Erik and Adam discuss the one thing people cannot live without in the BWCA and also John Lake and its campsites, portages, and fishing are discussed in this episode. We finally get the paddles in the water as well. Subscribe: Patreon iTunes Stitcher Google Play Soundcloud Contact: Facebook [email protected] Clearwater Canoe Outfitters Music Credit: dramady […]
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Episode Transcript
[0:00:01 – 0:00:06] Erik: All right, so we have found open water, if you can believe it.
[0:00:07 – 0:00:14] Adam: We threatened to do it on the last episode, and the conditions presented themselves the opportunity to follow through.
[0:00:15 – 0:00:23] Adam: So we have wetted the paddles, and we are out currently on Five Mile Rock on the Big Lake.
[0:00:24 – 0:00:28] Erik: That’s superior for, you know, the layman’s terms there.
[0:00:28 – 0:00:29] Adam: It’s not seagull.
[0:00:30 – 0:00:31] Adam: We’re not talking sag.
[0:00:31 – 0:00:32] Adam: We’re not talking basswood.
[0:00:33 – 0:00:34] Adam: The real big lake.
[0:00:35 – 0:00:36] Erik: Cinco de Mayo on Five Mile Rock.
[0:00:37 – 0:00:39] Adam: Yeah, I didn’t even think of that until right now.
[0:00:39 – 0:00:40] Erik: Cinco Mile Rock.
[0:00:40 – 0:00:42] Adam: I guess that’s the name of this episode.
[0:00:42 – 0:00:43] Adam: Cinco de Rock.
[0:00:44 – 0:00:45] Adam: That’s a rock fact, folks.
[0:00:47 – 0:00:53] Erik: Yeah, I would say it’s about a little under a mile from Highway 61 out to this basically seagull pooping grounds.
[0:00:53 – 0:00:54] Adam: Yeah, I don’t know.
[0:00:54 – 0:00:58] Adam: There’s a lot of seagulls that we scared off the rock when we approached.
[0:00:58 – 0:01:02] Adam: And a few brave ones until we actually got out and started walking around.
[0:01:02 – 0:01:08] Adam: But the very top of this rock is very densely covered in seagull droppings.
[0:01:08 – 0:01:11] Adam: It’s kind of smelly on a calm day like this especially.
[0:01:11 – 0:01:11] Adam: It’s just kind of…
[0:01:13 – 0:01:36] Erik: simmering up there yeah there’s a couple of like pools where it doesn’t drain off and it’s just like i’m sure it’s just concentrated seagull urine which is not a very pleasant smell but we’re down here on the uh the the south shore yeah of this island beautiful island do you think this is an old volcano or it’s got to be something having to do with the old volcanoes
[0:01:37 – 0:01:38] Erik: I don’t know.
[0:01:38 – 0:01:46] Erik: We’ll have some hot drone footage of our experience out here, and maybe somebody can let us know.
[0:01:46 – 0:01:49] Erik: We’ll consult the geologist’s wife on this.
[0:01:49 – 0:01:54] Adam: It looks a lot like Artist Point, and we can see Artist Point down there in Grand Marais.
[0:01:54 – 0:02:03] Adam: We’re about in line with it here, it feels like, because the rock here is in kind of a sub-bay to the east of Grand Marais, so…
[0:02:03 – 0:02:07] Adam: If you look at it on the map, it looks like they’re kind of in line with each other.
[0:02:08 – 0:02:13] Adam: I assume they’re part of the same event or what have you, but it’s pretty neat.
[0:02:13 – 0:02:15] Erik: Yeah, it was a very unique experience.
[0:02:15 – 0:02:17] Erik: I’ve never had a canoe on Lake Superior before.
[0:02:17 – 0:02:18] Erik: It’s a little…
[0:02:19 – 0:02:19] Adam: It’s a bit unnerving.
[0:02:19 – 0:02:20] Adam: Yeah.
[0:02:20 – 0:02:22] Adam: Yeah, you can’t see the bottom pretty much immediately.
[0:02:23 – 0:02:49] Adam: very very deep which i am always kind of scared of very deep water and just being the first paddle of the year you know your legs are kind of got a bit of a wobble to them sitting especially up up front i i never really i’m a bigger fellow and i never really feel totally comfortable up in a narrow nose of a fast boat yeah we got the the min 2 out here cruising we’re wowing all the beachcombers over there they can’t believe it but uh
[0:02:50 – 0:02:52] Adam: Yeah, it was a pretty quick paddle out here.
[0:02:52 – 0:02:56] Adam: It felt good to get the paddle going again, even for just a little bit.
[0:02:57 – 0:03:07] Erik: Yeah, on the way down from Clearwater today, it was Wampus was the only lake that was mostly open, which is about a two to five acre lake.
[0:03:08 – 0:03:09] Erik: Swamper.
[0:03:09 – 0:03:11] Erik: Yeah, Swamper is always a good gauge.
[0:03:11 – 0:03:12] Erik: That’s still not out.
[0:03:13 – 0:03:14] Erik: So, yeah, we’re…
[0:03:14 – 0:03:15] Adam: The rivers are going.
[0:03:15 – 0:03:16] Adam: The rules are out.
[0:03:16 – 0:03:19] Adam: The cadence behind Studio B is flowing nice.
[0:03:20 – 0:03:22] Adam: The other option would be over at the woodlot.
[0:03:22 – 0:03:32] Adam: There’s that little pond there, and I was there yesterday, and that is now filled with water to its usual maximum of spring from the melt and groundwater that gets in there.
[0:03:33 – 0:03:34] Adam: That would be the only other option.
[0:03:35 – 0:03:35] Adam: I like this option.
[0:03:35 – 0:03:36] Adam: This is really pretty.
[0:03:37 – 0:03:44] Adam: The coloring of the rocks and the water out here as it descends back to the deeps is pretty magical, both with or without sunglasses.
[0:03:44 – 0:03:45] Adam: It looks good either way.
[0:03:46 – 0:03:46] Adam: For sure.
[0:03:47 – 0:03:49] Adam: Yeah, it’s just really nice to get out.
[0:03:49 – 0:03:54] Adam: We ended the season last year paddling for our lives out of Cache Bay in a monsoon.
[0:03:54 – 0:04:02] Adam: So that was kind of a thrilling and dangerous end to the season.
[0:04:03 – 0:04:04] Adam: Kind of got your heart going.
[0:04:04 – 0:04:09] Adam: And now we’ve started, this is a very unusual start to the season, but not bad.
[0:04:10 – 0:04:11] Adam: We’ve made it out.
[0:04:11 – 0:04:13] Adam: I think we’re probably one of the first people to be in a canoe in Cook County.
[0:04:14 – 0:04:19] Erik: Yeah, unless you’re practicing your tight turns on half-acre sized ponds, I imagine we probably are.
[0:04:47 – 0:04:47] Erik: All right.
[0:04:47 – 0:04:48] Erik: Hello.
[0:04:48 – 0:05:00] Erik: Welcome back to Tumble Home, a Boundary Waters podcast brought to you by, as always, Clearwater Historic Lodge and Canoe Outfitters.
[0:05:01 – 0:05:06] Erik: And this week, fortunate enough to be also brought to you by… We’re branching out.
[0:05:06 – 0:05:07] Erik: Yes.
[0:05:07 – 0:05:09] Erik: Boxed Pinot Grigio.
[0:05:16 – 0:05:19] Erik: Well, that is a nice looking Pinot Grigio.
[0:05:19 – 0:05:20] Adam: Let me get one here.
[0:05:26 – 0:05:26] Erik: Thanks.
[0:05:26 – 0:05:27] Erik: Thanks, boxed wine.
[0:05:27 – 0:05:29] Adam: We should probably cheers that.
[0:05:32 – 0:05:33] Adam: All right.
[0:05:36 – 0:05:37] Adam: White wine.
[0:05:37 – 0:05:37] Adam: Crisp.
[0:05:38 – 0:05:39] Adam: It is crisp.
[0:05:39 – 0:05:40] Erik: Refreshing.
[0:05:40 – 0:05:43] Adam: This is a 2016 box wine.
[0:05:43 – 0:05:44] Adam: We’re really living it up today.
[0:05:44 – 0:05:44] Adam: It was a good year.
[0:05:44 – 0:05:45] Adam: Here on Tumble Home.
[0:05:45 – 0:05:46] Erik: Yeah.
[0:05:46 – 0:05:46] Erik: Well, I’m Eric.
[0:05:46 – 0:05:47] Erik: I don’t know.
[0:05:47 – 0:05:48] Erik: I haven’t introduced myself yet.
[0:05:48 – 0:05:49] Adam: And I’m Adam.
[0:05:49 – 0:05:50] Adam: Thanks for listening once again.
[0:05:50 – 0:05:51] Adam: Yeah.
[0:05:51 – 0:05:54] Adam: Episode 015 of Tumble Home.
[0:05:54 – 0:05:55] Erik: 15.
[0:05:55 – 0:05:56] Adam: Doing pretty well.
[0:05:57 – 0:06:00] Erik: Every week, we’re really going to be able to measure our lives against the show.
[0:06:00 – 0:06:00] Adam: Yeah.
[0:06:00 – 0:06:01] Adam: We’ll always remember.
[0:06:01 – 0:06:02] Adam: We’ll look back.
[0:06:02 – 0:06:04] Adam: Remember that first year of the podcast?
[0:06:04 – 0:06:04] Adam: Yeah.
[0:06:05 – 0:06:06] Adam: It was pretty magical.
[0:06:08 – 0:06:09] Adam: Cinco de Mayo.
[0:06:09 – 0:06:10] Adam: Cinco de Mayo.
[0:06:10 – 0:06:11] Adam: Cinco de Mayo.
[0:06:11 – 0:06:13] Erik: Yes.
[0:06:13 – 0:06:16] Adam: On the 5th of May, we went out to Five Mile Rock.
[0:06:16 – 0:06:17] Adam: It was pretty magical.
[0:06:17 – 0:06:23] Adam: I was a little apprehensive, but the Big Lake was pretty gentle today, and that was a nice way to start the day.
[0:06:25 – 0:06:28] Adam: Sitting on the hot rock with our friends, the Seagulls.
[0:06:28 – 0:06:30] Adam: Thanks for following us on Instagram, Seagulls.
[0:06:31 – 0:06:31] Erik: Yep.
[0:06:31 – 0:06:37] Erik: I wonder how many days out of the year you could paddle safely out to five mile rock in a open canoe like that.
[0:06:37 – 0:06:37] Adam: Yeah.
[0:06:37 – 0:06:40] Adam: I mean, I drive by it twice a day, pretty much every day.
[0:06:40 – 0:06:42] Adam: And there’s not many days where it’s that flat.
[0:06:42 – 0:06:48] Adam: And even when it’s flat, there’s still like these swells coming through from, you never knew out there today.
[0:06:48 – 0:06:53] Adam: Like there’s a South wind and, or a forecasted South wind.
[0:06:53 – 0:06:58] Adam: So at any time you felt like there could just all of a sudden waves could appear from the other side of the lake.
[0:06:58 – 0:06:59] Adam: You didn’t know.
[0:06:59 – 0:07:02] Erik: Yeah, we were out there and kind of did our thing.
[0:07:02 – 0:07:07] Erik: And all of a sudden we were just like, let’s get out of here before things change.
[0:07:07 – 0:07:10] Adam: But as far as we sat down on the beach for a while, it never did change.
[0:07:10 – 0:07:11] Adam: It was a beautiful day.
[0:07:11 – 0:07:12] Adam: It was almost too hot.
[0:07:12 – 0:07:13] Adam: Yeah, it was.
[0:07:13 – 0:07:14] Adam: I had a sweatshirt and a…
[0:07:17 – 0:07:18] Adam: That’s a nice thing to be able to say.
[0:07:18 – 0:07:20] Adam: It’s been a long winter.
[0:07:20 – 0:07:21] Erik: It has been a long winter.
[0:07:21 – 0:07:27] Erik: There is still a little bit of snow out there in dark spots or where people have… Just behind the woodshed.
[0:07:27 – 0:07:32] Erik: There’s a little bit yet, but… Yeah, wherever people have plowed up banks, there is still some snow.
[0:07:32 – 0:07:33] Erik: For the most part, though, things are drying out.
[0:07:34 – 0:07:37] Erik: Ice update, which will be a little bit more…
[0:07:38 – 0:08:00] Erik: relevant ice watch 2018 ice watch um i don’t know if anybody saw the uh video that i posted yesterday of uh boulder versus ice internet challenge it’s the it’s uh sweeping the nation sweeping the nation yeah i mean it’s almost like the ice bucket challenge to it’s even popularity because it’s ice yeah like a lot more ice yeah and boulders
[0:08:00 – 0:08:09] Erik: Yes, and unfortunately we were kind of surprised that the ice is still stronger than a 60-pound boulder.
[0:08:09 – 0:08:14] Adam: The boulder didn’t go through, but the ice inflicted damage on the boulder.
[0:08:14 – 0:08:17] Erik: Not only did it not go through, it broke the rock.
[0:08:17 – 0:08:20] Adam: The ice was just laughing all the way on that one.
[0:08:20 – 0:08:25] Erik: But, you know, that’s Clearwater Lake, which is notoriously a light ice outer.
[0:08:26 – 0:08:26] Erik: Right.
[0:08:26 – 0:08:27] Erik: One of the last ones.
[0:08:27 – 0:08:30] Adam: Obviously, the Big Lake, very liquidy.
[0:08:31 – 0:08:36] Adam: But here at Studio B, the Cadence River has been flowing for quite some time now.
[0:08:37 – 0:08:37] Adam: Yeah.
[0:08:38 – 0:08:40] Erik: Yeah, all the rivers are flowing for sure in the county.
[0:08:41 – 0:08:49] Adam: Yeah, the little pond out at the land, that is now all liquid and way up on its banks, as per usual for a vernal pond.
[0:08:49 – 0:08:56] Erik: Yeah, most of the ponds and really small lakes are going to go out today or tomorrow.
[0:08:56 – 0:08:57] Erik: Wampus is open.
[0:08:57 – 0:08:59] Erik: Wow, shout out to Wampus.
[0:08:59 – 0:09:02] Erik: Yeah, how often do you get Wampus mentioned in this podcast?
[0:09:02 – 0:09:06] Adam: Well, in season two, I think we’re going to do a whole Wampus episode.
[0:09:06 – 0:09:06] Adam: Yeah.
