Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness
Northern Minnesota holds some of the cleanest, wildest, and most inspiring wilderness in the United States. Throughout the summer of 2021, I set out alone to embark on a 30-day adventure to traverse one of America’s most beautiful landscapes called the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.
Preview: In the 30 days that I spent alone, I encountered a severe thunderstorm with 75MPH winds that caused trees to snap outside my tent, a foot infection, 2 hornet stings, a bear in my camp at night, someone having a seizure on a portage, hazy mornings from (what ended up being) massive wildfires in the area, and much much more.
You will read about all of these moments during my solo traverse of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness below! Also, if you stick to the end, I have a few extra resources for you.
Day 8: First Walleye
Every day, I’ve been primarily fishing for Northern Pike. However, today I came across a tributary with a steep drop off so I decided to rig up to try and catch a Walleye.
After a few casts of jigging my white twisty tail off the bottom (with an orange jig), I caught my first Walleye of my journey. I truly feel beyond blessed to be able to be out here and times like this are moments I will never forget.
Throughout the day, I spent periods of time paddling with a Daredevil Spoon trolling behind my canoe. I had a bit of luck as I hooked into a Bass early on but it fell loose right when I reeled it up to my boat- oh well!
On a second note, my foot is looking ridiculously better today which I am quite blown away by. It seems like one rest day has really helped my foot heal quickly. Luckily for me, I have far fewer portages right now so my feet are able to actually stay dry for most of the day which also helps.
Day 9: More Wildfires
Apparently from the storm the other night, there have been multiple wildfires that have started in Quetico (Canada’s side of the wilderness) and in the BWCAW.
This is a photo of a fire in Quetico that was somewhat close to me as I paddle across these long open water stretches.
Things have been very dry up here and there isn’t any rain coming within the near future, unfortunately. This also causes more bear problems because the berries aren’t as abundant as they could be!
Hoping these fires don’t get out of hand!
Day 10: Biggest Fish Of A Lifetime
What a day today was. In this photo, I caught the biggest Pike of my life while trolling a red and white daredevil spoon behind my canoe.
I was paddling around a few islands when I decided to go ahead and throw my spoon in the water. After another 10 minutes of paddling, I heard a huge splash coming from behind my boat and I turned around, grabbed my fishing pole, began reeling in, and realized that I hooked into this beautiful animal.
I had to quickly paddle to shore with my left hand while clenching my rod for dear life with my right hand. The fish was too big to land in my boat but after a solid 10 minutes or so, I got her released and back into the wild.
This beautiful fish could have fed me for days and the feeling of catching what could be my next meal is a feeling that is hard to come by in normal society.
I feel so blessed to have been able to have this opportunity, and I also have another post of the most incredible sunset this world has ever seen (part 2). Today was magical.
Day 10(Continued): Sunset
This is the most incredible sunset the world has ever seen. No editing, no filters, no people- just pure orange wildfire-smoked skies with loon calls surrounded by wilderness.
Through all of the challenges and hardships, small moments like these make all of it worth it. The feeling of being alone out here, surrounded by wild animals, thousands of lakes, and pure wild is the best feeling you can ever have.
Just sit back, turn your volume on, and watch the most incredible sunset anyone has ever seen (I’m convinced). We are beyond lucky to have areas like this left, so let’s take care of them!
Day 11: Quiet Day
As I’m writing this, my toes are in the crystal clear Knife Lake water, my back is laid against the perfect carved sitting rock, and I’m overlooking a beautiful hazy horizon with the sun setting- incredible to say the least.
Today was a quiet day, with not many portages and a lot of paddling. I caught a few fish and had a couple of streams that I walked my canoe up to avoid portages.(:
I’m spending days thinking my own thoughts- something that I find really special about solitude. You don’t really have anyone else to distract you and you’re forced to work your internal problems out on your own.
To me, this is addicting and I look at it as forging mental toughness. The more that I put myself through alone, the more that I know I can handle which is an endless game of self-discovery.
Day 12: Dusk To Dawn
Today was a dedicated travel-hard day. I woke up early and pushed on until late.
During the day, I had the largest water crossing of my entire route- crossing Saganaga Lake. This lake is a beast to paddle, but I got extremely lucky with glass-like waters. This crossing is a mile and a half long and waves can get dangerously big at any time.
I’m at my favorite campsite that I’ve stayed at so far. I’m on an island and my tent is set on a bluff with 180-degree views overlooking other islands. The site is super open and spacious allowing the sunlight to light up the area. I love it. A lot…
So much so that I’ve decided to spend tomorrow staying here to fish the islands, charge up my solar panel, and clean/repair some of my gear.
Time is flying by. I can’t believe I’m already over 1/3 of the way done with this journey.
Day 13: Gear Cleanup
Today I felt like I was ridiculously productive, in the simplest way. I woke up early, gathered some Juneberries and Blueberries from the wild, did my laundry (rinsed in a barrel), hung up my clothes, read, journaled, and charged my stuff with my solar panel.
Life feels pretty simple out here that’s for sure!
In the evening, the wind picked up so much that it sounded like a fan was blowing in my ear. It’s interesting that the white noise creates such a mental distraction- it honestly becomes hard to think after being alone in silence for over a week. Ha!
I’ve realized that a benefit of being alone is that you begin to realize certain things that you’d never become aware of otherwise, and I’m having MANY of those moments.
Day 14: Bear And Edible Plants
Today started off really physically challenging. I had five separate portages that involved knee-deep mud, scrambling around boulders, one that I couldn’t find, and 2 sets of rapids that I had to walk my canoe up overall it created a mental and physical challenge, which is exactly why I’m out here.
I also took a pretty significant fall while portaging and my canoe bounced off of a few rocks. I got lucky that I didn’t put a hole in it!
Later in the afternoon, I paddled around a beautiful pier and came across a bear grazing on the plants about 60 yards from me. It looked up but never recognized me as the wind was blowing the opposite way and I was quiet- (benefit of being alone).
Lastly, I found a HUGE abundance of wild edible plants today. Here are a few that I found- Broadleaf Arrowhead, Beaked Hazelnut, Rose Hips, Plantain, Blueberry, Cattail, Juneberry, Rasberry, Fireweed, Birch, Balsam, etc.
As of now, I’m going to make my foot a priority and make sure it doesn’t get worse. The last thing I want to do is have to exit early for a problem that I can fix.
Boundary Waters Resources
Suggested Reading:
Wild Berries & Fruits Field Guide of Minnesota, Wisconsin & Michigan by Teresa Marrone
If you find interest in wild berries, this book is an awesome, small pocket guide that is easy to carry yet descriptive and organized. The book is color coded so you can easily identify an unknown berry. You also can look and see the range of fruits in the book.
Suggested Maps:
Boundary Waters Canoe Area Map Set by National Geographic
This map set includes both the East and West half of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. I felt that these maps were AWESOME, and other, more detailed map sets that you can purchase were overkill. They include portage routes and cover the entire area of the Boundary Waters.
Other Resources:
SEEK: Seek is an app that works without service to identify plants from around the world. I personally use this app all the time and enjoy its accuracy of it. Plus, as I said, it works without any cell service which is huge.
Thanks for checking out week two of my 30 days alone in the BWCA wilderness!
Here are a few more related articles:
- Week One: 30 Days Alone In The Wilderness
- Week Three: 30 Days Alone In The Wilderness
- Week Four: 30 Days Alone In The Wilderness
As always, if you have any questions or comments, please direct message me on socials. I’d love to hear from you!
Hey there! My name is Tanner and I specialize in outdoor survival, bushcraft, expeditions and adventure travel.
