Thanks

Sometime back in May and somewhere in the middle of Theodore Roosevelt National Park, I set a personal expectation that I would record the events of each day of my trip in my journal. Even though I made this vow I usually dreaded the prospect of having to actually do it and a deep-down nagging feeling would settle in if I let the blog go for more than a day or two without an update. But as soon I as sat down to type each entry in earnest, I was so happy. I discovered that I like to write. Each time I considered the prospect of viewing, sorting and labeling my pictures, I felt like I was five years old again – and it was Christmas. The flash card was always full of fun surprises.

Even more than those positive feelings, the fuel that really kept the fire (rather, my laptop computer screen) burning was all of the positive feedback and encouragement I received from my friends and family during my trip.

So THANK YOU to everyone that has supported me, given me destination suggestions, and read my blog along the way. Though I was so far away, thank you for keeping in touch with the emails and the calls. Jill, Scott, Matt, Dawn, Jay, Emily, and Matthias; it was great to see you all along the way. I am glad you could join me (or I could join you.)

Briefly, a few numbers:

74 days
~ 13,000 miles
8 states
3 provinces
4 time zones
11 national parks
2 national monuments
2 oil changes & 2 haircuts

I consider myself to be very lucky to have been able to do this. Also, I consider it to be a warm-up drive for my next adventure when I drive to Patagonia (at the southern tip of Argentina.) But first, I’ll need to get back to work.

Talk to you soon...

Leif

I'M HOME ! ! ! !

In anticipation of my last day – and worried about somehow sleeping late despite two set alarm clocks – I did not sleep well during the night. But I was gung ho and chipper this morning to pack up and out, despite the prospect of the 2-mile portage on the return. Like the wilderness pros that we are, Matthias and I packed camp quickly and bolted across the lake. The return portage was sweaty as expected but it helped that the sun hadn’t even risen yet. We shaved 10 minutes off the portage compared to three days ago and were proud of it. It was another successful venture into the Boundary Waters.

Ol’ Conrad finally indicated to me how tired he was on the return drive to Ely. His gas pedal somehow was sticky and it took Conrad nearly 45 seconds to go from zero to sixty once we were back on the highway. Maybe it’s the fuel-injector or something? I hoped that he could get us as far as Minneapolis.

Back in Ely, Matthias and I took showers and cleaned up at the outfitters. Then we walked around the corner to a café for a stack of delicious blueberry pancakes with maple syrup washed down with coffee and tea. Heavenly.

We were soon on our way back to the Twin Cities. Highway 1 led us to Highway 61 which runs north-south along Lake Superior. I sighed to myself as we passed all of the wonderful stops along the shore (rivers, lighthouses, hiking) and I vowed to return before the end of the summer. We didn’t stop until Duluth where we just used the restroom and I called home to my parents and told them I was on my way! My mom offered to whip up some dinner and invited Matthias and me. We happily accepted and pushed on to the south along Interstate 35. We stopped at a Subway along the way to tide us over ‘til supper.

The Minneapolis skyline was a welcomed site. It was so good to be home! And Conrad was still working. Matthias and I entered my apartment without any problems (thanks again for taking good care of my place, Emily) and unpacked for just a bit before getting back on the road to my folks’ place. My dad grilled steaks and my mom prepared salads and macaroni and cheese the way it should be prepared: baked and with real cheese! Yum. My grandpa and aunt were there and it was just plain fun to relax and talk about the trip. Matthias and I returned to my apartment where we met up with Emily (the one and the same that traveled with me for 8 days earlier in the trip) at the hot tub and swapped a few stories before hittin’ the sack.

Return to Angleworm

Another beautiful day was in store for Matthias and me in the Boundary Waters. Our easy goal today was to return to Angleworm Lake in order to best position ourselves to get up and get out very early the following morning. We thoroughly enjoyed our oatmeal and tea around the campsite prior to departure and took our time on the trip. I was sorry to say goodbye to Gull Lake as we had the best campsite on it and the lake to ourselves. Our packs felt considerably lighter as we returned across two lakes and two portages to Angleworm. Once there, we just settled in and read our books. I went for a very short stroll up to the top of the small hill above our campsite. We finished the last of our Mountain House packages for dinner as we shooed the pesky squirrels that tried to grab some scraps. We had eaten well in the Boundary Waters; beef stroganoff, Mexican beans and rice, and pasta for dinners.

