All aboard! We’re talking about this powerhouse of a BWCA entry point and the almost endless route possibilities it offers, including nice basecamp options.
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Episode Transcript
[0:00:07 – 0:00:08] Adam: Will it ever get old?
[0:00:09 – 0:00:11] Adam: Yes, probably.
[0:00:11 – 0:00:12] Adam: Yeah, it will.
[0:00:13 – 0:00:20] Erik: I'm going to go back through and retroactively put in train whistles into all of the older Express episodes.
[0:00:20 – 0:00:23] Adam: Can you return a train whistle after you've blown in it?
[0:00:23 – 0:00:24] Erik: Not in these troubling times.
[0:00:24 – 0:00:26] Adam: Yeah, I'm going to have to burn that one.
[0:00:27 – 0:00:28] Adam: Ooh, there you go.
[0:00:28 – 0:00:29] Adam: Maybe you're just not doing it right.
[0:00:32 – 0:00:33] Adam: Oh, that was screeching.
[0:00:34 – 0:00:34] Adam: Very grating.
[0:00:35 – 0:00:35] Adam: I don't like that.
[0:00:37 – 0:00:38] Erik: Already turned off this Express episode.
[0:00:38 – 0:00:39] Erik: Where are we heading?
[0:00:40 – 0:00:40] Erik: Choo-choo.
[0:00:43 – 0:00:43] Adam: Sawbill.
[0:00:44 – 0:00:45] Adam: Entry point 38.
[0:00:46 – 0:00:47] Adam: Sawbill Lake.
[0:00:48 – 0:00:49] Erik: At the end of the Sawbill Trail.
[0:00:50 – 0:00:54] Erik: We've never really talked about Sawbill at all in any way, shape, or form.
[0:00:54 – 0:00:58] Erik: Besides maybe some, like, maybe on the Laos River episode.
[0:00:59 – 0:01:02] Erik: Yeah, yeah.
[0:01:02 – 0:01:09] Erik: But considering what a juggernaut of an entry point it is for this soft underbelly.
[0:01:10 – 0:01:15] Adam: I like how Randy from the Shrimp Channel asked if it was… What's at the end of the Sawbill Trail?
[0:01:15 – 0:01:16] Adam: A mine?
[0:01:16 – 0:01:16] Adam: A mine?
[0:01:17 – 0:01:18] Adam: You are from Alaska, Randy.
[0:01:19 – 0:01:21] Adam: No, it's Sawbill Lake and the Bowery Waters.
[0:01:21 – 0:01:22] Erik: No mines.
[0:01:24 – 0:01:26] Adam: It's got its own trail, so that's pretty cool.
[0:01:26 – 0:01:27] Erik: Yeah, it's got its own trail.
[0:01:29 – 0:01:33] Erik: There's not really any other trails that I'm aware of that end at the name of the trail.
[0:01:34 – 0:01:36] Erik: It ends at the lake it's named after.
[0:01:37 – 0:01:38] Erik: If that makes sense.
[0:01:38 – 0:01:39] Erik: I think we follow.
[0:01:41 – 0:01:47] Erik: Yeah, entry point 38, straight up out of Toft.
[0:01:49 – 0:01:50] Erik: Oh, yes, Toft.
[0:01:50 – 0:01:51] Erik: Toft.
[0:01:52 – 0:01:55] Erik: What is it, about 25 miles up the Tofty Sawbill Trail?
[0:01:56 – 0:01:57] Erik: Yeah, that checks out.
[0:01:57 – 0:01:58] Erik: It sounds about right.
[0:01:58 – 0:02:00] Erik: Not quite as long as the Gunflint.
[0:02:00 – 0:02:04] Erik: Probably roughly, maybe a little bit shorter than the Arrowhead Trail.
[0:02:05 – 0:02:07] Erik: Definitely shorter than the caribou.
[0:02:09 – 0:02:11] Adam: It is a… Mostly gravel.
[0:02:12 – 0:02:14] Adam: I would say it's almost 50-50 at this point, though.
[0:02:14 – 0:02:16] Adam: Yeah, they keep adding more asphalt.
