Minnesota's Boundary Waters
BWCA 2000
This was the year we took the boys out and tried to make them into men; more specifically, the story of the Guy Toy Tribe. We planned for a few days in the wilderness, and got an adventure that we will remember for a lifetime.
Thursday, 7/27
We had planned to meet at 1:00 at Bob's house, but Wayne
was late getting his work done, so we didn't get left till about 1:30.
Wayne drove the Explorer with Bob, and I had Robby, Aaron, and Josh in our
van. On the way up we stopped at Toby's in Hinckley and picked up some
giant cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Then on till Silver Bay, where we
stopped at DQ for supper. We arrived at Sawbill Outfitters at about 7:30,
got the canoes and watched an exciting video, then found a campsite there at the
Sawbill campground, which cost us $10. We got the tents up just before
dark, and were in them by 9:30. The boys talked and laughed until about
10:30.
Friday 7/28
We were up and at 'em by 6:15, and had the vans all packed
and parked, and the canoes in the water by 8:00, and then it was off and across
the lake. We took the short (30 rd = 0.1 mile) portage across to Alton
lake, and headed north. All the sites that we had targeted were full, so
we split up and sent some people north to check out Kelso Lake, while Josh and I
headed south to check the rest of Alton. We found a great site where the people
were just packing up, so we settled back in the canoe to wait. Once they
left, we set up the tent, and found the rest of the crew. We had the site
all set up by noon. This site even had a tree all rigged to hang your food
to keep it safe from bears.
After lunch, we went fishing, but didn't catch anything. That was followed by naps and supper, then the boys took the canoe and headed out for a few laps around the nearby island. We found that we had an abundance of "Guy Toys" with us - knives, slingshots, leathermen tools, radios, a GPS, and lots of nifty camping gear. In the spirit of the recent "Survivor" show, we decided to name ourselves the "Guy Toy Tribe", with Bob being "Guy Toy Man", since he had the most and best toys. All in all, a pretty good day.
Saturday 7/29
We woke up and made boiled scrambled eggs in ziplock bags for breakfast ("squishies"). After that we put a lunch together and headed back to Sawbill Outfitters since we discovered we forgot to bring pancake syrup for breakfast on Sunday. It was about 1.5 miles from our site back to the outfitters, and then it was Mt. Dew for everyone. We stopped and had our picnic lunch on an island on the way back.
Once we were back to camp, we were all hot, so we all jumped in the lake. The water was cold enough to take your breath away, but it sure felt good! We planned on having an early supper and going fishing in Kelso Lake tonight. We thought maybe Beth Lake on Sunday, since someone we talked to at the outfitters caught lots of fish there. We had little luck fishing though - I caught a 6" fish, and Robbie caught a 9" fish - not much to brag about. Then it was back for a fire and hobo pies, and Wayne earned the nickname "Dragon Man", for his ability to start the fire with his very breath.
One of the highlights of the trip was this night. After we put the fire out, we all went out to sit on the big rock in the darkness. It's amazing how dark it is up there. The lake was so still you could see the stars reflecting on the lake. We saw more stars than we ever imagined up there, along with five shooting stars and several satellites. It was a night to remember.
Sunday 7/30
Sunday was the day we will all remember for the rest of
our lives - the day I earned my name of "Bear Man". We got up
and were beginning to cook pancakes, while the boys were still in their
tent. Bob heard a noise and turned to see a big black bear, at least 4-5
feet long, standing only a few feet away from him. He turned and walked
briskly back toward us (he knew better than to run away), and said "There's
a very large bear right over there!". Without thinking much, I went
right over there and started making as much noise as I could, yelling and
clapping. At that point, the bear was about three feet from our
stove. The bear turned and began to move ten to fifteen feet up the hill,
then he stopped and turned. He made a blowing noise while looking at me,
which made me pretty nervous, wondering what was going to happen next. I
picked up and rock and threw it at him, and he then went on up the hill.
Meanwhile the boys were still in the tent saying things like "Very funny,
Dad!", and "Good joke!".
Hearts pounding and adrenaline pumping, we sat down to eat
our breakfast. We finished cooking our sausage and pancakes, and were
sitting down when the boys heard something, and sure enough, the bear was back
over by the tents. This time we banged pans together and blew a whistle,
and chased him 100 yards up the shore. However, ten minutes later, he was
back again, this time investigating our latrine. Noise and yelling didn't
seem to get him going, until I threw a rock and hit the latrine right beside
him, then he bolted up the hill and out of sight.