[0:09:08 – 0:09:11] Erik: But Swamper, which is kind of the bellwether lake of the Gunford Trail.
[0:09:11 – 0:09:12] Erik: It is a bellwether.
[0:09:12 – 0:09:12] Erik: I like that.
[0:09:13 – 0:09:15] Erik: Still has ice on it.
[0:09:15 – 0:09:16] Erik: But it’s, you know, it’s that gray.
[0:09:17 – 0:09:17] Erik: Yeah.
[0:09:17 – 0:09:18] Erik: It’s just, I mean, it’s.
[0:09:18 – 0:09:20] Adam: You put a boulder on that ice.
[0:09:21 – 0:09:21] Adam: Yeah.
[0:09:21 – 0:09:22] Adam: The boulder is going to win.
[0:09:22 – 0:09:38] Erik: Stiff wind picks up and it’s probably going to blow all over to one shore, but that’s always kind of a good indication because as soon as Swampert goes out completely, it’s usually about two weeks after that that some of the bigger lakes like Clearwater and Gunflint and
[0:09:38 – 0:09:42] Adam: Are you familiar with the term candling in relation to ice?
[0:09:42 – 0:09:43] Erik: I love that term.
[0:09:44 – 0:09:46] Erik: Got to get candling.
[0:09:46 – 0:09:49] Erik: Yeah, Swampert is definitely like candled ice.
[0:09:49 – 0:09:54] Erik: But the top of the ice on Clearwater yesterday, it looked like it was starting to do that.
[0:09:54 – 0:10:00] Erik: And then I threw that rock out and I was like, oh, well, I can just walk out on the lake still, I bet.
[0:10:00 – 0:10:00] Erik: It’s solid ice.
[0:10:02 – 0:10:24] Erik: which i mean i don’t i don’t know why it was i should be surprised it’s really only been about 10 days of like actual like heat and melting so but it’s coming along and it’s actually going to go out i think earlier than what i had originally thought which was like man it could maybe go to june there’s no way a couple episodes ago you were saying it could go to june yeah things don’t change well they’ve changed
[0:10:25 – 0:10:50] Adam: yeah it’ll be out by memorial day for sure every lake in the state will be out by memorial day that is my guarantee and if it’s it doesn’t come true then we’re gonna fold up shop and that’s the end of this then we’ll be done um but i believe it i believe you’re correct uh it feels pretty good out there right now and i think memorial day is safe fishing opener maybe some small lakes depends on the lake yeah might have to be in a river
[0:10:51 – 0:10:53] Erik: Yeah, or that.
[0:10:53 – 0:10:54] Erik: Small lakes, moving water.
[0:10:54 – 0:10:58] Erik: Yeah, opener is going to really be close.
[0:10:58 – 0:11:01] Erik: I think for the majority of the lakes up here, it’s probably not going to happen.
[0:11:01 – 0:11:06] Erik: But there is still some fishing that you can definitely take advantage of for opener up here.
[0:11:06 – 0:11:07] Erik: I don’t know.
[0:11:07 – 0:11:14] Erik: In my experience, I just don’t think that Cook County was ever a huge destination for a fishing opener in general.
[0:11:14 – 0:11:19] Erik: Just based on what we see at Clearwater, it’s usually pretty slow starting.
[0:11:19 – 0:11:21] Erik: Memorial Day is our fishing opener.
[0:11:21 – 0:11:23] Adam: Memorial Day is the true opener.
[0:11:23 – 0:11:23] Erik: Yeah.
[0:11:23 – 0:11:23] Erik: Yeah.
[0:11:24 – 0:11:28] Erik: And even, like, usually fishing opener up here, it’s almost too early.
[0:11:29 – 0:11:35] Erik: Like, really, the only thing that you can be going for are maybe some of the streams on the shore or lake trout in any of the lakes.
[0:11:35 – 0:11:37] Erik: Otherwise, like, there’s no bass.
[0:11:38 – 0:11:44] Erik: Maybe in really shallow, you could find a pike or even, like, probably too early for walleye mostly.
[0:11:44 – 0:11:46] Adam: Literally this time of year for a pike…
[0:11:46 – 0:11:54] Adam: The best way I found to catch them up here is you just throw, like, a dead cisco or schmelt on a big hook on the bottom.
[0:11:54 – 0:11:54] Erik: Yeah.
[0:11:54 – 0:12:01] Adam: And then just set your clicker on the reel, and then you just sit there and read a book until you hear, like, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click.
[0:12:01 – 0:12:02] Adam: There it goes.
[0:12:02 – 0:12:04] Erik: They don’t have any interest in exerting energy this time of year.
[0:12:04 – 0:12:06] Adam: No, they’re really sedentary.
[0:12:06 – 0:12:07] Adam: The waters are so cold.
[0:12:08 – 0:12:09] Adam: So that just goes across the board.
[0:12:10 – 0:12:13] Adam: You know, the lake trout will be a little more aggressive here by Memorial Day, but
[0:12:13 – 0:12:17] Adam: Yeah, the pike are just sniffing around the bottom right now for an easy meal.
[0:12:17 – 0:12:19] Erik: If they happen to come across something.
[0:12:20 – 0:12:20] Adam: Yeah, that’s the way to go.
[0:12:20 – 0:12:22] Adam: That can be a lot of fun.
[0:12:22 – 0:12:23] Adam: Plus, you can get some reading done.
[0:12:24 – 0:12:28] Adam: And it always does feel good to sit out in the sun if you get a nice sunny day like that.
[0:12:28 – 0:12:34] Erik: Yeah, all things considered, it seems like it should make for a pretty good Memorial Day weekend for lake trout though.
[0:12:35 – 0:12:36] Erik: Yeah, everything’s lining up.
[0:12:36 – 0:12:44] Erik: It should be just about perfect in terms of kind of that one week to two weeks after ice out is when like peak lake trout fishing is.
[0:12:44 – 0:12:51] Adam: Yeah, with the Frost River trip, it’s looking more and more positive that the ice won’t be an issue on Tuscarora by that point.
[0:12:51 – 0:13:04] Adam: And so, yeah, I’ll get to Frost Lake by night one, and I’ll probably be forced to bring a little Clio and a casting rod folded up and at least bomb a couple casts around camp.
[0:13:04 – 0:13:05] Adam: You never know that time of year.
[0:13:05 – 0:13:06] Adam: They’re going to be in shallow.
[0:13:06 – 0:13:06] Erik: Yeah.
[0:13:07 – 0:13:13] Erik: I wouldn’t be surprised if the majority of that first section between Cross Bay Lake and, like,
[0:13:14 – 0:13:41] Adam: coral and long island is probably mostly open there’s a lot of moving water in there it’s yeah yeah lakes in between that are probably still covered obviously tuscarora still has ice on it as of yeah i think it’ll be kind of the trip where i just bring you know one one rod and maybe two different spoons and just throw spoons here and there and in the moving water and you get a nice deep drop off your camp something like that but yeah i mean generally the rule for memorial day lake trout fishing is
[0:13:42 – 0:14:08] Adam: out of a canoe that i found it’s like a great time to be out of the canoe because if you can see the rocks on the bottom you’re probably in a decent enough spot if you’re in a good lake trout lake yeah the only thing with frost i know when i’ve been out there is those are really gradual drop-offs from those campsites a couple of them are just straight up sand beach campsites well i kind of want to go for one of the sand beach campsites so but it might be good for fishing isn’t going to be the focus of that trip and yeah you know if we get any fish that’d be a bonus yeah but i’m not too worried about it
[0:14:10 – 0:14:11] Erik: Yeah, you’ll have to come back with a report.
[0:14:12 – 0:14:15] Erik: At least try to fish a little bit of that Frost River itself.
[0:14:15 – 0:14:18] Erik: I’ve never spent too much time fishing any of the moving water through there.
[0:14:18 – 0:14:22] Erik: I can’t imagine there’s anything in there besides pike and bass.
[0:14:22 – 0:14:24] Adam: It’d be really cool to get some nice pike in the river.
[0:14:24 – 0:14:26] Adam: I love a good pike in a river.
[0:14:26 – 0:14:26] Erik: Yeah.
[0:14:27 – 0:14:27] Erik: Oh, yeah.
[0:14:27 – 0:14:28] Adam: A lot of fun.
[0:14:29 – 0:14:34] Adam: So, yeah, I’ll take the field recording audio equipment and hopefully get some gems on that trip.
[0:14:34 – 0:14:35] Erik: Definitely do.
[0:14:35 – 0:14:39] Adam: But yeah, getting out on Five Mile Rock, it wasn’t a very long paddle today.
[0:14:39 – 0:14:42] Adam: Maybe a three-quarter mile one way.
[0:14:43 – 0:14:45] Adam: Seven minutes total paddling time probably.
[0:14:45 – 0:14:46] Erik: Yeah, it was a little under a mile.
[0:14:46 – 0:14:47] Erik: We were going pretty good.
[0:14:47 – 0:14:48] Adam: There was almost no wind at all.
[0:14:48 – 0:14:51] Erik: Well, on the way out there, I was paddling pretty hard because I was like, I want to be done.
[0:14:51 – 0:14:51] Erik: Right.
[0:14:52 – 0:14:52] Erik: I wasn’t.
[0:14:52 – 0:14:59] Adam: Yeah, my shoulder’s still a little tender, but I’m off of IR, and I’ve been upgraded to week to week right now.
[0:14:59 – 0:15:02] Adam: So I think a little gentle paddling is a good thing this time of year.
[0:15:02 – 0:15:03] Adam: I was eager to get out.
[0:15:03 – 0:15:07] Adam: It feels good, but definitely I could feel it in the shoulder.
[0:15:07 – 0:15:12] Adam: So not 100% by any means, but I’m tracking in the right direction right now.
[0:15:13 – 0:15:13] Erik: Nice.
[0:15:13 – 0:15:16] Adam: I’m more concerned with putting on packs, as we discussed earlier.
[0:15:17 – 0:15:19] Adam: Might need help getting the packs on and off, but…
[0:15:19 – 0:15:37] Adam: pack a lot of short partridges in there anyways i think we’re getting ahead of ourselves i can’t i’m i can’t help but be excited for that trip though and just the way that the sun’s out today and we got in a boat it just feels like the season is here yeah it’s only a couple of weeks away it is here so with that
[0:15:40 – 0:15:48] Erik: I wanted to, it’s been a couple of weeks since we’ve done a off the cuff, spring it on you, has nothing to do with anything.
[0:15:49 – 0:15:51] Erik: It’s really just, it gives people a chance.
[0:15:52 – 0:16:13] Erik: to listen to us just be ourselves yeah we always try you know but you can’t help it be a little polished when you got the microphone in your hand yeah you’re trying at least right yeah and i’ve heard this question off and on it’s probably not going to surprise you but i i think it’s just an interesting uh just interesting to think about regardless so
[0:16:13 – 0:16:25] Erik: If you could live in any fictional universe, movies, books, TV, do you have one that you would think would be a fun one to live in that’s not obviously the one we live in now?
[0:16:26 – 0:16:33] Adam: Yeah, I’ll just go with what came top of the head, and so it’s going to be a more recent movie, I guess, this is coming from.
[0:16:35 – 0:16:45] Adam: I’m sure if I spent some more time and really thought about this, I probably would change my answer, but I’ll just go with the top of my head, I would say The Island from Moonrise Kingdom.
[0:16:47 – 0:16:51] Adam: I guess that was in the 60s or early 70s when that movie was apparently set.
[0:16:52 – 0:16:55] Adam: I don’t know if I would want to be there during the famous storm.
[0:16:55 – 0:16:56] Adam: Yeah, why not?
[0:16:56 – 0:16:57] Adam: Actually, yes.
[0:16:57 – 0:16:59] Adam: I would like to be there right when the movie was being filmed.
[0:17:00 – 0:17:05] Erik: Yeah, I don’t know if they ever actually specifically say what era it took place in, but it does seem like seven years.
[0:17:05 – 0:17:11] Adam: I feel like when the guy on the beach is out there with his windometer, which is not what that’s called.
[0:17:12 – 0:17:12] Adam: Fact check that later.
[0:17:13 – 0:17:18] Adam: He’s out there like, and then it was four days before the storm approached from the east.
[0:17:19 – 0:17:21] Adam: And I think it like gives a date there or something.
[0:17:22 – 0:17:23] Adam: I feel like that movie is set in the 60s or 70s, but.
[0:17:25 – 0:17:26] Adam: we might have to fact check that as well.
[0:17:27 – 0:17:29] Adam: I’m probably butchering Moonrise Kingdom badly now.
[0:17:29 – 0:17:31] Erik: No, no, that’s really a good answer.
[0:17:31 – 0:17:32] Erik: I wouldn’t even have thought of that.
[0:17:32 – 0:17:35] Adam: I like the scenes where they show the maps of the island.
[0:17:35 – 0:17:37] Adam: I’ve always enjoyed islands.
[0:17:37 – 0:17:38] Adam: I guess that’s also fitting.
[0:17:38 – 0:17:39] Adam: We went to an island today.
[0:17:40 – 0:17:41] Adam: It all fits together.
[0:17:41 – 0:17:43] Erik: The old Chick Chaw Trail?
[0:17:43 – 0:17:48] Adam: Yeah, we could hike the Chick Chaw Trail, get our little tiny canoe in a river in there.
[0:17:48 – 0:17:50] Adam: That would be open this time of year for sure.
[0:17:51 – 0:17:53] Adam: Explore some tidal inlets perhaps.
[0:17:54 – 0:17:56] Erik: Yeah, potentially get to hang out with Bill Murray.
[0:17:56 – 0:17:59] Adam: Potentially rename them to something that has a better ring to it.
[0:17:59 – 0:18:00] SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
[0:18:00 – 0:18:01] Adam: Nice.
[0:18:01 – 0:18:01] Adam: Yeah, I don’t know.
[0:18:01 – 0:18:02] Adam: I think that would be fun.
[0:18:03 – 0:18:04] Adam: Bill Murray’s on the island.
[0:18:04 – 0:18:06] Erik: Yeah, I was going to say, he succeeded there in that one.
[0:18:09 – 0:18:31] Erik: uh yeah i’m pretty happy with that answer well i feel a lot better now success yeah it’s a little stressful when you know you’re the person being asked that question you have no idea what it is could be uh could be fact-based could be opinion-based i think you answered that one uh pretty well i didn’t even think that that one sounds like fun yeah that would be fun yeah salt water a lot of salt water though i’m not sure about that
[0:18:31 – 0:18:31] Erik: Yeah.