[0:02:16 – 0:02:17] Adam: Knock it off.
[0:02:17 – 0:02:20] Adam: There's asphalt all the way to the Temperance River campground.
[0:02:20 – 0:02:20] Erik: Real.
[0:02:21 – 0:02:23] Erik: And maybe even a little bit farther than that.
[0:02:23 – 0:02:28] Erik: Almost up to what is labeled as the Sawbill Camp, which is where the grade turns off.
[0:02:28 – 0:02:29] Adam: Oh, yes, sure.
[0:02:29 – 0:02:31] Adam: So it is more than halfway now.
[0:02:31 – 0:02:33] Adam: Yeah, they need to stop that.
[0:02:33 – 0:02:34] Adam: Kind of crazy.
[0:02:34 – 0:02:34] Adam: Stop it.
[0:02:35 – 0:02:38] Erik: So yeah, the access is relatively easy.
[0:02:38 – 0:02:47] Erik: It's a straight shot up off of Highway 61 in Tofty to this, what were we calling them?
[0:02:48 – 0:02:52] Erik: Trust Fund entry point where you put your canoe in on the lake and you have gained access.
[0:02:52 – 0:02:53] Adam: You're in.
[0:02:53 – 0:02:54] Adam: No work whatsoever.
[0:02:54 – 0:02:57] Adam: Just take the first campsite and put up your clothesline.
[0:02:57 – 0:02:58] Adam: You're in the Boundary Waters.
[0:02:59 – 0:03:01] Erik: Yeah, and there are a number of campsites.
[0:03:02 – 0:03:25] Erik: Sawbill is a tough one to even feasibly think about trying to go out and actually do campsite reviews because it is such a popular entry point lake because, again, of the access, because of the fact that there is a well-run Outfitters, and because of the fact that there is a massive campground on the lake.
[0:03:25 – 0:03:28] Erik: It's probably one of the biggest Superior National Forest campgrounds.
[0:03:30 – 0:03:32] Erik: It's like 40 or 50 sites in there, I think.
[0:03:32 – 0:03:34] Erik: They got a volleyball court.
[0:03:35 – 0:03:36] Erik: It's a beautiful campground, though.
[0:03:37 – 0:03:38] Erik: Old growth pine.
[0:03:38 – 0:03:40] Adam: Yeah, it's a real gem.
[0:03:40 – 0:03:47] Erik: Directly adjacent to an outfitter that has maybe one of the best general stores.
[0:03:47 – 0:03:51] Erik: You can go in there and find pretty much anything that you want.
[0:03:51 – 0:03:51] Erik: They sell Heineken.
[0:03:52 – 0:03:52] Erik: Beer.
[0:03:52 – 0:03:54] Erik: I don't know if they have wine.
[0:03:55 – 0:03:55] Erik: Beer and gear.
[0:03:55 – 0:03:56] Erik: They got it all covered.
[0:04:02 – 0:04:20] Erik: tourist things and they got a lot of t-shirts stuff like that um but if you forget anything whistles that's that remains to be seen if they have train whistles or not yeah um also popular because of the number of permits per day what's your best guess on the number of permits per day adam
[0:04:21 – 0:04:21] Erik: Fifteen?
[0:04:21 – 0:04:23] Erik: Wow, only one over.
[0:04:23 – 0:04:24] Adam: Fourteen.
[0:04:24 – 0:04:24] Adam: Okay.
[0:04:25 – 0:04:27] Adam: Fourteen entry permits per day on Sawbill.
[0:04:27 – 0:04:31] Adam: It does seem like a lot, but it seems, I think, relatively appropriate because just…
[0:04:31 – 0:04:34] Adam: Between Sawbill and Alton, I mean, there's at least 15 sites.
[0:04:35 – 0:04:41] Erik: Yeah, I mean, and then you've got, just off of Sawbill, you've got three different directions you can go.
[0:04:41 – 0:04:42] Erik: Yeah, it's a good hub.
[0:04:42 – 0:04:49] Erik: And then off of one of the directions into Alton, you're given another two options.
[0:04:50 – 0:04:51] Erik: To go farther north.
