wax cookies on a plate and my mom caught me gnawing away at one of them and i was like this is the worst cookie
[0:16:01 – 0:16:01] Adam: I remember.
[0:16:02 – 0:16:02] Adam: Then stop eating.
[0:16:02 – 0:16:04] Adam: I was still trying to finish the cookie.
[0:16:05 – 0:16:05] Adam: It’s a cookie.
[0:16:05 – 0:16:06] Adam: I will finish it.
[0:16:06 – 0:16:06] Adam: Well, you took the cookie.
[0:16:06 – 0:16:07] Adam: You got to finish it.
[0:16:08 – 0:16:10] Adam: Well, it was made of wax, so you don’t.
[0:16:11 – 0:16:16] Erik: Do you want to get right into Laos River, or do you think you have a minute just for an entire aside?
[0:16:17 – 0:16:18] Erik: We got time for an aside.
[0:16:19 – 0:16:19] Erik: All right.
[0:16:19 – 0:16:25] Erik: Well, we’ll just have to make sure we check ourselves in case it starts getting a little too rabbit-holy.
[0:16:25 – 0:16:26] Erik: Sure.
[0:16:26 – 0:16:27] Erik: So the 2020 class of…
[0:16:31 – 0:16:53] Erik: nominees to the rock and roll hall of fame yes have you seen this no i have not all right so i’m gonna quickly go down the list okay and if i want i just pick one i just want to know who you think the most deserving how many people get in every year i have no idea 16 nominees there’s 16 nominees how many are actually voted in i oh yeah so it is a vote um i mean i’ll just pick a couple
[0:16:54 – 0:16:57] Erik: I don’t know how… Oh, it looks like you can pick up to five.
[0:16:57 – 0:16:58] Erik: I don’t know how many you actually get in.
[0:16:58 – 0:17:01] Erik: There’s obviously no research done here.
[0:17:02 – 0:17:02] Erik: So here are the nominees.
[0:17:02 – 0:17:03] Erik: I’ll just pick a couple.
[0:17:03 – 0:17:04] Erik: Okay.
[0:17:04 – 0:17:06] Adam: It looks like we have… How many nominees?
[0:17:06 – 0:17:07] Erik: Let me read them to you.
[0:17:07 – 0:17:08] Adam: 16 nominees.
[0:17:08 – 0:17:08] Erik: 16.
[0:17:08 – 0:17:09] Erik: Pat Benatar.
[0:17:09 – 0:17:11] Erik: Don’t comment on them until we’re done.
[0:17:11 – 0:17:11] Erik: I will not.
[0:17:11 – 0:17:22] Erik: Pat Benatar, Dave Matthews Band, Depeche Mode, The Doobie Brothers, Whitney Houston, Judas Priest, Kraftwerk, MC5, Motorhead, Nine Inch Nails, The Notorious B.I.G.,
[0:17:23 – 0:17:27] Erik: Rufus featuring Chaka Khan, Todd Rundgren, Soundgarden, T-Rex, and Thin Lizzy.
[0:17:27 – 0:17:29] Erik: Holy moly.
[0:17:29 – 0:17:30] Adam: That’s the nominees.
[0:17:30 – 0:17:31] Erik: Those are the nominees.
[0:17:31 – 0:17:36] Erik: Yeah, I think you can throw about all but four of those out, if you ask me.
[0:17:37 – 0:17:37] Erik: Really?
[0:17:37 – 0:17:37] Erik: Mm-hmm.
[0:17:38 – 0:17:40] Erik: This is the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?
[0:17:41 – 0:17:43] Erik: Yeah, Rock and Roll is pretty all-encompassing at this point, it sounds like.
[0:17:43 – 0:17:44] Erik: Notorious B.I.G.
[0:17:44 – 0:17:45] Erik: is on there.
[0:17:46 – 0:17:46] Erik: Is this just music?
[0:17:47 – 0:17:48] Erik: Music Hall of Fame.
[0:17:48 – 0:17:50] Erik: Yeah, just literal music.
[0:17:50 – 0:18:00] Adam: Because, yeah, two of the ones in here that I would for sure want in on would be Whitney Houston and the Notorious B.I.G., but I don’t feel like either of those are even close to rock and roll.
[0:18:00 – 0:18:04] Erik: No, Whitney Houston, Notorious B.I.G., unquestionable.
[0:18:04 – 0:18:05] Erik: Like, how are they not in it already?
[0:18:05 – 0:18:06] Erik: For whatever, you know.
[0:18:06 – 0:18:07] Erik: Yeah, they should be in.
[0:18:07 – 0:18:08] Erik: That’s a whole other argument.
[0:18:08 – 0:18:09] Erik: What’s the point of a Hall of Fame?
[0:18:09 – 0:18:10] Adam: So they’re putting them in.
[0:18:10 – 0:18:12] Adam: I’m going to say Nine Inch Nails is absolutely in.
[0:18:13 – 0:18:14] Erik: Is that your third?
[0:18:14 – 0:18:16] Erik: My third is for sure Kraftwerk.
[0:18:16 – 0:18:16] Adam: Okay.
[0:18:16 – 0:18:18] Adam: Yeah, and I can get on with Kraftwerk too.
[0:18:18 – 0:18:20] Erik: I’m not against Nine Inch Nails either.
[0:18:20 – 0:18:22] Adam: Nine Inch Nails is in.
[0:18:22 – 0:18:25] Adam: Just his solo work is impeccable.
[0:18:25 – 0:18:26] Erik: Well, yeah, that’s what it comes down to.
[0:18:26 – 0:18:28] Erik: Is it Nine Inch Nails or is it Trent Reznor?
[0:18:28 – 0:18:36] Adam: Even, like, just the Ghost album, which is a lot like his newer, modern stuff that he’s doing by himself, that alone should get him in.
[0:18:36 – 0:18:37] Erik: Yeah.
[0:18:37 – 0:18:39] Adam: Just the body of work for Nine Inch Nails.
[0:18:39 – 0:18:45] Adam: I’m not even the biggest Nine Inch Nails fan, but I believe in that, and…
[0:18:46 – 0:18:46] Adam: I don’t know.
[0:18:47 – 0:18:47] Adam: I guess we’ll…
[0:18:47 – 0:18:52] Erik: I think after that, it’s, I would say, pretty muddy.
[0:18:52 – 0:18:56] Adam: I’m not sure any of them deserve to get… What’s the, you know… Whitney Houston.
[0:18:57 – 0:18:58] Adam: Boy, I want to say…
[0:18:58 – 0:18:59] Erik: Notorious B.A.G.
[0:18:59 – 0:19:01] Erik: and Kraftwerk would be my for sure three.
[0:19:01 – 0:19:04] Erik: And if I had to pick a fourth, just based on, like, I’m not…
[0:19:05 – 0:19:15] Erik: I don’t think a really, like, huge fan of them, but just for, I think, maybe what they did for the music, like, maybe Motorhead and maybe T-Rex.
[0:19:15 – 0:19:15] Erik: Yeah.
[0:19:15 – 0:19:16] Erik: I don’t know.
[0:19:16 – 0:19:16] Erik: I don’t know.
[0:19:16 – 0:19:17] Erik: I’m like, maybe.
[0:19:19 – 0:19:20] Adam: How was Dave Matthews band on there?
[0:19:20 – 0:19:23] Adam: They’re like still playing and making new music.
[0:19:23 – 0:19:23] Adam: Like they’re not.
[0:19:23 – 0:19:24] Adam: That’s fine.
[0:19:24 – 0:19:32] Adam: I mean, there’s definitely a couple Dave Matthews band songs back in the day that I had on repeat, but it doesn’t mean they’re in the Hall of Fame.
[0:19:32 – 0:19:56] Erik: like a month ago me and tori were just sitting at home one night listening to dave matthews like all those old bands from when we were in high school and like all of a sudden like i’m like are we listening to oar right now what are we doing and it was like very close kind of as a joke but it was like oh i used to really like this the thing is i feel like there’s probably there’s people out there listening both live and in the future who are probably screaming at us like
[0:19:56 – 0:19:58] Erik: How are you not yelling Depeche Mode?
[0:19:59 – 0:20:02] Erik: Depeche Mode is pretty, I would say, influential.
[0:20:02 – 0:20:03] Erik: Yeah.
[0:20:03 – 0:20:08] Erik: I think they were much more… How are the Doobie Brothers on there?
[0:20:08 – 0:20:08] Erik: I don’t know.
[0:20:08 – 0:20:12] Adam: If the Doobie Brothers haven’t gotten in now, why are they getting in now?
[0:20:13 – 0:20:15] Erik: They haven’t put out new music in 30 years.
[0:20:16 – 0:20:17] Erik: Sorry, you missed out.
[0:20:17 – 0:20:18] Adam: It’s like…
[0:20:19 – 0:20:41] Erik: fuzzy thurston you know it’s like well if they haven’t put him in already whatever he’s not an nfl guy it’s a packers offensive line okay i met him i can’t think he should be in he should be in yeah he never will be in yeah i don’t know how many they actually put in but i would like that’s the thing you don’t want to water down pat benatar i mean what just some hits that’s all pat benatar is
[0:20:41 – 0:20:43] Erik: We’re getting into really dangerous territory here.
[0:20:43 – 0:20:44] Adam: All right, we’re going down the rabbit hole.
[0:20:44 – 0:20:45] Adam: Let’s close it off.
[0:20:45 – 0:20:47] Adam: All right, I think we’ve got our answer, though.
[0:20:47 – 0:20:47] Erik: Yeah.
[0:20:48 – 0:20:48] Erik: That would be solid.
[0:20:48 – 0:20:56] Erik: I would be happy, not that I’d pay attention to this, but I just, for some reason, whatever, I saw it today, and I was like, oh, I kind of forgot about a bunch of these bands.
[0:20:56 – 0:21:02] Adam: Did you see the top 200 albums of the 2010s on Pitchfork?
[0:21:02 – 0:21:03] Erik: I did.
[0:21:03 – 0:21:07] Erik: I kind of quickly scrolled through that, and it may be their worst list yet.
[0:21:08 – 0:21:11] Erik: I go back and forth on Pitchfork.
[0:21:11 – 0:21:14] Adam: Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy I think was like two or three.
[0:21:14 – 0:21:16] Adam: I was listening to that on the way to work the other day.
[0:21:16 – 0:21:17] Adam: That’s solid though.
[0:21:17 – 0:21:18] Erik: That’s a really good album.
[0:21:18 – 0:21:20] Erik: That’s probably my favorite Kanye album.
[0:21:20 – 0:21:21] Adam: You’re not crazy about Frank Ocean.
[0:21:21 – 0:21:24] Adam: There’s like two Frank Oceans in the top ten.
[0:21:24 – 0:21:26] Erik: It’s a terrible top 10.
[0:21:26 – 0:21:28] Adam: But no Father John Misty in the entire 2010.
[0:21:29 – 0:21:29] Adam: Are you kidding me?
[0:21:30 – 0:21:31] Adam: Fear Fun’s a masterpiece.
[0:21:31 – 0:21:33] Adam: The newer stuff’s still fun, but not great.
[0:21:34 – 0:21:36] Adam: Everybody knows I love Father John Misty.
[0:21:36 – 0:21:38] Erik: There wasn’t any on the entire list?
[0:21:38 – 0:21:41] Erik: No, in the whole top 200.
[0:21:41 – 0:21:44] Adam: Love You Honey Bear didn’t even make the top 200?
[0:21:44 – 0:21:45] Adam: Fear Fun?
[0:21:45 – 0:21:46] Erik: They forced that list.
[0:21:46 – 0:21:50] SPEAKER_00: See, that’s the thing, because you can just be like, oh, this band, this album didn’t make it?
[0:21:50 – 0:21:51] Adam: Ridiculous.
[0:21:51 – 0:21:51] Erik: Yeah.
[0:21:52 – 0:21:55] Erik: I guess it depends on how much importance you put on lists and who’s putting them out.
[0:21:56 – 0:21:56] Erik: It’s nice to see that.
[0:21:56 – 0:22:02] Adam: Well, when I see that, I try not to have that, like, ooh, my favorite album from that era didn’t make it.
[0:22:03 – 0:22:03] Adam: Like, I don’t know.
[0:22:03 – 0:22:07] Adam: I just like to look at those and be like, oh, yeah, beautiful dark twist of fantasy.
