The 3hr. BWCA Trip | July 11, 2008

We got about all the adventure we needed on this particular boundary waters trip and it was all in a matter of about three hours.

Some of Will’s family along with my brother and I went on one last family outing to the Boundary Water Canoe Area this previous weekend.

Charlie and I arrived in Vernon Center just after 4pm on Thursday night. We met with Dave, (Will’s dad) and then rode up to St. Peter to meet Will, Crystal and Brandon. We then caravanned up to Duluth where we would stay at Lisa’s house and get organized for the following morning’s early trip up Hwy. 61 along the north shore of L. Superior to get to our initial portage.

My alarm went off just after 6AM so I could do my final packing and be ready for an early start of 7AM. It was a foggy, cool morning (41 degrees) and I admit that I was a little hesitant about this trip; the thought of camping the entire weekend with the possibility of cold and rain didn’t seem all that enticing. Regardless, our crew got ready and we were on the road. After all, we had already driven a couple hundred miles just to get to Duluth and planned this trip many weeks ago, so there was no sense in turning back now.

After we registered for our campsite and before we headed to the portage, we stopped in Grand Marias to grab a tasty donut from “The World’s Best Donut Shop” (as one mustn’t miss that), then picked up a few fishing licensees and bait and we were on our way.

Our first adventure started when we missed road 325 which was to take us to our entry point. Our vehicle followed Will and Charlie as they continued to drive northeast for several miles. After what was supposed to take about 15 minutes turned into 40 minutes, we decided to turn around and revisit the map.

The boys eventually straightened it out and we found our entry. After that, we decided that Will had better give Lisa some better directions as she was planning on meeting up with us after she was done with work. Due to the lack of cell phone reception Will and Charlie drove back to Grand Marais to get a hold of Lisa and set her on the right track.

Meanwhile, Crystal, Dave and I entertained Brandon (a lively 6 year old boy) who couldn’t wait to get to our campsite and canoe on the lake. Dave decided to portage the first canoe just to kill some time and get some hauling out of the way, while we waited for Will and Charlie to return. Brandon went along to expend some energy and Crystal and I stayed in the car as it was sprinkling and the mosquitoes were most plentiful.

Finally Charlie and Will arrived and we began to pack up all of our goods, do one final bug spray bath and made our way on the 90 rod portage. Since it wasn’t too long of a haul we ended up making a few trips back to the car since our campsite was so close; so for this trip we packed a little heavier than we typically would.

When we arrived at Ram Lake, there was a very thick fog that covered the entire area. I would say you could maybe see 20 yards or so. You definitely couldn’t see the other side of the lake and when paddling we needed to stay close to the shoreline to make sure we were on the right track. It was still pretty, but there was something very mystical or mysterious about it all. We did hear some faint thunder off in the distance, but didn’t think much of it as it had been raining on and off for the better part of the day.

Charlie and I took the first canoe loaded with several of the larger packs, a cooler and the musical instruments. We hugged the shoreline to stay on track due to the fog and then found the campsite which really wasn’t too far of a paddle. The site turned out to be a perfect spot perched higher up with about an 8 foot tall rock cliff from the campsite to the water.

We waited in the canoe while the other two boats came in. Dave and Crystal were paddle partners and Will and nephew Brandon were in the other canoe. Dave and Crystal seemed to have issues getting the canoe to go straight; I’m told they took the scenic route which included a few circles and perhaps a bump into some rocks along the shore. Meanwhile, Brandon and Will were able to maneuver efficiently and leave each of their parent’s behind in their wake.
After arrival we all were busy with the different tasks of unpacking, setting up four tents, a rain tarp and getting camp organized; as we wanted to get everything up in case any weather was to move in. During all this, the clouds did seem to get darker, but we all were well occupied with our tasks so we just kept on working to complete them.

Dave noticed this rather large old tree that was in the middle of the campsite and was wondering if we should be concerned if lighting would ever strike a tree such as this. I didn’t seem too concerned and neither did Will, so we went ahead and set up two tents near it along with the other two off to the side in another low-lying, flat area. The campsite was beginning to look pretty good.

Then, just as the final ropes were tightened and the last few stakes were pounded into the ground, the wind really started to pick up. A steady and strong head wind blasted across the lake. It didn’t really let down any and the big rain tarp that had just been put up was really whipping in the wind. Will started to get concerned as this was Lisa’s rain tarp and it was actually a pretty nice setup, and he didn’t want it to tear. So we all grabbed a few poles and held onto it for a while until another really strong gust continually blew to the point of not really being able to hold onto the tarp. We then decided it was best to take the tarp down.

After that we decided to tend to the tents. We started filling them with all of our gear to keep things dry and to help weigh the tents down. Charlie began to throw rocks into his. I put our big canoe pack, the guitar and mandolin, and a few other random items that were scattered across camp into the tent that Lisa and I were going to sleep in. After we got all of our gear inside of the tents we stood outside of them and just held onto them while the wind blew. It really began to pick up and if I had to guess, I’d say the wind was blowing 50 or 60 mph.

