I'll bet you guy's didn't know that, eh? Now that I live within a stone's throw of the border, I can't help but let a little Canadian slip into my speech and writing. Ever since the very first time I visited the BWCA, I've had a proprietary interest in it. Can't help it! I've been fortunate enough in my lifetime to have traveled through a good deal of this planet we live on. But my mind always travel's back to the BWCA! I still think it's the all-time world's greatest place to be. Going there make's me feel whole and complete. Like I have finally arrived where I should be! The feeling I get after arriving there can be best described as reverent and Zen like. The granola bar chewer's and the tree hugger's don't know it but I only permit them to paddle and portage through there. Actually I suffer them because I can't stand most of them. They come up there, feeling smug and righteous in all their environmental piety, duly garbed in the new thread's they just ordered from L.L. Bean! Most of 'em make me want to .  . Don't get me wrong! I strongly believe that the BWCA should be preserved for all to enjoy. But the kind of preservation those clown's stand for mean's they want it preserved for their own personal use. You can get a permit to go in there only if you are young, strong, and physically fit. If you are physically handicapped or disabled, you are not permitted to enter the BWCA! Is that fair? I think not! Jeez that rant felt good! DIRTBALL2

My sentiment's exactly  F!

the BWCA has some of the cleanest water on earth and some of the best fishing out their. the preservation efforts up their are some of the best in the world and should stay that way for future generations.

thanks sandman i am so glad we have a page for the BWCA i try to go up their at least once a year, i am making a Moose lake into an Alice cirlce this year July 10 - 15 pray the fishing is good up in Gods country

I would love to see some pictures from the BWCA.  Welcome Clagergren.

The Ely 7 were wrong to do what they did, but they were a bunch of kids (16-21 yo) who were led by one guy who was like 39. He had an axe to grind and got them all riled up while out drinking one night and instigated the whole ordeal. He took the brunt of the punishment doled out by the court.

Not to worry clagergren! I've never known the fishing up there to be anything but spectacular! It is, by far, the easiest place to catch fish that I have ever found! And that's no ! Of course I do have to admit that I have the advantage of having traveled up there for the past 53 year's. The BWCA is the location of my all-time favorite honey-hole. If I were to take you there, I could just about guarantee that you would catch an 8 to 10 lb walleye! Yes, it is really that good! Even if I were to tell you exactly where it was, you probably still wouldn't be able to find it. When I found it, it was purely by accident, I must admit. Wish I was going with you on your trip. You are gonna have a blast! Good luck! And leave it as you found it...DIRTBALL2

hear are some great pictures i like to look through Ude Lake Tom when i have Boundary waters fever

http://www.bwca.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.photo

 

no problem but i realy think that the photos don't give the area justice you have to go their and see this awsome area for yourself

That's the good part of being a member here....helping out others.  Great idea Mike!!

I own an Old Town Penobscot 17. Great boat. Not the lightest but its done very well for me.

I was at Midwest Mountaineering's Expo yesterday drooling all over my next canoe. I really want a Wenonah Minnesota II but at a sale price of $2450 its not really in the budget right now.

I'll hit you up if I get the chance to take a personal trip up there this summer.

In the latter 60's and early 70's a friend and I made made annual trips to the BWCA. We usually parked at an entry on Snowshoe, then went thru trout, parent, jitterbug, hatchet, and ended up where the frazier river entered thomas. Great laker fishing there and waldos were to be found on another lake a short portage away.

We could leave the truck parked in that open lot for ten days and the cooler of beer we left in the back would still be there. The last trip up there we came back to broken windows, syphoned gas and stolen battery. We figured it to be the natives, if you know what I mean. That was enough though.

The many opening days we saw back then were precious and I still think of those trips, still have the maps. The fishing was outstanding....always. The exercise was something else at times, usually because of the wind.

I say it should stay protected simply because enough a-holes slip past the rules now anyway. That group of seven that did up the visitors that night should have seen themselves wrapped in barbed wire and dragged behind a truck down one of the gravel roads up there.

