Who knew there was internet in the BWCA?


Posted by Karen in Travel, Weather, Wedding.
Wednesday, September 12th, 2007 at 8:22 pm


Whoa!  They’ve really upgraded this BWCA since the last time I was here!  Wireless internet and all! 

honeymoon_trail.JPGOk, fine… so we’re not technically in the BWCA.  We had a wonderful first day of our honeymoon Monday, a nice drive with some fun stops, including a little jaunt down Honeymoon Trail!  We had some sunshine and warmish temps.  We got to the outfitter mid-afternoon, got situated, and set up camp at a campground right on Sawbill Lake, our put-in point for the BWCA.  We took a growler of beer from Fitger’s Brewhouse that my brother Dean had given us along with leftover food from the wedding and found a great spot for a picnic down by the lake. 

That evening we read the weather report printed by the outfitters and were not excited.  A couple of hours after we went to bed, the rain started coming down and the winds really kicked up, to the point where I was a little worried about getting squished by a falling tree.  scared.JPGIn the morning we got our canoe, had a heck of a time getting it packed in the wind and rain, and put in.  We then spent the next half hour getting tossed about by 35 mile an hour wind gusts, soaked by waves, and utterly exhausted.  We fought valiantly and got about a third of a mile before having to pull to the shore.  We rested for a bit and decided to try to make another go at it, but this time we went nowhere, literally.  We managed to get out and decided to re-evaluate. 

We realized we weren’t going to get anywhere that day, and didn’t really want to waste a day just hanging out at the campsite.  And the weather report for the rest of the week was not looking much better – rain at some point almost every day, temps below freezing at night, wind, thunderstorms… and we decided that was not how we wanted to spend our honeymoon.  So feeling sad, traumatized, and exhausted, we took our canoe back, loaded up our gear, and hit the road, headed for Ely!  hotel.JPGWe spent last night at a lodge recovering in the hot tub, eating some of the tons and tons of camp food we had packed, and making a new plan.  Oh, and I all of a sudden like got a big fat cold, which made us a little extra glad to have made this decision and to not be portaging and paddling in the rain, unable to find dry wood to make a fire at night. 

wolf.JPGWe decided to spend another day and night in Ely, and so last night we got the most sleep we’ve had in months!  We visited the super-cool International Wolf Center today and did a little bit of exploring and hanging out, and for me, a lot of sniffling and sneezing.  Tomorrow we’ll be heading to Scenic State Park and staying at a cabin for a couple of nights.  Then on to Duluth according to the original plan.

We can’t help but be a little sad that we’re not having the trip we had envisioned, but we are still having a blast, and so excited just to have this time to hang out together and relive the glory and wonder that was our wedding! 

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7 Responses to “Who knew there was internet in the BWCA?”

  1. justin Says:

    Wow, that sucks about the weather and the cold. Glad you two are making the best of it, though. I’m sure you’ll still have lots of fun.

  2. Laurel Says:

    Yikes, that weather sounds terrible! Too bad you weren’t able to do the trip that you planned, but it seems like you’re having a good time anyway. Enjoy the rest of your honeymoon!

  3. Mary Jo Says:

    Well it sounds like the weather’s getting back at you for being so nice for your wedding. It’s a shame that you had to cancel out on the canoe trip–glad you were able to come up with a “Plan B” until the weekend when you get back to “Plan A”. Sounds like you’re having a great time in spite of not being out on the water. Enjoy the rest of the time you have together before it’s back to real life again.

  4. Troy Says:

    Uh… “Honeymoon Trail?”

    :)

  5. Peter Says:

    hey, congrats . . .

    see you two soon

  6. Erik Says:

    I encourage you to plan another trip to the BWCA. I had part of my honeymoon there and it was great. If you want to take the safe side, you could stay at a beautiful cabin at Gunflint Lodge, take day trips out into the Boundary Waters, and then return to relax in the hot tub.

    BWCA Weather:
    http://bwca.cc/weather/wximages/bwca.htm

  7. Nate Says:

    Erik – oh, we’ll definitely go back, and I’d actually sort of embrace the sort of weather that turned us away this time — once we have a few more trips under our belt. We got The Singing Wilderness by Sigurd Olson while we were up north, and reading it has really got me itching to see and experience some of the places he writes so well about.

    Thanks for the tip about the Gunflint, though! Might make a nice anniversary destination!