[0:18:32 – 0:18:33] Erik: And no roads.
[0:18:33 – 0:18:34] Erik: Yeah.
[0:18:34 – 0:18:35] Erik: And one police car.
[0:18:36 – 0:18:41] Adam: Just like grass paths, old-timey police car, seaplanes, and canoes.
[0:18:42 – 0:18:42] Erik: Yep.
[0:18:43 – 0:18:44] Adam: Sailboat.
[0:18:44 – 0:18:44] Adam: We could get a sailboat.
[0:18:45 – 0:18:46] Adam: Sail around the island.
[0:18:47 – 0:18:47] Erik: Yeah.
[0:18:47 – 0:18:48] Erik: Over to the other scout camp.
[0:18:48 – 0:18:50] Erik: All right.
[0:18:50 – 0:18:52] Erik: Now we’re just talking about Moonrise Kingdom.
[0:18:52 – 0:18:54] Adam: Cousin Ben works at the supply depot.
[0:18:54 – 0:18:57] Adam: We could probably barter with him to acquire…
[0:18:57 – 0:19:00] Adam: I have a can full of nickels and dimes.
[0:19:00 – 0:19:01] Adam: We could trade them.
[0:19:02 – 0:19:02] Adam: All right.
[0:19:02 – 0:19:04] Adam: Anyways, I like the answer.
[0:19:04 – 0:19:04] Adam: We’ll leave it there.
[0:19:05 – 0:19:08] Adam: I think that fits in really nice, actually.
[0:19:08 – 0:19:08] Erik: Yeah.
[0:19:09 – 0:19:09] Adam: All right.
[0:19:09 – 0:19:10] Adam: Well…
[0:19:12 – 0:19:38] Erik: where are we going to question the week right away i think and then we’ll go to our lake of the week should we preview the lake of the week and then i guess it doesn’t it doesn’t really matter i mean we’ve all we usually do question of the week at the end but let’s switch it up let’s start with it okay so we asked this last week what one thing can you not live without in the boundary waters pretty open-ended yeah a lot of we got a lot of responses uh
[0:19:39 – 0:19:41] Adam: which is what happens when you leave it open ended, I guess.
[0:19:41 – 0:19:56] Adam: Um, maybe we, uh, preface the question by then saying we were really talking about like outside of the essentials, like a canoe or toilet paper, the obvious boring stuff that you definitely are going to have on a canoe trip.
[0:19:56 – 0:19:57] Adam: Yeah.
[0:19:57 – 0:20:01] Adam: Um, we had a nice picture of the egg buster on social media.
[0:20:01 – 0:20:08] Erik: You can’t even, you can hardly even tell that the, any of the terminology on the, that, uh,
[0:20:08 – 0:20:09] Adam: Looks like a Coglins to me.
[0:20:09 – 0:20:11] Erik: I don’t know.
[0:20:11 – 0:20:14] Erik: It looks like Coglins, but I mean… Something’s just a little bit off.
[0:20:14 – 0:20:16] Erik: Something’s just a little different there.
[0:20:16 – 0:20:17] Erik: I can’t really tell or put my finger on it.
[0:20:17 – 0:20:19] Adam: I don’t think… Yeah, nobody said Egg Busters.
[0:20:21 – 0:20:23] Erik: Except for James, but I think he was joking.
[0:20:23 – 0:20:25] Adam: Well, it’s in quotes, so it’s sarcastic.
[0:20:25 – 0:20:27] Erik: I think he was just quoting the picture.
[0:20:28 – 0:20:31] Adam: A lot of friends chiming in on this one.
[0:20:31 – 0:20:33] Adam: Should we just run them down here?
[0:20:33 – 0:20:36] Adam: Yeah, just first name, run them down on Facebook.
[0:20:37 – 0:20:41] Adam: Aaron Nemotarp, REI Flex Light Chair.
[0:20:42 – 0:20:45] Adam: Yeah, those new age chairs they have are pretty sweet.
[0:20:46 – 0:20:47] Adam: I assume that’s what that is.
[0:20:48 – 0:20:48] Adam: Yeah.
[0:20:48 – 0:20:55] Adam: It’s pretty similar to the ones we’ve used, the little poles that you set up on the hubs and then very comfortable.
[0:20:55 – 0:20:56] Adam: It’s like a tiny hammock.
[0:20:57 – 0:20:57] Erik: Yeah.
[0:20:58 – 0:21:24] Erik: that sits on the ground yeah and we’ve talked about that in the past i think with our you know month-long trips into quetico like there’s no way i’d be able to do those without sure like i think at the time when we were doing those we just had the crazy creeks yeah that’s i still kind of just bring a crazy creek along and kind of lean it against the log it’s always unsatisfactory for back uh relaxation yeah you gotta let that lower back relax after a long day in the seat
[0:21:24 – 0:21:46] Adam: yeah and those chairs are the best for that and the tarp too uh yeah i don’t know that sort of falls under standard gear for for me at least you bring a tarp um don’t care the brand as long as it’s high quality i mean we kind of left it open a nice tarp is always good to have yeah i mean that’s versatile use it in many different ways you can get by without a tarp solid answer
[0:21:47 – 0:21:48] Erik: It’s not like Shannon’s answer.
[0:21:48 – 0:21:50] Adam: A canoe.
[0:21:50 – 0:21:53] Adam: Hardy har har.
[0:21:53 – 0:21:54] Adam: Obviously.
[0:21:55 – 0:21:56] Adam: Unless you’re in a kayak.
[0:21:56 – 0:21:56] Erik: Oh my.
[0:21:56 – 0:21:58] Erik: We’re not even going to talk about that.
[0:21:58 – 0:21:59] Adam: All right, Mark.
[0:21:59 – 0:22:00] Adam: Mark’s here.
[0:22:00 – 0:22:03] Adam: He says, game changer, the thermosel.
[0:22:04 – 0:22:05] Adam: Yeah, I’ve seen these.
[0:22:06 – 0:22:11] Adam: I’ve been on fishing trips where we’re in a cabin and they set one of those on the porch.
[0:22:11 – 0:22:14] Adam: It certainly presents the…
[0:22:15 – 0:22:18] Adam: I’m not going to say it’s an illusion because I’m not sure if they work or not.
[0:22:18 – 0:22:24] Adam: But it certainly seems to me at times that those do create this bubble where the mosquitoes won’t go.
[0:22:24 – 0:22:32] Adam: But I have also seen them out when the bugs are really bad and there’s just bugs landing on you anyways, disregarding the thermosel.
[0:22:32 – 0:22:34] Adam: So I’m not 100% convinced that they work.
[0:22:34 – 0:22:38] Adam: But they’re pretty lightweight, and I’ve seen some evidence that they work.
[0:22:38 – 0:22:39] Adam: So I’m on board with that.
[0:22:40 – 0:22:44] Erik: If you get to a certain point where the bugs are that bad, there’s nothing that really works like 100%.
[0:22:45 – 0:22:46] Erik: So when the bugs are super bad…
[0:22:46 – 0:22:50] Adam: If there was a total answer to the bug problem, we’d know about it.
[0:22:50 – 0:22:50] Erik: Yeah.
[0:22:51 – 0:22:54] Erik: No, I think that they do a good job at definitely mitigating the issue.
[0:22:54 – 0:22:58] Adam: But I’ve never found something that… Citronella candles probably does just as much.
[0:22:58 – 0:23:00] Adam: I guess this is lighter, though, so…
[0:23:00 – 0:23:24] Erik: i’ve never seen like a yeah like you said besides a screen tent there’s no 100 guaranteed solution to keep the mosquitoes away out there ryan ryan is going in a fun direction with blue agave tequila highly specific there ryan but yes cheers brand loyal to blue agave and why not that’s a smooth tequila
[0:23:25 – 0:23:54] Adam: jake jake’s going with a hammock nice he’s going for our hearts with that one that’s a smart answer it’s probably a probably a that’s a contender for me i would say hammock but again that’s sort of standard gear at this point yeah if you i think the way it should work is you get 10 standard items yeah have you ever seen the show alone i think it’s called or what is it the alone naked in the woods no it’s not that one it’s the one you’re just camping by yourself basically they get 10 people on vancouver island all camp by themselves and
[0:23:54 – 0:23:58] Erik: It’s not the one with Les Stroud where he goes out by himself and builds a shelter.
[0:23:58 – 0:24:00] Adam: They just have to film themselves and everything.
[0:24:01 – 0:24:08] Adam: And then whoever just can last the longest eating snails or capturing crabs or whatever they’re doing, eating mosses.
[0:24:09 – 0:24:10] Erik: Isn’t that Survivor?
[0:24:11 – 0:24:12] Adam: Yeah, then you win.
[0:24:12 – 0:24:13] Adam: And then they come out and get you.
[0:24:13 – 0:24:16] Adam: They’re like, we’re coming out for a routine physical exam.
[0:24:16 – 0:24:17] Adam: Just make sure you’re okay.
[0:24:17 – 0:24:19] Adam: And also, everybody else quit.
[0:24:19 – 0:24:20] Adam: You won.
[0:24:20 – 0:24:20] Adam: And then they film them.
[0:24:21 – 0:24:24] Adam: And they’re like, okay, I could have stayed another week at least.
[0:24:25 – 0:24:28] Adam: Yeah, the person who always wins ends up like, I could have kept going.
[0:24:28 – 0:24:29] Adam: No problem.
[0:24:29 – 0:24:30] Adam: There’s plenty of snails in this cove.
[0:24:30 – 0:24:30] Adam: Yeah.
[0:24:31 – 0:24:35] Erik: That’s kind of like the start of Oregon Trail where you get like 10 items that you can…
[0:24:35 – 0:24:38] Adam: So you get 10 standard items that don’t count towards this answer.
[0:24:38 – 0:24:38] Adam: Yeah.
[0:24:39 – 0:24:39] Adam: And then, yeah.
[0:24:40 – 0:24:46] Adam: I’ll take 100 bullets, an extra oxen yolk, one extra axle.
[0:24:46 – 0:24:48] Adam: You always want to bring an extra axle.
[0:24:48 – 0:24:54] Erik: And beads so that you can trade for wild fruit and cacti.
[0:24:54 – 0:24:55] Adam: And one vial of medicine.
[0:24:56 – 0:24:57] Erik: Just blanket medicine.
[0:24:57 – 0:25:00] Adam: So anyways, you know, it’s another way of looking at it.
[0:25:00 – 0:25:02] Adam: So hammock’s up there, though.
[0:25:02 – 0:25:05] Adam: If it’s not in your top 10, it should be definitely number 11.
[0:25:05 – 0:25:05] Erik: Yeah.
[0:25:06 – 0:25:07] Adam: We’ve talked about the hammock before.
[0:25:08 – 0:25:09] Adam: We got a couple for coffee, you know.
[0:25:10 – 0:25:34] Erik: yes nick and scott scott are both on board for coffee with a coffee press which is the correct way to do coffee well done yeah it’s the easiest way for sure yeah percolator is like i just don’t understand how that’s even a thing yeah it’s it’s too it’s too out of control the press is so much easier yeah brian rod and reel yes i don’t need i go back and forth i think it depends on the trip
[0:25:34 – 0:25:38] Adam: Yeah, like we were just earlier talking, like I’m doing Frost River in a couple weeks here.
[0:25:38 – 0:25:40] Adam: Do I even bring a rod and reel?
[0:25:40 – 0:25:43] Adam: There’s so many other things I need to bring, and am I really going to want to take the time?
[0:25:43 – 0:25:46] Adam: But I think ultimately, yes, the answer is yes.
[0:25:47 – 0:26:07] Adam: bring it yeah yeah i mean i used to like focus my trips on the fishing whereas nowadays it’s more of the route and seeing more lakes and moving farther so then it’s like well do i really have time i don’t know probably that time of year i’ll have to i’ve gone on trips where the rod and reel was strapped up under the gunnels the whole the whole time
[0:26:08 – 0:26:18] Adam: See, like 2011 me would be like traveling through space and time to slap 2018 me for even suggesting that rod and reel is like a tertiary item.
[0:26:18 – 0:26:19] Adam: It’s a primary item.
[0:26:19 – 0:26:21] Adam: At that point, it was probably top three for me.
[0:26:21 – 0:26:22] Adam: But times change.
[0:26:23 – 0:26:23] Adam: Priorities change.
[0:26:24 – 0:26:27] Erik: Yeah, I’m sure a huge net was on the top of your list back in 2003.
[0:26:27 – 0:26:29] Erik: Yeah, I used to bring like a musky net sometimes.
[0:26:30 – 0:26:30] Erik: Why?
[0:26:30 – 0:26:32] Erik: Six foot long, one of those huge rubber nets.
[0:26:32 – 0:26:33] Adam: It did come in handy a few times, though.
[0:26:34 – 0:26:34] Adam: I’ll just say that.
[0:26:36 – 0:27:00] Erik: not bragging goose camera yeah camera yeah solid no doubt and then we’ve got the last one here which seems a little over the top but sure it’s very passionate if you smoke a pipe the way this man smokes a pipe we know this guy mike has says lighters lots and lots of lighters in various baggies in various packs just a smorgasbord of lighters yeah what color lighter mike
[0:27:01 – 0:27:03] Erik: That’s probably how he just lives his life.
[0:27:03 – 0:27:05] Erik: Just lighters randomly in baggies.
[0:27:05 – 0:27:07] Adam: This guy’s a lighter hoarder.
[0:27:08 – 0:27:09] Adam: Drawers full of lighters.
[0:27:09 – 0:27:10] Adam: Yeah.
[0:27:10 – 0:27:11] Adam: Drawers and drawers.
[0:27:12 – 0:27:15] Erik: I’m sure he just buys like a five pack every time he goes to the grocery store.
[0:27:16 – 0:27:19] Adam: So yeah, pretty good range of responses there.
[0:27:20 – 0:27:23] Adam: We could talk about this for hours and hours, I’m sure.
[0:27:23 – 0:27:35] Erik: We got a few comments on, uh, the, uh, the Reddit, which one of them was, uh, a pretty fun one from do zero four, two pretty regular commenter.
[0:27:35 – 0:27:36] Adam: Our good friend do.
[0:27:36 – 0:27:37] Erik: Thank you do.