Thats pretty cool what you do there Quietco. Kudos to you.

And DB....I love your descriptive of the townies. We see the same thing about the first of June at the cabin when people start thinking of bear hunting around Two Harbors. Do you know Steve Foss from Ely? Great photographer friend. I've known he and Lisa for years and we make it to Ely each year at least once to say hi to them or they come down to the cabin for a day.   

crappietom, I'm not personally acquainted with Steve Foss but I am familiar with him and his work from seeing Steve's post's on another (Ugggh! Phew!) website. Did I spell phew correctly? Whatever. You get the idea, eh? Steve is one of those guy's that I envy. Only because he possess's such a vast knowledge of the outdoor's. So meeting him would be a great pleasure for me. I'm not familiar with launching from Ely because I've always gone out from the public access at the end of the Gunflint Trail. Lucky for me, I never had any of the bad experience's you described in your post. As for those yahoo's that went in and shot the place up, I have come up with a better form of punishment! First go out in the wood's and find a nice flat stump. Set the said transgressor down on the stump with no pants on. Nail his cojone's to the stump. And last but not least, push him over backward's! :violent1:That oughta get his attention, eh? :laughing4:Tom do you happen to know where Ottertrack Lake is located in the BWCA? Just wondered if I had to go through all the portage's in the world to get there. Launching from Ely, that is. I think going over a ton of portage's would be about as much fun as loading and unloading anvil's! :lurk:Did you see that awesome offer that Quetico made to me? Now is he an awesome stand-up dude or what? :headbang:DIRTBALL2

http://www.startribune.com/local/blogs/120170114.html

this cell tower that is going up in the BW is absolutely reduculous i go to the BW to get away from it all. they say it is for emergencys but most of the people who go up their are fit and the people who are not as fit stay close to home. they are not thinking logical a 450 foot tower will create havic for many native birds and wildlife in the BWCA. i hate big buisness. this issue just wants to make me 

WARNING YOU ARE ABOUT TO READ A CRAZY RANT

The tower is pure and simple  Its for all those stupid people that head into the wilderness without any knowledge, experience or proper gear that are too stupid and cheap to hire a a decent guide.

The tower is there to encourage these people to use the BW. Its provides them with a false sense of security. It gives the thinking that when their stupidity catches up with them, they can call for help. Then someone will magically appear on a plane and fly them back to safety.

This has become a huge issue in national parks and wilderness areas all over the world. Cell towers go up, people get stupid thinking their technology will compensate for knowledge, experience and gear. They get into trouble and call for help. There have been a few major articles in news papers and magazines on this touchy topic of late. Many say that increased cell coverage increases emergency calls for non-emergency situation that are caused by lack of knowledge and experience and improper gear. People think their cell phones will save them when the reality is that they won't. Cell tower gives people the false sense of security that they to put themselves in situations they are not prepared for and cannot handle. Without the security blanket of these cell towers people would otherwise avoid these areas or spend the money to hire an experienced guide.

This new cell tower will cause more harm then good.

The reality in the BWCAW is that its a restricted wilderness area. The flight restrictions on the area are VERY strict. I've spent a fair amount of time talking to rangers and know a few former wilderness rangers that worked in the BW. They wont send a plane into the BW unless its an extreme life or death situation. If you break your arm or leg, you can get yourself rescue. They almost never send a plane in to rescue anyone. People need to realize this before they go out and think they can just use this new cell tower to call for a rescue. The general policy up there is that if you can get yourself out without certain death, then no rescue.

There are horror stories from across the country I could post here that come from troubles caused by cell towers in remote wilderness areas. It makes you realize how stupid people really are.

This is also way I support billing people who call for emergency rescues because of their own stupidity.

I would never support this tower. Its unnecessay and will do more harm then good. If you want to be on your phone, stay out of the remote wilderness. Leave it to those of us who enjoy the peace and quiet.