[0:04:51 – 0:05:02] Erik: So the way that it reverse brackets itself from the entry point, like you can find yourself pretty well dispersed on Sawbill.
[0:05:03 – 0:05:06] Erik: And I think it is an appropriate number of permits.
[0:05:06 – 0:05:07] Erik: No question.
[0:05:08 – 0:05:15] Erik: So when you're looking at Sawbill on the map and in your memories, what comes to mind first?
[0:05:16 – 0:05:18] Adam: Isn't this where we saw the pitcher plants?
[0:05:18 – 0:05:19] Adam: Yes.
[0:05:21 – 0:05:42] Erik: um by the kelso river oh yeah access in the kelso river was that also that same run when we were kind of paddling behind a guy who was paddling with somebody else and was like this is one of the few bogs in the boundary waters yeah that one and we were just like uh i'm pretty sure there's more than a few bogs a lot of bogs out there how do you define a bog
[0:05:42 – 0:05:43] Adam: Yeah, I don't know.
[0:05:43 – 0:05:50] Adam: Pitcher Plants, the Kelso River access, and then what comes to mind is just the Kelso River heading up that way.
[0:05:50 – 0:06:00] Adam: That's the main way I've gone when I've paddled through Sawbill is north on the Kelso River past the, I want to call it a dome, and I know it's wrong.
[0:06:01 – 0:06:03] Adam: I know we've updated our jargon on that kind of stuff.
[0:06:04 – 0:06:05] Erik: Yeah, we had some.
[0:06:05 – 0:06:07] Adam: I thought it was called something else technically.
[0:06:08 – 0:06:32] Adam: um yeah i don't know we were calling it a dolman and i think i don't know if we were corrected or if we corrected ourselves i think we found some other information that could be called something else but i mean i guess if dolman is still what comes to mind for me at this point i'm just gonna keep going with dolman i can't remember what the other one was but yeah there's a weird rock structure that was left by uh the aliens um way back when as a as a marker
[0:06:32 – 0:06:36] Adam: We've found three of them so far in the Boundary Waters, and one of them is on the Kelso River.
[0:06:36 – 0:06:40] Erik: And another one is also in this general vicinity up north of Wine Lake.
[0:06:42 – 0:06:45] Erik: We did that Laos River trip.
[0:06:45 – 0:06:46] Erik: Yeah.
[0:06:47 – 0:06:52] Erik: First night on Wine, next morning, that first portage halfway across…
[0:06:53 – 0:06:55] Erik: It's just like, oh my god, it's another dolmen.
[0:06:56 – 0:06:57] Erik: Same exact thing.
[0:06:57 – 0:06:58] Erik: Massive rock with like four…
[0:06:59 – 0:07:00] Erik: I think it was three, actually.
[0:07:01 – 0:07:05] Erik: Tiny little rocks propping it up just a few inches up off the ground.
[0:07:05 – 0:07:09] Erik: So yeah, there's some juju happening in this neck of the Boundary Waters.
[0:07:10 – 0:07:10] Erik: Um…
[0:07:12 – 0:07:16] Adam: You have to put together a relative… Oh, I think we also call them maniers.
[0:07:17 – 0:07:17] Erik: Maniers.
[0:07:18 – 0:07:19] Adam: I feel like the…
[0:07:19 – 0:07:20] Adam: I think it's a dolman.
[0:07:20 – 0:07:22] Adam: Magnetic rock is the… Is a manier.
[0:07:22 – 0:07:23] Adam: Is the manier.
[0:07:23 – 0:07:24] Adam: Yeah, these are dolmans.
[0:07:25 – 0:07:25] Erik: I think so.
[0:07:26 – 0:07:27] Erik: But we're not…
[0:07:28 – 0:07:29] Adam: Definitely not made with a car jack.
[0:07:31 – 0:07:32] Erik: No, we're not rock specialists.
[0:07:34 – 0:07:42] Erik: So, yeah, you can just head out and find yourself on either Sawbill, Alton, or even like Burnt Smoke.
[0:07:42 – 0:07:43] Adam: Yeah, I've never done any of that stuff.