[0:22:07 – 0:22:07] Adam: I haven’t listened to that in a while.
[0:22:08 – 0:22:09] Adam: Put that on.
[0:22:10 – 0:22:12] Adam: Just go down memory lane.
[0:22:12 – 0:22:13] Erik: We listened to that the other night, too.
[0:22:15 – 0:22:28] Erik: I don’t know what we were talking about, but it was me and Tori, and she kind of got dangerously close to going down the rabbit hole of watching Keeping Up with the Kardashians for a night.
[0:22:29 – 0:22:32] Erik: I’m like, I am not okay with this.
[0:22:32 – 0:22:32] Erik: No.
[0:22:32 – 0:22:37] Erik: But she was at work and asked a younger person.
[0:22:37 – 0:22:37] Erik: She’s like,
[0:22:38 – 0:22:39] Erik: what’s the big deal with Kanye West?
[0:22:39 – 0:22:46] Erik: And he was like, well, he kind of had like some really borderline important great albums.
[0:22:46 – 0:22:51] Erik: I don’t know what he’s important about and like why he’s around still now, but he put out some really good music.
[0:22:51 – 0:22:54] Erik: He’s apparently coming out with a new album any day now.
[0:22:54 – 0:22:55] Erik: Yeah, any day now.
[0:22:55 – 0:22:57] Erik: Any week now, Kanye.
[0:22:57 – 0:23:00] Adam: There’s the Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.
[0:23:00 – 0:23:01] Adam: Shout out to Scott.
[0:23:02 – 0:23:05] Adam: It included the lyric, what’s worse, the pain or the hangover?
[0:23:06 – 0:23:07] Erik: Yeah, that’s right.
[0:23:07 – 0:23:08] Adam: Track two.
[0:23:09 – 0:23:11] Erik: There’s their musical minute with Eric and Adam.
[0:23:11 – 0:23:15] Adam: All right, well, that just completely ends our new segment.
[0:23:16 – 0:23:18] Adam: How’s she going, my?
[0:23:19 – 0:23:21] Adam: How’s she going, my?
[0:23:22 – 0:23:23] Adam: How’s she going, my?
[0:23:24 – 0:23:25] Adam: How’s she going by?
[0:23:25 – 0:23:28] Adam: We’re going to work on that drop going into season three.
[0:23:28 – 0:23:29] Adam: Don’t worry, folks.
[0:23:29 – 0:23:30] Adam: We’ll get it right.
[0:23:30 – 0:23:31] Erik: We’re going to get in the proper studio.
[0:23:32 – 0:23:33] Erik: We’re going to do some mixing and editing.
[0:23:33 – 0:23:34] Adam: Make sure you send an email.
[0:23:35 – 0:23:36] Adam: Send a message on Instagram.
[0:23:37 – 0:23:38] Adam: Call the voice message hotline.
[0:23:38 – 0:23:40] Adam: You’ve got to get in on how’s she going by.
[0:23:40 – 0:23:45] Adam: Or maybe you can just send us your drop of how’s she going by.
[0:23:45 – 0:23:46] Erik: Do it for us.
[0:23:46 – 0:23:49] Adam: We’ll do a contest while Eric’s gone on his hot air balloon trip.
[0:23:49 – 0:23:53] Adam: You send in your favorite ideas for the drop for How’s She Going By.
[0:23:53 – 0:24:01] Adam: It’ll be played at the beginning of every episode of Tumble Home from here on out because everybody likes to get on the question of the weeks and what we’re talking about.
[0:24:02 – 0:24:04] Adam: But sometimes you’re listening in a week behind.
[0:24:04 – 0:24:05] Adam: We understand.
[0:24:06 – 0:24:07] Adam: Life is busy.
[0:24:07 – 0:24:11] Adam: Sometimes you’re not able to get in, and we don’t want to leave anybody behind on the conversation.
[0:24:12 – 0:24:13] Adam: So that’s what How’s She Going By for.
[0:24:14 – 0:24:15] Adam: How’s She Going By.
[0:24:15 – 0:24:16] Erik: Catch up corner.
[0:24:16 – 0:24:16] Erik: Yeah.
[0:24:17 – 0:24:18] Erik: No, don’t throw in any more ideas.
[0:24:19 – 0:24:20] Adam: All right.
[0:24:20 – 0:24:22] Adam: So that’s the end of that.
[0:24:22 – 0:24:22] Adam: Moving on.
[0:24:22 – 0:24:24] Erik: That’s the end of that.
[0:24:24 – 0:24:25] Adam: That’s the end of that thing then.
[0:24:25 – 0:24:31] Adam: So this week’s main topic is a big trip that Eric and I took in…
[0:24:32 – 0:24:35] Adam: June of 2017 now.
[0:24:35 – 0:24:38] Adam: It’s one of those trips that you just never can forget.
[0:24:39 – 0:24:44] Adam: And, you know, we like to live in the present, but sometimes it is fun to live in the past.
[0:24:44 – 0:24:46] Adam: Well, we did one of these about the same time last year.
[0:24:47 – 0:24:47] Erik: We did.
[0:24:47 – 0:24:48] Erik: Recap the Man Chain episode.
[0:24:48 – 0:24:49] Adam: That’s true.
[0:24:49 – 0:24:53] Adam: And then, you know, you want to kind of do them while they’re still somewhat fresh in the memory.
[0:24:53 – 0:24:55] Adam: So better to do it now than next year.
[0:24:55 – 0:24:56] Adam: Yeah.
[0:24:56 – 0:25:05] Adam: Uh, we’re already, we’re already like two years removed from this trip, but still to me, it’s, uh, fresh as the, you know, as if we just did it last weekend.
[0:25:05 – 0:25:10] Adam: So in some ways and others, I was like, wait, wait, was it June?
[0:25:10 – 0:25:12] Adam: Was it the end of May?
[0:25:12 – 0:25:14] Adam: No, it was, it was June.
[0:25:14 – 0:25:14] Adam: It was June.
[0:25:14 – 0:25:18] Adam: I think it was, uh, you know, see, you have that kind of stuff creeping in.
[0:25:18 – 0:25:18] Adam: Yeah.
[0:25:19 – 0:25:48] Erik: want to make sure we uh do this trip justice so you would uh refer to this as like the majority of it you know it’s always hard to come up with a name for a route in the boundary waters but the vast majority of it was down or up i don’t remember it was down the laos river down the laos river and also the um was it down
[0:25:49 – 0:25:51] Erik: The Phoebe River?
[0:25:51 – 0:25:52] Erik: Or was that up?
[0:25:53 – 0:25:56] Erik: Did we go downstream in both rivers?
[0:25:56 – 0:25:58] Adam: No, it was going up the Phoebe.
[0:25:58 – 0:25:58] Erik: Okay.
[0:25:58 – 0:26:08] Erik: So you could have gone either way, but I feel like the heart of the trip was the Laos River, and that was just the way that we saw it on the map.
[0:26:08 – 0:26:09] Erik: It was the main objective.
[0:26:09 – 0:26:09] Adam: Yeah.
[0:26:10 – 0:26:12] Adam: The way you pitched the trip to me.
[0:26:12 – 0:26:12] Adam: Yeah.
[0:26:13 – 0:26:14] Adam: You said, hey, you want to?
[0:26:15 – 0:26:16] Adam: Do the last river?
[0:26:16 – 0:26:17] Adam: I was like, what?
[0:26:18 – 0:26:19] Adam: What is that?
[0:26:19 – 0:26:22] SPEAKER_00: You’re just making shit now?
[0:26:22 – 0:26:22] Erik: Sorry.
[0:26:22 – 0:26:23] Erik: 26, 21.
[0:26:24 – 0:26:25] Erik: I don’t even have a pen.
[0:26:27 – 0:26:27] Adam: Just go back.
[0:26:27 – 0:26:28] Adam: Erase it.
[0:26:28 – 0:26:29] Adam: Go back.
[0:26:29 – 0:26:29] Erik: No.
[0:26:31 – 0:26:33] Erik: So, yeah, the put in.
[0:26:33 – 0:26:36] Adam: I thought you were making it up, honestly.
[0:26:36 – 0:26:37] Erik: I never heard of it.
[0:26:37 – 0:26:37] Adam: Yeah.
[0:26:39 – 0:26:49] Erik: Yeah, so I would say the closest access point would be either putting in at Kawishawi Lake or Sawbill Lake.
[0:26:51 – 0:26:52] Erik: And we put in at Sawbill.
[0:26:53 – 0:27:03] Erik: I think we met in Grand Marais, drove up the Sawbill Trail and put in at about like 3, 4 in the afternoon.
[0:27:03 – 0:27:04] Erik: It was pretty late.
[0:27:05 – 0:27:05] Erik: If that.
[0:27:06 – 0:27:06] Erik: I don’t even know.
[0:27:06 – 0:27:07] Adam: It may have been like five.
[0:27:08 – 0:27:15] Erik: But that was why I’m pretty confident that it was a, for sure, a June trip because we had daylight for days.
[0:27:16 – 0:27:18] Adam: It was kind of cloudy, though.
[0:27:18 – 0:27:19] Adam: It wasn’t super sunny.
[0:27:19 – 0:27:21] Erik: No, that whole trip was cloudy and misty.
[0:27:21 – 0:27:24] Erik: I remember I had like a borderline mental break on coma.
[0:27:24 – 0:27:25] Erik: You did, yeah.
[0:27:25 – 0:27:30] Erik: I literally was an old man yelling at a cloud, shaking my fist at a mist cloud.
[0:27:31 – 0:27:33] Adam: Beyond moisture.
[0:27:33 – 0:27:33] Adam: Yeah.
[0:27:36 – 0:27:39] Adam: That’s exactly what you sounded like.
[0:27:39 – 0:27:41] Adam: I would say we put in at five.
[0:27:41 – 0:27:43] Adam: It was my guess.
[0:27:43 – 0:27:46] Adam: I’m glad we are starting at this beginning here on this trip.
[0:27:46 – 0:27:51] Adam: And yeah, anybody who’s been on a saw bill, they got that nice like platform you get to launch off of.
[0:27:52 – 0:27:53] Adam: Put in down there.
[0:27:53 – 0:27:58] Adam: There’s a couple of Yahoo’s down there fishing and we like pro loaded.
[0:27:58 – 0:28:00] Adam: I remember the impressive nature of the launch.
[0:28:01 – 0:28:01] Erik: Yeah.
[0:28:01 – 0:28:05] Erik: Besides the fact that we literally had a white igloo cooler with,
[0:28:06 – 0:28:07] Adam: Maybe this was professional grade.
[0:28:07 – 0:28:08] Erik: Yeah.
[0:28:08 – 0:28:11] Erik: It was growlers of probably like two-hearted.
[0:28:12 – 0:28:13] Adam: Two growlers of two-hearted.
[0:28:14 – 0:28:14] Adam: Yeah.
[0:28:15 – 0:28:15] Adam: Yeah.
[0:28:15 – 0:28:16] Adam: We came prepared.
[0:28:16 – 0:28:16] Erik: Yeah.
[0:28:17 – 0:28:23] Erik: So we put it on Sawbill and we paddled down to the…
[0:28:23 – 0:28:24] Erik: There’s a…
[0:28:24 – 0:28:34] Erik: A couple of different portages you can take off of Sawbill to get into Alton or Kelso to get up north to the Zenith and Luginita portage.
[0:28:34 – 0:28:41] Erik: And we took the farther north portage into the Kelso River.
[0:28:43 – 0:28:46] Erik: And that’s like a 14-rod, pretty much non-existent.
[0:28:47 – 0:28:49] Erik: And if you’re still… Real easy.
[0:28:49 – 0:28:52] Erik: If you’re following along and it still doesn’t make sense, like…
[0:28:53 – 0:29:03] Erik: Not that it’s confusing at all, but maybe we haven’t put it down all at once, but like this trip did see the creation of a portage scale system.
[0:29:03 – 0:29:04] Erik: Right.
[0:29:04 – 0:29:08] Erik: Which we talked about a little bit on the maps episode, but we didn’t go into
[0:29:09 – 0:29:37] Erik: full detail and basically what we were kind of determining is like yeah some longer portages are easier than harder short portages and so the way that you could determine that or depict that on a map would be with a color scale so yeah the portage length is probably still important to know that it’s good to know that it’s 30 rods but like is it a hard 30 so like you would put it on basically if you took a scale that was 10
[0:29:38 – 0:29:50] Erik: Hues, tones, pigments, whatever the proper term is from like blue to red and then everywhere in between, whatever that gradient would be.