As always when I’m in the Boundary Waters, my legs started feeling a little squirrelly on the third day. There is always a lot of exercise for the upper body (paddling and carry the canoe), but there aren’t many hiking trails. So after a couple of days of sitting in the canoe and sitting reading my book, I had a lot of energy stored up. Matthias and I decided to paddle a little more around Angleworm. We paddled to the very south end of the lake to locate (again) the trailhead that would lead us back to the car the next day. When we entered the lake two days prior, we noticed a camp set up near the entry/exit point. It wasn’t marked on the map… As we approach the site in our canoe, a woman hailed us and we made small talk about the weather and such. She explained that she was in the woods by herself. She had planned to come with one other woman, but the other woman backed out at the last minute. So it seemed this woman carried all of her gear along the two-mile portage and set up camp at the entry/exit point to the lake. And she decided that’s as far as she’d go. And she planned on staying there for another 6 days in case her friend came back. It was all very strange and when she asked Matthias and me where we were camped I just waved down the lake and told her we were a couple of campsites down just in case she turned out to be a serial killer or something.

Matthias and I spent some time watching a loon on the lake. It was diving for fish. I did my best to anticipate where it would surface after each dive in order to position Matthias for a good picture. It paid off; he snapped off a few great shots.

We returned to camp and I began to get a little nostalgic about how this was the last night of my trip. Suddenly, I wished I had brought along a little whiskey to make a toast or something. Damn, it’s been a good trip.

We crawled into the tent early and set our alarms for 5:00 AM. The next day, we needed to return the equipment to the outfitters and I wanted us to have plenty of time to stop along the north shore of Lake Superior (if desired) on our way back to Minneapolis. I also thought it would be nice if we had a little down time in Minneapolis prior to getting Matthias on the plane the following day.

Gull Lake

Waking, I still felt the disc-smashing effects of the previous day’s 2-mile portage on my back and Matthias reported a little pain in his shoulder, unsure if it was caused by the paddling or the portage. On this day we decided to day-trip as we assessed our physical conditions. Following a breakfast of oatmeal and dried apricots, Matthias and I set our sights on a paddle to the east, then south. If we got tired or sore, we’d just turn around. Easy-peasy.

The previous day, I had sat in the stern of the canoe and steered it. Matthias was in the bow and provided the power. We switched roles as we crossed Gull Lake so Matthias could have a little practice in the back. We portaged from Gull to Gunn to Fairy Lake where we pulled the canoe up on an island and rested while we ate our sandwiches. The weather this day was just like the day before; the temperature was in the 70’s and an occasional cloud passed in front of the warm sun. As has been typical of my Boundary Waters experiences, we did not see a lot of wildlife. Just the lakes, the rocks, and the trees. I wondered a bit about the fishing in the area…

We turned the canoe around on Fairy Lake and headed back to camp. As we paddled towards our site, we visited another site on Gull that had been occupied the previous evening by other campers. It was situated facing south and on a flat, rocky peninsula that jutted out into the lake. It was beautiful! We decided that we would return to our camp, pack it, and come back here for the evening.

After having camped with Matthias for two weeks already, we had become very efficient at setting up and taking down camp together. We each knew exactly what to do and how to work together. So it didn’t take long to move our camp. We spent the rest of the day reading, eating and taking pictures.

