Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA) trip - warning several photos

Our trip started on Wednesday before noon when Brian Crow and I met at Jenny Batten's to load my Ford Escape Hybrid (FEH) with all our camping gear. We drove to Shoreview to pick up Julie Elias, our fourth. We headed up north to Tofte on the North Shore. We stayed at Chateau LeVeaux right on Lake Superior.

Our BWCA entry point was on the Isabella River. It took a little over an hour's drive to get there. The river is very slow flowing but there are rapids - some of which we could paddle through and others that required portages.

Rain into rain about half way to our campsite. It stopped in time for us to set up all the gear in the dry.

Jenny and Brian had great fishing success. Brian caught a northern pike right from our campsite. He and Jenny jumped in a canoe and got several small-mouthed bass just off the best campsite ever.

We ate really well that first night.

Julie and Jenny on our sunny day, Friday.

Some serious paddling.

We went on a day trip down the Little Isabella River up to a set of rapids where we sat on the rocks to eat lunch.

We saw this turtle going up the Little Isabella. He jumped in when we got to close. He was back again when we came back by.

Lots of different plants.

Before the storms of Saturday arrived, a fantastic sunset.

Incredible winds Friday night and all day on Saturday. It rained some but it was the wind that kept us off the lake.

If your browser is video capable. Here is short video of our campsite. Turn up the volume and you'll hear the wind howling.

Jenny and Julie think this is a good picture of me.

Fields of wild rice filled the river. There was no other way but to paddle through. The front of the canoes accumulated a lot of it.

The end of our paddle out.