It’s all about the dogs this week as Erik and Adam are recapping the Gunflint Mail Run and previewing the John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon.
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Episode Transcript
[0:00:01 – 0:00:06] Erik: Tumble Home Express Route Guide Series.
[0:00:06 – 0:00:07] Erik: Toot, toot.
[0:00:09 – 0:00:09] Erik: Toot, toot.
[0:00:09 – 0:00:12] Adam: Oh, we’ve got to get a better toot than that.
[0:00:12 – 0:00:13] Erik: Do you want me to start over?
[0:00:13 – 0:00:14] Adam: No.
[0:00:14 – 0:00:15] Erik: Seconds are precious here.
[0:00:16 – 0:00:27] Erik: So we are moving on from our little doubling down on just some of the general thoughts on how to choose a route.
[0:00:27 – 0:00:29] Erik: We’re going to get into some actual routes.
[0:00:31 – 0:00:43] Erik: These are suggestions, but more or less find that these apply to just about as many people as we outfit than any other.
[0:00:44 – 0:00:50] Erik: Obviously, the rules of the Bajau waters explained in 001 allow you to paddle and camp wherever you want.
[0:00:51 – 0:00:56] Erik: But with that being said, this is…
[0:00:57 – 0:01:08] Erik: The East Bearskin Lake route, which essentially starts from entry point 64 East Bearskin Lake.
[0:01:09 – 0:01:16] Erik: It could be done in reverse starting from entry point 62 Clearwater Lake.
[0:01:16 – 0:01:19] Erik: Most people just start from East Bearskin.
[0:01:19 – 0:01:21] Erik: It has more entry permits per day at four.
[0:01:23 – 0:01:26] Erik: It’s probably up there with one of the most accessible
[0:01:27 – 0:01:30] Erik: Entry points in the Bungie Waters, especially off of the Gunflint Trail.
[0:01:30 – 0:01:32] Adam: Yeah, super easy to get to.
[0:01:32 – 0:01:34] Erik: Super easy to get to.
[0:01:34 – 0:01:38] Erik: Super easy to actually access the Bungie Waters.
[0:01:38 – 0:01:39] Adam: Ample parking.
[0:01:40 – 0:01:40] Adam: Ample.
[0:01:41 – 0:01:42] Erik: Ample parking.
[0:01:43 – 0:01:44] Adam: A really nice outhouse.
[0:01:44 – 0:01:46] Erik: Yes, very nice outhouse.
[0:01:46 – 0:01:52] Erik: The campground itself actually very nicely maintained and taken care of.
[0:01:52 – 0:01:57] Erik: The route we’ve got will provide links to this.
[0:01:58 – 0:02:04] Erik: It is, I would say, close to the easy side.
[0:02:06 – 0:02:07] Erik: Mostly small lakes.
[0:02:08 – 0:02:10] Erik: depending on how far out you venture.
[0:02:10 – 0:02:29] Erik: But this route essentially has you traveling from East Bearskin to Alder up to Canoe, with the biggest challenge of the trip being the 210 to 250 rod, depending on exactly how you measure that portage, down to Pine.
[0:02:30 – 0:02:33] Adam: Biggest challenge, but also the biggest opportunity on the trip.
[0:02:34 – 0:02:34] Adam: It is.
[0:02:34 – 0:02:39] Adam: Because at the end, you have the chance to go straight to Johnson Falls.
[0:02:39 – 0:02:39] Erik: Yes.
[0:02:40 – 0:02:49] Erik: From the end of that portage that does end you on Pine, there is a little spur trail that hooks up to the trail that runs up to Johnson Falls, which…
[0:02:50 – 0:03:17] Erik: uh unequivocally uh one of the gems of the boundary waters i know we are east side biased on our like it’s one of the places yes you need to experience uh johnson falls any time of year but if it’s a time of year that you can find yourself taking a dip that will elevate it to uh a transcendental experience in my opinion absolutely have you ever been there in the winter
[0:03:18 – 0:03:19] Erik: I haven’t actually.
[0:03:19 – 0:03:20] Erik: It’s always been kind of a goal.
[0:03:20 – 0:03:25] Erik: I’ve wanted to try to get out there, ski out, take a snowshoe up from the lake.
[0:03:26 – 0:03:28] Erik: I don’t know how I’d like feel about skiing up in there.
