Boundary Waters, 2003
The following is an account of Troop 89's 2003 high adventure trip to
the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Photos from the trip can be
found on our photos page
7:00pm - Gear shakedown at the church
8:00am - Left Skiatook headed for Des Moines
9:00am - Stopped at Wal-Mart in Bartlesville, OK for gatorade, batteries, etc... (Alan bought a cooler full of gatorade to sell for the trip, to encourage the scouts not to drink pop.)
12:45pm - Tire blowout #1 just south of Oletha, KS
Don has taken nearly a whole roll of film up to this point.
1:30pm - Lunch at McDonalds in Kansas City
6:00pm - Arrive at Camp Dodge, IA (In Des Moines)
7:00pm - Dinner at Pizza Hut in Des Moines
8:00pm - Returned to barracks, played frisbee, repackaged food one last time, and made final crew assignments.
10:00pm - Took our last showers for a while. Alan played guitar.
11:30pm - Lights out
5:30am - Wake up, pack up and clean barracks
6:00am - Breakfast at McDonalds
7:00am - Barracks inspection
7:15am - Leave Des Moines
12:30pm - Lunch (Sandwich stuff from a grocery store) north of Twin Cities
6:30pm - Arrive in Ely, MN. Pick up permits, buy maps.
7:30pm - Arrive at campsite on state park outside of Ely
9:00pm - Dinner in camp, plan out itinerary
10:00pm - Campfire
11:00pm - Bed
6:30am - Reveille, pack up
7:30am - Breakfast at Hardees in Ely
8:00am - Shopping at outfitters in Ely
9:30am - Leave Ely, head for water
9:45am - Car trouble at Fall lake just outside of the BWCA. Played frisbee and fished
2:00pm - Alan and Jerry fix van. We finally make it to our entry point. Alan and Jerry shuttle the truck to the Lake One entry point.
3:00pm - On the water at last!
11:30pm - After a long, difficult trek, we find a pair of campsites on Knife Lake.
8:00am - Wake up, eat pancakes and canandian bacon. (We decided we could just call it ham since we were so close to Canada.) Did laundry.
9:00am - Packed up, started paddling.
1:00pm - Lunch on the portage between Bonnie and Spoon lake.
3:30pm - Arrive at camp on Kekekabic Lake. Napped and fished.
7:00pm - Dinner, then bed
Crew #1 decided to push all the way to Lake Insula this day. They had to go back across 2 portages but finally made it to camp Sunday evening. Crew #2 took an extra day to make it to Insula, spending Sunday night on Thomas Lake. The following is from crew #2.
7:00am - Wake up, breakfast
9:00am - Leave camp
10:00am - Met Brooks and Don going back to get Don's life jacket. (Had to go back later for Jeff's daypack, as well.)
12:00pm - Met an OA Trail crew doing work on a portage.
3:00pm - Made camp, napped three hours.
6:00pm - Dinner, afterwards Jerry and Travis went out fishing
9:00pm - Bed
7:00am - Wake up, eat breakfast (Trail food)
8:00am - Leave camp
11:00am - Finish 180 rod portage into Lake Insula
11:30am - Meet with crew #1, decide on modified itinerary
12:30pm - Lunch, make camp across lake from crew #1
2:00pm - Visit with crew #1 (Jerry stayed back so we wouldn't have more than 9 people in a campsite.)
7:00pm - Dinner and cheesecake, bed
Tuesday was one of our favorite days, our layover day at Lake Insula. Notable events included the christening of "Flaming Hobo Island" and the subsequent marooning of Travis and Don on Flaming Hobo Island by Matt. Three men from Milwaukee, WI brought us some fish and showed us how to rig our tackle. If you're out there, thanks!
7:00am - Wake up to rain, eat breakfast (All of our stuff hanging on the line to dry got wet.)
10:30am - Rain stopped
12:00pm - Lunch, fishing, lounging, and hanging out with the other crew.
6:00pm - Dinner (It started raining again just as we finished eating.)