[0:27:37 – 0:27:43] Erik: And I like this one because, uh, it really, we have some fond memories of, uh,
[0:27:44 – 0:28:08] Erik: uh using this on our longer trips and uh oh yes do sad to say and some might call me a heretic i don’t no but a wx fmsw radio with a really long whip antenna has become a staple of my trips even more so it’s just me and my pup even more so if it’s just me and my pup
[0:28:08 – 0:28:28] Erik: solo can get a bit creepy at times i agree weird eclectic offbeat radio makes for a unique soundtrack and hearing the robot voice suggest what the weather will be is pretty useful too this is where he hooked me yeah with the robot yeah bandawan yeah and 16 celsius we always love those south southwest
[0:28:29 – 0:28:35] Erik: Trips up into Quetico where you could tell when the weather changed over from English to English and French, Canadian.
[0:28:36 – 0:28:36] Adam: Yeah.
[0:28:36 – 0:28:36] Erik: Yeah.
[0:28:37 – 0:28:38] Adam: Yeah.
[0:28:38 – 0:28:41] Adam: You know when you’re far north when you start getting French weather radio.
[0:28:42 – 0:28:42] Adam: Yeah.
[0:28:42 – 0:28:44] Erik: Chabert one, Upsala.
[0:28:44 – 0:28:45] Erik: Yeah.
[0:28:46 – 0:28:52] Erik: And then the late night AM sessions of like sports from Chicago or George Norrie.
[0:28:52 – 0:28:54] Adam: AM radio out of St. Louis.
[0:28:54 – 0:28:54] Adam: Yeah.
[0:28:54 – 0:28:56] Adam: Coast to coast AM.
[0:28:56 – 0:28:56] Erik: Yep.
[0:28:56 – 0:28:59] Adam: We’re talking about how the North Pole is hollow.
[0:28:59 – 0:29:00] Erik: Wild card line.
[0:29:01 – 0:29:02] Adam: Yeah, all sorts of crazy things.
[0:29:02 – 0:29:05] Adam: We had the hand crank radio on our longer trips.
[0:29:06 – 0:29:08] Adam: Yeah, able to pick up some Packers games on that.
[0:29:09 – 0:29:12] Adam: I think we listened to some World Series baseball on one of the October trips.
[0:29:14 – 0:29:19] Adam: You never know what you’re going to find on AM radio in the middle of the night when you’ve got crisp, clear skies.
[0:29:19 – 0:29:21] Adam: You can really pull in some signals from far away.
[0:29:21 – 0:29:22] Adam: It can be a lot of fun.
[0:29:22 – 0:29:26] Erik: Yeah, I remember that as like a science project growing up in middle school.
[0:29:26 – 0:29:30] Erik: They sent us home and they said, I don’t remember what the exact science is behind it.
[0:29:30 – 0:29:31] Erik: Fact check us.
[0:29:32 – 0:29:38] Erik: Why AM radio at night specifically, the reach increases like tenfold.
[0:29:38 – 0:29:40] Erik: And I remember like going home and they were like,
[0:29:41 – 0:29:45] Erik: scroll through the AM dial and record like the farthest away.
[0:29:45 – 0:29:48] Erik: And I remember living in the twin cities.
[0:29:48 – 0:29:56] Erik: Uh, I remember back when this experiment was one of my projects, uh, getting the weather report from Yellowstone national park.
[0:29:56 – 0:29:56] Erik: Wow.
[0:29:56 – 0:29:58] Erik: I always remember that in the middle of the night like that.
[0:29:58 – 0:30:05] Erik: And, but yeah, we’re up in the middle of Quetico and we can like get crystal clear, like white socks games out of Chicago.
[0:30:05 – 0:30:05] Adam: Oh yeah.
[0:30:05 – 0:30:06] Erik: So, uh,
[0:30:06 – 0:30:18] Adam: Yeah, I remember specifically on Blueberry Island, we were listening to the Packers-Felcons Monday night football game, and the Packers scored like three touchdowns in rapid succession.
[0:30:18 – 0:30:31] Adam: I was going pretty wild over it because, yeah, when you’re that far in the park and you’re really not used to that, you’re deprived of that radio or media or whatever you’re used to burning up time with.
[0:30:32 – 0:30:36] Adam: And then all of a sudden you get like, oh, something like a Packers game in the woods like that.
[0:30:36 – 0:30:36] Adam: It’s a lot of fun.
[0:30:37 – 0:30:38] Erik: Yeah, especially as a Packers fan.
[0:30:39 – 0:30:42] Adam: A Monday night Chiefs Packers game on West Pike that way.
[0:30:43 – 0:30:43] Erik: Yes.
[0:30:44 – 0:31:13] Adam: packers also won i think i’m every packers game i’ve listened to in the boundary waters they’ve won yeah we were camped on that lake with one other group that we ran into and we told them that we were yeah we told them that we were going to alert them with two uh blasts from the shotgun we were hunting it was a small gross trip that we were on there and so we did we yeah middle of the night blasting a shotgun and we ran into them and they hadn’t heard they didn’t hear it yeah they fall and they fell asleep way too early so much for calling themselves fans yeah i guess they didn’t really care that much
[0:31:14 – 0:31:15] Erik: Got some other good answers here.
[0:31:16 – 0:31:19] Erik: Way more in-depth and detailed than the Facebook.
[0:31:19 – 0:31:22] Adam: Yeah, they really got some nice writing here.
[0:31:22 – 0:31:23] Erik: W… Oh, no, sorry.
[0:31:24 – 0:31:25] Erik: M. Wengstrom.
[0:31:27 – 0:31:32] Erik: I was going to say Cheez-Its, which become toppings for our various awful soup choices.
[0:31:33 – 0:31:36] Adam: But instead, we’ll go ahead and say a waterproof tent.
[0:31:36 – 0:31:36] Erik: Yeah.
[0:31:37 – 0:31:38] Erik: Okay.
[0:31:38 – 0:31:46] Erik: The story of wet sleeping bags, a sleeping bag that ended up in a lake.
[0:31:47 – 0:31:47] Erik: Yeah.
[0:31:48 – 0:31:51] Erik: I can see why the waterproof tent is probably up there now.
[0:31:51 – 0:31:53] Adam: You don’t want that bathtub bottom.
[0:31:53 – 0:31:54] Erik: Cheez-Its.
[0:31:54 – 0:31:55] Erik: Interesting.
[0:31:55 – 0:31:55] Adam: Cheez-Its.
[0:31:56 – 0:31:56] Adam: Not bad.
[0:31:56 – 0:31:59] Erik: I do like the idea of topping soups.
[0:31:59 – 0:32:00] Adam: You could add it to anything.
[0:32:01 – 0:32:01] Erik: Yeah.
[0:32:01 – 0:32:04] Adam: You could throw it on top of your breakfast frittata.
[0:32:05 – 0:32:11] Erik: That’s kind of one of those things that you don’t realize it when you’re out there.
[0:32:11 – 0:32:19] Erik: You kind of notice after a week of being out there little things like cold drinks, something to lean back into for your back.
[0:32:19 – 0:32:21] Erik: But one of the other things is crunchy soups.
[0:32:22 – 0:32:23] Erik: Crunchy chips.
[0:32:23 – 0:32:25] Erik: Because we’ve started doing that recently.
[0:32:25 – 0:32:27] Adam: Yeah, like a big gallon mayo container.
[0:32:27 – 0:32:33] Erik: Yeah, a hard-sided, basically like a huge Nalgene, and we put chips in it.
[0:32:33 – 0:32:36] Adam: Takes up some space, but very little weight, and it’s worth it for the crunchiness.
[0:32:37 – 0:32:38] Adam: I think we’ve tapped into something here.
[0:32:38 – 0:33:02] Adam: yes crunchiness in the woods is uh one of those things that’s a good answer i’m gonna i’m gonna say the cheez-its is a very good answer on their own or on top of well i mean they don’t have to be awful soup choices camp chow we’ve talked about them before they’ve got delicious soup choices any soup in the boundary waters is a great soup let’s say that our friend j fred 17 putting essentials aside a comfortable chair
[0:33:03 – 0:33:06] Adam: I’d hike one in when I’m going into the Rocky Mountains.
[0:33:06 – 0:33:12] Adam: I’ll paddle one in around the BWCA, an evening cooking over the fire and sipping some whiskey in a nice chair.
[0:33:12 – 0:33:13] Adam: It’s priceless for me.
[0:33:14 – 0:33:15] Adam: And yeah, I agree.
[0:33:15 – 0:33:16] Adam: A nice chair.
[0:33:16 – 0:33:19] Adam: I think a nice chair is also right up there.
[0:33:19 – 0:33:23] Erik: Yeah, especially like he… That’s not standard fare.
[0:33:23 – 0:33:24] Adam: Like, oh, just lean against the rocks.
[0:33:24 – 0:33:25] Adam: And I do that a lot.
[0:33:25 – 0:33:32] Adam: But a nice chair, their chair technology, I’d say in the last couple of years has really come a long way.
[0:33:32 – 0:33:36] Erik: It’s really allowed for very comfortable sitting around the campfire at night.
[0:33:36 – 0:33:43] Erik: The idea of cooking over the fire while sipping on some whiskey or wine in a nice chair right now sounds pretty great.
[0:33:45 – 0:33:48] Erik: Canoe 2, again, aside from the basics.
[0:33:48 – 0:33:49] Erik: See, these folks on Reddit, they get it.
[0:33:50 – 0:33:51] Erik: Aside from the basics.
[0:33:51 – 0:33:51] Adam: We’re not talking the basics.
[0:33:51 – 0:33:54] Adam: We’re talking items 11 through 15.
[0:33:54 – 0:33:54] Erik: Yeah.
[0:33:55 – 0:33:56] Erik: Got to bring some reading material.
[0:33:57 – 0:33:57] Erik: Sure.
[0:33:57 – 0:33:58] Erik: Yes.
[0:33:58 – 0:34:09] Erik: And the second sentence I can definitely relate to, which has, you know, I’ve kind of dealt with over the past few years where I’m like, I’m bringing this book.
[0:34:09 – 0:34:10] Erik: I’m reading this book right now.
[0:34:10 – 0:34:14] Erik: And then they say, yeah, often I’m too tired to get more than a page or two in.
[0:34:14 – 0:34:19] Erik: But sometimes it’s a lifesaver in rain or even better yet, it enhances my experiences and
[0:34:20 – 0:34:42] Adam: yeah i feel like sometimes i’ll bring books for like a week-long trip and i’ll never even read it because you pull it out yeah you get like halfway down the page and you’re just like we’ve done it where we bring a group book and we try and read you know take turns reading chapters around the fire that works other like an out loud group book is nice but i’ve also done the other way where you just have a personal book for in the hammock at night
[0:34:42 – 0:34:50] Adam: You’ve got the stars overhead, reading by the dimmest setting on your headlamp, just taking it all in with the noises around you and this wonderful book.
[0:34:51 – 0:34:51] Erik: Yeah.
[0:34:51 – 0:34:54] Adam: It can be really a nice thing, a magical experience.
[0:34:54 – 0:34:58] Adam: I’ve also brought like Infinite Jest along, which is a large book.
[0:34:58 – 0:34:59] Adam: And then, yeah, I open it up.
[0:34:59 – 0:35:01] Adam: I’m like, my eyes don’t work.
[0:35:01 – 0:35:02] Adam: I can’t.
[0:35:02 – 0:35:03] Adam: I just put this down and lay here.
[0:35:04 – 0:35:05] Adam: Yeah, we’ve done that.
[0:35:05 – 0:35:06] Adam: I’ll light in two minutes.
[0:35:07 – 0:35:10] Erik: A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson around the campfire.
[0:35:10 – 0:35:11] Erik: That’s a fun one to read.
[0:35:12 – 0:35:17] Erik: Canoe 2 finishes up with saying that they were reading Sigurd Olsen’s The Singing Wilderness.
[0:35:17 – 0:35:20] Adam: It’s a little more lighthearted than like a Cormac McCarthy.
[0:35:20 – 0:35:20] Adam: A little bit.
[0:35:20 – 0:35:21] Adam: Which we’ve also done.
[0:35:21 – 0:35:21] Adam: Yeah.
[0:35:22 – 0:35:22] Erik: Dark times.
[0:35:22 – 0:35:32] Erik: But the crazy thing is that they were tripping through Lake Agnes and read a chapter about a trip where he talked about the very campsite they were camped at.
[0:35:32 – 0:35:33] Erik: Very synchronous.
[0:35:33 – 0:35:34] Erik: Very synchronous.
[0:35:34 – 0:35:35] Adam: Wait, how do you say that?
[0:35:35 – 0:35:37] Erik: It’s not synchronous.
[0:35:38 – 0:35:38] Erik: Synchronous.
[0:35:39 – 0:35:40] Erik: Synchronous.
[0:35:40 – 0:35:42] Erik: Made me feel like I was in the right place at the right time.
[0:35:42 – 0:35:42] Erik: Yeah.
[0:35:43 – 0:35:43] Erik: Yeah, Jesus.
[0:35:44 – 0:35:48] Erik: Those books, those Sigurd Olsson books are good for that when you’re out in the woods for sure.
[0:35:48 – 0:35:49] Adam: Did he plan that?
[0:35:49 – 0:35:51] Adam: I don’t know.
[0:35:51 – 0:35:52] Adam: You got to let us know.
[0:35:52 – 0:35:55] Adam: Was that planned or is that really synchronous?
[0:35:55 – 0:35:56] Adam: I think it was synchronous.
[0:35:56 – 0:35:58] Adam: Synchronous.
[0:35:58 – 0:35:58] Adam: Synchronous.
[0:35:59 – 0:35:59] Erik: Yeah.
[0:36:00 – 0:36:00] Erik: Cool.
[0:36:00 – 0:36:00] Erik: Yeah.
[0:36:00 – 0:36:03] Erik: No, I go back and forth on the reading material.
[0:36:03 – 0:36:04] Erik: Sometimes it’s like extra weight.
[0:36:04 – 0:36:08] Adam: It’s like reading Edward Abbey while you’re in arches or something like you can’t do that.
[0:36:08 – 0:36:09] Adam: Come on.
[0:36:09 – 0:36:10] Adam: You could.
[0:36:10 – 0:36:10] Adam: Actually, you should.
[0:36:11 – 0:36:12] Erik: Blow underscore Zephyr.
[0:36:13 – 0:36:15] Erik: Gravity filter, without a doubt.