[0:29:51 – 0:29:58] Erik: And I think it would be good at five, but 10 would be more fun, be more detailed, you know, um,
[0:29:58 – 0:30:04] Erik: So like a red, a dark red would be like the hardest difficulty.
[0:30:05 – 0:30:07] Adam: I like this idea to like really enhance it.
[0:30:07 – 0:30:10] Adam: We were originally just talking like it’s either green, yellow, or red.
[0:30:10 – 0:30:11] Adam: Yeah, no shade.
[0:30:12 – 0:30:17] Adam: Even you could go so far as to like zoom in and have like the parts of the portage that are toughest.
[0:30:17 – 0:30:18] Adam: Wow, yeah.
[0:30:18 – 0:30:23] Adam: A multi-rainbow faceted spectrum of difficulty.
[0:30:23 – 0:30:23] Adam: Yes.
[0:30:24 – 0:30:28] Erik: A new map company where every portage has a rainbow of colors from blue to red.
[0:30:29 – 0:30:30] Erik: It’s all blue.
[0:30:30 – 0:30:33] Erik: It’s a nice map, but does it have the Danielson scale?
[0:30:34 – 0:30:37] Erik: Yeah, maybe I could just sell the scale to map companies.
[0:30:37 – 0:30:43] Adam: You just sell that data on the portages to every other company, and they can choose to incorporate it however they wish.
[0:30:43 – 0:30:43] Erik: Yeah.
[0:30:43 – 0:30:44] Erik: It could be…
[0:30:44 – 0:30:52] Erik: I don’t know if there’s a term for it in the cartography world, but it could also be bordering on, like, information overload.
[0:30:53 – 0:30:53] Erik: Yeah, for sure.
[0:30:53 – 0:30:54] Erik: And just overall, like…
[0:30:55 – 0:31:01] Erik: It kind of eventually, I think, would take away from the aesthetics of a map if there was just a bunch of rainbow lines.
[0:31:01 – 0:31:06] Adam: It’s kind of fun to come up to a portage that you’ve never done before and you just don’t know what to expect.
[0:31:06 – 0:31:09] Adam: You know it’s about 30 rods or 120 rods.
[0:31:10 – 0:31:10] Adam: Who knows?
[0:31:11 – 0:31:16] Adam: It looks like you’re going… Because you can look at the elevation of the lakes in between and it’s okay.
[0:31:17 – 0:31:22] Adam: We’re going to gain like 50 feet of elevation and it’s medium distance.
[0:31:22 – 0:31:24] Adam: You don’t know if it’s gradual or all at once.
[0:31:24 – 0:31:24] Adam: Yeah.
[0:31:24 – 0:31:27] Adam: Straight uphill and then flat or straight uphill and then downhill a little.
[0:31:28 – 0:31:28] Adam: Yeah.
[0:31:28 – 0:31:28] Adam: You don’t know.
[0:31:28 – 0:31:30] Erik: You know, like everything.
[0:31:30 – 0:31:30] Erik: That’s kind of cool.
[0:31:30 – 0:31:32] Erik: We were talking just last week about the balance.
[0:31:32 – 0:31:35] Erik: Like, do you want to infringe on that balance of the unknown?
[0:31:35 – 0:31:35] Erik: Yeah.
[0:31:35 – 0:31:44] Erik: But having a map that literally will display the entire trip for you, difficulty like step for step, you know, it’s fun to talk about.
[0:31:44 – 0:31:51] Erik: But actually having that as a thing for me personally, I think it would be like, okay, I do kind of miss out on not knowing what to expect.
[0:31:52 – 0:31:52] Erik: Right.
[0:31:52 – 0:32:02] Adam: But at the same time on this trip, we were like, it would have been nice if there was some way to know that this wasn’t just a 100 rod portage.
[0:32:02 – 0:32:14] Erik: Yeah, or that there was literally a 45-degree angle V through a river portage that was close to impossible to get across.
[0:32:15 – 0:32:15] Erik: It was a crevasse.
[0:32:16 – 0:32:21] Erik: It was, yes, a crevasse that we had to go across, and we’ll try to pinpoint which one that was again.
[0:32:21 – 0:32:22] Erik: I’m not 100% sure if I’m going to be able to do it.
[0:32:22 – 0:32:23] Adam: It was on day two.
[0:32:23 – 0:32:29] Adam: It was on day two on the Laos River, which was the most difficult part of the trip, and hence why…
[0:32:29 – 0:32:36] Adam: Even before the trip, you named it the Laos River Loop, but it is what we always remember this trip as.
[0:32:36 – 0:32:46] Adam: A lot of cool stuff we went through, but we always remember this trip as the Laos River Trip because that was where we encountered the most hardship and also had the most to gain.
[0:32:47 – 0:32:49] Erik: I remember coming down.
[0:32:49 – 0:32:52] Erik: So we portaged off of Sawbill into the Kelso River.
[0:32:52 – 0:32:54] Erik: Pretty much straightforward.
[0:32:56 – 0:32:58] Erik: I guess blue was the lowest.
[0:32:59 – 0:33:03] Erik: Blue, green, yellow, orange, red, and the shades in between.
[0:33:04 – 0:33:06] Erik: That’s basically, it’s like a blue 14.
[0:33:07 – 0:33:07] Erik: Yeah.
[0:33:08 – 0:33:24] Erik: That little stretch of water, the Kelso River just south of Kelso Lake proper, which is essentially just Alton North, that river through there is beautiful, absolutely beautiful bog, tamarack edged.
[0:33:24 – 0:33:30] Erik: I’ll never forget a big day trip that we were doing with you and a few of our other friends coming down.
[0:33:30 – 0:33:36] Erik: And like one of the fun aspects of the Bon Jovi is catching just little snippets of conversation people have.
[0:33:36 – 0:33:36] Erik: Yeah.
[0:33:36 – 0:33:39] Adam: Is this about the carnivorous plant?
[0:33:39 – 0:33:45] Erik: No, this is about the guy talking to his paddling partner who was like, this is one of the few bugs in the Boundary Waters.
[0:33:45 – 0:33:46] Erik: And I was just like, what?
[0:33:47 – 0:33:52] Adam: It’s like the majority of what the woods… Oh, I think the same guy was telling us that those are flycatchers.
[0:33:52 – 0:33:52] Erik: Oh.
[0:33:53 – 0:33:55] Adam: He was pointing out fly catchers to his friend.
[0:33:56 – 0:34:00] Adam: And I was like, oh, the carnivorous fly catcher in the bog.
[0:34:00 – 0:34:01] Adam: I think it was a feature of the bog.
[0:34:01 – 0:34:02] Erik: Yeah, no.
[0:34:02 – 0:34:04] Adam: But he was claiming it was also the only bog.
[0:34:04 – 0:34:06] Erik: Well, one of the few.
[0:34:06 – 0:34:07] Erik: One of the few bogs.
[0:34:07 – 0:34:08] Erik: One of the few bogs.
[0:34:08 – 0:34:12] Erik: And I was just like, man, it’s like bog country outside of forest.
[0:34:12 – 0:34:13] Adam: Especially in this spot in the park.
[0:34:13 – 0:34:14] Adam: You’re like.
[0:34:14 – 0:34:41] Adam: so far south yeah and there’s so much more bog north of you there yeah i just thought that was a funny comment that i’ve always remembered i think it was the same person because we only passed one i remember the trip you’re referring to and that person was also we had uh two canoes on that trip if i recall and yeah i believe that that that party was also pointing out fly catchers is that right is that a correct name of the plant well there’s pitcher plants is that a pitcher plant is what i’m talking about
[0:34:41 – 0:34:43] Erik: Yeah, I think those ones eat flies.
[0:34:43 – 0:34:46] Adam: Not the actual fly grabbers with the big tongs.
[0:34:46 – 0:34:48] Adam: Yeah, we’re not talking like Venus fly traps.
[0:34:48 – 0:34:48] Adam: No, no, no.
[0:34:49 – 0:34:49] Adam: There’s not those.
[0:34:49 – 0:34:50] Erik: No.
[0:34:50 – 0:34:51] Erik: Pitcher plants, though, I think consume bugs.
[0:34:51 – 0:34:52] Erik: It’s pitcher plants.
[0:34:52 – 0:34:52] Erik: That’s what we’re talking about.
[0:34:52 – 0:34:55] Erik: Yeah, because they put off a smell of like decay.
[0:34:56 – 0:34:58] Erik: Ah, the sweet smell of decay.
[0:34:58 – 0:34:58] Erik: Skunk root.
[0:34:59 – 0:34:59] Erik: Skunk root.
[0:35:00 – 0:35:29] Erik: skunk route before the Zenith and Luginita portage that conversation we should mention that on the Kelso River the famous Dolmen yeah we stopped and got a look at that or Maneer was it a Maneer or a Maneer yeah I think we talked about this at length in the PMA episode and the Unsolved Mysteries episode this was the like the Zenith of the entire Dolmen and Maneer like mania that we’ve entered ourselves into I think
[0:35:30 – 0:35:49] Adam: because we had seen them before we had talked about it but like on this trip I think for reasons we’ll get into later was why we really were like this is a thing that we have to investigate more well we saw the one that was like you hear about the Kelso River one is easy to find it’s amazing anybody should go it’s an easy day trip
[0:35:50 – 0:35:53] Erik: But then we found like another one the next morning.
[0:35:53 – 0:35:54] Adam: Right.
[0:35:54 – 0:35:56] Adam: Which was like, okay, now I’m into this.
[0:35:56 – 0:35:57] Adam: This is crazy.
[0:35:57 – 0:36:00] Adam: I think the trip was firstly known for the Laos River.
[0:36:00 – 0:36:02] Adam: Secondly, for the Danielson scale.
[0:36:03 – 0:36:04] Adam: Thirdly, for the breams.
[0:36:04 – 0:36:05] Erik: I was going to say the awesome bream fishing.
[0:36:06 – 0:36:10] Adam: And then fourthly, for the dolmen slash manure illumination.
[0:36:11 – 0:36:34] Adam: yeah so the zenith lugenita portage i would say it’s on your it’s on the the nat geo is like a hard black dashed line like a 445 named i think yeah and it’s a named portage that’s never a good sign so it goes from two small little lakes zenith and lugenita obviously over a height of land as well
[0:36:35 – 0:36:57] Erik: yeah and this is um i remember i think you had you had the pack in the canoe it was pretty late in the day and i did a pack already at this cooler with the beer just you know those those igloo coolers they get why we have that plastic handles there was no good way to carry that yeah that’s why we’re enthusiasts we’re not experts we would never do that this day and age
[0:36:57 – 0:36:58] Erik: I don’t think so.
[0:36:58 – 0:37:04] Adam: No, at this point… Yeah, we weren’t ready for a podcast, obviously, back then in 2017, because we were still carrying coolers.
[0:37:04 – 0:37:06] Adam: And by we, I mean Eric.
[0:37:06 – 0:37:08] Erik: Yeah, that was absurd.
[0:37:09 – 0:37:11] Erik: And that portage is definitely, I would say…
[0:37:12 – 0:37:13] Adam: All of 440.
[0:37:13 – 0:37:15] Erik: That’s an orange for sure.
[0:37:15 – 0:37:16] Erik: It’s all there, but it’s not.
[0:37:16 – 0:37:18] Erik: It’s all up and down.
[0:37:18 – 0:37:18] Erik: A lot up and downs.
[0:37:18 – 0:37:21] Erik: The trail itself is actually in pretty good shape.
[0:37:21 – 0:37:23] Erik: It was finely maintained.
[0:37:23 – 0:37:26] Erik: Fine footing, kind of just low.
[0:37:26 – 0:37:27] Erik: A lot of boardwalks.
[0:37:27 – 0:37:29] Erik: There were some boardwalks that were underwater.
[0:37:30 – 0:37:31] Erik: It was being early in the season.
[0:37:31 – 0:37:38] Erik: There was one section where we were basically shimmying alongside what seemed to be a full-blown lake.