[0:07:44 – 0:07:44] Adam: That's the problem.
[0:07:44 – 0:07:45] Adam: I've gone through Alton.
[0:07:45 – 0:07:46] Adam: I've done the Kelso River.
[0:07:46 – 0:07:48] Adam: I've done the Lady Chain.
[0:07:49 – 0:07:50] Adam: Ladies.
[0:07:50 – 0:07:52] Erik: Lady in red.
[0:07:52 – 0:07:54] Adam: That's where we got to do our duet.
[0:07:54 – 0:07:55] Adam: Yeah.
[0:07:55 – 0:07:56] Adam: Our sweet duet.
[0:07:56 – 0:08:03] Adam: But I've never gone the smoke burnt route and I've definitely never done Ada Creek, which I've heard is lovely this time of year.
[0:08:03 – 0:08:04] Erik: It's not.
[0:08:04 – 0:08:05] Erik: It's not.
[0:08:05 – 0:08:05] Erik: It's never lovely.
[0:08:05 – 0:08:06] Adam: It's not even lovely.
[0:08:06 – 0:08:07] Adam: It's even muddy in the winter.
[0:08:08 – 0:08:09] Adam: That's a bog for you.
[0:08:10 – 0:08:10] Erik: That's a bog.
[0:08:10 – 0:08:11] Erik: Ada, scoop.
[0:08:11 – 0:08:17] Erik: That whole stretch is just filled with mud and snapping turtles.
[0:08:18 – 0:08:23] Adam: So I'd like to get into smoke at some point, but I'm not sure I want to do Ada ever.
[0:08:24 – 0:08:28] Erik: It's tough to do a loop in there without having to really drop the hammer.
[0:08:29 – 0:08:35] Erik: Like we did that Laos River in two days, well, two nights, three days, getting out pretty late on that first day.
[0:08:35 – 0:08:37] Erik: That's a big loop.
[0:08:37 – 0:08:42] Erik: So if you want to go out and base camp on any of those immediate lakes, yeah, that's great.
[0:08:42 – 0:08:45] Erik: That is an excellent option for first timers.
[0:08:45 – 0:08:49] Adam: Pretty close to, like, it looks like a watershed divide in here, too.
[0:08:49 – 0:08:50] Erik: Right on the edge of the Little Red Shire.
[0:08:50 – 0:09:03] Adam: Appreciate this big map in the reconfigured old-style Studio K. We got the big map out, and you'd cross it going into Zenith North, or when you're going between, this is Beth and Alton.
[0:09:03 – 0:09:04] Adam: Yep.
[0:09:04 – 0:09:23] Adam: which yeah that is a pretty hilly one i remember blowing past some boy scouts on that one and uh also you'd cross it like on cherokee creek basically uh heading up to cherokee you'd be going over the shed as they say so yeah there are a pretty sweet area it is it's uh
[0:09:25 – 0:09:32] Erik: I mean, just looking at a map like the one we're looking at, which is very zoomed out, almost the entire Boundary Waters all on one map.
[0:09:32 – 0:09:36] Erik: I mean, it is, but obviously your eyes can't look at all of it at the same time.
[0:09:36 – 0:09:42] Erik: But you can just tell there's a couple of big lakes right away, but then you're mostly into rivers and…
[0:09:43 – 0:09:48] Erik: And or smaller lakes in any route that you put together off of Sawbill.
[0:09:49 – 0:09:54] Erik: So that's a different, you know, that Laos River has a very unique feel to it.
[0:09:55 – 0:09:59] Erik: It, you know, considering it is that's the quote unquote soft underbelly.
[0:10:00 – 0:10:07] Erik: There's some rugged travel if you venture off of any of those big lakes where you put in.
[0:10:08 – 0:10:12] Erik: Sawbill, Alton, the smoke chain, as it were.
[0:10:13 – 0:10:24] Erik: Almost immediately in any direction that you travel will be either big portages, river travel, or long distances.
[0:10:24 – 0:10:26] Adam: I think I've found my spirit lake.