[0:03:28 – 0:03:32] Erik: It’s a little rugged, but ski and then snowshoe or just ski and walk.
[0:03:32 – 0:03:33] Erik: Sure.
[0:03:34 – 0:03:36] Erik: But anyway, turning the corner.
[0:03:37 – 0:03:40] Adam: Pine, there is a good spot.
[0:03:40 – 0:03:48] Adam: Like if we were talking off mic before we started, if you were going to do it on the longer side for this loop, then like you could spend some like a day or two on just on Pine Lake somewhere.
[0:03:49 – 0:03:51] Adam: Yeah, I think kind of is like the halfway point of the loop.
[0:03:52 – 0:03:58] Erik: Yeah, the route time suggested on the clear water outfitting page here is three to five days.
[0:03:58 – 0:04:00] Erik: You could easily do it in two.
[0:04:00 – 0:04:08] Erik: Five days, you would definitely need to involve some base camping because, I mean, you could do it in a day if you wanted without gear.
[0:04:08 – 0:04:09] Erik: Sure.
[0:04:09 – 0:04:12] Erik: But yeah, pine would be a great spot.
[0:04:12 – 0:04:20] Erik: You know, paddle out to pine, hang out for a couple of days, paddle back out so you’re not overlapping to make that loop a thing.
[0:04:20 – 0:04:30] Erik: If you’re really not liking the idea of a windy switchbacky, it’s mostly all downhill from canoe to pine.
[0:04:30 – 0:04:33] Erik: But if it’s still just not looking like something you want to do,
[0:04:33 – 0:04:39] Erik: But the only permit that’s available for that side is 64.
[0:04:40 – 0:04:54] Erik: There is the option of entering in at the campground there and taking portages up through Moon and Deer into Caribou and still gaining access to the Pine-Johnson Falls area.
[0:04:55 – 0:05:00] Erik: And that’s usually a conversation I have with people when it’s kind of getting down to the wire in the summer.
[0:05:00 – 0:05:10] Erik: And, you know, well, I really wish I could have gotten a Clearwater permit, but now I’m looking at a East Bearskin permit and I really don’t want to take that big portage.
[0:05:10 – 0:05:19] Erik: You can cut up on the North Arm and kind of still use your permit in a letter of the law style way.
[0:05:19 – 0:05:20] Erik: It’s totally fine to do that.
[0:05:21 – 0:05:37] Erik: Um, just a word to the wise, if you are using that entry point 64 to head over to Alder, some older maps do show a 60 rod portage coming in from the north arm of Bearskin into Alder that is no longer being maintained.
[0:05:37 – 0:05:41] Erik: Beware, not a fun time to try to take that portage.
[0:05:41 – 0:05:50] Erik: The, uh, much easier to find and easier to actually traverse, uh, closer to 50 rod portage on the south arm into Alder.
[0:05:51 – 0:05:53] Adam: That’s as much of a garden walk as you can find.
[0:05:53 – 0:05:55] Erik: It’s almost like got pavers on it.
[0:05:56 – 0:05:58] Adam: No, it has a moving walkway now, actually.
[0:05:58 – 0:05:59] Adam: They just put that in.
[0:05:59 – 0:06:01] Erik: I know on the fisher maps, there’s a little pond.
[0:06:01 – 0:06:07] Erik: It looks like you enter into a pond with a really harsh pinch point before you get out to Alder itself.
[0:06:08 – 0:06:14] Erik: That sometimes can look like there might be some troubling land connecting there.
[0:06:14 – 0:06:15] Erik: It’s always open.
[0:06:15 – 0:06:18] Erik: They’ve essentially pulled all those rocks back.
[0:06:18 – 0:06:20] Erik: Like I’ve paddled super low water.
[0:06:20 – 0:06:21] Erik: No problems there.
[0:06:22 – 0:06:23] Erik: Pretty straightforward.
[0:06:23 – 0:06:23] Erik: Yeah.
[0:06:24 – 0:06:37] Erik: Portage across from Alder into Canoe, and then obviously the aforementioned longer portage, but from Canoe down to Pine, it’s like a steep climb right away, and then all downhill.
[0:06:39 – 0:06:46] Erik: Johnson Falls on the west end of Pine, the 80-rod portage up into Little Caribou is pretty much all uphill, but it’s only 80 rods.