[0:37:38 – 0:38:01] Adam: yeah had you gone off that you don’t even want to know no you don’t even want to know friend yeah but it wasn’t excessively rocky or anything it was like almost like a nice little duff path of leaves and needles and stuff i just remember on that one because it’s a series of flats and then like little rises and then you know by the 12th or 13th rise and you’re 400 rods into the portage i was like
[0:38:01 – 0:38:06] Erik: I swear to God, if this thing goes uphill one more time, I’m putting a canoe down.
[0:38:06 – 0:38:06] Adam: Yeah.
[0:38:07 – 0:38:10] Adam: And then I came around the corner and there was Zenith.
[0:38:10 – 0:38:10] Erik: Zenith.
[0:38:11 – 0:38:20] Erik: And we took the connoisseur’s route out of Zenith, didn’t paddle directly across the lake to the portage into Duck.
[0:38:21 – 0:38:24] Erik: We took the southwest Frederick River.
[0:38:24 – 0:38:25] Erik: The Frederick River.
[0:38:25 – 0:38:27] Erik: I forgot all about the Frederick River.
[0:38:27 – 0:38:30] Erik: We were, I think, not necessarily intending on doing that.
[0:38:32 – 0:38:34] Erik: I don’t know what the fissures look like.
[0:38:34 – 0:38:40] Erik: We’re working with the Nat Geo in front of us here, but I figured there is a listed campsite on Frederick.
[0:38:40 – 0:38:40] Erik: There is.
[0:38:40 – 0:38:43] Erik: It has to be navigable, and there’s a portage into wine.
[0:38:43 – 0:38:44] Erik: There is.
[0:38:44 – 0:38:52] Erik: So we went down the river into Frederick and then took the 70, I would say a solid green 70, into wine.
[0:38:53 – 0:38:53] Adam: Yes.
[0:38:53 – 0:38:56] Erik: And then, I don’t know, I guess I’ve never noticed on this map-
[0:38:58 – 0:39:01] Erik: Why wine looks like it’s almost two lakes.
[0:39:01 – 0:39:04] Erik: It’s very clearly connected on the north end of the Nat Geo map.
[0:39:04 – 0:39:05] Erik: It looks like it’s not.
[0:39:06 – 0:39:07] Adam: No, it is.
[0:39:07 – 0:39:07] Adam: It is.
[0:39:08 – 0:39:10] Adam: It is, but it’s a goofy lake in that way.
[0:39:10 – 0:39:16] Adam: It’s like five bays all kind of jumbled together in the very high country.
[0:39:16 – 0:39:17] Adam: It is way up there.
[0:39:17 – 0:39:22] Adam: Wine, I will say this still, it’s one of my favorite lakes I’ve ever been to.
[0:39:22 – 0:39:25] Adam: I remember it vividly, the feeling of that lake.
[0:39:25 – 0:39:27] Adam: It was a very special lake.
[0:39:27 – 0:39:28] Erik: Yeah.
[0:39:28 – 0:39:34] Erik: So we ended up camping, if you’re following along at home, on the island campsite on the west side.
[0:39:35 – 0:39:35] Erik: Wine 1.
[0:39:35 – 0:39:37] Erik: We didn’t go and see Wine 2.
[0:39:37 – 0:39:38] Erik: Wine 3 actually looked okay.
[0:39:38 – 0:39:39] Erik: It did.
[0:39:39 – 0:39:44] Erik: But even Wine 1, which is like, I think, kind of known as being a nice campsite.
[0:39:44 – 0:39:45] Erik: Obviously, it’s an island.
[0:39:46 – 0:39:47] Erik: I think it’s probably the nicest one.
[0:39:47 – 0:39:49] Erik: Still felt relatively…
[0:39:51 – 0:39:51] Erik: Unused.
[0:39:51 – 0:39:52] Adam: It was pretty rugged.
[0:39:52 – 0:39:53] Erik: Yeah.
[0:39:53 – 0:39:55] Erik: It was late, I think, at this point.
[0:39:55 – 0:39:57] Erik: I’m pretty confident it was mid to late June.
[0:39:57 – 0:40:00] Erik: There was antlers, there was moose antlers just right in camp.
[0:40:00 – 0:40:03] Adam: Yeah, it was festooned with antlers.
[0:40:03 – 0:40:11] Adam: Yeah, and that’s not to say people hadn’t seen them before us, but it’s like… No, I think people were, like, actively collecting and putting them there on purpose.
[0:40:11 – 0:40:14] Adam: Multiple parties, obviously, had added to the collection.
[0:40:14 – 0:40:15] Erik: Yeah, and that’s…
[0:40:16 – 0:40:24] Erik: I think it’s a little bit of a smaller campsite, but the infrastructure that was there was, like, plenty of space for hammocks.
[0:40:25 – 0:40:29] Erik: Cool-feeling fire-grade area and, like, literally firewood just, like,
[0:40:30 – 0:40:55] Adam: 20 yards it was bazookas yeah we got in there late it was in there i remember going across wine and like we went past the first one and i didn’t have a map out and i was tired and i was like where the where the heck are we going yeah it was a it seemed like on my map in my mind it was going to be a small lake and we’d be that campsite right away and it was like we were paddling for a long ways to get back into that
[0:40:55 – 0:41:14] Adam: far western bay where the island is yeah i remember we were worth it we pulled in it was twilight it was like wow yeah we were harvesting firewood via the headlamp that night for sure that’s a long run though sawbill public access to get in i felt like we were like i remember paddling into that campsite like basically in the dark
[0:41:15 – 0:41:16] Erik: Oh, yeah.
[0:41:16 – 0:41:23] Adam: Had that campsite been taken, I don’t know what, we would have had to go all the way back or go check out that number two.
[0:41:24 – 0:41:24] Adam: Yeah.
[0:41:24 – 0:41:26] Adam: Thankfully, nobody was on wine that night.
[0:41:27 – 0:41:29] Adam: I think it was probably a weeknight.
[0:41:29 – 0:41:30] Erik: It probably was.
[0:41:30 – 0:41:31] Erik: Sunday or Monday night.
[0:41:31 – 0:41:33] Adam: I have no idea.
[0:41:33 – 0:41:37] Adam: So very little chance of running into people out there early in the season.
[0:41:37 – 0:41:39] Adam: Yeah, we had the lake to ourselves.
[0:41:39 – 0:41:41] Adam: It was, as I said, one of my favorites.
[0:41:41 – 0:41:45] Erik: Yeah, it was, even though we barely got to spend much time in the light.
[0:41:46 – 0:41:52] Erik: And then even when it was light out, it was low-hanging, misty clouds.
[0:41:53 – 0:41:57] Adam: I remember looking up the fishing data online and, like, there’s probably some good lake trout in there.
[0:41:57 – 0:41:59] Erik: Oh, yeah, we did try casting that.
[0:41:59 – 0:42:01] Erik: That next morning, we cast a few spoons.
[0:42:01 – 0:42:07] Adam: Yeah, I think we had our gear with us, but it was so late when we got in that all we could do was get camp going and, like, have dinner.
[0:42:07 – 0:42:08] Adam: Like, we were starved to death.
[0:42:09 – 0:42:10] Adam: We had just done what?
[0:42:11 – 0:42:16] Erik: One, two, three.
[0:42:16 – 0:42:18] Erik: Three, which was a 450-yard portage.
[0:42:19 – 0:42:23] Adam: Yeah, we did five, but one was a huge one, and it was a lot of paddling.
[0:42:23 – 0:42:24] Adam: Yeah.
[0:42:24 – 0:42:25] Adam: Hungry as a horse.
[0:42:26 – 0:42:29] Adam: I don’t even remember what we ate that night, but probably brats or something.
[0:42:30 – 0:42:31] SPEAKER_00: Hungry as a horse.
[0:42:31 – 0:42:31] SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
[0:42:32 – 0:42:32] Erik: Yeah.
[0:42:33 – 0:42:40] Adam: Yeah, that was one of the better first days of a trip and also one of the better first night campsites I’ve ever seen.
[0:42:40 – 0:42:40] Adam: Yeah, beautiful.
[0:42:41 – 0:42:42] Adam: Especially just…
[0:42:44 – 0:42:48] Adam: For what we ended up going into next, it was just quite the start to a big trip.
[0:42:49 – 0:42:49] Erik: Yeah.
[0:42:49 – 0:42:54] Erik: You look at each day of the trip now that the map is laid out in front of us and you’re like, well, that was a big day.
[0:42:54 – 0:42:59] Erik: And then you look at what we did the next day and then how we got out on the last day.
[0:42:59 – 0:43:01] Erik: And you’re like, man, every day was just a huge day.
[0:43:01 – 0:43:05] Erik: Like the first day was the shortest one in terms of distance.
[0:43:06 – 0:43:07] Adam: We have also the shortest in time.
[0:43:08 – 0:43:08] Erik: That’s right.
[0:43:08 – 0:43:10] Erik: We had like four hours to work with.
[0:43:10 – 0:43:16] Adam: We did try and fish a little in the morning to no success, but apparently wine has some good lake trout numbers.
[0:43:16 – 0:43:20] Adam: It looked like a beautiful lake, and honestly, I wish we could have spent more time there.
[0:43:20 – 0:43:28] Erik: It would have been a great spot to spend another day or at least more of that day or get in earlier, but happy to have gotten to experience the island.
[0:43:28 – 0:43:30] Erik: We had the Laos River ahead.
[0:43:30 – 0:43:31] Erik: On wine, and we didn’t even drink wine.
[0:43:31 – 0:43:33] Erik: We drank those beers.
[0:43:33 – 0:43:34] Erik: We had the beer growlers.
[0:43:34 – 0:43:35] Erik: We’re drinking all these beers.
[0:43:35 – 0:43:37] Erik: I’m not carrying this cooler full of beers.
[0:43:37 – 0:43:38] Erik: Another portage.
[0:43:38 – 0:43:41] Erik: The next day we had that 90, 60?
[0:43:42 – 0:43:46] Adam: Yeah, it’s like a 66 or something like that, 67.
[0:43:46 – 0:43:56] Erik: From wine to mug, but that is the portage that we saw the second, unconfirmed, but pretty much looked the exact same as the one down on Kelso, Dolman.
[0:43:56 – 0:43:57] Erik: Oh, it’s confirmed.
[0:43:58 – 0:44:04] Erik: It’s like almost identical, like three, each corner, little tiny rock, massive boulder.
[0:44:04 – 0:44:06] Adam: Right on the portage.
[0:44:06 – 0:44:09] Erik: Yeah, we also haven’t really fully described what a Dolman is.
[0:44:09 – 0:44:22] Erik: If you’re just joining us, basically, what it physically looks like is like a huge boulder, like the size of a couch with small rocks set up.
[0:44:22 – 0:44:23] Erik: Or like a Volkswagen Beetle.
[0:44:23 – 0:44:24] Erik: Yeah, or even bigger.
[0:44:24 – 0:44:29] Erik: Like we saw those ones in the PMA that were like the size of a sauna.
[0:44:30 – 0:44:37] Erik: But they’re propped up on each side with rocks so that there is space beneath the entire bottom of it.
[0:44:37 – 0:44:39] Erik: Where you can leave gifts.
[0:44:39 – 0:44:39] Erik: Yes.
[0:44:39 – 0:44:40] Erik: Yeah.
[0:44:40 – 0:45:02] Erik: gifts to the spirits or you can or offerings or gifts to fellow travelers who are moving in that direction because that’s one of the thoughts is that they may be like a directional aid they’re usually in our experience where we’ve seen them is like where you’re going to make a turn yeah or it’s directly on the main path of travel as if to say you’re on the right path
[0:45:03 – 0:45:05] Erik: As if to say you are on the right path.
[0:45:05 – 0:45:08] Erik: And every time I see one, I feel like I am on the right path.
[0:45:08 – 0:45:17] Erik: I don’t think we, yeah, I don’t think we’ve ever talked about the, the, the one that we found when we were portaging from wine into mug was like mind blowing.
[0:45:17 – 0:45:19] Erik: Cause it was just like, I screamed.
[0:45:19 – 0:45:19] Erik: Yeah.
[0:45:19 – 0:45:20] Erik: I screamed.
[0:45:20 – 0:45:21] Erik: You knew about the one on Kelso.
[0:45:21 – 0:45:22] Erik: And then all of a sudden it was just like, what?