[0:10:26 – 0:10:31] Adam: There's up there just east of Zenith, there's one called One Toe Lake.
[0:10:31 – 0:10:32] Erik: One toe.
[0:10:33 – 0:10:34] Adam: One healthy toe.
[0:10:34 – 0:10:35] Adam: One healthy toe left.
[0:10:36 – 0:10:37] Adam: That's all you need.
[0:10:38 – 0:10:38] Adam: Sick.
[0:10:39 – 0:10:39] Adam: That's pretty sick.
[0:10:40 – 0:10:40] Adam: Yeah.
[0:10:40 – 0:10:57] Erik: So just on my first glance, and I've done a number of routes through here, I see the Laos River coming back down through the Phoebe River off of Pauley back into Phoebe Lake, looping back around as a loop.
[0:10:58 – 0:11:04] Erik: I also see a, and I think that's the direction you would want to go, up the Luginita Portage north and then back around.
[0:11:06 – 0:11:09] Erik: I think one way or another, you kind of have to go against the grain.
[0:11:09 – 0:11:12] Erik: But those rivers in there, they're not really ever flowing so heavily.
[0:11:12 – 0:11:13] Adam: Yeah, you're not battling current.
[0:11:13 – 0:11:14] Adam: No.
[0:11:14 – 0:11:16] Adam: You're just battling your own self.
[0:11:16 – 0:11:18] Erik: Yeah, pretty rough portages through that Laos portage.
[0:11:18 – 0:11:23] Erik: If you're interested in that route, we have a whole podcast devoted to the Laos River.
[0:11:24 – 0:11:34] Erik: I could also see a loop up to Brule heading east through Burnt Smoke up through basically where the Baker Lake portage or entry point puts in.
[0:11:34 – 0:11:36] Adam: Yeah, weird.
[0:11:36 – 0:11:44] Erik: Weird up through Brule or at the very least the Temperances and then Cherokee and then down the Cherokee Creek and back down.
[0:11:46 – 0:11:57] Erik: Or you could really put together a real connoisseur's trip where you figure out some kind of an A to B vehicle drop and just go straight north all the way up through…
[0:11:57 – 0:11:58] Erik: It's up to Segal.
[0:11:59 – 0:12:00] Erik: Yeah, up to Segal.
[0:12:00 – 0:12:03] Erik: I mean, the Frost River is accessible from here.
[0:12:04 – 0:12:06] Erik: I mean, the sky's the limit with the Sawbill Entry Point.
[0:12:07 – 0:12:17] Erik: It's both an excellent first-time trip because you can just chill on any of those nice lakes that have, I would say, pretty nice campsites.
[0:12:17 – 0:12:24] Erik: Although, again, because of the accessibility and the trust fund factor, pretty busy.
[0:12:24 – 0:12:25] Erik: You'll see a lot of kayaks.
[0:12:26 – 0:12:28] Erik: You'll see a lot of stand-up paddle boards.
[0:12:28 – 0:12:30] Erik: You'll see a lot of occupied campsites.
[0:12:31 – 0:12:33] Erik: But there are enough to go around.
[0:12:33 – 0:12:38] Erik: Just make sure you're leaving a human body at a campsite so you don't get poached.
[0:12:39 – 0:12:40] Adam: Yeah, no doubt.
[0:12:40 – 0:12:43] Adam: Yeah, it's a weird one where you have the campground right there.
[0:12:44 – 0:12:48] Adam: It's like a base camping lake, but also a great jump off for a long distance trip.
[0:12:49 – 0:12:51] Erik: Yeah, it's a well-rounded entry point for sure.
[0:12:53 – 0:12:55] Erik: 14 seems appropriate.
[0:12:56 – 0:12:57] Erik: You know, there are
[0:12:58 – 0:13:01] Erik: Almost unlimited options once you get in there far enough.
[0:13:01 – 0:13:04] Adam: Yeah, I've never even been up to the north side of Sawbill, though.
[0:13:04 – 0:13:05] Adam: How crazy is that?
[0:13:05 – 0:13:06] Adam: Yeah.
[0:13:06 – 0:13:09] Adam: Where all the actual Sawbill campsites are.