[0:06:48 – 0:06:50] Erik: And then from there, it’s a straight shot back to
[0:06:51 – 0:07:13] Erik: whether you want to uh head all the way back over to clearwater or the public access uh clearwater lodge that is or the public access or you can make it a loop and then cut down on deer moon back down to bearskin um you know with i would say not one direction being better than the other because if you go
[0:07:14 – 0:07:18] Erik: You know, if you go clockwise, then you have to climb out of Pine.
[0:07:18 – 0:07:21] Erik: And if you go counterclockwise, you’re climbing out of Moon into East Bearskin.
[0:07:23 – 0:07:28] Erik: Some of the route highlights, in my opinion, you’ve got, depending on the time of year, always.
[0:07:29 – 0:07:33] Erik: We talked about that in the route questions that you should ask yourself.
[0:07:35 – 0:07:38] Erik: It can be some excellent fishing early in the year.
[0:07:39 – 0:07:42] Erik: Caribou, deer, moon.
[0:07:43 – 0:07:49] Erik: Alder, crystal, and piers can be really good early, early season lakes when it comes to lake trout.
[0:07:50 – 0:07:51] Erik: Pines is…
[0:07:53 – 0:07:55] Erik: I’ve had mixed results on pine.
[0:07:55 – 0:07:56] Erik: It’s too big.
[0:07:56 – 0:07:56] Erik: It is.
[0:07:57 – 0:07:59] Adam: It’s tough.
[0:07:59 – 0:08:03] Adam: I’m too intimidated on pine to fish successfully at least.
[0:08:03 – 0:08:05] Adam: I’ve got some smallmouth in there and that’s about it.
[0:08:05 – 0:08:08] Adam: I’ve never had any luck with the other fish in there.
[0:08:08 – 0:08:09] Erik: It’s insanely beautiful.
[0:08:10 – 0:08:20] Erik: It’s, uh, almost too much to comprehend in terms of size, the lakes, uh, the lakes that you can see like up in the hills, mind boggling.
[0:08:20 – 0:08:21] Erik: There’s lakes up there.
[0:08:22 – 0:08:25] Erik: Uh, the, the, the ruggedness of the terrain.
[0:08:26 – 0:08:30] Erik: The last thing I think of when I’m out on pine is like, well, you should definitely get out and try to do some fishing.
[0:08:31 – 0:08:32] Erik: But I do.
[0:08:32 – 0:08:36] Erik: And I’m usually always disappointed.
[0:08:37 – 0:08:37] Adam: Um,
[0:08:38 – 0:08:44] Erik: Fishing is definitely better had on caribou, deer, and moon for walleye.
[0:08:44 – 0:08:48] Erik: Early, early season, alder, crystal, and piers.
[0:08:50 – 0:08:53] Erik: If you find yourself in this neck of the woods in the heart of the summer…
[0:08:54 – 0:09:00] Erik: I would say you’re probably going to be running into more people than a lot of areas.
[0:09:00 – 0:09:03] Erik: It’s very popular because of that accessibility.
[0:09:04 – 0:09:15] Erik: It’s very popular because of day trips, both from the East Bereskin side and the Clearwater side, specifically to access Johnson Falls.
[0:09:16 – 0:09:19] Erik: So yeah, maybe campsite availability is a struggle there.
[0:09:20 – 0:09:21] Erik: That would be a challenge.
[0:09:21 – 0:09:29] Erik: But then you’ve also just got generally more canoes around, which if you’re in the Bosch waters, you know, usually that’s a factor.
[0:09:29 – 0:09:31] Erik: You don’t want to see trains of canoes out there.
[0:09:33 – 0:09:44] Erik: But if you are really looking to still hit this area and want to kind of find some seclusion during those peak summer months, Crystal and Piers would be my suggestions.
[0:09:46 – 0:09:46] Adam: Piers.
[0:09:47 – 0:09:47] Erik: With…
[0:09:49 – 0:09:53] Erik: knowing that they don’t have the greatest campsites in general, probably a little bit substandard.
[0:09:54 – 0:09:57] Erik: But if it’s just a couple people, you’re looking to get out.
[0:09:57 – 0:09:57] Erik: You can make it work for sure.
[0:09:57 – 0:09:58] Erik: You can make it work out.
[0:09:58 – 0:09:59] Erik: Yeah.
[0:09:59 – 0:10:02] Adam: I mean, this has been, you know, it’s rated as like an easier route.