[0:45:23 – 0:45:24] Erik: This is another one.
[0:45:24 – 0:45:25] Erik: Another one.
[0:45:25 – 0:45:25] Erik: Yeah.
[0:45:25 – 0:45:26] Erik: That I’d never heard of.
[0:45:26 – 0:45:28] Erik: That looks almost identical.
[0:45:28 – 0:45:28] Erik: Yeah.
[0:45:28 – 0:45:29] Erik: Right on the portage.
[0:45:30 – 0:45:30] Erik: Left side.
[0:45:30 – 0:45:32] Erik: Right on the portage.
[0:45:32 – 0:45:36] Adam: Going south to north from wine to mug.
[0:45:36 – 0:45:37] Adam: It is on the left side.
[0:45:37 – 0:45:37] Adam: Yeah.
[0:45:38 – 0:45:41] Adam: And it’s right at the height of land of that portage.
[0:45:41 – 0:45:47] Adam: It’s a 66, so it’s probably 33 rods in right at the very highest part of the portage.
[0:45:47 – 0:45:53] Adam: There’s this big Volkswagen Beetle-sized rock boulder levitating up on…
[0:45:54 – 0:46:14] Adam: several smaller rocks and i there’s another one that was crazy you were ahead on that portage with the canoe and i was back with the pack and like i saw it and i got my phone out and i was taking pictures right away um it was incredible it was a really weird way to start the day because we had just passed by the famous council river one the previous day
[0:46:14 – 0:46:31] Erik: yeah no and then uh that portage actually was pretty unique and cool like then down on the mug side was it on the mug side or from mug over to poe that there was like that little mini like waterfall coming yes i can’t remember which one it was from pug to mo or i’m sorry
[0:46:32 – 0:46:33] Erik: Mug to Poe.
[0:46:33 – 0:46:34] Erik: Mug to Poe.
[0:46:34 – 0:46:35] Erik: Yeah.
[0:46:35 – 0:46:41] Erik: So that’s a short little like 10 rod portage over from those two small lakes.
[0:46:41 – 0:46:46] Erik: And there’s some nice little, it’s actually like a legit waterfall coming down like a rock face in there.
[0:46:46 – 0:46:46] Erik: Yeah.
[0:46:47 – 0:46:56] Erik: And then that was when we started moving from south to north to a westerly direction, almost straight west.
[0:46:57 – 0:46:57] Adam: Yeah.
[0:46:57 – 0:47:00] Adam: That’s in, we’re like directly south of them, Asaba.
[0:47:00 – 0:47:00] Adam: Yeah.
[0:47:01 – 0:47:06] Adam: And Hub, where we ended up a couple other trips we’ve been through.
[0:47:06 – 0:47:10] Adam: But, yeah, this was my first time through all of this water.
[0:47:10 – 0:47:12] Erik: Yeah, this was, I don’t know.
[0:47:12 – 0:47:13] Erik: We made the turn there at Poe.
[0:47:13 – 0:47:23] Erik: The terrain or just the back of your head or what the feeling is, but it feels like you’re out there.
[0:47:24 – 0:47:24] Erik: You are out there.
[0:47:24 – 0:47:33] Erik: When you get out to like Poe and Laos, the woods just feels, it’s just an old feeling.
[0:47:35 – 0:47:41] Erik: Kind of pretty straightforward, I would say, down Laos.
[0:47:41 – 0:47:46] Erik: I don’t remember the two portages into Bug.
[0:47:48 – 0:47:49] Erik: I remember that little river.
[0:47:51 – 0:47:56] Erik: from just north of Nibble.
[0:47:57 – 0:47:59] Erik: But yeah, so you’re into it now.
[0:47:59 – 0:48:04] Erik: You’re into Poe, Laos, and then you’ve got a 74, a 142 into Bug, and then a 105, a 61, a 130.
[0:48:10 – 0:48:12] Adam: And a lot of this is river stuff too.
[0:48:12 – 0:48:17] Adam: There’s little lakes in between, but you’re portaging from river to river section.
[0:48:17 – 0:48:17] Erik: Yeah.
[0:48:18 – 0:48:19] Adam: A lot like the Frost River.
[0:48:19 – 0:48:20] Adam: Maybe a little bigger.
[0:48:21 – 0:48:23] Erik: A little longer, I would say, and straighter.
[0:48:24 – 0:48:29] Erik: But yeah, it’s like once you get out of Bug, that’s when you’re into the Laos River, I would say.
[0:48:30 – 0:48:37] Erik: And I don’t know if I can necessarily point out, now that you were into the numerous portages here…
[0:48:38 – 0:48:44] Erik: Which one that insane drop?
[0:48:44 – 0:48:58] Adam: I think it was either this 130 going into Trail Lake, or I thought it was even maybe just this early one from Laos down to Nibble and into Bug originally.
[0:48:58 – 0:49:02] Adam: I thought the first couple, we were like, holy moly.
[0:49:02 – 0:49:17] Adam: yeah these are all rough and if it’s like this the whole way through it’s gonna take us like we’re not gonna get out of here in the daylight yeah no but then it was in that eased up like as the day went on i felt like the first couple were the toughest i think it was between bug and trail
[0:49:17 – 0:49:42] Erik: yeah this one down in here somewhere one of those three portages between bug and trail there is like one of those is uh hot red like neon red neon red in terms of challenge because just almost entirely because of one spot and it was actually the whole portage was nice actually yeah i was like this is a real garden walk yeah and then you come to say it all out didn’t you
[0:49:42 – 0:49:48] Erik: A literal crevasse that you run into, and it’s moving water.
[0:49:48 – 0:49:51] Erik: Pretty good, like, two, three feet across.
[0:49:52 – 0:49:54] Adam: I thought it was, like, even more than that.
[0:49:54 – 0:49:58] Adam: I thought it was, like, you couldn’t even, like, set the canoe across it if you wanted to.
[0:49:58 – 0:50:01] Adam: You kind of had to bring the canoe down and then back up it.
[0:50:01 – 0:50:04] Erik: Well, the problem was not necessarily the width, but…
[0:50:05 – 0:50:19] Erik: But it was the angle and steepness of the rock face on the other side that you were expected to be able to, yes, to be able to, even on a dry day, that’d be like, boy, that’s a steep grade.
[0:50:20 – 0:50:20] Erik: Yeah.
[0:50:20 – 0:50:21] Erik: But it was wet.
[0:50:21 – 0:50:23] Erik: It was like, this is almost impossible to even walk on.
[0:50:24 – 0:50:27] Erik: So we somehow made it across.
[0:50:27 – 0:50:33] Erik: I think I dropped the canoe and then jumped over and then dragged it up.
[0:50:33 – 0:50:39] Adam: Both of us were down in the crevasse at one point and then trying to push the packs back up the other side.
[0:50:39 – 0:50:44] Erik: Yeah, and the water was like, it wasn’t like, we’ll just get in the water and do whatever.
[0:50:44 – 0:50:50] Erik: It was like a deep running creek, like a rivulet of like.
[0:50:50 – 0:50:51] Erik: A rivulet.
[0:50:51 – 0:50:51] Erik: Yeah.
[0:50:51 – 0:50:52] Erik: Yeah, it was.
[0:50:52 – 0:51:02] Erik: And I just remember the one-year-old or maybe two-year-old sapling white pine that you were like, you’re my only hope, but I don’t want to rip you out of the ground.
[0:51:03 – 0:51:07] Erik: And you were kind of grabbing onto it, but you weren’t really pulling on it.
[0:51:07 – 0:51:08] Erik: Yeah, I couldn’t really…
[0:51:08 – 0:51:11] Erik: It was just there for moral support.
[0:51:11 – 0:51:11] Adam: It was.
[0:51:11 – 0:51:15] Adam: You couldn’t really put any force on it because it was just a poor little tree.
[0:51:15 – 0:51:27] Adam: We were literally like, wow, I’m not advocating building bridges or boardwalks, but in this instance, they maybe should have either rerouted or had some sort of suspension bridge.
[0:51:27 – 0:51:29] Adam: Across this canyon.
[0:51:29 – 0:51:37] Erik: Is one of the most difficult sections of a portage I’ve ever been on, and it’s just crazy that that exists out there.
[0:51:37 – 0:51:40] Erik: It’s somewhere between… At this point now, I’m pretty sure it’s got to be…
[0:51:40 – 0:51:44] Erik: I think it’s between Bug and Trail, but…
[0:51:44 – 0:51:50] Erik: Then you get into some sections that you’re, you know, you’re doing just straight up river paddling.
[0:51:51 – 0:51:51] Erik: Yeah.
[0:51:51 – 0:51:52] Erik: And it was beautiful.
[0:51:52 – 0:52:01] Erik: I mean, yeah, it was gray and misty, but it was just had, there was, it was, there was the layers to being out there.
[0:52:02 – 0:52:06] Erik: Where you get like that first river experience.
[0:52:06 – 0:52:08] Erik: And then you can look a little bit farther into the woods.
[0:52:08 – 0:52:11] Erik: And then you get like kind of that farther back layer.
[0:52:11 – 0:52:15] Erik: It just added all these layers of mystery to have conditions like that.
[0:52:15 – 0:52:16] Erik: Yeah, we were pretty much…
[0:52:18 – 0:52:22] Erik: mostly wet the whole time, but kind of added to it, I thought.
[0:52:24 – 0:52:28] Erik: And yeah, it’s just those portages getting in and out.
[0:52:29 – 0:52:39] Erik: It was like one of those routes where you’re just like, how are we not like every corner coming around like moose, just families of moose.
[0:52:39 – 0:52:46] Erik: It was super, it was set up to be that way, but we did not see any moose on the entire trip.
[0:52:47 – 0:52:47] Adam: No.
[0:52:48 – 0:52:57] Adam: I remember thinking, because it ended up being a 15 portage day, give or take a portage, from what I can count.
[0:52:57 – 0:53:00] Adam: I remember it was tough, and we were like, whoa.
[0:53:01 – 0:53:03] Adam: We were coming up on Bose Lake.
[0:53:03 – 0:53:04] Erik: That’s where we stopped for lunch, finally.
[0:53:04 – 0:53:08] Adam: Yeah, we’re like, we’ll see you late, late lunch.
[0:53:08 – 0:53:10] Adam: It took us all day to get to Bose, basically.
[0:53:11 – 0:53:13] Adam: That’s not that long of a run, if you’re watching on the map.
[0:53:14 – 0:53:15] Adam: We usually move a lot quicker, but
[0:53:16 – 0:53:17] Adam: It’s a lot of little portages.
[0:53:17 – 0:53:20] Adam: And then as we’ve described, uh, some very challenging portages.
[0:53:21 – 0:53:31] Adam: So we had a lot of time to think about the portages, I think is what it boils down to, why we were able to kind of refine this system for trying to grade portages in your mind.
[0:53:31 – 0:53:42] Adam: I don’t know if it does any good, really, but it is a fun way to recollect and maybe take away some of the trauma from a tough portage.
[0:53:42 – 0:53:44] Adam: You can complain a little.
[0:53:44 – 0:53:48] Adam: As we’ve said, there’s no whining ever allowed, but when you’re on a portage, you are allowed to whine.
[0:53:48 – 0:53:50] Adam: So we took full advantage on this day.
[0:53:50 – 0:54:00] Adam: We ended up in a boze pretty late, and I remember thinking, if that campsite on Boze looks halfway decent, I wouldn’t mind stopping there, even though it would leave us an incredibly long last day.
[0:54:02 – 0:54:04] Adam: we always feel like we’re at our best at day three.
[0:54:04 – 0:54:05] Erik: Yeah.
[0:54:05 – 0:54:05] Erik: That’s the other thing.
[0:54:05 – 0:54:09] Adam: It’s like, I’m never afraid to leave a little distance on day, on day three.
[0:54:09 – 0:54:09] Erik: Yeah.
[0:54:09 – 0:54:14] Erik: Essentially this is a two day, two night trip, you know?
[0:54:15 – 0:54:15] Erik: Right.
[0:54:15 – 0:54:23] Erik: So we like, you kind of have to push it a little bit and yeah, we had the lunch and the campsite on Bozy was not anything that special.
[0:54:23 – 0:54:25] Erik: Bozy was a F minus.
[0:54:25 – 0:54:26] Erik: Like on the portage.