Angleworm Lake

Matthias and I grabbed a quick carb-laden breakfast at the Super 8 before climbing into Conrad to drive to the trailhead. We headed east out of Ely then north towards Angleworm Lake. With the canoe strapped to the top of the car, it took only a half-hour to get there. As we cruised, the road turned from beautiful new asphalt to leveled gravel. We parked the car at the trailhead lot, took the canoe off the car, pulled our large Duluth packs out of the backseat, and began packing. I suggested that we pack a heavy pack and a light pack; the man carrying the canoe would take the light pack. The other man would take the heavy pack and the paddles. Matthias agreed with my suggestion. When I originally told him about the 2-mile portage, he assumed that we would carry the canoe together. I hadn’t thought to tell him it’s a one-man job. During portages, one lifts the canoe upside-down over one’s head and rests the harness on one’s shoulders.

He carried the canoe and the light pack and I took the heavy pack. The two-mile trudge through the woods took us an hour and even though it was still fairly early in the day, it was hot, and by the time we set our gear down at the water’s edge we were both drenched with sweat. I felt for a while as if I had crushed about 3 discs in my lower back. But as we peered around the little entry inlet and on up into stringy Angleworm Lake, I was SO HAPPY TO BE HERE! It was a great day.

With the wind strongly at our backs, we paddled three (or so) miles to the north end of Angleworm Lake. We had talked the night before about just camping at Angleworm, but the day was still young and we both had a bit of energy left in us. We made two more portages, including one for almost a mile, and entered Gull Lake. We selected a campsite on the northeast end of the lake and erected the tent. Matthias filtered water and read while I hung the bear ropes. An evening paddle might have been appropriate, but we were both pretty tired. For dinner, I cooked the pasta while Matthias prepared his delicious Insalata Caprese. As the sun set, a group of loons (Minnesota's state bird) congregated on our lake. I was used to seeing one or two loons on a lake at a time, but I counted eight altogether. I was fun to watch and listen to their unique calls. We watched the moon and stars come out, read by the light of our headlamps, and called it a night.

Our intention was to keep the campsite for the next night and do a day-trip to the west the next day.

Paul and Babe

To play it safe - and to feel best prepared to enter the Boundary Waters the next day - Matthias and I decided to arrive in Ely, Minnesota, today in order to buy groceries, pick up our canoe, and prep our equipment. We had reached the Bemidji KOA last night. The KOAs I visited on my trip were clean and orderly and every one had wifi access. But I couldn't imagine wanting to spend any time at one except to sleep; they are also crowded and worn.

From Bemidji, it was only 175 miles to Ely, so we had plenty of time to get there this day. We purchased some equipment and food at a Gander Mountain outdoor/sports store in Bemidji. Then we spent a short while walking along Lake Bemidji. The city was celebrating Crazy Days as well its first annual dragon boat races. People swarmed around the town. It was a perfect day in northern Minnesota. We stopped in the Bemidji visitor center and I took pictures of the iconic Paul Bunyan and his blue ox, Babe. From Bemidji, we passed through classic northern MN towns on our way to Ely, towns like Grand Rapids, Chisholm, Virginia and Hibbing.

We arrived in Ely in the late afternoon and scrambled to find accommodations for the evening. (We had decided earlier to sleep in a hotel.) We struck out at several places before grabbing the last spot at a Super 8. The room was probably available because it had only one bed, a gigantic hot tub next to it, and cost a (relative) fortune. We convinced the manager to haul in an extra mattress. We stocked up on groceries at Zups and picked our canoe and bear rope at Piragis Outfitters. We dined at Dairy Queen and watched the Twins on television. I felt like I was back in my "element." I love the north woods. I looked forward to dropping the canoe in the water the next morning. However, we would first need to carry it through the woods for two miles. (I wasn't looking forward to that part as much.)

Out of the office

I will be out of the office beginning August 5th and will return to the office on August 10th, during which time I will be paddling in the pure serene waters of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Northern Minnesota. In my absence, please leave a message and I will return your call or email upon my return.

(See/talk to you all soon!)

Across North Dakota and into Minnesota (!!)