[0:13:09 – 0:13:21] Adam: I've never been north of the Kelso in all my days of paddling, which just seems like a… That's kind of a blind spot where I should have gotten there somehow in the last decade, but…
[0:13:22 – 0:13:28] Erik: I've been hoping for like the last five years for an absurdly early ice out so that I can run up there and get.
[0:13:29 – 0:13:29] Erik: Get them all.
[0:13:29 – 0:13:30] Erik: Get campsite reviews.
[0:13:30 – 0:13:36] Erik: That's what we should have done last year when the park was open, but not for overnight camping.
[0:13:36 – 0:13:36] Erik: Yeah.
[0:13:36 – 0:13:37] Erik: Well, we got Tuscarora.
[0:13:37 – 0:13:39] Erik: We did get Tuscarora, which is.
[0:13:39 – 0:13:40] Adam: We have another opportunity like that.
[0:13:40 – 0:13:41] Adam: Yeah.
[0:13:41 – 0:13:43] Adam: Sawbill is on the radar for that for sure.
[0:13:43 – 0:13:43] Erik: Yeah.
[0:13:43 – 0:13:47] Erik: Getting all those Tuscarora campsites is a nice notch in the belt of campsite reviews.
[0:13:47 – 0:13:47] Erik: Yeah.
[0:13:48 – 0:13:55] Adam: I wonder if we made the run at Cone Bay, how iced up Sawbill would have been in the north section at that point.
[0:13:56 – 0:13:59] Erik: Probably pretty icy, but hard to say.
[0:14:01 – 0:14:07] Erik: When we did that, it was only a week removed from a serious warm-up where I bet a lot of that broke up and thawed again.
[0:14:07 – 0:14:08] Erik: Yeah.
[0:14:09 – 0:14:15] Erik: Sawbill is an excellent entry point for all the reasons that you should visit the Boundary Waters.
[0:14:16 – 0:14:19] Erik: No matter what kind of a trip you want to put together, I think Sawbill offers it.
[0:14:20 – 0:14:27] Erik: It also offers even the camping at the campground and doing day trips experience.
[0:14:28 – 0:14:36] Erik: There's really not too many negatives about it unless you're really not cool with a lot of people.
[0:14:36 – 0:14:45] Erik: And I know I've heard some rumblings in the past, which is always going to be an issue at any campground, about people with generators and stuff.
[0:14:46 – 0:14:46] Adam: Oh, sure.
[0:14:46 – 0:14:48] Erik: Well, you're going to find that anywhere.
[0:14:48 – 0:14:49] Adam: You're car camping.
[0:14:49 – 0:14:50] Erik: Yeah.
[0:14:50 – 0:14:50] Adam: You're going to get that.
[0:14:52 – 0:14:58] Erik: So fishing generally, um, pretty solid, not really too many lake trout right away.
[0:14:58 – 0:15:13] Erik: Uh, but once you get up into the, um, north of Luginita, you've got some lake trout, but mostly walleye pike bass in your Alton, Sawbill, Smoky chain, pretty basic fishing.
[0:15:13 – 0:15:13] Erik: Um,
[0:15:15 – 0:15:25] Erik: I don't think there's any like crazy panfish that I'm aware of besides the Bream Weaver Lake that is Coma.
[0:15:27 – 0:15:28] Adam: God, I can't believe we stayed on Coma.
[0:15:28 – 0:15:30] Erik: Yeah, spent tonight on coma.
[0:15:31 – 0:15:37] Erik: You've got the potential archaeological site with the crash plane on Zenith.
[0:15:37 – 0:15:38] Erik: Oh, yeah.
[0:15:38 – 0:15:40] Erik: If you really want to go and look for that, we have not.
[0:15:40 – 0:15:42] Erik: We never found it.
[0:15:43 – 0:15:44] Adam: Also didn't find it.
[0:15:44 – 0:15:47] Adam: I just found a gold watch.
[0:15:48 – 0:15:49] Adam: Just a gold watch.
[0:15:49 – 0:15:50] Adam: Old looking watch.