[0:54:26 – 0:54:28] Erik: Nobody, you could tell nobody camps there.
[0:54:29 – 0:54:31] Adam: It’s an emergency campsite only.
[0:54:31 – 0:54:39] Erik: Yeah, we pushed it out to Malberg, and I think that was the first people we saw in that first campsite next to that 22-round portage there.
[0:54:40 – 0:54:40] Erik: Right, yeah.
[0:54:40 – 0:54:43] Erik: Basically, since we started the trip.
[0:54:44 – 0:54:57] Erik: And so we decided to turn it south, make the one last portage down into Coma, and got that site on the Droopy Wang Peninsula, which is on paper.
[0:54:57 – 0:54:58] Erik: Coma Point.
[0:54:58 – 0:54:59] Erik: Coma Point.
[0:54:59 – 0:55:00] Erik: Yeah.
[0:55:01 – 0:55:02] Erik: Uh, it’s very nice campsite.
[0:55:02 – 0:55:03] Erik: Yeah, it was really nice.
[0:55:04 – 0:55:06] Erik: Except it’s surrounded by literally no wood.
[0:55:06 – 0:55:09] Adam: I remember I… Like a swamp of rotted wood.
[0:55:09 – 0:55:16] Erik: Yeah, you do like the quick preliminary out the back of the campsite look and then it’s like, okay, well, I wasn’t expecting much, but you know, you never know.
[0:55:16 – 0:55:19] Erik: Sometimes there’s just that one tree that’s been overlooked that’s…
[0:55:20 – 0:55:39] Erik: ripe for the harvesting so then it was okay well we’ll get into the canoe we’ll go out and do the shoreline look and we did like multiple around one corner then up around to the other side it was we had a hell of a time locating firewood that was probably one of comes to mind as one of the hardest places to find wood
[0:55:39 – 0:55:40] Adam: Yeah.
[0:55:40 – 0:55:41] Adam: And it was late again.
[0:55:41 – 0:55:42] Adam: And it was late again.
[0:55:42 – 0:55:44] Adam: And this is when I was finally getting worn down.
[0:55:44 – 0:55:49] Adam: Like it had been misting all day too, which also made all those portages a lot more difficult.
[0:55:49 – 0:55:53] Adam: Getting in and out of the boat a lot, the slippery rocks, all those portages.
[0:55:53 – 0:55:53] Erik: Yeah.
[0:55:54 – 0:55:56] Adam: And then, you know, it was just wet all day.
[0:55:56 – 0:55:59] Adam: And then we got in that campsite and it kind of let up.
[0:55:59 – 0:56:02] Adam: And then it immediately started like kind of raining at that point.
[0:56:02 – 0:56:03] Erik: Like actually just raining.
[0:56:03 – 0:56:03] Erik: Yeah.
[0:56:03 – 0:56:04] Adam: Not just mist anymore.
[0:56:04 – 0:56:06] Adam: Like, okay, now we’re going to really rain.
[0:56:06 – 0:56:06] Adam: And
[0:56:06 – 0:56:10] Adam: there had been like 0% chance of rain when we left the day before.
[0:56:11 – 0:56:11] Adam: Yeah.
[0:56:11 – 0:56:13] Adam: For that day, for the entirety of the day.
[0:56:13 – 0:56:14] Adam: And it literally, we never saw the sun.
[0:56:15 – 0:56:16] Erik: No, it was dark mist.
[0:56:17 – 0:56:24] Adam: So in hindsight, like for how nasty the weather was for that river trip, like I still very fondly remember it though.
[0:56:24 – 0:56:25] Erik: Oh, I do for sure.
[0:56:26 – 0:56:31] Adam: So just imagine if we had reasonably good weather, we probably would even think more highly of it.
[0:56:31 – 0:56:32] SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
[0:56:33 – 0:56:39] Erik: Yeah, I mean, yeah, I don’t think there’s any trips that I think back on and was like, man, never doing that again.
[0:56:39 – 0:56:47] Erik: But, you know, yeah, you could maybe argue that you would have a little bit better memories if it was nicer, but I don’t know.
[0:56:47 – 0:56:49] Erik: I think it’s just being out there that you’re going to remember.
[0:56:51 – 0:56:53] Erik: Was it the one fish we caught, though?
[0:56:53 – 0:56:53] Erik: No.
[0:56:54 – 0:57:17] Erik: i think it was probably one yeah because we didn’t really i mean we fished a little on wine the next morning and we didn’t catch anything we i think we had packed leeches with too maybe yeah we had leeches yeah we were just mad men back there packing leeches on a traveling trip with a cool fish ones yeah yeah but it was worth it we barely even fished on coma but we we did fish
[0:57:17 – 0:57:23] Erik: Yeah, we threw some slip bobbers out there, and you caught a borderline world record bream.
[0:57:23 – 0:57:25] Adam: I’m sure it was the world record.
[0:57:25 – 0:57:25] Adam: Yeah.
[0:57:25 – 0:57:26] Adam: I’m sure of it.
[0:57:27 – 0:57:30] Adam: We’re burying the lead on this episode, 57 minutes in.
[0:57:31 – 0:57:35] Adam: Yeah, we caught the world record bream on this trip on Coma Lake.
[0:57:36 – 0:57:59] Adam: bream for those that aren’t sure is uh also just a bluegill yeah um i don’t know why some people in the south i think call them bream i think it’s a fun name yeah i remember when i was a kid i always liked to catch bluegill but um my grandpa got me this hat it said bream lover it was a big picture of a bluegill where’d that hat go
[0:57:59 – 0:58:06] Erik: Yeah, I just remember the whole way out on the last day we were singing anything that had the lyric Dream in it and just changing it to Bream.
[0:58:06 – 0:58:13] SPEAKER_00: Bream, Bream, Bream, Bream, Bream.
[0:58:15 – 0:58:15] Erik: Bream Weaver.
[0:58:15 – 0:58:16] Erik: Bream.
[0:58:18 – 0:58:29] Adam: Yeah, so you can imagine all the different iterations of this joke that you can spin while you’re on a portage.
[0:58:29 – 0:58:32] Adam: So after that, the whole mood of the trip kind of jumped up.
[0:58:32 – 0:58:34] Adam: We had conquered the Laos River.
[0:58:35 – 0:58:39] Adam: I literally saw that bobber go down on coma, and I was like, that’s some sort of monster.
[0:58:39 – 0:58:40] Adam: I jumped up.
[0:58:41 – 0:58:41] Adam: I grabbed.
[0:58:41 – 0:58:42] Adam: It went down.
[0:58:42 – 0:58:46] Adam: You know, folks, anybody who’s fished the slip bobber will know what I’m talking about.
[0:58:46 – 0:58:50] Adam: Sometimes they just kind of go sort of under.
[0:58:50 – 0:58:51] Adam: You know, this thing just went.
[0:58:53 – 0:58:53] Erik: Yeah.
[0:58:53 – 0:58:54] Adam: Into the unknown.
[0:58:54 – 0:58:57] Adam: And I got a beautiful hook set.
[0:58:58 – 0:59:00] Adam: Got to say this on myself, it was a fine hook set.
[0:59:00 – 0:59:01] Adam: Very fine.
[0:59:01 – 0:59:02] Adam: I’m like, this is not nice.
[0:59:03 – 0:59:04] Adam: I’m yelling at Eric, like, get the net.
[0:59:04 – 0:59:05] Adam: We don’t have a net.
[0:59:05 – 0:59:06] Adam: No.
[0:59:06 – 0:59:09] Adam: Somehow that was the only thing we didn’t bring on this trip was a net.
[0:59:09 – 0:59:10] Adam: But yeah, I landed it.
[0:59:10 – 0:59:12] Adam: It was at least a 25-inch bream.
[0:59:14 – 0:59:15] Erik: Four-pound bream?
[0:59:15 – 0:59:17] Adam: Yeah, 48-pound bream.
[0:59:17 – 0:59:20] Adam: It was the biggest bluegill I’ve ever seen in my life.
[0:59:20 – 0:59:21] Adam: That was pretty incredible.
[0:59:22 – 0:59:25] Adam: It was actually the first bluegill I’ve ever caught in the Boundary Waters.
[0:59:26 – 0:59:27] Erik: Yeah, I can’t say that I’ve caught one in the park now.
[0:59:30 – 0:59:32] Adam: So that was pretty special.
[0:59:33 – 0:59:33] Adam: Yeah.
[0:59:34 – 0:59:39] Adam: You know, we like to fish, but we don’t ever really make it the focus of our trips anymore.
[0:59:39 – 0:59:41] Adam: So I don’t know.
[0:59:41 – 0:59:47] Adam: But I always like to try it, you know, and sometimes you just get lucky and catch something special like that.
[0:59:47 – 0:59:48] Adam: It was something else.
[0:59:48 – 0:59:51] Adam: I remember showing people a picture of that thing when we got back.
[0:59:51 – 0:59:51] Adam: They’re like, what?
[0:59:52 – 0:59:52] Erik: You still have that?
[0:59:53 – 0:59:54] Adam: I got a picture of it somewhere.
[0:59:54 – 0:59:55] Adam: Ding it up.
[0:59:55 – 0:59:56] Adam: Throw it out.
[0:59:56 – 0:59:57] Erik: After this episode comes out.
[0:59:57 – 0:59:59] Adam: It’s got to be buried in my email somewhere.
[0:59:59 – 1:00:00] Adam: I’ve got that file.
[1:00:00 – 1:00:01] Adam: I can find it.
[1:00:02 – 1:00:04] Adam: That coma bream.
[1:00:04 – 1:00:05] Adam: It was something else.
[1:00:05 – 1:00:07] Erik: Now, did we wake up that night?
[1:00:07 – 1:00:07] Adam: We ate it, too.
[1:00:08 – 1:00:09] Adam: We definitely ate it.
[1:00:09 – 1:00:10] Adam: Oh, yeah.
[1:00:10 – 1:00:13] Adam: It was gut-hooked because it slammed that leech hard.
[1:00:14 – 1:00:17] Erik: Did we wake up to sunny skies?
[1:00:18 – 1:00:22] Erik: Was that the trip where literally we got back to the car?
[1:00:22 – 1:00:25] Adam: No, I think it got sunny when we were pulling into Sawbell again.
[1:00:25 – 1:00:27] Erik: Yeah, like the wall of clouds finally blew over?
[1:00:27 – 1:00:30] Adam: I don’t think it was sunny in the morning, but it wasn’t misting anymore.
[1:00:30 – 1:00:31] Adam: It wasn’t misting.
[1:00:31 – 1:00:32] Adam: It was still cloudy.
[1:00:32 – 1:00:35] Adam: The last and final day of the trip was actually pretty nice.
[1:00:35 – 1:00:36] Erik: It was nice.
[1:00:36 – 1:00:42] Erik: We actually ran into quite a bit of heavy tailwind.
[1:00:42 – 1:00:43] Erik: Yeah, we were getting pushed.
[1:00:43 – 1:00:44] Erik: We were finishing up on Beth.
[1:00:44 – 1:00:46] Erik: There was some nasty…
[1:00:47 – 1:00:51] Erik: I remember going by a group that was like, I’m glad I’m not going in that direction.
[1:00:51 – 1:00:52] Erik: So yeah, we…
[1:00:54 – 1:01:01] Erik: I exited Coma down the Phoebe chain, which is kind of a weird, like, just make it one portage.
[1:01:01 – 1:01:09] Erik: There’s a 114, a 50, a 20, where you’re kind of in and out of these, like, they’re just muck holes too.
[1:01:09 – 1:01:12] Erik: It’s not like, well, you got to see the little Phoebe lakes.
[1:01:12 – 1:01:13] Erik: They’re so cute.
[1:01:13 – 1:01:15] Erik: And like, no, this is- They’re nasty.
[1:01:15 – 1:01:15] Erik: They’re gross.
[1:01:15 – 1:01:19] Erik: Like, I’ll just keep the canoes on my shoulder.
[1:01:19 – 1:01:20] Erik: Let’s just keep going.
[1:01:20 – 1:01:22] Erik: I hate loading and unloading.
[1:01:22 – 1:01:26] Erik: It’s just a demoralizing way to just do that over and over again right away.
[1:01:26 – 1:01:27] Erik: Bang, bang, bang.
[1:01:28 – 1:01:30] Erik: But Pauley is a beautiful lake.