[0:36:16 – 0:36:18] Erik: Yeah, no pumping is an obvious advantage.
[0:36:18 – 0:36:22] Erik: Having clean water on tap around camp is incredibly nice.
[0:36:22 – 0:36:30] Adam: Yeah, if you can get that thing set up near the fire grate even, so you can kind of just reach over and fill up a pot for boiling some water for coffee.
[0:36:30 – 0:36:30] Adam: Yeah.
[0:36:31 – 0:36:31] Erik: That’s really nice.
[0:36:31 – 0:36:34] Erik: We’ve gotten more into the gravity filters the last couple of years.
[0:36:34 – 0:36:35] Adam: I’m all on board.
[0:36:35 – 0:36:36] Adam: All on board.
[0:36:36 – 0:36:40] Erik: Sometimes I just like to go aggro, though, with the pump filter and like, yeah, I want water now.
[0:36:40 – 0:36:45] Adam: Yeah, well, sometimes if you’re on a portage, you’ve got to get a water bottle right now.
[0:36:45 – 0:36:46] Erik: It’s nice to have both.
[0:36:46 – 0:36:48] Adam: Yeah, bring both if you have the room.
[0:36:48 – 0:36:48] Adam: Combo.
[0:36:49 – 0:36:52] Adam: Yeah, in camp, gravity filter all day.
[0:36:52 – 0:36:54] Adam: I am definitely on team gravity filter.
[0:36:54 – 0:36:55] Erik: Loving it.
[0:36:56 – 0:36:58] Erik: Comment on Blow Zephyr’s…
[0:36:59 – 0:37:20] Erik: first comment a response from canoe too yeah second for the coglins products anyone with any experience out there knows that cheap and heavy and somewhat effective every once in a while equals outdoor success nice hashtag coglins somebody gets it yep
[0:37:21 – 0:37:29] Adam: rojo rojo rider our good friend rojo rider you pronounced the j or is it i silenced that j i guess
[0:37:31 – 0:37:32] Adam: I’m going to give two.
[0:37:32 – 0:37:42] Adam: I wasn’t up to speed when you were discussing food, so he’s going with a campfire dragon or similar tube to focus the breath on specific areas of the fire.
[0:37:42 – 0:37:49] Adam: It was the only thing that kept us warm on the trip as the fire would not stay lit after a few days of everything being soaked.
[0:37:49 – 0:37:50] Adam: Huh.
[0:37:50 – 0:37:51] Adam: So like a blow tube.
[0:37:51 – 0:37:52] Erik: Yeah, I’ve seen those.
[0:37:52 – 0:37:57] Erik: I think they’re definitely for when you’re dealing with extremely wet woods.
[0:37:59 – 0:38:01] Adam: This second one is pizza.
[0:38:01 – 0:38:08] Adam: I’ve done this on every BWCA trip I’ve taken, and let me tell you, there’s nothing better than delicious hot pizza in the wilderness.
[0:38:08 – 0:38:09] Erik: Pre-made crust.
[0:38:09 – 0:38:10] Adam: Pre-made crust, yeah.
[0:38:11 – 0:38:15] Adam: Squeeze bottle of sauce, hard cheese, and cured meats.
[0:38:16 – 0:38:17] Adam: Wow, that sounds amazing.
[0:38:18 – 0:38:22] Adam: Put them all together and roast it on the grate in a tinfoil house to melt that cheese.
[0:38:23 – 0:38:23] Adam: That sounds pretty good.
[0:38:23 – 0:38:25] Adam: That sounds really good.
[0:38:25 – 0:38:28] Adam: The best I can say is I’ve done is the little pizza biters.
[0:38:29 – 0:38:31] Adam: They fit right on the grate perfect.
[0:38:31 – 0:38:32] Adam: It’s all encompassing.
[0:38:32 – 0:38:34] Adam: You just bring out a pack of them frozen.
[0:38:34 – 0:38:35] Adam: You mean pizza rolls?
[0:38:35 – 0:38:36] Adam: Yeah, pizza rolls.
[0:38:36 – 0:38:38] Adam: The pizza biter.
[0:38:38 – 0:38:40] Adam: That’s the best I’ve done or actually made a pizza.
[0:38:41 – 0:38:42] Adam: You could do a pizza on a cast iron.
[0:38:43 – 0:38:45] Adam: You could do it this way right on the grate with a little aluminum foil.
[0:38:46 – 0:38:58] Adam: Our friend Scott, our good friend Scott, I’ve witnessed him just bringing out a pizza, a frozen pizza folded in two, wrapped in aluminum foil like a large calzone.
[0:38:58 – 0:38:59] Erik: And then he ate it like with a spoon.
[0:38:59 – 0:39:02] Adam: Yeah, just ridiculous.
[0:39:02 – 0:39:07] Erik: Or the other way to do it is to bring out half of a leftover pizza from the outdoorsman and add a Coke in.
[0:39:08 – 0:39:09] Erik: There you go.
[0:39:09 – 0:39:10] Erik: And heat that over the fire.
[0:39:10 – 0:39:10] Adam: Yeah, bring leftovers.
[0:39:10 – 0:39:13] Erik: Yeah, just bring actual leftover cooked pizza.
[0:39:14 – 0:39:42] Erik: yeah no i that’s one thing i think i i still would love to get better at and and try to do more of is like baking stuff like that yeah because it kind of goes along with the like the chip thing like the the crispy aspect a lot like all too often besides like the first night of like a fresh meat or something usually you’re just eating kind of like a slurry out of a cup with a spoon so to have like a baked thing that you can hold it’s just a
[0:39:44 – 0:39:47] Erik: So thanks for that comment, Rohan the writer.
[0:39:48 – 0:39:51] Adam: Well, Jarlik.
[0:39:52 – 0:39:52] Erik: Jarlik.
[0:39:53 – 0:39:53] Adam: Is that how you say that?
[0:39:54 – 0:39:54] Erik: I think it’s J-R-L-I-K.
[0:39:54 – 0:39:57] Adam: I’m really butchering pronunciations left and right this episode.
[0:39:59 – 0:39:59] Adam: Jarlik.
[0:40:01 – 0:40:02] Adam: It’s going with lights.
[0:40:03 – 0:40:05] Adam: Lukey Lights are one of the competitors.
[0:40:05 – 0:40:08] Adam: It’s incredible to have a well-illuminated campsite at night.
[0:40:08 – 0:40:13] Adam: Throw a couple under a tarp and they’re so bright it could be mistaken for an alien landing zone.
[0:40:13 – 0:40:18] Adam: Makes me much more confident about being able to find the site should I decide to go fishing at night.
[0:40:19 – 0:40:20] Adam: Good point.
[0:40:21 – 0:40:26] Adam: And the solar powered aspect, very convenient with not having to lug in the batteries, which I applaud you for.
[0:40:27 – 0:40:33] Adam: I usually bring in like LED party lights with a little like three AA battery compartment.
[0:40:33 – 0:40:33] Adam: Yeah.
[0:40:34 – 0:40:59] Adam: and then i kind of set them up over my hammock which is nice for reading at night you don’t have to use your headlamp as we were talking about before or yeah like if you end up you do end up going out for a little hike or a paddle at night then you can kind of see it in the distance but it’s not too obtrusive it’s borderline obtrusive though we’ve talked about how in the cell phone episode like oh it’s going to be hearing people talking on their phones across the lake if you can see somebody’s lights across the lake that is kind of jarring but
[0:40:59 – 0:41:07] Adam: typically we do camp in areas where there’s not somebody directly across the lake from us so I don’t feel too bad about it and I like looking at it it’s kind of cool
[0:41:07 – 0:41:30] Adam: there’s that and they i mean there’s not very many places where there’s campsites where you can see more than at the very worst one i’m not above it i’m totally on board they’re fun yeah bottom line i like the fact that they are solar yeah i have to look into that my led ones got busted up on blackstone in the wind yeah as soon as i took my sleeping bag out of the hammock the hammock went
[0:41:30 – 0:41:53] Adam: up like a kite and just snap the line immediately so oh yeah that was a windy morning it was a pretty windy morning so mine are busted so i might have to look into these uh sun powered ones lucy lights nice lucy well thanks everybody those are all the responses and that was a good good amount of responses yeah geez it’s lucy lights nobody got my response though which
[0:41:54 – 0:41:56] Erik: Everybody should know by now.
[0:41:56 – 0:41:57] Erik: I think they should know.
[0:41:57 – 0:41:58] Erik: We’re sponsored by them this week.
[0:41:58 – 0:41:59] Adam: Yeah, we’ve dropped some hints.
[0:42:00 – 0:42:02] Adam: It’s boxed wine minus the box.
[0:42:02 – 0:42:03] Erik: Just a bag.
[0:42:03 – 0:42:28] Adam: yeah i can’t remember a trip at this point in my life where i didn’t have a bag of wine i mean i can think of some but i can’t remember the last one it’s been years like car camping or boundary waters camping if i’m camping you better bet your box of wine i have a box of wine in my back yeah minus the box you take the box away for one people are like bring it along you can use it for fire starter
[0:42:29 – 0:42:30] Adam: No.
[0:42:30 – 0:42:34] Adam: Just take it out of the box and you throw that thing in, tap up in your pack.
[0:42:35 – 0:42:38] Adam: Anywhere you’ve got a little cranny that needs to be filled, it’s perfect.
[0:42:38 – 0:42:42] Adam: It just fills whatever space you need to make your pack perfect.
[0:42:44 – 0:42:45] Adam: And there’s nothing finer.
[0:42:46 – 0:42:48] Adam: And you don’t have to worry too much about keeping it cold.
[0:42:49 – 0:42:52] Adam: They last your whole trip as long as you don’t drink at all.
[0:42:52 – 0:42:54] Erik: I was going to say rarely with every dinner.
[0:42:55 – 0:42:55] Erik: Yeah.
[0:42:55 – 0:42:58] Erik: Uh, like shelf life wise.
[0:42:58 – 0:42:58] Erik: Yeah.
[0:42:58 – 0:43:01] Erik: They’ll last the whole trip, but they never, they never really last long enough.
[0:43:01 – 0:43:09] Adam: So yeah, I actually, most of these trips lately, it’s like, if you have a couple of people at here, it’s like bring a couple, a couple of bags of wine.
[0:43:09 – 0:43:17] Erik: It’s also a really great tool to ingratiate yourself with fellow portagers if you so happen to run into them.
[0:43:18 – 0:43:22] Adam: So often we’ve met people and you kind of chat and you’re like, hey, you want to slap the bag?
[0:43:22 – 0:43:23] Erik: Sip of the wine.
[0:43:23 – 0:43:24] Erik: Sip of the wine.
[0:43:24 – 0:43:26] Erik: Especially after a long one.
[0:43:26 – 0:43:27] Adam: Wine picnic.
[0:43:27 – 0:43:27] Adam: Yeah.
[0:43:27 – 0:43:30] Adam: Oh, it’s a good treat at the end of a long paddle or a long portage.
[0:43:31 – 0:43:32] Adam: Pass the bag.
[0:43:33 – 0:43:34] Adam: Slap the bag.
[0:43:34 – 0:43:36] Adam: So usually you grab it and then you give it a little tap.
[0:43:37 – 0:43:39] Adam: And then you have yourself a nice sip directly from the bag.
[0:43:39 – 0:43:41] Adam: We don’t carry like goblets with us.
[0:43:41 – 0:43:42] Erik: No.
[0:43:42 – 0:43:44] Erik: Clipped onto our belts.
[0:43:44 – 0:43:46] Adam: We do have a little plastic like camp cups.
[0:43:46 – 0:43:56] Adam: So then when you’re in camp around, you know, having your dinner at night, then you can have yourself an actual civilized glass of wine sitting in your very comfortable chair, listening to the weather radio.
[0:43:57 – 0:43:58] Adam: What’s going to happen in Shibanduan?
[0:43:59 – 0:44:00] Adam: What are the winds doing tomorrow?
[0:44:01 – 0:44:03] Adam: What’s on coast to coast tonight, you know?
[0:44:03 – 0:44:04] Adam: Yeah.
[0:44:04 – 0:44:05] Adam: The aliens.
[0:44:05 – 0:44:07] Adam: That’s how we got the box wine technology.
[0:44:08 – 0:44:09] Erik: There’s no other way.
[0:44:09 – 0:44:15] Erik: And then, you know, after you’re done with the wine, you can refill it with water.
[0:44:15 – 0:44:16] Adam: You could, yeah.
[0:44:16 – 0:44:24] Adam: On a Grand Canyon trip, we lugged box wine down into the valley and then enjoyed it down in Phantom Ranch.
[0:44:25 – 0:44:27] Adam: And, well, we weren’t in Phantom Ranch.
[0:44:27 – 0:44:30] Adam: We were at Bright Angel Campsite, I guess, campground.
[0:44:31 – 0:44:34] Adam: Just down the way from the ranch with the fancy people who rode the donkeys down.
[0:44:35 – 0:44:36] Erik: The fancy donkey people?
[0:44:36 – 0:44:36] Adam: We were down there.
[0:44:37 – 0:44:40] Adam: We enjoyed the wine responsibly.
[0:44:40 – 0:44:43] Adam: And then we used it as a pillow.
[0:44:44 – 0:45:08] Adam: responsibly responsibly and then because we’re going to take the kaibab up there’s no water on the way up so then we filled one of them out of the high pressure hose that are the spigot in the campground filled that all the way up with water so we had a nice and also a very flexible way to bring water along in your pack yep it really does fit nicely like in if you have a little cranny between your like sleeping pad and sleeping bags
[0:45:09 – 0:45:14] Adam: It’ll just kind of slide down in there next to the propane or your little camp chair folded down or whatever.
[0:45:14 – 0:45:16] Adam: It takes up any available space.
[0:45:17 – 0:45:19] SPEAKER_02: Yes, it fits into any little space.
[0:45:19 – 0:45:20] SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
[0:45:20 – 0:45:24] Erik: Bottom corner, that one hard spot in the pack to get filled just right.
[0:45:25 – 0:45:25] Erik: Mm-hmm.
[0:45:25 – 0:45:26] Erik: Yep.
[0:45:26 – 0:45:27] Erik: And then, yeah, you mentioned it a little bit.
[0:45:28 – 0:45:31] Erik: You kind of empty it, blow it up, use it as a little pillow.
[0:45:31 – 0:45:31] Adam: Sure.