We quickly wolfed down our food and cleaned up the mess, then decided it was probably best to leave this camp, so we spent the next hour packing up. We decided to portage back over to Sawbill Lake and find a spot to camp. We found a nice spot out on a point, and set up. We couldn't find a good spot to put our food up in a tree, so we decided to take most of it back to our vehicles. Bob's GPS informed us that the outfitter was only 0.7 miles away.
The adrenaline rush that morning took a lot out of us, so we all took a nap after a lunch of Mac & Cheese and leftovers, even the boys. Then we made another trip back to the outfitters, had a cold Mt. Dew again, and then went fishing for an hour. Robbie caught one baby fish, and then a 10" walleye.
After supper of Hamburger Helper Lasagna, we found the serious flaw in the campsite - mosquito breeding ground! Millions of them! We popped Jiffy Pop over the fire, then hung our one small bag of food up in a tree. The mosquito net hats that we bought as kind of a joke actually worked pretty well. Then we turned in, so we could lay in the tents and listen for what we thought were bear noises while we went to sleep.
Monday 7/31
Last day in the woods was pretty short. We packed up, and were back to the outfitters by 10:00. Wayne insisted that we all take showers ($3.50 each), so we did, and did that feel good. We were on the road by 11:00, we went down to Gooseberry Falls and hiked around there for a while. Then it was on to the highlight of the day - Betty's Pies - good food and great pies! We got home that night about 7:30, tired but happy. It was a trip we will all remember for a long time.
Guidelines for Humans and Black Bears
How to Co-Exist!Black bears are the bear people most often encounter because they live in forests over much of North America. Black bears usually retreat before people are aware of them. Their hearing is more sensitive that a human's, and their broad, soft foot pads make it easy for them to quietly move away from danger. They prefer to forage for wild food but will seek food in campsites and garbage cans when wild food is depleted or scarce.
When the need arises the black bear communicates with grunts, by expelling air in different ways, with a resonant "voice", and with body language. Knowing how to interpret their language can help people react to bears that they encounter. The most often heard sound is a loud blowing sound which means the bear is nervous or afraid. There are three types of bluffs that are common, blowing with clacking of teeth is a defensive display of a scared bear, blowing with a short lunge and slapping the ground is the bear's way of saying "move back", the third is blowing and bluff charging. Any of these displays can occur when a black bear feels crowded or is reluctant to leave food or cubs. Research has shown that these displays are not a prelude to an attack, if people wave their arms, make noise or throw something at the bear it is almost certain to retreat.
If you are camping, keep your campsite clean. Wash dishes immediately and throw the water away from camp. Completely burn any garbage including grease. Store all food in bear proof containers outside your tent or seal it in a plastic bag and suspend it 12 feet in the air on a line strung between two trees. If a bear does enter your camp most are timid enough to be scared off by yelling, waving your arms or banging pans making sure the bear has a clear escape route. Don't feed the bears or try to pet them, they could nip or cuff. Black bears typically behave as they subordinate to people when escape is possible. Keeping a clean camp helps to insulate bears from our increasing use of the wilderness and helps prevent bears from being needlessly relocated or killed as nuisance bears. Seeing a black bear can be a highlight of your vacation that is remembered for years to come.
If you have a cabin or live in a rural area, store your garbage in bear proof containers or inside where bears can't get at it. If you have a garbage pick-up, put your garbage out an hour or two before pick-up. Bones and waste parts of fish or meat should be wrapped and stored in a freezer until they are picked up or hauled to a dump. Keep barbecue grills clean and free from grease and store them in a garage or shed if possible. Many people enjoy bird watching, but bird feeders do attract bears. So if you have feeders, put them inside at night.
By following these simple guidelines humans and black bears can co-exist.
Compiled by Nancy Krause for Lynn Rogers.
Black Bear - Reactions To People
Black bears may enter camps, especially when wild
foods are scarce, but they rarely attack people. This bear is about
to be sprayed with capsaicin repellent and run away.
Black bears usually retreat before people are aware of them. Their hearing is more sensitive than a human's, and their broad, soft foot pads allow them to move quietly downwind where they can best identify their dangers. The may stand upright to see farther. If need be, they can run faster than 25 mph or climb trees as fast a squirrels.
They generally prefer to forage for wild foods away from people but are almost as quick as chipmunks to seek food in campsites and garbage cans when wild nut and berry crops fails. They rarely attack people. Campground bears and roadside panhandlers may nip or cuff people that crowd around them, try to pet them, or tease them with food. But the injuries, if any, are usually slight, only occasionally requiring stitches.
Full-blown attacks by black bears are rare. Black bears attacks are
usually not at campgrounds and are usually not by black bears that are
familiar with people.