It was a windy night, but I slept well at the Juniper Campground. With a steamy forecast, I was happy that we would be spending a large portion of it in the air-conditioned car. Following a quick cereal breakfast, Matthias and I were back on the road; we drove north on Highway 85 from Teddy Roosevelt Park’s north unit for a few miles to Watford, North Dakota, where we picked up Highway 23 to the east. We stopped to refuel in New Town and then continued on 23 further to the east where we caught Highway 83 north towards Minot, North Dakota, a town known for its large Air Force Base containing the Stratofortress B-52s. We lunched at McDonalds, caffeinated ourselves at Starbucks, visited the local mall in search of a cowboy hat for Matthias (struck out) and purchased road trip music at Best Buy. An afternoon of large corporation consumerism at its finest!

We headed east out of Minot on Highway 2 on a long stretch of flat road surrounded by farms and grazing land. We stopped at the geographical center of North America in Rugby, North Dakota, for pictures and a coffee and lemonade at the Cornerstone Café as we pondered exactly how this calculation is made. The waitress couldn’t tell us, but she did know that since the location was first identified 45 years ago, it had moved 15 miles away “due to erosion on the coasts.”

We continued further to the east on Highway 2 and exited on Highway 281 to the south around the west side of Devils Lake to Fort Totten, an Indian War era relic that had maintained or restored 16 of its original buildings to include soldiers’ and officers’ quarters, stores, bakery, mess hall, wells, etc, surrounding the parade grounds. In 1890, it was handed over to the local tribe and used as a school until 1959 when it was returned to the state of North Dakota as a historical monument. The exhibits and visitor center closed at 5:00 PM; we arrived at 4:58. The nice lady operating the visitor center let us peek in windows and wander around the grounds while she counted the till and shut down her computer. From the fort, we headed north to Devils Lake where we rejoined Highway 2 to the east. The topography around Devils Lake was quite interesting; we drove on several land bridges in the area. The lake’s waves lapped on both side of the road only a few yards away.

We stopped for supper at the Perkins in Grand Forks at the eastern edge of North Dakota. I had breakfast for dinner and Matthias had soup and apps. The food was ok, but after the McDonalds for lunch and the Perkins for dinner, I felt a little sick. I felt like I needed to work it off by paddling a canoe for about 3 days…

Nearly as soon as we drove out of the restaurant… we crossed the Red River into Minnesota! The air was suddenly cleaner, the scenery more beautiful! I was very happy to be back in my home state.

We set our sights on the KOA in Bemidji, Minnesota, and drove east as the sun set behind us.

The Return to Roosevelt

A shower felt great this morning and I knew it would be needed as we were going to experience another hot day. Matthias and I broke camp, stopped in Medora for a few pictures and supplies, and hopped back on Interstate 94 for a few miles to the east where we picked up Highway 85 to the north towards Teddy Roosevelt National Park’s north unit. We stopped in tiny Fairfield at the Four Corners Café – the only café - for an 80-cent cup of coffee/tea and then pushed on to the park.

We stopped in at the north unit’s visitor center to peruse the books and trinkets and we watched a short video, something I hadn’t done on my first visit. Oh, the temperature was climbing outside… We pitched the tent at the Juniper Campground and then climbed back in the car to drive the 14 mile road through the park. We stopped at all of the informational and scenic pullouts and we walked about a mile and a half to a prairie dog town where I filled up my flash memory card taking pictures of those cute little guys.

We lunched at the picturesque River Bend Overlook where a ranger told us about the population of big-horn sheep that had been introduced into the park about 10 years ago. In his early days, she explained, Teddy Roosevelt considered animal conservation to mean “shooting and stuffing animals so others could see them.” By the time he became president, his view had obviously changed, as evidenced by the millions of acres of land he designated for conservation. But before the park came under protection, the population of big-horn sheep in the area became extinct. Originally, scientists believed that the species had died out and it wasn’t until the early 1990s when DNA testing was conducted to show that the species still survived out west in British Columbia. In 1996, and in secret to avoid meddling protests of animal rights’ activists, the National Park Service sent a team to British Columbia to capture, transport, and reintroduce a group of 20 big-horns (with approval of the Canadian authorities) into the park. The ranger estimated that the park can support a population of about 50 of these sheep, but the population has remained the same size since it was brought to Teddy Roosevelt.