[0:45:31 – 0:45:32] Adam: Very versatile.
[0:45:32 – 0:45:33] Erik: Which I’ve never actually done.
[0:45:33 – 0:45:35] Adam: Those things are very well-made, too.
[0:45:36 – 0:45:37] Adam: Like, you can really beat on them.
[0:45:37 – 0:45:37] Erik: They’re strong.
[0:45:38 – 0:45:41] Adam: We’ve, like, skipped them across lake ice on a winter trip.
[0:45:41 – 0:45:43] Adam: Like, playing catch with them that way.
[0:45:43 – 0:45:44] Adam: Sliding them across.
[0:45:44 – 0:45:45] Adam: You can throw them around.
[0:45:45 – 0:45:48] Adam: And if you’re swimming off a camp, you can throw it to somebody out in the lake.
[0:45:48 – 0:45:50] Adam: And if it smacks the lake, no problem.
[0:45:50 – 0:45:52] Adam: They never break in a pack.
[0:45:52 – 0:45:53] Adam: People are a little worried.
[0:45:53 – 0:45:56] Adam: They’re like, oh, what if it spills in my pack and gets all over everything?
[0:45:56 – 0:45:56] Erik: Very strong.
[0:45:57 – 0:45:57] Adam: Never going to break.
[0:45:57 – 0:45:58] Erik: No.
[0:45:58 – 0:46:02] Adam: Those things, you could throw them into Earth orbit and they would survive reentry, I swear.
[0:46:02 – 0:46:05] Erik: The only time I’ve ever had one break.
[0:46:06 – 0:46:07] Erik: Here’s a story for you.
[0:46:07 – 0:46:08] Adam: I’m going to shoot my theory down.
[0:46:08 – 0:46:10] Erik: No, no, no.
[0:46:10 – 0:46:14] Erik: No, it doesn’t kill the theory at all because of why.
[0:46:14 – 0:46:14] Erik: Okay.
[0:46:15 – 0:46:18] Erik: So, yeah, I’ve bushwhacked with them through the woods.
[0:46:18 – 0:46:20] Erik: I’ve thrown them out to people standing in a lake.
[0:46:21 – 0:46:23] Erik: I’ve had them in a pack all day.
[0:46:23 – 0:46:27] Erik: I mean, unless it’s up against like a saw blade, the things aren’t going to break.
[0:46:27 – 0:46:35] Erik: But this last November, I hiked the Kalalau Trail with Tori, my wife.
[0:46:36 – 0:47:03] Erik: out to this campsite slash ground at the end of the trail and we brought a bag of wine out obviously yeah and we were kind of packing up and uh getting our site set up right when we got in there and this loose bag of wine was just kind of sitting on the ground and we like oh hey look at that there’s like kind of a maybe like a feral cat over there in the
[0:47:05 – 0:47:05] Adam: No, yes.
[0:47:06 – 0:47:07] Adam: Feral lava.
[0:47:07 – 0:47:09] Erik: Yeah, this lava came down from the hills.
[0:47:09 – 0:47:13] Erik: The only thing that will melt these wine bags is active flowing lava.
[0:47:13 – 0:47:15] Adam: Avoid that magma at all costs.
[0:47:15 – 0:47:19] Erik: So we got our site set up and we kind of just let it, I mean, it was basically empty, the campground.
[0:47:19 – 0:47:25] Erik: So we kind of let our stuff just lay and we walked down to the beach for about a half hour and we came back up.
[0:47:25 – 0:47:31] Erik: And I went to reach in the pack for the wine bag and the pack was kind of like flipped open.
[0:47:31 – 0:47:33] Erik: It was like a duffel bag style pack.
[0:47:33 – 0:47:37] Erik: And like the whole bottom of the pack was like almost filled with wine.
[0:47:38 – 0:47:39] Erik: And I was like, what?
[0:47:39 – 0:47:41] Erik: These things have never broken.
[0:47:41 – 0:47:47] Erik: And I pulled the thing out and like where the holes were in it was like about three quarters of the way up.
[0:47:47 – 0:47:53] Erik: So we were able to like tape it, duct tape it into a tree so that the wine stayed below the holes.
[0:47:53 – 0:47:53] Erik: Wow.
[0:47:54 – 0:47:55] Adam: Very resourceful of you.
[0:47:55 – 0:48:00] Erik: But we realized what had happened was it was that feral cat.
[0:48:00 – 0:48:01] Erik: Hawaiian wild cat.
[0:48:01 – 0:48:04] Erik: Was like nurneying the bag, you know, when they like claw the…
[0:48:05 – 0:48:06] Erik: I just want to like stretch my claws out.
[0:48:06 – 0:48:07] Erik: It was basically like…
[0:48:08 – 0:48:28] Erik: like either walked on it or was like stretching its claws out on it so like cat claws are the only things that i’ve ever seen break those bags so yeah dang we lost out on like a liter of wine and then had a pack that smelled like heavy wine on the way back out chardonnay it was a red wine
[0:48:29 – 0:48:31] Erik: Yeah, I mean, I think… Cab Sav?
[0:48:32 – 0:48:32] Erik: I don’t know.
[0:48:32 – 0:48:34] Erik: Cab Sav or Pinot Noir.
[0:48:34 – 0:48:35] Erik: Better not have been Merlot.
[0:48:36 – 0:48:37] Erik: No, I don’t think it was Merlot.
[0:48:37 – 0:48:38] Adam: I don’t camp with Merlot.
[0:48:38 – 0:48:39] Adam: Nothing.
[0:48:39 – 0:48:41] Adam: I’m not camping with no Merlot.
[0:48:42 – 0:48:44] Erik: Yeah, I don’t know if I have anything else to add.
[0:48:44 – 0:48:45] Erik: I would say wine.
[0:48:45 – 0:48:48] Adam: Are we just going to agree on a bag of wine as the correct answer?
[0:48:49 – 0:48:52] Erik: You know, here on Tumble Home, there has to be a correct answer.
[0:48:52 – 0:48:56] Adam: Some of the other answers I was considering that didn’t come up was like a headlamp.
[0:48:57 – 0:48:58] Adam: Headlamp’s pretty useful.
[0:48:58 – 0:48:59] Erik: That’d be tough to get by without.
[0:48:59 – 0:49:03] Adam: Yeah, I mean, we were out having a bonfire the other night, and it was basically a full moon.
[0:49:03 – 0:49:05] Adam: And I had forgotten my headlamp, and I was okay.
[0:49:05 – 0:49:08] Erik: That’s kind of in the lines of like, you know, top 10.
[0:49:08 – 0:49:09] Adam: That’s pretty obvious too, yeah.
[0:49:09 – 0:49:12] Adam: It’s like it’s not a luxury item or a creature comfort item.
[0:49:13 – 0:49:15] Adam: So, I mean, most of the other ones I was thinking of have been mentioned.
[0:49:15 – 0:49:17] Adam: But headlamp, I guess, was out there.
[0:49:17 – 0:49:21] Erik: Yeah, I would say a bag of wine and a nice comfy chair to lean back into.
[0:49:21 – 0:49:26] Adam: Yeah, we’ve talked about cast iron, the importance of a cast iron skillet, which I don’t think most people would consider a standard gear.
[0:49:27 – 0:49:30] Adam: I think it’s worth it to pack that in, but I don’t know.
[0:49:30 – 0:49:31] Erik: I could live without it, though.
[0:49:31 – 0:49:33] Adam: You could live without it, for sure.
[0:49:33 – 0:49:39] Adam: Yeah, I would definitely, if it was a choice between a bag of wine or the cast iron, I’ll eat dehydrated food.
[0:49:39 – 0:49:40] Adam: That’s fine.
[0:49:40 – 0:49:41] Adam: Yeah.
[0:49:43 – 0:49:44] Erik: And with that, let’s move on.
[0:49:44 – 0:49:45] Erik: Thank you again.
[0:49:46 – 0:49:46] Erik: Question of the week.
[0:49:47 – 0:49:47] Erik: Great success.
[0:49:47 – 0:49:48] Adam: Yeah, it was a good question of the week.
[0:49:49 – 0:49:51] Erik: Yeah, and we flipped it this week.
[0:49:53 – 0:49:55] Erik: Doing like review last.
[0:49:56 – 0:49:56] Adam: Surprise.
[0:49:57 – 0:49:57] Adam: Surprise.
[0:49:58 – 0:50:00] Adam: This time… Keeping you on your toes.
[0:50:01 – 0:50:11] Erik: We’re going to talk about in the spirit of some of the first lakes that you can get access to earlier than most of the others in the county.
[0:50:12 – 0:50:14] Adam: Yeah, if you need a good early season option.
[0:50:14 – 0:50:15] Erik: It’s this one.
[0:50:16 – 0:50:18] Erik: And it’s entry point 69.
[0:50:19 – 0:50:22] Erik: John Lake, one entry permit per day.
[0:50:23 – 0:50:23] Erik: Pretty easy access.
[0:50:23 – 0:50:24] Adam: It’s pretty exclusive.
[0:50:25 – 0:50:25] Adam: One a day.
[0:50:26 – 0:50:27] Erik: Highly exclusive permit.
[0:50:29 – 0:50:35] Erik: Up the Arrowhead Trail out of Hovland, Hovland, Hovland.
[0:50:35 – 0:50:36] Erik: Hovland.
[0:50:36 – 0:50:36] Erik: Hovland.
[0:50:37 – 0:50:37] Erik: It’s Hovland.
[0:50:38 – 0:50:38] Erik: Hovland.
[0:50:38 – 0:50:39] Erik: It’s Hovland.
[0:50:39 – 0:50:39] Erik: Get real.
[0:50:41 – 0:50:48] Erik: So, yeah, to get up to John, I mean, it’s about the farthest east entry point in the Bongewaters.
[0:50:48 – 0:50:50] Adam: It’s the most eastern of the Vento.
[0:50:50 – 0:50:55] Erik: I think outside of the Fowl Lake entry permit.
[0:50:55 – 0:50:57] Adam: I guess that, yeah, that would count.
[0:50:57 – 0:50:58] Adam: North Fowl.
[0:50:58 – 0:51:00] Erik: 70 would technically be farther east.
[0:51:01 – 0:51:02] Adam: The Royal River.
[0:51:02 – 0:51:02] Erik: Mm-hmm.
[0:51:03 – 0:51:05] Erik: But, yeah, John Lake, good option.
[0:51:05 – 0:51:13] Erik: It’s got a lot of moving water in from McFarland out through the Royal River into South Fowl Lake and eventually down the Pigeon River.
[0:51:13 – 0:51:13] Erik: So…
[0:51:15 – 0:51:15] Erik: Nice moving water.
[0:51:16 – 0:51:19] Erik: We’ll have that lake opened probably earlier than a lot of the other ones.
[0:51:19 – 0:51:20] Erik: It’s not that big.
[0:51:20 – 0:51:26] Erik: A couple of campsites you can access right near the open water.
[0:51:26 – 0:51:30] Erik: So those, I’m sure you could probably go up there today and get to those campsites.
[0:51:30 – 0:51:32] Adam: Yeah, those first two for sure.
[0:51:32 – 0:51:34] Erik: Because it flows into John.
[0:51:35 – 0:51:49] Erik: So to get there, you’re even farther up 61, past the Gunflint Trail, up the Arrowhead Trail, which is about 25 miles, and it ends at…
[0:51:51 – 0:52:13] Erik: a little parking area i mean it technically ends down that road that goes to the cabins on mcfarland but i think that’s a private road i think it officially ends at like the little bridge where it crosses over between on that bridge is where the superior hiking or uh where the superior hiking trail meets the border road trail i guess i don’t know when that actually transitions but
[0:52:13 – 0:52:39] Erik: uh no that’s way east that’s down um but yeah the down here by trail crosses up past the bridge there no yes the border route trail does cross just on the other side on the bridge no it’s it’s across that bridge right it does um intersect and that’s where you would hook into it but that’s all border route trail the superior hiking trail turns into the border route trail down farther south um down by otter lake
[0:52:40 – 0:52:40] Erik: Okay.
[0:52:40 – 0:52:43] Erik: Anyway, so yeah, it’s a good option.
[0:52:43 – 0:52:45] Adam: It’s a cool entry point, yeah.
[0:52:46 – 0:52:50] Erik: It’s a pretty good fishing lake in my experience.
[0:52:50 – 0:52:57] Erik: We’ll run down some of the specific numbers, but I’ve had pretty good luck, walleye, pike, and bass.
[0:53:00 – 0:53:05] Erik: The lake, like I said, it flows in from McFarland.
[0:53:05 – 0:53:16] Erik: So to get into the lake, if you’re early enough in the year and relatively competent in a canoe, you should be able to skip that first portage.
[0:53:16 – 0:53:17] Erik: Yeah, you just run it.
[0:53:17 – 0:53:18] Erik: You just run it.
[0:53:18 – 0:53:19] Erik: It’s like a slight turn.
[0:53:20 – 0:53:20] Erik: It’s not bad.
[0:53:20 – 0:53:21] Erik: It’s not bad at all.
[0:53:21 – 0:53:24] Erik: Maybe later in the year, if it gets low, you might have to get out and kind of walk it.
[0:53:24 – 0:53:26] Adam: It’s tricky just trying to paddle back up it.
[0:53:26 – 0:53:36] Erik: Yeah, coming back out of John, you’ll definitely want a portage early in the year because it’s pretty swift, and it’s almost more dangerous trying to paddle up current than it is going down.
[0:53:37 – 0:53:38] Erik: That’s a rock fact.
[0:53:38 – 0:53:40] Erik: That is a rock fact, and that’s why that portage is there.
[0:53:43 – 0:53:45] Erik: Easy to get into, easy to access.
[0:53:46 – 0:53:53] Erik: Although there’s one permit per day, I think the easy access and the pretty good fishing makes it a relatively popular lake.
[0:53:53 – 0:53:55] Erik: There are three campsites on the lake.
[0:53:58 – 0:54:02] Adam: In addition to the water coming in from Pine via McFarland…
[0:54:04 – 0:54:08] Adam: There’s also then water coming from East Pike down into John as well.
[0:54:08 – 0:54:11] Adam: So you’ve got two big inlets of water.
[0:54:11 – 0:54:11] Erik: Yeah.
[0:54:11 – 0:54:14] Adam: And then it’s all funneling through John into the Royal River.
[0:54:15 – 0:54:15] Erik: Yes.
