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.