[0:15:51 – 0:15:55] Adam: Hung precariously on the lip of a rock edge.
[0:15:56 – 0:15:57] Adam: Very strange.
[0:15:57 – 0:15:59] Adam: Had a strange inscription on the back.
[0:16:00 – 0:16:00] Erik: What did it say?
[0:16:00 – 0:16:01] Adam: I don't remember.
[0:16:02 – 0:16:02] Adam: Thanks for all the nights.
[0:16:03 – 0:16:05] Adam: Thanks for all the nights.
[0:16:06 – 0:16:08] Adam: Sheesh, was that a throwback quote from The Edge?
[0:16:09 – 0:16:10] Erik: My God.
[0:16:11 – 0:16:13] Adam: Yep, he didn't see that one coming.
[0:16:13 – 0:16:14] Adam: I did not.
[0:16:15 – 0:16:17] Erik: Almost completely forgotten about that movie.
[0:16:17 – 0:16:21] Adam: Well, it was probably a bird strike that brought him down.
[0:16:21 – 0:16:24] Adam: Or, you know, possibly arrogance.
[0:16:25 – 0:16:26] Adam: Old John's Cabin.
[0:16:28 – 0:16:30] Erik: Yeah, any pro tips that come to mind?
[0:16:32 – 0:16:34] Adam: Yeah, make sure you stop for the Dolman.
[0:16:34 – 0:16:35] Adam: It's on the Kelso River.
[0:16:36 – 0:16:37] Adam: You really can't miss it.
[0:16:38 – 0:16:45] Adam: If you're heading northbound on the Kelso, it's on your right or east side, and the channel that you would be on will pass pretty close to it.
[0:16:46 – 0:16:53] Adam: Make sure you leave an offering of tobacco for the Maymagueze.
[0:16:53 – 0:16:53] Adam: Okay.
[0:16:54 – 0:16:55] Erik: That's a good pro tip.
[0:16:56 – 0:17:06] Erik: Mine is do not portage the Luginita to Zenith portage with a white igloo cooler filled with growlers of beer on your chest.
[0:17:07 – 0:17:08] Erik: Your arms will fall off.
[0:17:09 – 0:17:10] Adam: Not recommended.
[0:17:10 – 0:17:11] Adam: That was tough.
[0:17:11 – 0:17:17] Adam: You had to paddle with your legs the rest of that whole trip, which worked out fine, but it was not ideal.
[0:17:18 – 0:17:25] Erik: Also, sub 1A pro tip, or 1B, whatever you want to call it, Wine Lake is sweet.
[0:17:26 – 0:17:30] Erik: That campsite on the island on the west side of Wine, that's a fun site.
[0:17:31 – 0:17:32] Erik: It feels super remote.
[0:17:33 – 0:17:37] Adam: We ripped in there like late and like pushed into it as like it was getting dark.
[0:17:37 – 0:17:39] Adam: It was dusky when we got in there.
[0:17:39 – 0:17:40] Adam: Yeah.
[0:17:40 – 0:17:42] Adam: So we were arriving pretty late and got it.
[0:17:42 – 0:17:47] Adam: And I'd heard the fishing was pretty good there, but we just never like even attempted one cast.
[0:17:47 – 0:17:47] Adam: Right.
[0:17:48 – 0:17:56] Adam: We got in late, and we're doing the Laos River the next morning, so we just wanted to get out of there and get moving on down the river.
[0:17:56 – 0:17:58] Adam: So didn't give enough time in there.
[0:17:59 – 0:18:03] Adam: Had we had one more night on that trip, I would have definitely spent more time at wine.
[0:18:05 – 0:18:14] Erik: Yeah, we found there was a moose shed that somebody had found on the island right next to the campfire grate.
[0:18:15 – 0:18:16] Erik: That's always a good sign.
[0:18:16 – 0:18:25] Adam: Yeah, that feels like one of the spots I felt like were the deepest in the wilderness of the entire Boundary Waters was Wine Lake.
[0:18:25 – 0:18:26] Adam: Yeah.
[0:18:26 – 0:18:26] Adam: And you're in there.