Following this chat with the ranger, Matthias and I continued to the end of the 14-mile road at Oxbow Overlook, then returned to the visitor center to sip on cool sodas in the shade. The temperature today reached 91 degrees. We both indicated we’d like to move on towards the east (Minnesota!) the next day, skipping a return visit to the park’s south unit, because the forecasted temperature was even higher (around 94.)

We returned to our camp and sat in the shade. Matthias read his book while I wrote in my journal. For dinner, Matthias whipped up some ravioli and I cleaned up.

Battlefields and Musicals

With my homecoming on my mind, I made a few calls this morning to make arrangements to re-connect my cable modem in my apartment, restart my monthly magazine subscription, etc. I will be home soon!

Following that brief administrative delay, Matthias and I left the Billings KOA quickly this morning. We visited Billings’ Barnes and Noble and stocked up on reading materials for our upcoming trip to the Boundary Waters, music for the ride there, and a fix of coffee and tea.

Next we visited Montana’s Pictograph Cave State Park, located just 5 miles to the south of Billings. Not only was the scenery beautiful, with three looming caves forming a half-circle around a shaded glade and with a view of a creek below, the trail guide and informational placards around the park were very informative. Matthias and I ambled around the 1000 foot long trail and learned how the caves provided shelters for prehistoric hunters. An archeological dig in the 1930s uncovered paintings on the cave walls depicting meaningful events and spiritual topics. The caves seemed to be a perfect place for a prehistoric home; there was a water supply, fruits and roots nearby, cover from the hot sun, and animals in the plains above and the ravines and creek below. The day was quickly heating up. I was glad that we weren’t doing any serious hiking today.

From Billings, we headed east then south on Interstate 90 towards Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument. It was nice to be back on the interstate, but I did miss the intimate feel of the two-line highway. We discovered a Subway, one of Matthias’ favorite American fast food joints, and a Dairy Queen, in Hardin along the way.

The national monument provided a great visitor center with Indian and cavalry artifacts collected from the battlefield as well as a collection of the accounts of the battle from both sides. On a patio behind the visitor center and just below the hill where Custer made his ‘last stand’, Matthias and I listened to two park rangers tell the story and provide interpretation of the events leading up to the battle, the battle itself, and the aftermath.

During the summer of 1876, three military expeditions left three different forts in the vicinity to pursue Lakota and Cheyenne Indians. In a nutshell, these plains Indians were trying to preserve their way of life (traveling nomadically, hunting on the open plains) and the primarily Euro-American settlers were exploring and moving westward in search of resources (including gold in this particular area.) The Battle of Little Bighorn was one of the last armed conflicts between these two groups. Lt. Col. Custer was the leader of one of the three expeditions and the first to take action with his command when he discovered a large encampment of Indians along the Little Bighorn River. Not wanting to wait for the support of the other two expeditions for fear of allowing the Indians to break camp and escape in the meantime, Custer divided his command into two groups and gave orders to attack. Custer most likely underestimated the power and fighting force of the Indians which included an estimated 1,500 – 2,000 warriors. Custer’s first group attacked, was repelled, and retreated leaving Custer and his men isolated from reinforcements. The made their ‘last stand’ on a grassy hill and no soldier was left alive. Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse were both present at the battle… I remembered the general story from when I was young – it was great to see the details open before my eyes. The National Park Service has been making an effort, over the past 25 years, to make the park and visitor center more inclusive of both points of view of Custer’s Last Stand, including renaming the park from ‘Custer’ to ‘Little Bighorn’, adding red markers along the plains were Indians had fallen (in addition to the white markers where the cavalry had fallen). Even one of the park rangers was Lakota and she integrated (albeit somewhat confusingly) Lakotan lore into her presentation. Following the presentation, Matthias and I drove along the crest of the hills where the battle had taken place over a period of two hot days in June, 1876. We read the placards (sometimes from the car) along the way.