9:00pm - Bed
We saw a lot more people this day as we got closer to the popular Lake One entry point.
5:00am - Wake up, eat breakfast
6:00am - Leave camp (Just behind crew #1)
3:00pm - Arrive at camp on Lake One
4:00pm - Hang out with other crew, enjoy our last day in the Boundary Waters
6:00pm - Dinner, hang out with other crew
8:00pm - Bed
5:00am - Wake up
5:30am - Leave camp (Just ahead of crew #1)
7:00am - Reach the entry point/parking lot on Lake One, Alan and Jerry leave to get the van
8:30am - Breakfast at Hardees in Ely, shop outfitters one last time
10:45am - Leave Ely
11:00am - Reach coast of Lake Superior
12:00pm - Make camp at Gooseberry Falls State Park, eat leftover trail food for lunch.
12:30pm - Take showers!
3:00pm - Head for Duluth
4:00pm - Tour the iron-ore frieghter William Irving
5:00pm - Dinner at a steakhouse in Duluth
8:00pm - Head back to Gooseberry Falls
9:30pm - Bed
7:00am - Wake up
8:00am - Head for Iowa
9:00am - Get donuts at a gas station in Duluth
11:00am - Stop at Cabelas, eat lunch (PB&J's)
12:00pm - Back on the road
5:00pm - Tire blowout #2 in Des Moines (Just a few miles from Camp Dodge.)
6:00pm - Check in at Camp Dodge
6:30pm - Eat dinner at pizzaria
6:00am - Wake up, clean barracks
7:00am - Play on old army equipment, barracks inspection
7:30am - Donuts from Hy-vee
8:00am - Head for home
12:00pm - Lunch at McDonalds
3:00pm - Home at last
The regulations in the Boundary Waters prohibit groups larger than 9 from entering. Since we had 10 people, we had to split into two crews during our trip. The two crews could not travel or camp together. We did, however, follow similar itineraries during our time on the water.
Crew #1 was Brett G., Jeff S., Brad J., Don J., Brooks L., and Lloyd H.
Crew #2 was Matt M., Travis D., Alan M., and Jerry D.
Tuesday, June 10th
7:00pm - Gear shakedown at the church
Wednesday, June 11th
8:00am - Left Skiatook headed for Des Moines
9:00am - Stopped at Wal-Mart in Bartlesville, OK for gatorade, batteries, etc... (Alan bought a cooler full of gatorade to sell for the trip, to encourage the scouts not to drink pop.)
12:45pm - Tire blowout #1 just south of Oletha, KS
Don has taken nearly a whole roll of film up to this point.
1:30pm - Lunch at McDonalds in Kansas City
6:00pm - Arrive at Camp Dodge, IA (In Des Moines)
7:00pm - Dinner at Pizza Hut in Des Moines
8:00pm - Returned to barracks, played frisbee, repackaged food one last time, and made final crew assignments.
10:00pm - Took our last showers for a while. Alan played guitar.
11:30pm - Lights out
Thursday, June 12th
5:30am - Wake up, pack up and clean barracks
6:00am - Breakfast at McDonalds
7:00am - Barracks inspection
7:15am - Leave Des Moines
12:30pm - Lunch (Sandwich stuff from a grocery store) north of Twin Cities
6:30pm - Arrive in Ely, MN. Pick up permits, buy maps.
7:30pm - Arrive at campsite on state park outside of Ely
9:00pm - Dinner in camp, plan out itinerary
10:00pm - Campfire
11:00pm - Bed
Friday, June 13th
6:30am - Reveille, pack up
7:30am - Breakfast at Hardees in Ely
8:00am - Shopping at outfitters in Ely
9:30am - Leave Ely, head for water
9:45am - Car trouble at Fall lake just outside of the BWCA. Played frisbee and fished
2:00pm - Alan and Jerry fix van. We finally make it to our entry point. Alan and Jerry shuttle the truck to the Lake One entry point.
3:00pm - On the water at last!
11:30pm - After a long, difficult trek, we find a pair of campsites on Knife Lake.
