Paddle and Portage Podcast

The Greenwood Fire in 2021 led, in part, to the complete closure of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness during the peak of the paddling season. Some of the burn area, about 12,000 acres located outside the BWCA Wilderness, was purchased in 2025 by the Nature Conservancy. Fire is an essential component of a healthy forest, both inside and outside the BWCA Wilderness. If fire is not allowed to...

Tanya Piatz says she comes to the Boundary Waters for birding and to develop a deeper understanding of the connection between wildlife and the land. She also does this to reconnect with nature and get away from the hustle of everyday life.   For the first time in her birding adventures, Tanya participated in an official bird count this year. The event she chose was in Grand Marais on Dec. 14. The...

The future of the Remote Area Border Crossing Program (RABC) remains unknown, with Canadian officials telling Paddle and Portage this week, once again, they don’t have any new information to share. The permits all expire Dec. 31, 2025.   We spoke with Ginny Nelson from Spirit of the Wilderness outfitters in Ely about what this continued uncertainty means for people and operations near the Boundary...

Search and recovery expert Michael Neiger spent the end of November and first few days of December looking for two people who are missing near the Boundary Waters.   We sat down with him near Grand Marais to discuss the search. Find a video option of the interview on our YouTube channel, in addition to the full audio report shared here on the podcast.    This episode is supported by Ely Outfitting...

Snow. Freezing temps. This was a theme across Minnesota during the final week of November. And with it, came the first ice to the Boundary Waters.  The first ice of the season can mean a lot of things. In this episode, we learn what it means for the Paddle & Portage Podcast duo as they venture onto the frozen water. Joining them on the first outing of the season was their old pal, "Omaha" Erik...

Minnesota has more wolves than any other state, outside of Alaska. In fall 2025, researchers with the Voyageurs Wolf Project released an updated study on wolf activity and the population of wolves in an area located about 10 miles southwest of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, which is found in the far reaches of northeastern Minnesota. The report tallied about 100 wolves in the study are...

Constance Simes circumnavigated Lake Superior solo in 2022. When the trip was complete, she'd paddled approximately 1,200 miles around Lake Superior in 57 days. She encountered high waves, of course. She also found deafening silence that moved her to tears.  Simes, who grew up in Iowa and now resides in Wisconsin, spoke with M Baxley about paddling Lake Superior at Canoecopia in Madison, Wisc.  Th...

Erin Soderberg Downing grew up exploring the forests, lakes, and trails near Lake Superior and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Now an accomplished writer, Erin says her best ideas for stories often come to her deep in the woods, where she can find plenty of creative space to explore and imagine.  Erin is the daughter of Barb Soderberg. Barb Soderberg’s career with the Forest Service sta...

Shannon McGrath got her start paddling when she was 12 years old. By the time she was 16, Shannon had completed the Grand Portage from Lake Superior to the inland border lakes of the Boundary Waters. Then came a multi-month canoe trip to the Arctic Circle via the Coppermine and Hood rivers, including a week on the Arctic Ocean. Now in her late 30s, Shannon continues to be a prolific paddler. She m...

The Paddle and Portage Podcast have been on the move in October. The Winter Camping Symposium was a highlight of the month, as was a recent trip to the far west end of the Boundary Waters to meet with one of the nation's top wolf researchers.  In this update from the road, we hear from the podcast duo about who they've been talking with for video podcasts and what brought them to the western edge...

Stephanie Hansen’s first cookbook took readers to her family outpost on an island on Burntside Lake near Ely, on the edge of the BWCA. Now, True North Cabin Cookbook Volume Two , released this year, focuses on “the cozy months” of October through April.  We hear from Stephanie in this episode of the podcast. We also cook some smoked trout and wild rice chowder that was inspired by the cookbook. We...

Peta Barrett is preparing to retire from Women’s Wilderness Discovery, the company she started in 2014 in Ely, the gateway community to the Boundary Waters. Barrett moved to Ely more than 10 years ago to start up the guiding and outfitting company. She wanted to focus on offering a safe and comfortable place for women to have a means to access the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. In this epi...

The power of a place can change lives. It can also determine where someone lives, and how they live.  The Boundary Waters is one such place. In this episode, we learn how two families have been, and continue to be impacted by the power of place.  Special thanks to Andy Cochrane, Stellan & Lena Bengtsson, Scott, Jess, & Niklas Henderson, and Bob & Deb Friedrichs, for participating in th...