We were definitely two-for-two on our day’s history tour so far. It was a nice change from hiking. From Little Bighorn, we retraced our path briefly on Interstate 90 to the north, took Highway 47 out of Hardin and connected with Interstate 94 heading east. The specific scenery already escapes me. I remember it was flat… Matthias drove part of the way beginning at exit 49 towards Medora, North Dakota. We rolled into Medora about 8:00 PM. I was back in familiar territory having passed through this area back in May! The famed Medora Musical had not yet opened for the season when I was here the first time, but it was in full swing on this night. All within 20 minutes, Matthias and I located the Medora Campground, bought a tent site for the night and drove up the hill to the top of the Burning Hills Amphitheater.

At the top, I couldn’t believe what I saw. Compared to the small, sleepy, old-western-style, reconstructed town of Medora, this theater was super-tech. We purchased our tickets at the modern ticket counter where the ticket girl accessed her Windows-based PC to select our seats and then we rode an open-air escalator down to our seats. The stage couldn’t have been better placed; the setting sun was shining on the rocky hills behind the old-western-style stage.

The 11-person group, the Burning Hills Singers, sang and danced in this western musical extravaganza while the 6-piece Coal Diggers fiddled and plucked away. Other colorful characters, including Teddy Roosevelt and Sheriff Bear, rounded out the cast. The show also included two featured attractions; a comedian from New York and the Mapapa Acrobats from Mbassa, Kenya. The acrobats were the highlight of the show. I recommend this show to everyone going to Medora.

Following the show, Matthias and I returned to camp and set up the tent. Then I lay out on the picnic table and stared up at the Milky Way for a while. I watched the satellites fly by and the stars shoot. I heard that one can see the international space station on a clear night if one knows where to look (but one didn’t.)

Lewistown and Billings, Montana

Congratulations to the Swiss on this anniversary day marking the founding of their confederation!
…
At Cobalt Lake this morning, Matthias and I heated up some oatmeal, packed the tent, and were on the trail returning to the trailhead by 7:15. The air was so cool, but we quickly warmed up as we hiked. The trip was a breeze; it was downhill nearly the entire way. We made it back in about 2 hours.

After packing the gear in the car, we bought coffee and a hot chocolate in the general store and headed back to East Glacier for a shower and to enter cyberspace. Just after noon, we said good-bye to Glacier National Park, and set off to the southeast towards Billings. We took Highway 89 to Great Falls where we picked up Highway 87 to Lewistown, where we expected to see a ‘classic’ Montana city frozen in time just the way it was in the 1910s. We parked the car on the main street in town and walked a few blocks up and back to the car. The town was quaint and contained a lot of the original building facades dated during the teens with a few placards here and there describing the architecture and history of certain buildings, but it was nothing extraordinary. We stuck around for only a few minutes.

The entire ride to Billings was what I originally envisioned Montana to look like; dry, flat, tree-less prairies with (of course) ‘Big Sky’. The road just rolled on and on. The terrain changed interestingly in Roundup, where sedimentary sandstone full of coal has been pushed up out of the otherwise flat landscape.

I was hoping to introduce Matthias to Dairy Queen on the road to Billings, but somehow that American staple eluded us. At about 6:30 PM, we arrived in Billings. We proceeded to the KOA campground, selected a tent site amongst the chirping crickets, and then made our way into downtown for a steak, Matthias’ treat. We dined at the Lucky Diamond on the 20th floor in the Sheraton Hotel building; Matthias had the filet mignon and I had the New York strip. The food was quite tasty, but the service was very poor and slow. Our waitress seemed more interested in serving a tourist group than a couple of scruffy-looking dudes at the corner window for some reason. The view of the town and the setting sun were quite nice. We drove around town for a little while and stopped at Albertsons to buy hot chocolate and a few other items. Billing is interesting; on the short stretch of road between the hotel and our campground, we passed a women’s prison, an oil refinery, the interstate, city hall, and the railroad.

Back at camp, we heated up the hot chocolate. Matthias read while I wrote in my journal. Tomorrow we plan to visit Pictograph Cave State Monument and Little Bighorn, site of Custer’s last stand.