Saturday, June 14th (Lloyd's birthday)
8:00am - Wake up, eat pancakes and canandian bacon. (We decided we could just call it ham since we were so close to Canada.) Did laundry.
9:00am - Packed up, started paddling.
1:00pm - Lunch on the portage between Bonnie and Spoon lake.
3:30pm - Arrive at camp on Kekekabic Lake. Napped and fished.
7:00pm - Dinner, then bed
Sunday, June 15th (Father's Day)
Crew #1 decided to push all the way to Lake Insula this day. They had to go back across 2 portages but finally made it to camp Sunday evening. Crew #2 took an extra day to make it to Insula, spending Sunday night on Thomas Lake. The following is from crew #2.
7:00am - Wake up, breakfast
9:00am - Leave camp
10:00am - Met Brooks and Don going back to get Don's life jacket. (Had to go back later for Jeff's daypack, as well.)
12:00pm - Met an OA Trail crew doing work on a portage.
3:00pm - Made camp, napped three hours.
6:00pm - Dinner, afterwards Jerry and Travis went out fishing
9:00pm - Bed
Monday, June 16th
7:00am - Wake up, eat breakfast (Trail food)
8:00am - Leave camp
11:00am - Finish 180 rod portage into Lake Insula
11:30am - Meet with crew #1, decide on modified itinerary
12:30pm - Lunch, make camp across lake from crew #1
2:00pm - Visit with crew #1 (Jerry stayed back so we wouldn't have more than 9 people in a campsite.)
7:00pm - Dinner and cheesecake, bed
Tuesday, June 17th
Tuesday was one of our favorite days, our layover day at Lake Insula. Notable events included the christening of "Flaming Hobo Island" and the subsequent marooning of Travis and Don on Flaming Hobo Island by Matt. Three men from Milwaukee, WI brought us some fish and showed us how to rig our tackle. If you're out there, thanks!
7:00am - Wake up to rain, eat breakfast (All of our stuff hanging on the line to dry got wet.)
10:30am - Rain stopped
12:00pm - Lunch, fishing, lounging, and hanging out with the other crew.
6:00pm - Dinner (It started raining again just as we finished eating.)
9:00pm - Bed
Wednesday, June 18th
We saw a lot more people this day as we got closer to the popular Lake One entry point.
5:00am - Wake up, eat breakfast
6:00am - Leave camp (Just behind crew #1)
3:00pm - Arrive at camp on Lake One
4:00pm - Hang out with other crew, enjoy our last day in the Boundary Waters
6:00pm - Dinner, hang out with other crew
8:00pm - Bed
Thursday, June 19th
5:00am - Wake up
5:30am - Leave camp (Just ahead of crew #1)
7:00am - Reach the entry point/parking lot on Lake One, Alan and Jerry leave to get the van
8:30am - Breakfast at Hardees in Ely, shop outfitters one last time
10:45am - Leave Ely
11:00am - Reach coast of Lake Superior
12:00pm - Make camp at Gooseberry Falls State Park, eat leftover trail food for lunch.
12:30pm - Take showers!
3:00pm - Head for Duluth
4:00pm - Tour the iron-ore frieghter William Irving
5:00pm - Dinner at a steakhouse in Duluth
8:00pm - Head back to Gooseberry Falls
9:30pm - Bed
Friday, June 20th
7:00am - Wake up
8:00am - Head for Iowa
9:00am - Get donuts at a gas station in Duluth
11:00am - Stop at Cabelas, eat lunch (PB&J's)
12:00pm - Back on the road
5:00pm - Tire blowout #2 in Des Moines (Just a few miles from Camp Dodge.)
6:00pm - Check in at Camp Dodge
6:30pm - Eat dinner at pizzaria
Saturday, June 21st
6:00am - Wake up, clean barracks
7:00am - Play on old army equipment, barracks inspection
7:30am - Donuts from Hy-vee
8:00am - Head for home
12:00pm - Lunch at McDonalds
3:00pm - Home at last
As recorded in the notes of Matt Moyer - June 10-21, 2003.