[0:10:03 – 0:10:03] Adam: It is.
[0:10:03 – 0:10:07] Adam: So, you know, that’s just saying, you know, as we said, the previous express route,
[0:10:09 – 0:10:11] Adam: You know, you’ve got to weigh one thing against the other.
[0:10:11 – 0:10:14] Adam: So it’s an easier route, and you can do it with less time on your hands.
[0:10:14 – 0:10:19] Adam: But, yeah, you’re probably going to see more people, especially if you’re going to Johnson Falls in the swimming season.
[0:10:19 – 0:10:20] Adam: But that’s all right.
[0:10:20 – 0:10:24] Adam: Usually everybody at Johnson Falls, when it’s warm, is in a good mood.
[0:10:24 – 0:10:24] Adam: Oh, yeah.
[0:10:25 – 0:10:26] Adam: So that’s all right.
[0:10:26 – 0:10:28] Erik: Yeah, it’s one of those things where, you know, the balance of things.
[0:10:29 – 0:10:31] Erik: You have to weigh your options.
[0:10:31 – 0:10:32] Erik: You know you’re going to be out there in the summer.
[0:10:32 – 0:10:34] Erik: You’re going to be experiencing it with other people.
[0:10:35 – 0:10:39] Erik: And if you keep that in mind, when you run into other people, it’s not going to be jarring.
[0:10:40 – 0:10:42] Erik: And you can take it in stride and actually make it part of the trip.
[0:10:43 – 0:10:44] Erik: You know, like have a little bit of a conversation.
[0:10:45 – 0:10:52] Erik: You’re out there experiencing a wilderness waterfall with another group of people who have taken the time out of their lives to be in the same place that you are.
[0:10:53 – 0:10:54] Erik: Like, that’s still pretty cool.
[0:10:55 – 0:11:02] Erik: Yes, there is a time and a place to be enjoying something on your own for yourself and your loved ones or whoever you’re tripping with.
[0:11:03 – 0:11:08] Erik: But, you know, it’s just still generally cool to be out there in the neighborhood with your neighbors.
[0:11:10 – 0:11:10] Erik: So…
[0:11:11 – 0:11:14] Erik: Um, it’s, uh, yeah, it’s a solid route.
[0:11:14 – 0:11:16] Erik: I don’t know if there’s a bottom line to it necessarily.
[0:11:16 – 0:11:18] Erik: It’s a great first timer route.
[0:11:19 – 0:11:26] Erik: Um, especially if you have the time to take your, you know, take your time across that portage.
[0:11:26 – 0:11:33] Erik: So it’s not, you know, make or break the sun’s going down, you’re going across that portage and all the campsites and canoe are taken, um,
[0:11:34 – 0:11:41] Erik: Um, you know, break it up and it’s a, it’s a very doable, easy three day trip with enough time to, to, to see the sites.
[0:11:42 – 0:11:43] Erik: Anything else to say?
[0:11:44 – 0:11:48] Adam: Yeah, shout out to Cheeto, my buddy Cheeto, and I did this trip way back when.
[0:11:48 – 0:11:49] Adam: That’s right.
[0:11:49 – 0:11:50] Adam: Exactly.
[0:11:50 – 0:12:01] Adam: And this way we started at East Bearskin, camped on canoe and on caribou, saw Johnson Falls in the middle there, and then made our way back to Clearwater.
[0:12:02 – 0:12:03] Adam: He had his puppy with him at the time.
[0:12:04 – 0:12:06] Adam: And it was a great trip.
[0:12:06 – 0:12:07] Erik: Yeah.
[0:12:08 – 0:12:18] Erik: Not that we have to have necessarily segments for these little short route hitter episodes, but it’d be fun to get a connoisseur’s tip for this area.
[0:12:19 – 0:12:19] Erik: Do you have one?
[0:12:21 – 0:12:25] Adam: make sure, for one, don’t bring a bag of wine if you’re going swimming at Johnson Falls.
[0:12:27 – 0:12:29] Adam: Like everything, it is made better by a bag of wine.
[0:12:31 – 0:12:33] Adam: But there’s more than one Johnson Falls.
[0:12:33 – 0:12:34] Adam: Is that a good enough tip?
[0:12:34 – 0:12:36] Erik: Oh, that was going to be my for-sure tip.
[0:12:36 – 0:12:38] Erik: Don’t stop exploring when you’re at Johnson Falls.