[0:18:27 – 0:18:27] Adam: Yeah.
[0:18:27 – 0:18:32] Adam: Like, when you look at it on the map, you're, you know, yeah, that's kind of heart of the park, but it's not that far in there.
[0:18:33 – 0:18:37] Adam: But, yeah, it's a pretty tough lake to get to, especially in one afternoon.
[0:18:38 – 0:18:38] Adam: Yeah.
[0:18:40 – 0:18:43] Adam: Yeah, if you ever find your way up to Wine Lake, you will not be disappointed.
[0:18:44 – 0:18:44] Adam: It's pretty cool.
[0:18:45 – 0:18:45] Erik: It's pretty sweet lake.
[0:18:45 – 0:18:46] Erik: It's got a good feel.
[0:18:46 – 0:18:49] Erik: It's got a dolmen on either side of it.
[0:18:50 – 0:18:53] Erik: A little bit of a PMA feel to it for sure.
[0:18:53 – 0:18:59] Erik: Yeah, well, if you're interested in more conversation on wine in the Laos River, there is an episode on it.
[0:19:01 – 0:19:09] Erik: Not too many entry points out there that offer as much different routing availability.
[0:19:10 – 0:19:15] Erik: There's not really too many lollipop stick scenarios here.
[0:19:15 – 0:19:25] Erik: You really could put together a route where you only cross over other paddled parts of the lake, like just basically right at the beginning and right at the end.
[0:19:27 – 0:19:31] Erik: You can put together some truly full balloon-sized loops off of Sawbill.
[0:19:31 – 0:19:32] Erik: It's a great spot.
[0:19:32 – 0:19:36] Erik: Sawbill Outfitters is a legacy outfitter.
[0:19:36 – 0:19:38] Erik: They've been around forever.
[0:19:38 – 0:19:39] Erik: I like that term.
[0:19:40 – 0:19:41] Erik: They know what they're talking about.
[0:19:41 – 0:19:42] Erik: They know what they're doing.
[0:19:43 – 0:19:50] Erik: Highly recommended outfitter to work with down in the, one of the few in the soft underbelly of the Boundary Waters.
[0:19:51 – 0:19:53] Erik: Kind of a standalone outfitter there.
[0:19:53 – 0:19:55] Erik: And yeah, I've had to come
[0:19:56 – 0:20:00] Erik: walking with my tail between my legs and wrench paddles from them, if you've heard that story before.
[0:20:00 – 0:20:04] Adam: Yeah, they'll do you a solid.
[0:20:04 – 0:20:04] Adam: They will.
[0:20:05 – 0:20:09] Adam: So, Bill, entry point 38, 14 a day.
[0:20:09 – 0:20:09] Adam: Do it up.
[0:20:10 – 0:20:13] Adam: This train is now arriving at the… No, we're leaving the station.
[0:20:14 – 0:20:15] Adam: I'm not sure.
[0:20:15 – 0:20:17] Adam: Well, we just spent the last 20 minutes at the station.
[0:20:17 – 0:20:18] Adam: We're just parked at the station.
[0:20:18 – 0:20:23] Erik: And now all the main characters from the movie are going to come running out of the woodwork to get back on the train.
[0:20:23 – 0:20:24] Adam: Jump on as it's leaving.
[0:20:25 – 0:20:31] Adam: And then wave wistfully back at your family, which you will never see again.
[0:20:31 – 0:20:31] Adam: Ah!
[0:20:33 – 0:20:34] Adam: Oh my god, that is horrible.
[0:20:35 – 0:20:36] Adam: We are definitely burning that thing.
[0:20:36 – 0:20:38] Adam: You can use it for kindling if you want.
[0:20:38 – 0:20:39] Adam: We will definitely do that.
[0:20:41 – 0:20:41] Adam: What is it called?
[0:20:42 – 0:20:42] Adam: The jazz harp?
[0:20:42 – 0:20:43] Erik: It has no name on it.
[0:20:44 – 0:20:45] Adam: Oh my god, this thing is horrendous.
[0:20:46 – 0:20:47] Adam: It's got a nice picture of a train though.