A small group of kayakers started Team River Runner in 2004 with the goal of helping veterans get on the water. They now offer paddling opportunities to veterans and their family members in more than 60 locations across the nation, including the Yellowstone River in Montana.  Team River Runner seeks to get physically (amputations, mobility impairments) and/or visually impaired veterans in kayaks o...

Chuck Alexander is a canoe guide and carpenter who lives in Maine. He'd long aspired to paddle in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. It took meeting a longtime paddler of the BWCA, Tim Cochrane, to make that dream come to fruition. Before embarking on a multi-night trip to the wilderness, the podcast team had a chance to meet Chuck, including a fishing trip to the Boundary Waters. This is...

A resident of Duluth is sick with a rare case of West Nile virus in Minnesota. The Duluth woman was in the emergency room at St. Luke’s Medical Center Sunday, Sept. 7. She is now home and recovering from the virus. She believes she was infected with West Nile while on a canoe trip to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in mid-August. After nearly three weeks, she continues to experience body...

The intersection of paddling, yoga, and self-reliance carries us into the BWCA Wilderness in this episode of the podcast.  Boreal Bliss Yoga Retreats is a Minnesota business owned by women who bring together themes of self-reliance, seasonal living, and the transformative power of time spent paddling and portaging in the BWCA Wilderness and surrounding area. They've been in business since 2017 and...

Just ahead of Labor Day weekend and the start of the transition to autumn, a long time listener of our podcast about the Boundary Waters came to check out the BWCA Wilderness for the first time.   Her name is Karolina Satek. Along with her husband and young daughter, they traveled to the Gunflint Trail and spent a few nights at Borderland Lodge . From there, they explored the surrounding wildernes...

We head west in this episode, to the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness. M Baxley joins a group of paddlers who came together under the leadership of Jordan Taylor and Sandra Newbury to travel on the Salmon River in Idaho. One of the great rivers of the West, the Salmon rolls through the Frank Church, the largest federally managed wilderness in the United States outside of Alaska. Confluen...

The Paddle and Portage Podcast team spent time paddling and talking around a fire with Minnesota author Joe Whitson in early August. Joe is the author of the new book, “Marketing the Wilderness.”  Joe’s book pulls back the curtain on the outdoor recreation industry, on the glossy images, the feel-good branding, the well-meaning campaigns, and asks, “What’s being left out?” It traces how the idea o...

Abby Golden has been teaching at an organization called Wilderness Water Safety for 15 years. She is a certified lifeguard, wilderness first responder, and experienced wilderness trip leader. She has led trips in the Lake Temagami area as a trip leader for Camp Wabun and has traveled extensively throughout the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Born and raised in the St. Croix River Valley, sh...

Kari Kennedy is the producer of Almanac, a popular and long-running news program on Twin Cities PBS. She's also in love with the Boundary Waters. The Gunflint Trail has become a home away from home, and trips to the BWCA Wilderness are a big part of that experience. Kari shares her story in this episode of the podcast.  Support for this episode comes from Northstar Canoes , Loons Nest Coffee , and...

He first paddled on Seagull Lake. It didn't go well. A fishing boat had to rescue him. A few days later, he drove a transport tow. In a blizzard.  Graham Schatz is working at Seagull Canoe Outfitters this summer. He is not a typical "Trail Kid," those who lug canoes and clean cabins at the resorts on the Gunflint Trail each summer. Graham is an actor who has been attending acting school in Los Ang...

Checking in with an update from their epic paddle are the Hudson Bay Girls. The four paddlers left Lake Superior and the Grand Portage in May. They're bound for Hudson Bay and share this update from Norway House, just north of Lake Winnipeg. In an update sent to Paddle and Portage July 21, they report: "We’re checking in from Norway House! We have been through so much so far. From navigating backc...

Kate Wright is the director of marketing for Bending Branches Canoe & Kayak Paddles . An experienced paddler, Kate and her husband are taking their young child to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in the summer of 2025 for the first time as parents. Kate spoke with guest host Erin Walker from the Lost Lakes YouTube Channel for this episode of the podcast.  This episode is supported by...