[1:01:32 – 1:01:32] Erik: Absolutely.
[1:01:32 – 1:01:35] Erik: Classic pine boundary waters looking lake.
[1:01:36 – 1:01:37] Erik: Islands, bays.
[1:01:37 – 1:01:38] Erik: It’s just got that.
[1:01:38 – 1:01:40] Erik: It’s just got a good forest.
[1:01:40 – 1:01:42] Adam: Islands and bays are for sportsmen.
[1:01:43 – 1:01:43] UNKNOWN: Yeah.
[1:01:44 – 1:01:49] Erik: And then we exited down to the southeast back into another stretch of river.
[1:01:49 – 1:01:51] Erik: This one was much more like a river.
[1:01:53 – 1:01:56] Erik: And I’ve been through the Phoebe River late in the year.
[1:01:57 – 1:02:00] Erik: And it can be quite a drag.
[1:02:00 – 1:02:05] Erik: Like if the water levels are low, the rocks in there really do suck.
[1:02:06 – 1:02:09] Erik: I think we pretty much went through unimpeded.
[1:02:09 – 1:02:10] Adam: We were unfettered.
[1:02:10 – 1:02:11] Erik: It was smooth sailing.
[1:02:11 – 1:02:13] Erik: Yeah, so it’s – I don’t know.
[1:02:13 – 1:02:22] Erik: I think it’s probably up there with like the English Rapids where if it gets too late in the year, you’re going to be walking down rocks.
[1:02:22 – 1:02:22] Erik: Sure.
[1:02:23 – 1:02:30] Erik: But it’s also – it’s not like the Frost River where it’s like, well, if it gets too late in the year, you’re just going to be like struggling through lily pads and growth.
[1:02:30 – 1:02:31] Erik: Like that’s not a rocky river.
[1:02:31 – 1:02:38] Erik: The Phoebe River is a rocky river that if you go too late, it’s just – that’s tough walking in that stuff.
[1:02:38 – 1:02:39] Erik: Yeah.
[1:02:39 – 1:02:41] Erik: But we smooth sailing the whole way.
[1:02:42 – 1:02:47] Erik: None of those portages between Polly and Hazel come to mind.
[1:02:49 – 1:02:52] Erik: I don’t even remember Hazel.
[1:02:52 – 1:02:55] Erik: I remember the campsites feeling like really remote and unused.
[1:02:56 – 1:02:57] Erik: We were cruising.
[1:02:57 – 1:03:01] Adam: I just, you know, I was on tempo, as we said in the last episode.
[1:03:01 – 1:03:02] Erik: Yeah, you were.
[1:03:03 – 1:03:06] Erik: Yeah, I mean, there wasn’t too much in there, I would say.
[1:03:06 – 1:03:07] Adam: I remember feeling good, though.
[1:03:08 – 1:03:09] Adam: We were flying.
[1:03:09 – 1:03:10] Adam: We were flying.
[1:03:11 – 1:03:13] Adam: We had all our weight off of us.
[1:03:13 – 1:03:14] Adam: We were flying through the portages.
[1:03:14 – 1:03:16] Adam: We were flying on the lake.
[1:03:16 – 1:03:17] Adam: We were moving.
[1:03:17 – 1:03:17] Adam: Yeah.
[1:03:19 – 1:03:19] Adam: It was awesome.
[1:03:19 – 1:03:27] Erik: The one portage that definitely still does come to mind in terms of like that one you want to give some orange or red to.
[1:03:27 – 1:03:34] Erik: So the Phoebe River obviously ends at Phoebe Lake, which is another portage.
[1:03:35 – 1:03:40] Erik: It feels a little bit more like the lakes like east of like Alton and Sawbill.
[1:03:40 – 1:03:45] Erik: It’s kind of got like a more shallow, grassier, weedier feel to it.
[1:03:47 – 1:03:51] Erik: But nonetheless, that portage from Grace to Beth.
[1:03:52 – 1:03:52] Erik: Oh, yeah.
[1:03:53 – 1:03:54] Erik: That’s a doozy of a portage.
[1:03:54 – 1:03:55] Erik: Surely.
[1:03:55 – 1:03:57] Adam: That’s way longer than it feels.
[1:03:57 – 1:03:59] Adam: Then we pass some…
[1:03:59 – 1:04:02] Erik: There was a group out there that looks like they were struggling.
[1:04:02 – 1:04:02] Erik: Yeah.
[1:04:02 – 1:04:02] Adam: Yeah.
[1:04:03 – 1:04:06] Adam: Yeah, I almost felt bad for that group.
[1:04:06 – 1:04:08] Erik: Yeah, they were, like, stopped and just, like…
[1:04:08 – 1:04:08] Erik: They were fine, but…
[1:04:08 – 1:04:11] Adam: They were fine, but it was, like… We didn’t have to feel bad for them, but they looked like they were hurting.
[1:04:12 – 1:04:12] Adam: They did, yes.
[1:04:12 – 1:04:14] Adam: And we were on day three, like, power moves.
[1:04:15 – 1:04:15] Adam: Mm-hmm.
[1:04:15 – 1:04:19] Adam: We were going out, you know, just single portaging up this hill, and we went by them.
[1:04:19 – 1:04:21] Adam: They were on, like, a snack break.
[1:04:22 – 1:04:31] Erik: Yeah, there’s some hills in there, and they had just come off of Beth, which, by the time we got down to the east end of Beth, like, we were rocking and rolling with some tailwind waves, so they had just paddled against that.
[1:04:32 – 1:04:32] Adam: Mm-hmm.
[1:04:33 – 1:04:33] Adam: Yeah, they’re…
[1:04:34 – 1:04:36] Adam: They were in a bad way.
[1:04:36 – 1:04:37] Adam: We were flying.
[1:04:37 – 1:04:46] Adam: I remember that portage being very tough, but also it was one of those ones where you’re in day three and it was a tough portage and you’re like,
[1:04:46 – 1:04:48] Erik: Yeah, we stomped it.
[1:04:48 – 1:04:48] Adam: Yeah.
[1:04:49 – 1:04:50] Erik: It did feel good.
[1:04:50 – 1:04:53] Adam: Doesn’t that feel good when you’re like really your body’s juicing?
[1:04:54 – 1:04:54] Adam: Yep.
[1:04:54 – 1:04:55] Adam: Your body’s juicing.
[1:04:56 – 1:04:56] Adam: Yes.
[1:04:56 – 1:04:57] Adam: People know what I’m saying.
[1:04:57 – 1:04:57] Adam: I was amped.
[1:04:58 – 1:04:58] Erik: Yep.
[1:04:58 – 1:04:59] Erik: No, for sure.
[1:04:59 – 1:05:01] Erik: And it was at the end of a long day, too.
[1:05:01 – 1:05:02] Adam: We were up on a plane, basically.
[1:05:03 – 1:05:04] Adam: And we just went right through it.
[1:05:04 – 1:05:06] Adam: It was tough, but we went right through it.
[1:05:07 – 1:05:07] Erik: Yep.
[1:05:07 – 1:05:08] Erik: It was awesome.
[1:05:08 – 1:05:15] Erik: And then Beth looked like, you know, I would love to get back out and spend some time in that area because Beth looked like- Yeah, we didn’t get up to Ella.
[1:05:15 – 1:05:16] Adam: Crystal clear waters.
[1:05:16 – 1:05:16] Adam: Yeah.
[1:05:16 – 1:05:20] Adam: Yeah, I wouldn’t mind doing the, like, just Beth-Ella-Grace loop and then back.
[1:05:21 – 1:05:21] Erik: Yeah.
[1:05:21 – 1:05:22] Adam: Or you can go down to Wonder.
[1:05:22 – 1:05:23] Erik: We didn’t go to Ella.
[1:05:24 – 1:05:25] Erik: They all look great.
[1:05:25 – 1:05:28] Erik: No, that… Yeah, Beth was a sweet, like… Wonder.
[1:05:28 – 1:05:29] Erik: The Lady Chain?
[1:05:30 – 1:05:30] Erik: Like, is that the…
[1:05:31 – 1:05:32] Adam: It is called the Lady Chain.
[1:05:32 – 1:05:33] Adam: There you go.
[1:05:34 – 1:05:34] Adam: Um…
[1:05:35 – 1:05:39] Adam: Is this the Laurentian Divide right here between Elton and Beth?
[1:05:40 – 1:05:41] Erik: Got a Laurentian down here.
[1:05:41 – 1:05:43] Adam: It doesn’t say specifically where it is.
[1:05:43 – 1:05:43] Adam: It’s got to be.
[1:05:44 – 1:05:46] Adam: It is in that general vicinity.
[1:05:46 – 1:05:48] Adam: So, yeah, you cross that going on to Beth and…
[1:05:49 – 1:05:52] Erik: I think by the time we got out into Alton, it was kind of starting to break up.
[1:05:53 – 1:05:55] Erik: That’s when I remember actually seeing a little bit of sunlight.
[1:05:55 – 1:06:00] Adam: It was, and it wasn’t as windy because we were like, well, it might be kind of weird out there on getting across Alton.
[1:06:00 – 1:06:02] Erik: Well, it was a little bit, but we hugged that west shore.
[1:06:02 – 1:06:04] Erik: We went all the way up and then across the narrow.
[1:06:04 – 1:06:14] Erik: And then kind of cut back down towards the, I would say, one of the more straightforward portages, the 30 rod from Sawbill to Alton.
[1:06:14 – 1:06:15] Erik: That one has a moving walkway.
[1:06:15 – 1:06:16] Erik: Basically, it’s gravel.
[1:06:16 – 1:06:19] Erik: And Tim Horton’s on it, so it’s fine.
[1:06:20 – 1:06:23] Adam: Yeah, so… We pulled into Sawbell Landing.
[1:06:24 – 1:06:26] Erik: Yeah, right as the clouds cleared.
[1:06:26 – 1:06:27] Erik: It was beautiful.
[1:06:27 – 1:06:29] Erik: It was probably about the same time of day that we put in.
[1:06:30 – 1:06:32] Erik: It was really warming up that day, too.
[1:06:32 – 1:06:32] Erik: 48 hours.
[1:06:32 – 1:06:36] Adam: It had gone up in temperature drastically at the end of that day.
[1:06:37 – 1:06:40] Adam: And we had stashed a beer in the van, remember?
[1:06:40 – 1:06:40] Adam: Oh, yeah.
[1:06:41 – 1:06:42] Adam: And we’re like, maybe that beer is drinkable.
[1:06:43 – 1:06:43] Adam: I don’t know.
[1:06:44 – 1:06:44] Erik: It was.
[1:06:44 – 1:06:46] Erik: We drank it, but it was not enjoyable.
[1:06:46 – 1:06:47] Erik: It was like 90 injuries.
[1:06:47 – 1:06:48] Erik: No.
[1:06:48 – 1:06:48] Adam: It was so hot.
[1:06:49 – 1:06:50] Adam: Then we went into the Sawbill store.
[1:06:52 – 1:06:52] Adam: Oh, yeah.
[1:06:52 – 1:06:53] Adam: And they had cold beers.
[1:06:53 – 1:06:54] Adam: Yeah.
[1:06:54 – 1:06:56] Adam: We ended up getting Heineken’s or something.
[1:06:57 – 1:06:57] Adam: Yeah.
[1:06:58 – 1:07:01] Adam: Because they didn’t have any IPAs in stock at the time.
[1:07:01 – 1:07:02] Erik: Pretty straightforward stuff in there.
[1:07:02 – 1:07:08] Erik: And then I remember we drove back to Grand Marais, and I think the only place that was open was the tavern.
[1:07:09 – 1:07:14] Adam: I remember getting a salad because I was like, I want something green because all we’d been eating was like cured meats.
[1:07:15 – 1:07:15] Adam: Yeah.
[1:07:17 – 1:07:17] Erik: Yeah.
[1:07:17 – 1:07:18] Erik: I don’t know.
[1:07:19 – 1:07:19] Erik: The Laos River.
[1:07:20 – 1:07:23] Erik: It is both of those, the Laos and the Phoebe.
[1:07:23 – 1:07:25] Erik: I think we did it in the right direction.
[1:07:26 – 1:07:27] Adam: I don’t think you’d want to go.
[1:07:27 – 1:07:30] Adam: I’d rather go up the Phoebe than go up the Laos.