[0:54:15 – 0:54:17] Adam: Which is going down into the Pigeon River system.
[0:54:18 – 0:54:21] Adam: So it’s a real like confluence of waters here.
[0:54:21 – 0:54:23] Adam: You’re right in the middle of it all.
[0:54:24 – 0:54:29] Adam: Pretty much all the water from Clearwater and Mountain, it’s all coming together here.
[0:54:30 – 0:54:35] Adam: Pine, Johnson Falls, all that water is ending up right here at this entry point.
[0:54:36 – 0:54:36] Adam: It’s a pretty cool area.
[0:54:37 – 0:54:43] Erik: Yeah, no, it’s a nice lake, and like I said, it can get a little busy, but there’s always one of these three campsites available.
[0:54:43 – 0:54:50] Adam: Yeah, so we’re going to start from the west, obviously, with number one, which is the farthest one from the entry point then.
[0:54:51 – 0:54:51] Erik: Yep.
[0:54:51 – 0:54:53] Adam: And on the fisher maps, it’s…
[0:54:53 – 0:55:01] Adam: It’s shown to be not that far down the lake on the north shore, but in fact of point, it is quite a ways down to the west.
[0:55:01 – 0:55:04] Erik: Yeah, we looked for it one year and didn’t go far enough west.
[0:55:05 – 0:55:15] Erik: On the map, on the fisher map, the little red dot I think is close to a quarter mile too far east.
[0:55:15 – 0:55:17] Erik: It’s definitely farther west down the lake.
[0:55:17 – 0:55:18] Erik: It’s actually…
[0:55:19 – 0:55:31] Erik: Probably if you’re looking at a fissure right now or if you’re on the Clearwater website, the map picture of John Lake, it’s actually on the point that is between the two words John and Lake.
[0:55:31 – 0:55:33] Erik: It’s on that point, not on the point that is marked on the map.
[0:55:34 – 0:55:39] Erik: So we didn’t find that one the first time that we attempted to review the campsites out here.
[0:55:39 – 0:55:40] Erik: We actually found it last year.
[0:55:41 – 0:55:45] Adam: Yeah, it’s not often that we can’t find one, especially on a smaller lake like this.
[0:55:45 – 0:55:46] Adam: Right.
[0:55:46 – 0:55:50] Adam: We were also kind of trying to get moving down the Royal River on that trip.
[0:55:51 – 0:55:52] Adam: We had places to be.
[0:55:52 – 0:55:53] Adam: And to get to moose.
[0:55:53 – 0:55:54] Erik: Places to be.
[0:55:54 – 0:55:56] Erik: Just looking for junk sites on John.
[0:55:56 – 0:55:58] Erik: But it’s not that bad, actually.
[0:55:58 – 0:55:58] Adam: It’s a fine spot.
[0:55:59 – 0:55:59] Adam: So I did leave a…
[0:56:00 – 0:56:03] Adam: I was a little upset with it because we failed to find it that first time, but…
[0:56:04 – 0:56:06] Adam: Once we did find it, it’s not terrible.
[0:56:06 – 0:56:07] Adam: It’s definitely not the…
[0:56:07 – 0:56:09] Adam: It’s the worst site on John, though, let’s be honest.
[0:56:09 – 0:56:11] Adam: The worst site, but it’s still…
[0:56:11 – 0:56:12] Adam: But it’s still a pretty good site.
[0:56:12 – 0:56:16] Erik: Was given an overall grade of a C. That’s passing.
[0:56:16 – 0:56:16] Erik: Yeah.
[0:56:17 – 0:56:18] Erik: So…
[0:56:19 – 0:56:27] Erik: But yeah, it’s one of those just there’s nothing about it that I would say is necessarily remarkable or memorable.
[0:56:27 – 0:56:32] Erik: It’s kind of your run of the mill right down the middle of the road, Boundary Waters Campsite.
[0:56:32 – 0:56:34] Adam: It’s on John, which is a cool lake.
[0:56:35 – 0:56:39] Adam: I’m going to go on the record in saying I love John Lake.
[0:56:39 – 0:57:05] Erik: love john it’s got two tent pads pretty decent landing it’s a little small but it’s like a nice kind of shallow gradual landing which is always nice for the canoe fire grade area yeah it’s right down there kind of right on the water yeah i think you could probably bump up all the grades that i gave it at the time maybe to a plus yeah c plus for sure c plus is across the board averages c plus
[0:57:05 – 0:57:06] Erik: Yeah.
[0:57:07 – 0:57:17] Erik: The second campsite, which is basically the first campsite that you would come across if you were coming in from Little John, which would be basically right away when you come in.
[0:57:17 – 0:57:19] Adam: Right on the point on your right.
[0:57:19 – 0:57:20] Erik: Right away on the right.
[0:57:20 – 0:57:32] Erik: I think what sets this one apart, even though it is a little bit more kind of back up in the woods, not as much of a good lake view as campsites one or three,
[0:57:33 – 0:57:40] Erik: The drop-offs off of the tip of this campsite on the little sloping rock.
[0:57:40 – 0:57:42] Erik: It’s a beautiful sloping rock.
[0:57:42 – 0:57:47] Erik: Make for really good slip bobber fishing, especially in the evening.
[0:57:47 – 0:57:56] Erik: Great walleye fishing because, I mean, it’s in between the little river that comes in from Little John before it curls around and flows out the Royal River.
[0:57:56 – 0:57:57] Erik: So there’s just all year.
[0:57:57 – 0:57:58] Erik: There’s nice moving water.
[0:57:58 – 0:58:01] Adam: A lot of good current and attracting the bait fish in there.
[0:58:01 – 0:58:02] Adam: Oh, boy.
[0:58:02 – 0:58:25] Adam: yeah uh fun fact also the people who built stonehenge built this campsite and that rock point uh faces directly at polaris oh at all times of the year fun fact so you can set your compass by it john yeah if you get this one yeah throw your slip bobber directly north and then set your compass towards that
[0:58:26 – 0:58:29] Erik: Probably closer to a toss-up between number one and two.
[0:58:29 – 0:58:32] Erik: So B minus landing, B minus fire grade.
[0:58:33 – 0:58:34] Erik: Overall, B minus.
[0:58:34 – 0:58:36] Erik: The fishing is what makes this one a little bit better, I think.
[0:58:36 – 0:58:41] Adam: I pretty much can guarantee you’d get there for a fishing opener if you were lucky to get that one permit.
[0:58:42 – 0:58:42] Adam: And we looked today.
[0:58:43 – 0:58:44] Adam: That permit is available today.
[0:58:44 – 0:58:50] Adam: You couldn’t really fish, but you could go to John Lake probably even today, I would say, to this campsite.
[0:58:50 – 0:58:50] Adam: You could.
[0:58:50 – 0:58:52] Adam: I think you can make it here.
[0:58:52 – 0:58:56] Adam: This would probably be one of the first campsites you can access in the spring.
[0:58:57 – 0:58:57] Adam: Scouting.
[0:58:58 – 0:58:59] Adam: Go and do some scouting.
[0:59:00 – 0:59:01] Adam: Watch out, though, if that ice shifts.
[0:59:01 – 0:59:01] Erik: Yep.
[0:59:02 – 0:59:08] Erik: Get a big headlamp and beam some hordes of walleyes that I’m sure are stacked up on the shore.
[0:59:08 – 0:59:10] Adam: So these first two, they’re okay.
[0:59:10 – 0:59:11] Adam: Yeah, the best.
[0:59:11 – 0:59:13] Adam: You might be able to catch some walleye in them.
[0:59:13 – 0:59:14] Adam: They’re pretty easy to get to.
[0:59:14 – 0:59:15] Adam: Any of these, they’re okay.
[0:59:15 – 0:59:17] Adam: But then the real star of the show.
[0:59:18 – 0:59:18] Erik: Stunner.
[0:59:19 – 0:59:19] Adam: The stunner sight.
[0:59:20 – 0:59:26] Erik: Number three on the far east end of the lake right before you go down the Royal River.
[0:59:26 – 0:59:30] Adam: Yeah, you can probably hear the Royal River any night here.
[0:59:31 – 0:59:32] Erik: You can probably hear it from that second sight.
[0:59:32 – 0:59:34] Erik: You can definitely hear it from this one.
[0:59:34 – 0:59:35] Adam: Oh, yeah.
[0:59:36 – 0:59:36] Erik: It’s ripping.
[0:59:37 – 0:59:39] Erik: Three plus tent pads.
[0:59:39 – 0:59:43] Erik: The landing is the worst part of the campsite, and it’s still a B.
[0:59:44 – 0:59:45] Erik: Fire grade A, overall A.
[0:59:46 – 0:59:51] Erik: It’s definitely in the top 10 in the Vento unit, if you ask me.
[0:59:52 – 0:59:53] Adam: It’s a real luxury camp.
[0:59:53 – 0:59:54] Adam: It’s huge.
[0:59:55 – 0:59:57] Adam: It’s got nice big pines.
[0:59:57 – 0:59:58] Adam: Huge pines.
[0:59:58 – 1:00:00] Adam: The little pool of water.
[1:00:00 – 1:00:02] Adam: That one pine’s got to be a 200-year-old pine.
[1:00:02 – 1:00:03] Erik: That’s a big one.
[1:00:03 – 1:00:03] Adam: 300.
[1:00:04 – 1:00:05] Adam: 300, 400.
[1:00:06 – 1:00:07] Adam: Probably the oldest pine in the area.
[1:00:08 – 1:00:08] Erik: Probably.
[1:00:09 – 1:00:14] Erik: The little pool directly above the river is a great spot to go for walleyes, almost year-round.
[1:00:15 – 1:00:20] Erik: You just sit in there, jig right off the bottom, get some leeches.
[1:00:20 – 1:00:21] Adam: Don’t forget the leeches.
[1:00:21 – 1:00:22] Adam: Yeah, do not.
[1:00:23 – 1:00:27] Erik: That’s the rock fact recommendation about campsite number three.
[1:00:27 – 1:00:30] Erik: Do not forget the leeches.
[1:00:30 – 1:00:33] Erik: Plenty of room in here for hammocks and tents.
[1:00:33 – 1:00:36] Adam: Just a classic campsite.
[1:00:36 – 1:00:38] Adam: You could probably play some bocce in this campsite.
[1:00:38 – 1:00:46] Erik: Yeah, it’s actually not pictured, but behind the fire grate area is kind of a big grassy knoll lawn area.
[1:00:46 – 1:00:47] Erik: Kind of like that one on Pine.
[1:00:47 – 1:00:49] Adam: We always joke around with the one on Pine.
[1:00:49 – 1:00:51] Adam: It’s such a field that you can play lawn games in it.
[1:00:51 – 1:00:54] Adam: Well, this one’s got enough open space definitely for bocce.
[1:00:55 – 1:00:57] Adam: You could probably set up a badminton court in here, honestly.
[1:00:58 – 1:00:58] Adam: You could.
[1:00:58 – 1:00:59] Adam: Not a terrible idea.
[1:01:00 – 1:01:05] Erik: So third site is the go-to site on John.
[1:01:05 – 1:01:06] Erik: That’s a real winner.
[1:01:07 – 1:01:09] Erik: Yeah, let’s just look at some of the numbers here.
[1:01:09 – 1:01:10] Erik: I think I always…
[1:01:10 – 1:01:12] Erik: I’ve never looked at the numbers for John.
[1:01:12 – 1:01:14] Adam: It’s… 190 acres.
[1:01:14 – 1:01:16] Erik: 190 acres, 20 feet.
[1:01:16 – 1:01:17] Erik: It’s a little dark.
[1:01:18 – 1:01:20] Erik: 20 feet seems like way more than what I remember.
[1:01:20 – 1:01:25] Adam: Especially being that close to Pine and then even East Pike are both kind of clear waters.
[1:01:26 – 1:01:29] Adam: It does have that weird boggy lake that comes into it.
[1:01:29 – 1:01:31] Adam: I was hoping you weren’t going to talk about that.
[1:01:31 – 1:01:32] Adam: The black bog.
[1:01:32 – 1:01:37] Adam: We definitely didn’t paddle up there and we definitely didn’t see things moving on.
[1:01:37 – 1:02:05] Erik: moving on from the black we don’t talk about the black bog uh shivers crazy numbers for pike um and this is a pretty recent sample from 2016 um number of fish caught in each category out of the whole range from zero to five to 50 plus i love that they include that no 50 plus northern pike caught sorry not that they’re telling us about
[1:02:05 – 1:02:05] Erik: Yeah, right.
[1:02:06 – 1:02:10] Erik: They caught one up in the black bog, and they burned that fish.
[1:02:10 – 1:02:11] Adam: Yeah, 43.
[1:02:11 – 1:02:14] Adam: The fish burned a hole in the bottom of their boat, actually.
[1:02:14 – 1:02:15] Erik: Yeah, they sank.
[1:02:15 – 1:02:17] Erik: They never talked about that DNR.
[1:02:17 – 1:02:19] Erik: Those DNR guys are gone.
[1:02:20 – 1:02:21] Erik: Forevermore.
[1:02:21 – 1:02:23] Erik: Forevermore.
[1:02:23 – 1:02:24] Erik: Three from 30 to 34.
[1:02:25 – 1:02:29] Erik: There’s a ton, almost 20 between 20 and 24 in the pike category.
[1:02:29 – 1:02:31] Erik: Just a ton of pike in there.
[1:02:32 – 1:02:33] Adam: He’s lousy with them.
[1:02:34 – 1:02:35] Erik: Lousy with pike.
[1:02:35 – 1:02:42] Erik: Anytime you have a bunch of lakes that are interconnected like that, I feel like these numbers probably change fairly regularly.
[1:02:43 – 1:02:49] Erik: I mean, these numbers, these are the same fish that can get all the way down to the west end of pine.
[1:02:50 – 1:02:52] Adam: Yeah, it’s all really connected.
[1:02:52 – 1:02:54] Adam: It’s just one big lake.
[1:02:54 – 1:03:00] Erik: I don’t think there’s ever a time of year where a fish couldn’t swim from John to basically the base of Johnson Falls.
[1:03:00 – 1:03:04] Adam: You ever put it together that Johnson Falls basically ends up at John Lake?
[1:03:05 – 1:03:06] Adam: Is that why it’s called Johnson Falls?
[1:03:07 – 1:03:08] Adam: Is it the same John?