The campground killings that have so widely publicized have been almost exclusively by grizzly bears. Recorded killings by black bears this century total only 28 across North America. Most of these killings were unprovoked acts of predation. How likely is a black bear to be a killer? The 500,000 black bears in North America kill fewer than one person per 3 years, on the average, despite hundreds of thousands of encounters. To put this in perspective, for each death from a black bear across North America, there are approximately 17 deaths from spiders, 25 deaths from snakes, 67 deaths from dogs, 150 deaths from tornadoes, 180 deaths from bees and wasps, 374 deaths from lightning, and 90,000 homicides in the United States alone (data from the National Center for Health Statistics, 1980-1983). In the rare event of one of these attacks, the best defense is to fight with fists, feet, rocks, or anything hard. Playing dead is usually not the best action with black bears.
Unlike grizzly bear mothers, black bear mothers seldom attack people in defense of cubs. Black bear mothers typically bluff or retreat. Researchers who routinely capture cubs by chasing them up trees have not been attacked even when they have held the screaming cubs. The ferocity of mother black bears is one of the biggest misconceptions about this species.
All contents Copyright © 1997
University of Minnesota, Dept. of Forest Resources
Superior National Forest
All rights reserved.
Copied From: http://www.gis.umn.edu/snf/displays/fauna/bears/people.html
Bill's BWCA Check List
Main Gear
____ canoe
____ paddles
____ depth finder
____ battery
____ backpack
____ tent, stakes
____ tarps
____ budgie cords
____ sleeping bag w/cover
____ foam pad, air mattress
____ pillow
____ water purifier/bags
____ lantern/mantels
____ ropes
____ 5 gal container
Dining Needs
____ burners
____ propane & holders
____ long lighters
____ cookware, griddle
____ cooking grate
____ charcoal
____ coffee pot
____ cup
____ plate, tin pie-pan
____ fork, knife, spoon
____ spatula, ladle, spoons
____ canteen/thermos
____ dishwashing pan
____ dishtowels, dishcloth
____ scouring pad
____ soap
____ aluminum foil
____ plastic/ziplock bags
____ pot holders
____ can & bottle opener
____ napkins, paper towels
____ measuring cup
Tools
____ hatchet
____ pocket knife
____ lighter, matches
____ needle nose pliers
____ camp saw
____ screwdrivers
____ duct tape
____ nails/screws
Fishing Gear
____ fishing license
____ canoe license
____ fishing poles
____ tackle box
____ minnow bucket
____ live bait
____ fillet knife
____ net, basket
____ fish stringers
____ life vest
____ back rest
____ sack for anchor
____ hose clamps
____ markers
____ fanny pack
____ sponges
____ clips/pulley
Food
____ cooler
____ steak
____ eggs
____ rice/mixes
____ potatoes
____ crisco - butter
____ bouillon cubes
____ pancake mix
____ syrup
____ sunflower seeds
____ cracker meal
____ hot chocolate
____ beef jerky
____ water
____ coffee/filters
____ pie filling
____ tea
____ spices
____ long noodles
____ bread
____ butter/peanut butter
____ sausage
____ cup of soups
____ salt & pepper
____ ice
____ toothpicks
____ stew
Gear
____ permit
____ rain gear
____ jacket
____ clothes
____ hat
____ boots/shoes
____ mocassins
____ leather gloves/gloves
____ glasses/sunglasses
____ contacts/solution
____ mirror
____ compass
____ maps
____ camera & film
____ flashlight
____ batteries
____ small broom
____ face cloth & towel
____ soap
____ toilet paper
____ toothbrush & paste
____ first aid kit
____ cards, books
____ insect repellent
____ garbage bags
____ fire starters
____ can wrap
____ clothes pins
____ sewing kit
____ nail clippers
____ binoculars
____ pulleys
____ empty bottle containers
____ chair
____ light
____ beer/booze
____ pellet gun/ammo
____ velcro
____ cigarettes
____ lip balm
____ gum
____ aspirin/medication
____ wet wipes
____ extra keys
____ plastic bags
____ phone/directory
____ cash
Links:
Canoe Outfitter: http://www.sawbill.com/
Lake Map Finder: http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/lakefind/index.html
BWCA Planning Site: http://bwcaw.com/plan/index.htm
REI's Paddling Expert Advice: https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/paddling.html
How to hang your pack in the tree: http://canoecountry.com/ethics/lowimpact.htm
Map of the Sawbill Lake Sawbill.jpg
Entry Points Map: http://bwca.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=maps.entrypoints (Sawbill is #38).