[1:07:31 – 1:07:36] Adam: Not that either were easy, but it just seemed like the louse was much wilder.
[1:07:37 – 1:07:44] Adam: You just want to go with the flow on the wild one and then go uphill where people actually are using the portages.
[1:07:44 – 1:07:47] Adam: Because it didn’t feel like anybody had been using the portages on the louse.
[1:07:48 – 1:07:49] Erik: No, no, that’s for sure.
[1:07:49 – 1:07:51] Erik: Like, that’s a good way to gauge, like, usage.
[1:07:52 – 1:08:11] Erik: The only other way you could do it would be to contact, you know, an outfitter, Sawbill probably, to do a pickup where you would put in at Sawbill and then instead of cutting back over on the Phoebe River, just go entirely straight south from Pauley and get picked up down in the Koishui Lake campground.
[1:08:12 – 1:08:12] Erik: So…
[1:08:12 – 1:08:15] Erik: you can do it that way too, but making a loop is always fun.
[1:08:16 – 1:08:18] Erik: And that’s a heck of a loop to do in two days.
[1:08:20 – 1:08:21] Erik: If I do say so myself.
[1:08:22 – 1:08:22] Adam: Yeah.
[1:08:22 – 1:08:32] Adam: Had we had more time, there was a lot more out there just in terms of like things we could have enjoyed and more relaxation time for sure.
[1:08:32 – 1:08:34] Adam: Easy, like four or five day trip.
[1:08:34 – 1:08:36] Adam: If you just want to take it easy and enjoy it.
[1:08:36 – 1:08:40] Adam: But like I said, I wish we could have spent a whole nother day on a wine and
[1:08:40 – 1:08:49] Erik: Yeah, highlights of the trip for me for sure, Wine Lake, just the overall feeling of the Laos River, the Coma Lake bream.
[1:08:49 – 1:08:52] Adam: Yeah, we never did go check that northern site on trail.
[1:08:52 – 1:08:53] Erik: No, we didn’t.
[1:08:53 – 1:08:55] Erik: At that point, we were pretty much into it.
[1:08:56 – 1:08:56] Erik: We got to go.
[1:08:57 – 1:08:58] Erik: We got to get to Bozy.
[1:08:58 – 1:08:59] Erik: One hand, we’re out here.
[1:09:00 – 1:09:02] Erik: When else are we going to be able to check that campsite?
[1:09:02 – 1:09:13] Erik: But on the other, it’s like, I just want to get to a place that’s not on this river right now because I’m hungry and it’s taken us longer than I thought, but…
[1:09:14 – 1:09:15] Erik: Yeah, I don’t know.
[1:09:16 – 1:09:17] Erik: Beautiful stretch of water.
[1:09:17 – 1:09:21] Erik: I’d put it up there with the Frost River in terms of scenery.
[1:09:22 – 1:09:22] Erik: I don’t know.
[1:09:22 – 1:09:23] Erik: It doesn’t seem like it was quite as…
[1:09:24 – 1:09:28] Erik: It probably is completely random, but it feels like I see more wildlife on the Frost River.
[1:09:29 – 1:09:30] Erik: Waterfowl.
[1:09:31 – 1:09:36] Adam: Yeah, you know, we did the Frost River and we didn’t really see anything in there other than the beavers.
[1:09:36 – 1:09:36] Adam: Sure.
[1:09:37 – 1:09:39] Adam: So there’s just… Yeah, maybe it’s random.
[1:09:39 – 1:09:41] Adam: We heard what I’m sure was moose and just didn’t catch a glimpse.
[1:09:42 – 1:09:42] Adam: Yeah.
[1:09:42 – 1:09:44] Adam: But on this trip, you’re right.
[1:09:44 – 1:09:48] Adam: We didn’t see anything other than that massive bull bream.
[1:09:48 – 1:09:49] Erik: Yes.
[1:09:49 – 1:09:51] Erik: And there was actually, we saw some otters on Alton.
[1:09:52 – 1:09:53] Erik: On that last afternoon on the way out.
[1:09:53 – 1:09:54] Erik: Remember them?
[1:09:54 – 1:09:55] Erik: Yes, that’s true.
[1:09:55 – 1:09:56] Erik: Down in the islands.
[1:09:57 – 1:09:57] Adam: Family of otters.
[1:09:58 – 1:09:59] Adam: Oh, they’re quite playful.
[1:10:01 – 1:10:03] Erik: They’re the water ponies.
[1:10:04 – 1:10:06] Erik: Apparently can’t breathe water very well.
[1:10:06 – 1:10:07] Erik: He’s always snorting.
[1:10:07 – 1:10:08] Erik: Pony.
[1:10:10 – 1:10:11] Adam: So I would recommend the trip.
[1:10:12 – 1:10:15] Adam: I think there’s a reason we wanted to get this trip onto a podcast.
[1:10:15 – 1:10:18] Adam: A, get it in while we still have it somewhat fresh in our minds.
[1:10:18 – 1:10:21] Adam: Obviously, there’s a few gray areas.
[1:10:21 – 1:10:24] Adam: You know, you’re two years removed from a trip.
[1:10:25 – 1:10:28] Adam: Sometimes you can’t remember the fine details, but…
[1:10:28 – 1:10:31] Erik: Not quite as exact in where that crevasse portage was.
[1:10:31 – 1:10:36] Adam: But the big stuff, if you go through there, you’ll find the crevasse portage.
[1:10:36 – 1:10:36] Adam: Yes, you will.
[1:10:36 – 1:10:37] Adam: We guarantee that.
[1:10:37 – 1:10:38] Erik: Send us some pictures.
[1:10:39 – 1:10:41] Adam: I don’t know.
[1:10:41 – 1:10:51] Adam: I mean, it is always fun to sit down and look at a map, and it’s even more fun to sit down and look at a map, drink some beers, and remember an old trip.
[1:10:51 – 1:10:51] Adam: Yeah.
[1:10:51 – 1:11:15] Adam: like one of the game changers was like writing like bringing a map along for your trip and taking notes right on it and then you have it as a record of the trip i really wish we had one of those for this trip yeah i used to do that a lot and that might be a fun maybe a winter episode or two yeah we could go through and read some of the uh quetico journal entries i think you have some i know i have a whole book of quetico stuff
[1:11:15 – 1:11:15] Erik: Yeah.
[1:11:15 – 1:11:22] Erik: That would be a fun, even if it’s just maybe like a winter segment where you just read journal entry day.
[1:11:23 – 1:11:23] Erik: Yeah.
[1:11:23 – 1:11:24] Adam: Journal entry.
[1:11:24 – 1:11:25] Adam: That would be a lot of fun.
[1:11:25 – 1:11:25] Adam: Um,
[1:11:26 – 1:11:33] Adam: Because we have the big map where we have all our routes penciled in and markered in, but you don’t have the notes.
[1:11:35 – 1:11:36] Adam: We do have some journal entries.
[1:11:36 – 1:11:37] Adam: Yeah, what was the weather like?
[1:11:37 – 1:11:39] Erik: Even then it can be like, well, when did the sun come back out?
[1:11:40 – 1:11:43] Adam: It’s always fun to look back on it with a little bit more detail.
[1:11:44 – 1:11:45] Erik: All the more reason to journal.
[1:11:46 – 1:11:46] Erik: Yeah.
[1:11:47 – 1:11:47] Erik: Yeah.
[1:11:47 – 1:11:51] Adam: So thank you for joining us on this episode of Tumble Home and
[1:11:53 – 1:11:56] Adam: Recreating this fine journey into the Laos River with us.
[1:11:57 – 1:11:58] Adam: I would highly recommend the route.
[1:11:59 – 1:12:00] Adam: It’s really cool.
[1:12:00 – 1:12:01] Adam: Yes.
[1:12:01 – 1:12:03] Erik: It’s a top-notch route, I would say.
[1:12:03 – 1:12:08] Erik: Not that there is very many that I wouldn’t recommend, but if you’re looking for a rugged remote.
[1:12:08 – 1:12:09] Erik: Super remote.
[1:12:11 – 1:12:40] Erik: maybe not so much uh fishing when you’re on the river but if you’re just looking for something that’s like yeah i am out here and i’m doing this laos river it’s uh it’s a heart of the park i would say it’s an episode 77 kind of route right there yeah yeah exactly it’s uh it’s more than a day trip that’s for sure um yeah you get your work cut out for you out there but you know what they say i don’t know fill in the blank what do they say
[1:12:41 – 1:12:47] Erik: More miles, more maniers, more fun.
[1:12:47 – 1:12:48] Erik: Yeah, more gold.
[1:12:48 – 1:12:48] Erik: That’s what they say.
[1:12:50 – 1:12:52] Adam: Yeah, it is a great trip.
[1:12:52 – 1:12:53] Adam: Go check it out.
[1:12:54 – 1:12:56] Adam: So we’re going to go on and get.
[1:12:56 – 1:12:58] Adam: This has been episode 77 of Cumble Home.
[1:12:58 – 1:12:58] Adam: 76?
[1:12:58 – 1:12:58] Adam: 77.
[1:12:58 – 1:12:59] Erik: 77.
[1:12:59 – 1:12:59] Erik: 77.
[1:12:59 – 1:12:59] Erik: I got you.
[1:12:59 – 1:13:00] Adam: You got me.
[1:13:05 – 1:13:14] Adam: This has been episode 077 of Tumble Home, a Boundary Waters podcast coming to you live from Suite A in Clearwater Lodge itself.
[1:13:14 – 1:13:19] Adam: The vertical log siding is both outdoors and indoors in this room.
[1:13:20 – 1:13:20] Adam: Yeah.
[1:13:20 – 1:13:23] Adam: You feel like you’re really in the heart of the lodge.
[1:13:23 – 1:13:29] Adam: I hope the ambiance and the acoustics in here is as delightful as it has been in person.
[1:13:29 – 1:13:41] Erik: I’m sure it’s definitely going to be better than Studio O, which is a little echoey, and Studio V, which has us sitting on the creakiest chairs ever made by man.
[1:13:42 – 1:13:44] Erik: It added to the spookiness, though, didn’t it?
[1:13:44 – 1:13:46] Adam: It sure did, yeah.
[1:13:46 – 1:13:47] Adam: Join us next week.
[1:13:47 – 1:13:52] Adam: Speaking of spooky, it’s our spooktacular coming at you with our spookiest…
[1:13:53 – 1:13:54] Adam: Nightmare scenarios.
[1:13:55 – 1:13:57] Adam: So we’ll be back next week with that.
[1:13:57 – 1:14:01] Adam: And then Eric’s taking off on his hot air balloon trip around the world.
[1:14:01 – 1:14:08] Adam: We may not see from him in several months or moon cycles.
[1:14:08 – 1:14:09] Erik: It’s guided by P.T.
[1:14:09 – 1:14:13] Erik: Barnum Jr. Several tigers will be on board.
[1:14:13 – 1:14:15] Adam: All right, folks.
[1:14:15 – 1:14:18] Adam: As always, thank you for listening.
[1:14:18 – 1:14:21] Adam: Life is an adventure and every day is a miracle.
[1:14:21 – 1:14:22] Adam: That’s what I always say.
[1:14:22 – 1:14:23] Adam: I always say it.
[1:14:23 – 1:14:24] Adam: Everybody knows me.
[1:14:24 – 1:14:25] Adam: I say that every day.
[1:14:25 – 1:14:26] SPEAKER_00: Say it every day.
[1:14:26 – 1:14:26] SPEAKER_00: Constantly saying it.
[1:14:26 – 1:14:27] Adam: And always the same.
[1:14:27 – 1:14:28] Adam: To the point of it being annoying.
[1:14:29 – 1:14:29] Erik: Mm-hmm.
[1:14:30 – 1:14:32] Adam: And cue the chiptunes, folks.
[1:14:32 – 1:14:42] Erik: You know what I always say, though, which hasn’t been said enough lately, and it’s going to be pretty soon when we can’t say this or do this.
[1:14:43 – 1:14:45] Erik: Happy paddling.
[1:14:46 – 1:14:50] Adam: Hashtag PB Nation.
[1:14:51 – 1:14:52] Adam: Hashtag PBNash.
[1:14:52 – 1:14:52] Adam: Thank you.
[1:15:25 – 1:15:27] SPEAKER_00: Thanks for watching!