[1:03:09 – 1:03:09] Adam: John?
[1:03:09 – 1:03:10] Erik: John Johnson?
[1:03:10 – 1:03:16] Erik: John Johnson, if you’re listening and you named Johnson Falls or the Lake John, tell us who Little John was.
[1:03:17 – 1:03:17] Erik: We want to know.
[1:03:17 – 1:03:18] Erik: We want to know.
[1:03:19 – 1:03:24] Adam: We need answers, John.
[1:03:24 – 1:03:27] Adam: Send us a message on Instagram.
[1:03:27 – 1:03:33] Erik: I always overemphasize how good of a walleye fishing lake it is, but compared to the numbers here, it doesn’t seem like it would be, but I think it is.
[1:03:33 – 1:03:36] Adam: You can catch big pike on a slip bobber with a leech, too.
[1:03:37 – 1:03:42] Erik: The only seven walleyes caught in pretty good numbers in the pretty good size range, 12 to 29.
[1:03:42 – 1:03:42] Erik: Yeah.
[1:03:44 – 1:03:48] Erik: But I have actually caught more walleye and John than Pike.
[1:03:48 – 1:03:50] Erik: So I don’t know when they were doing it.
[1:03:51 – 1:03:53] Erik: It looks like it says it was the end of June.
[1:03:53 – 1:03:56] Erik: That’s a good time to do some netting.
[1:03:56 – 1:03:57] Erik: Who’s to say?
[1:03:58 – 1:03:58] Erik: Who’s to say?
[1:03:59 – 1:04:04] Erik: Some white suckers and then a whole horde of yellow perch, which I have also not caught on John.
[1:04:04 – 1:04:14] Erik: Yeah, if you’re in that little pool above the Royal River, which flows down, so just be mindful of the river.
[1:04:15 – 1:04:18] Erik: You can jig in there with leeches and you’ll catch some walleyes for sure.
[1:04:18 – 1:04:19] Adam: That’s beautiful.
[1:04:20 – 1:04:22] Adam: Poetry doesn’t have to always rhyme, you know.
[1:04:24 – 1:04:25] Adam: It just has to be creative.
[1:04:25 – 1:04:27] Erik: Yeah.
[1:04:27 – 1:04:32] Erik: Kind of surprising to see that the last time the lake was stocked with walleye was in 1987.
[1:04:32 – 1:04:33] Erik: Doesn’t need it, I guess.
[1:04:33 – 1:04:40] Erik: I mean, it’s connected to probably one of the most sustainable fisheries in the area with all the lakes.
[1:04:40 – 1:04:42] Adam: I bet the fish know to stay out of McFarland.
[1:04:42 – 1:04:45] Adam: They’re like, all these pontoon boats motoring around.
[1:04:45 – 1:04:49] Adam: They’re like, let’s either go kick it up in Pine or motor on up to John.
[1:04:50 – 1:04:51] Adam: Let’s get out of here.
[1:04:51 – 1:04:53] Erik: Take a day trip and swim over to Pine.
[1:04:54 – 1:04:57] Adam: It’s like a real touched fish that’s still hanging out in McFarland.
[1:04:57 – 1:04:59] Adam: Like, hey, Billy.
[1:04:59 – 1:05:02] Erik: Isn’t it like an Oregon trail situation?
[1:05:02 – 1:05:04] Erik: Going from John to Pine.
[1:05:04 – 1:05:06] Erik: You have to get to greener pastures.
[1:05:07 – 1:05:08] Adam: No, I’m just going to hang out here.
[1:05:08 – 1:05:09] Adam: I like it here.
[1:05:10 – 1:05:12] Adam: You should really go.
[1:05:12 – 1:05:13] Adam: There’s much better lakes nearby.
[1:05:14 – 1:05:16] Adam: Sorry, McFarland.
[1:05:17 – 1:05:19] Adam: I always rag on McFarland.
[1:05:19 – 1:05:21] Adam: I’m going to really get in trouble with the McFarland syndicate.
[1:05:22 – 1:05:23] Erik: I’m sure there’s a syndicate up there.
[1:05:23 – 1:05:24] Adam: They’re not happy with me.
[1:05:25 – 1:05:26] Erik: McFarland Mafia?
[1:05:26 – 1:05:28] Adam: Yeah, I’ll try and make it up to you guys.
[1:05:28 – 1:05:29] Adam: Sorry.
[1:05:29 – 1:05:31] Erik: No, every time we paddle through there, it’s like…
[1:05:32 – 1:05:33] Adam: It’s always jarring.
[1:05:33 – 1:05:34] Erik: It gets worse and worse.
[1:05:35 – 1:05:38] Adam: So, yeah, no, that’s John Lake for you.
[1:05:38 – 1:05:41] Adam: Pretty good option, especially if you’re looking for something early season.
[1:05:42 – 1:05:43] Adam: Perhaps you have a clear water permit.
[1:05:43 – 1:05:46] Adam: You don’t think it’s going to be all the way open.
[1:05:46 – 1:05:49] Adam: You don’t want to be ice trapped or some nonsense.
[1:05:49 – 1:05:54] Adam: Maybe switch your permit to John and go leech fishing for some big old pike and walleye.
[1:05:54 – 1:05:54] Erik: Yeah.
[1:05:54 – 1:05:56] Erik: And the border route trail is right there.
[1:05:56 – 1:06:05] Erik: So, you know, you could do a little hookup with the border route trail, do a day trip out on the land and then do some bobber fishing from camp on John.
[1:06:05 – 1:06:11] Erik: But I would, I would almost guarantee you that John will be open by opener.
[1:06:11 – 1:06:14] Adam: I’ve heard it’s like one of the first open and that makes a lot of sense.
[1:06:15 – 1:06:19] Erik: And I can almost guarantee you that Clearwater will not be open for opener.
[1:06:19 – 1:06:30] Erik: The other thing to consider, after the ice kind of starts moving around and breaking up, this happened last year, just because there’s open water doesn’t mean that all the ice is gone and you can still get kind of ice bound.
[1:06:30 – 1:06:31] Adam: Be wary out there.
[1:06:31 – 1:06:39] Erik: Yeah, we had people that showed up at Clearwater last year who were trying to do the Clearwater loop from John to Clearwater and then back.
[1:06:40 – 1:06:45] Erik: And they ended up having to have us give them a ride back over to their car because the ice shifted on Pine.
[1:06:46 – 1:06:53] Erik: And so they got back out to Pine and they just couldn’t because the wind shifted and blew the sheet all the way back down.
[1:06:53 – 1:06:58] Erik: So like once it breaks up, it still takes about a week for it to blow around and break up.
[1:06:58 – 1:07:00] Adam: Hashtag watch the sheet.
[1:07:01 – 1:07:01] Erik: Yeah.
[1:07:01 – 1:07:05] Erik: Hashtag watch the sheet.
[1:07:05 – 1:07:07] Adam: Hashtag be wary.
[1:07:07 – 1:07:08] Erik: Not wash the sheet.
[1:07:10 – 1:07:10] Erik: All right.
[1:07:11 – 1:07:13] Erik: Any closing thoughts on John?
[1:07:14 – 1:07:16] Adam: Well, I highly recommend it.
[1:07:16 – 1:07:18] Adam: I like the Arrowhead Trail a lot.
[1:07:18 – 1:07:23] Adam: Anytime we’ve gone up that way and started then, we’ve done some hikes over there.
[1:07:23 – 1:07:24] Adam: It’s a pretty cool area.
[1:07:24 – 1:07:26] Adam: It’s maybe an overlooked area.
[1:07:27 – 1:07:33] Adam: It’s not the first place you think of when you’re going in the Boundary Waters, but it’s a really cool option.
[1:07:34 – 1:07:58] Adam: and someday i would i do hope to continue on down the royal river and then complete the pigeon river and do the the grand portage which yeah that’s what’s over there looking at when i’m looking at the map that’s where i want to you know maybe go in and spend a night on one of these campsites on john and then from there make the push down to the the big fall campsite and then from there the last day maybe do the grand portage that would be a trip that’s definitely on my radar
[1:08:00 – 1:08:02] Adam: But not in the cards for this season for me.
[1:08:04 – 1:08:10] Erik: One other thing, I just recently wrote a blog on some of the campgrounds.
[1:08:12 – 1:08:14] Erik: Superior National Forest Campgrounds.
[1:08:14 – 1:08:15] Adam: Yeah, you’re talking like car camping.
[1:08:15 – 1:08:16] Erik: Yes.
[1:08:16 – 1:08:24] Erik: But I also did throw in a couple of the wild card, like Twin Lakes, Devilfish, Esther Lake.
[1:08:24 – 1:08:25] Erik: Esther, beautiful.
[1:08:25 – 1:08:36] Erik: And there is a, like, I think I ordered them from top to bottom in ranks of, like, most popular and largest places.
[1:08:36 – 1:08:39] Erik: down to most obscure and like smallest.
[1:08:40 – 1:08:49] Erik: And there’s a little two to three, I can’t, I can never tell for sure if it’s two or three, but there’s at least two, a little two campsite campground.
[1:08:49 – 1:08:57] Erik: I wouldn’t even call it a campground, but you can camp there on McFarland right across from the parking lot where you would put in at Little John.
[1:08:57 – 1:09:02] Erik: So worst case scenario, you could still set up and just get over there.
[1:09:02 – 1:09:18] Erik: camp and then day trip and kind of see what the situation is and i think it’s it’s like 14 a day it’s actually uh by all the research i did right it’s run by uh judge cr magni state park it’s not a superior national concessionaire on that one
[1:09:19 – 1:09:21] Erik: Yeah, they do Judge Magni.
[1:09:22 – 1:09:28] Erik: Judge Magni manages the McFarland Campground, Devilfish, Esther, and Two Island.
[1:09:28 – 1:09:29] Erik: Wow.
[1:09:29 – 1:09:32] Erik: It’s like 30 miles away.
[1:09:32 – 1:09:33] Erik: That’s quite the range.
[1:09:33 – 1:09:36] Erik: Yeah, because I was always wondering.
[1:09:36 – 1:09:37] Erik: Obviously, there’s Flower Lake.
[1:09:37 – 1:09:41] Adam: It’s a nice job just to drive around to all those campgrounds once a week and collect their dues.
[1:09:41 – 1:09:44] Erik: pick up the one garbage can.
[1:09:44 – 1:09:45] Erik: There’s nothing else.
[1:09:45 – 1:09:50] Erik: Oh, maybe like they do have outhouses, but I always wondered what are those little tiny campgrounds out?
[1:09:50 – 1:09:54] Erik: I was like, why doesn’t the U S forest service do a better job of like providing information on these?
[1:09:54 – 1:09:56] Erik: And it’s because they don’t manage them.
[1:09:56 – 1:09:58] Erik: They’re managed by a state state park.
[1:09:58 – 1:09:58] Erik: So,
[1:09:59 – 1:10:03] Erik: Keep that in mind if you’re looking around that John area, McFryland Lake Campground.
[1:10:03 – 1:10:08] Adam: Yeah, you can do like a day into John, then do a day over to Pine.
[1:10:08 – 1:10:09] Erik: Yeah.
[1:10:10 – 1:10:12] Erik: It’s like, I don’t think I’ve ever actually seen anybody camping there.
[1:10:12 – 1:10:13] Adam: Me either.
[1:10:13 – 1:10:14] Erik: Be a pretty cool spot.
[1:10:14 – 1:10:14] Erik: I mean…
[1:10:15 – 1:10:16] Erik: I would consider camping there.
[1:10:16 – 1:10:17] Erik: It’s pretty quiet.
[1:10:17 – 1:10:24] Erik: It is basically like right on the road, but it’s at the end of the Arrowhead Trail where it’s very rarely like traffic.
[1:10:25 – 1:10:26] Erik: Maybe like once every couple hours.
[1:10:26 – 1:10:31] Adam: It’s one of the better dead end roads up here in a county full of really good dead end roads.
[1:10:31 – 1:10:48] Adam: yeah for sure so i think that’ll do it where are we at oh we’re hour six yeah we gotta get out right we gotta go back down sit on the beach yeah warm ourselves on the sunny rocks yep on cinco de mayo thank you for being with us
[1:10:50 – 1:10:51] Adam: We’ve really enjoyed this episode.
[1:10:52 – 1:10:53] Adam: Episode 15.
[1:10:53 – 1:10:54] Erik: Episode 15.
[1:10:54 – 1:10:55] Erik: Tumble Home.
[1:10:56 – 1:10:57] Erik: We’re going to do a translation.
[1:10:57 – 1:11:02] Erik: Whatever Five Mile Rock translates into Spanish will be the name of the episode.
[1:11:03 – 1:11:03] Erik: Si.
[1:11:04 – 1:11:04] Erik: Si.
[1:11:05 – 1:11:06] Erik: Send us your emails.
[1:11:06 – 1:11:08] Erik: TumbleHomeCast at gmail.com.
[1:11:08 – 1:11:09] Erik: We’re on Facebook.
[1:11:09 – 1:11:11] Erik: Tumble Home, a Boundary Waters podcast.
[1:11:12 – 1:11:12] Erik: RBWCA.
[1:11:13 – 1:11:13] Erik: We’ll bother you.
[1:11:13 – 1:11:15] Erik: We’ll keep bothering you on there.
[1:11:16 – 1:11:42] Erik: oh boy oh boy instagram we’re on there we’re gonna have some really cool videos i think this week yeah and i think you know it’s been oh i think it’s been like four or five episodes and i had i had stopped doing it for a reason i had left off the end of the episode sound effects of actual paddling but i think we can get back into it and we can leave you with dispersal is inevitable happy paddling happy paddling
[1:12:09 – 1:12:10] SPEAKER_02: What could I trade you?
[1:12:10 – 1:12:12] SPEAKER_02: Stories of island life.
[1:12:13 – 1:12:16] SPEAKER_02: What could I trade you?
[1:12:16 – 1:12:20] SPEAKER_02: Kiss on the ear to crack the ice with a skull here.
[1:12:47 – 1:13:16] SPEAKER_02: in these wild dreams and it’s cold here We’ll be far enough this time that we’re away, away, away We’ll be far enough this time that we’re away, away, away Fireflies and flamethrowers and sheltering cold Fireflies and flames
[1:14:17 – 1:14:19] SPEAKER_02: There’s no maggots left on Five Mile Beach.
[1:14:22 – 1:14:23] Adam: Bozo’s got them all.
