boundary waters

last week, v and i went to the boundary waters up north near the canadian border. it is really beautiful country. it was also nice to see lots of small towns counties almost with no large-chain owned businesses esp for eating. we went 35 miles on the gunflint trail which is really a nice paved road to rockwood outfitters from whom we rented our canoe. it was certainly interesting and at the very least daunting to be on the water in the wilderness esp. when neither of us swim. the padded life jackets kept us warm but weren't totally reassuring. we crossed poplar lake, portaged to lizz lake, paddled across lizz and camped at caribou lake at a beautiful site by the water's edge. sunset was gorgeous and i did zazen in the crepuscular light just paying attention to the waves lapping the rocky shore. we had noodles for dinner and slept early under the amazing tapestry of stars.


dawn was cloudy and windy and soon the gray jays arrived but left soon after seeing no scope of getting any scraps. or maybe they didn't care for bagels with hummus and chai that we were having. we decided to leave the stuff and just take the canoe to horseshoe and then to vista lakes. parts of the lakes were glassy, limpid pools and signs of autumn were already appearing along the shore reflected beautifully and precisely on the clear dark greenish waters. it started to rain and we turned back hastily to our site and around 1ish it started coming down really heavily. luckily we finished our meal of couscous laced with trail mix before it started. so stayed in and took short naps waiting for it to subside. but sadly it didnt. minutes turned to hours and it rained steadily. there was a brief respite around 5 pm when we moved the tent to terra altima and it started again. We decided to snack on dried fruits and sesame bars and call it a day. Around 9 pm v woke up yelling water. I thought he was having a bad dream only to find my sleeping bag soaked and the bottom of our tent was on and in a water bed. We spent a sleepless night huddling trying to stay warm and dry but nothing could keep our cold, damp feet warm. Finally around 6 AM, we grimly got out, packed everything and headed out. The portages were really hard now but during one of our long ones, some guys carried our packs saving us an extra trip. Luckily the rain had stopped and it was slightly cloudy and nice almost. Poplar lake was choppy once we reached the open stretch. After one wrong turn we sighted rockwood and paddled in. It was very much like my experience at Yellowstone several years ago on a wet 4th of july weekend. We were glad to have a superhot shower and warm our bones by the fire in the log cabin, sipping bad black but hot coffee.

I think it was an interesting experience- harrowing that night but one we will remember for a long time. We were glad that it was not late fall with freezing temperatures. v was more flustered; i had to at least appear calm and i sure did.