My friend Nora arranged a guided trip in the Boundary Waters and invited me and 3 others to go along. I was the only experienced canoer (canoeist? canoe guy?) and had finished a 156 mile canoe trip about 4 weeks before.The others were experienced kayakers and campers, so I took them out a couple of times in July in a tandem to show them some strokes and get them used to a canoe. I have never used a guide before but it was Nora's trip so what the heck. She used Piragis outfitters (top notch outfit) for permit, 3 canoes and had them do our food. I convinced the group to bring their own gear since everyone already had just about everything we needed. The 3 ladies rented portage packs also and I lent Paul one of my packs. We flew from Baltimore, MD to Minneapolis and rented a Chevy Suburban to drive 5 people and gear to Ely, MN on Friday 8Aug. Sat we checked in with Piragis and made adjustments on food etc and then toured Ely., including the Wolf Center and a hike to Kiwishiwi Falls. Sunday we showed up at 0700 and met our guide, LynnAnne. When she found out we all had our own gear she insisted we go over the gear so she could assure herself we weren't a bunch of yahoos( my words, but she did look skeptical) and that we had what we needed. We apparently passed and the only thing she grabbed was a griddle. In her 13 years of guiding she had never had anyone bring their own gear before! (At the end of the trip she confessed that on day 2 she was wondering why she was there when she had figured out we had a lot of on the water and in the woods experience.) We headed out with three Wenonah Spirit IIs and launched onto Snowbank Lake for a 7 day loop around to Lake One.
We had a great trip. LynnAnne provided a lot of local knowledge and fishing tips for the fisherpersons among us a managed the food for us. Since the trip she guided the week before was "my second worst trip in 13 years" she had a great time with us as a more experienced group than she usually got. The Boundary Waters is a spectacular place and I plan on getting back there. Here is a link to captioned photos that pretty much tell about the week.
https://picasaweb.google.com/101178211036772879744/2014AugBoundaryWatersCanoeTrip#
We had a great trip. LynnAnne provided a lot of local knowledge and fishing tips for the fisherpersons among us a managed the food for us. Since the trip she guided the week before was "my second worst trip in 13 years" she had a great time with us as a more experienced group than she usually got. The Boundary Waters is a spectacular place and I plan on getting back there. Here is a link to captioned photos that pretty much tell about the week.
https://picasaweb.google.com/101178211036772879744/2014AugBoundaryWatersCanoeTrip#