[0:12:38 – 0:12:40] Erik: It keeps going higher and higher.
[0:12:40 – 0:12:47] Erik: And even when you get up to the highest spot, don’t discount coming down a different way.
[0:12:48 – 0:12:49] Erik: Just say that.
[0:12:49 – 0:13:13] Adam: yeah uh yeah jumping over the actual falls don’t do that yeah that’s not deep enough to yeah no do that kind of stuff but use your common sense but like johnson falls is a full afternoon oh for sure yeah you can spend a lot more time there and at first glance it’s like oh it’s a cool pool and you can swim here but yeah swim there for sure but then keep uh keep looking around yeah that’s the connoisseurs uh
[0:13:15 – 0:13:15] Adam: What else?
[0:13:17 – 0:13:17] Adam: I don’t know.
[0:13:17 – 0:13:22] Adam: One time I was paddling on bearskin, and I smoked unhidden.
[0:13:22 – 0:13:25] Adam: It was one of those black rocks that was an inch below the surface.
[0:13:26 – 0:13:27] Erik: Oh, was that when you had the Kanak?
[0:13:28 – 0:13:28] Adam: Maybe.
[0:13:28 – 0:13:29] Adam: Maybe.
[0:13:29 – 0:13:31] Erik: The Kanak has since been sold.
[0:13:31 – 0:13:31] Erik: All right.
[0:13:31 – 0:13:32] Erik: Yeah.
[0:13:32 – 0:13:33] Adam: Well, anyway.
[0:13:33 – 0:13:41] Adam: Now, yeah, that’s our pro tip is explore lots at Johnson Falls, and maybe we’ll get there in the winter.
[0:13:42 – 0:13:44] Adam: That’s one for us to try out maybe.
[0:13:45 – 0:13:59] Erik: And to try to do it as succinctly as possible, the last pro tip, connoisseur’s tip I have, which we did mention, I think we’ve mentioned it multiple times, but to get it in on this episode, I think would be a good thing.
[0:13:59 – 0:14:05] Erik: The portage from Caribou to Clearwater on the Fisher maps is not marked in the greatest way.
[0:14:05 – 0:14:11] Erik: There is an old railroad grade that runs behind the three campsites on the far west bay there.
[0:14:12 – 0:14:19] Erik: So if you’re coming from Caribou back to Clearwater, coming up off of that portage, you climb to the top of a hill, you’ll come to a Tee.
[0:14:21 – 0:14:29] Erik: And a lot of times the only thing that you’ve got going in your mind is, well, there was this one T that I thought I was supposed to come to and I needed to turn right at it.
[0:14:30 – 0:14:44] Erik: But you’ve come to a T before the T. So the first T you come to, you’re going to want to take a left because if you turn right, you will end up backtracking into campsites and going away from your camp.
[0:14:44 – 0:14:51] Adam: Generally, they will have logs of birch down across the way you’re not supposed to go.
[0:14:51 – 0:14:54] Erik: There’s an incredible amount of birch logs down at this point.
[0:14:54 – 0:14:54] Adam: Stop it.
[0:14:55 – 0:14:56] Adam: Don’t jump over the birch logs.
[0:14:57 – 0:14:59] Adam: Just go the way the birch are trying to direct you.
[0:14:59 – 0:14:59] Erik: Yeah.
[0:15:00 – 0:15:02] Erik: And then you take that left.
[0:15:02 – 0:15:08] Erik: You basically just kind of ease into that next trail that will lead you back to Clearwater.
[0:15:08 – 0:15:09] Erik: And then vice versa.
[0:15:09 – 0:15:17] Erik: If you’re coming from Clearwater doing this route in reverse, it’s going to be a left and then a void continuing straight past the logs.
[0:15:17 – 0:15:21] Erik: First left, second sharp hard right, 90 degrees downhill.
[0:15:22 – 0:15:23] Adam: It’s a high and then a G.
[0:15:23 – 0:15:24] Erik: Haji.
[0:15:24 – 0:15:35] Erik: Yeah, if you have any questions on the very specifics of that, the one questionable slash dicey portage in that whole area, give either Clearwater or Bearskin Outfitters a call.
[0:15:35 – 0:15:38] Erik: They will be more than happy to describe it in more detail for you.
[0:15:39 – 0:15:42] Erik: And with that, bid you.
