Paddle and Portage Podcast

Rain. It’s marked the start to the paddling season this year across the Boundary Waters. There was so much rain, in fact, that many portages and waterways across the BWCA flooded in late June. Roads near the Boundary Waters, from the Echo Trail to Highway 61, also flooded and were damaged by the heavy rain. In one area of the BWCA, a community formed at the Mudro Entry Point. A tent village, as it...

We all have to start somewhere. Even Sigurd Olson had to be shown how to paddle and portage a canoe at some point. We share stories in this episode about people taking their first trip to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. We hear from Bob Carlson, who took a group of young paddlers on the Frost River in the BWCA this spring during a multi-day paddling adventure. We also hear from Mary Ell...

Sex in the Boundary Waters. It's a thing. Happens on some trips, not on others. In this episode of the podcast, we explore the sexual energy that stirs in the Boundary Waters and other wilderness areas, and among the people who visit these types of wild places. Featured in the episode of the podcast are: Dave and Amy Freeman, experienced paddlers who once spent an entire year living in the BWCA; A...

Traveling across the Boundary Waters in May represents many things. A sign of spring. The start of the paddling season. And, of course, the great Fishing Opener. The team from 2023's epic and nearly fatal Fishing Opener trip on the Temperance River are back again this year. Omaha Erik Dickes. Kevin The Kman Kramer. Lord Baxley. And Freddy Friedrichs. The group ventured to new waters for this year'...

Tony Jones is an accomplished Minnesota author who has a passion for wild places, including the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. As he describes it, when Tony walked out of the church several years ago and into the woods, he left the orderly pews and numbered hymns for chaotic spaces and untamed wilderness. Tony writes about this in his new book, "The God of Wild Places." In this episode of...

Friendship is an often-overlooked component that brings people to the Boundary Waters. So often we’re quick to reference solitude, natural beauty, the means to get away from the day-to-day grind, and other factors that bring people to the BWCA and Quetico. Three friends, Chad Roy, Mike Larson, and Glen Bruchmann, come to the Boundary Waters every year for an extended winter camping trip. They are...

Not every lake in the Boundary Waters has a portage trail leading to its shores. Many of these lakes are gifted with the absence of humans. Similarly, the grueling grind of a long portage can be viewed as an obstacle to prevent some people from traveling deeper into the canoe-country wilderness. Others embrace such portages, knowing fewer people are likely to be on the other side. The next level i...

It was a season to remember for most who had the good fortune to go ice staking on a frozen lake in the Boundary Waters this winter. The ice came early, and it stayed clear of snow for many weeks. From November until early January, many lakes across the BWCA were ideal for ice skating. Some of the ice, however, was dangerous. Ice thickness could vary drastically, not just from one lake to the next...

If we've said it once, we've said it a 1,000 times: Wind is the ultimate game changer on any trip to the Boundary Waters. In the first full-length episode of the podcast, hosts Joe Friedrichs and Matthew Baxley navigate the complexities and challenges of wind during any given trip to the canoe-country wilderness. Expert guests, including a meteorologist from the National Weather Service in Duluth,...