By now, the rain was pouring down pretty hard and there was quite a bit of thunder and lighting. The wind continued to blast across the site and this is where I really don’t remember the exact order of events. I heard a loud crack (which I thought was thunder) and the next thing I knew, was I heard Will screaming my name in a way I’ve never heard him yell at me before; there was complete terror in his voice. I don’t know if I am making this image up in my head or if I actually looked up and saw the top half of that tall old tree break off (the one that Dave was worried about) and come down towards me in slow motion. But what I do remember was feeling this fairly strong force on the upper part of my back, push me hard down to the ground. It wasn’t an immediate blow, but like something was just forcefully pushing me downwards. It all was sort of in slow motion. The next thing I remember was being pinned under several different branches (which likely cushioned and broke the fall of the trunk and also left enough room between the ground and the tree for my body) and hearing Will screaming my name. I was able to crouch down and do a backwards tuck and roll in between some branches to get out from underneath it. I jumped up and said, “I’m okay, it’s okay… I’m alright.”

Dave was over by the other tents came over and said “Oh my god, are you okay? One moment I looked over and you were standing there holding the tent and the next moment you were gone and there was half of a tree on top of the tent right where you were standing!”

I was fine and honestly I feel very lucky to say that. When I stepped back and had a chance to view the magnitude of what had just happened I realized just how lucky I was to have not been hit in any other way or in any other spot. The top portion of the tree which had broken off was about 15 feet long and the diameter of the trunk where it had broken off was probably about 8-9 inches. It landed smack dab on top of the tent that Lisa and I were going to sleep in. It by no means was a small tree and like I said I consider myself very lucky that it didn’t hit me in the head or the neck.

After that we had a small break from the wind and rain and we were all wandering around camp and looking at the damage around the campsite. The canoes were okay and a few things had been blown around but overall the tree was the most horrendous thing that had happened.
Then another bout of rain was starting to come in. We were too afraid to stand next to anything too tall, so we gathered by a large rock close to the shore. The rain started to pour down. Will, Dave and Crystal were getting soaked. Their rain gear was inside the bag that was in the tent with the tree on top of it. So there we stood, just taking the rain as it poured down waiting for it to pass. We were able to laugh about it a little bit. It was all I could do as I was pretty shaken up about the whole incident. And then, it began to hail.

We were hesitant to go into any tents after what just happened, but the other two were by smaller trees and I yelled out that we should get inside of them as the marble sized hail was coming down pretty good. Dave agreed right after he was hit smack dab on top of his head with some fast moving hail.

Will, Dave and Brandon gathered in their tent while Crystal, Charlie and I sat in the other one. The hail continued for a while along with some more hard rain. I started to feel the water seep in everywhere. After a little while I noticed that half of the bottom of the tent had about an inch and a half of water underneath it. When I would poke the bottom of the tent it reacted like a waterbed. I tried to push the water away from the tent with my hands but wasn’t having much success. Not to mention all the hail was turning this little pool into a nice ice-water bath, so your fingers would get cold in a hurry. We ended up sitting on top of sleeping pads to avoid from getting our pants too wet and cold.

Crystal began to get upset at her husband John who couldn’t come on this trip. Apparently he was supposed to spray two bottles of a waterproofing substance onto the tent and he only did one. She was starting to get really mad and said, “I am so mad at John right now, this is all his fault that water is soaking through this tent! I can’t believe he didn’t listen to me. Seriously, we’re going to be sleeping in wet sleeping bags tonight, and it’s all his fault!!” It was somewhat comical at the time listening to her, knowing that your significant other doesn’t always listen to instructions, but then after we asked Will if they had water in their tent too she began to feel a little better.

The hail finally stopped and we got out our tents. There was literally a pool of water that extended around right where these two tents were. We walked around, completely soaked looking at everything that we were going to have to deal with. The fog had completely blown out of our campsite and Charlie stood at the edge of the rock and said, “Gosh, I thought this lake was WAY bigger than it is!” It was kind of funny, as now we could see the trees across the lake, and it’s true, with the fog we had no idea what went out into the abyss.

With all of the events that happened in such a small amount of time and the fact that we had one tent with half a tree on top of it, two tents with almost two inches of water underneath them, along with a six year old boy who will be terrified of storms for a while to come, that it was in our best interest to pack all of our things up and go. Not to mention another predicted storm was to arrive around 1AM.

We had a break in weather and started to gather our things. Will sawed off the top portion of the tree that fell so the boys could roll the trunk off of the tent. Both the guitar and mandolin were in one piece, and we were able to get to the canoe bag with some dry clothes. Charlie and I took the first canoe out with a big load of our things and the other four came shortly thereafter. We paddled back to the portage site, got the canoe up and unloaded our bags. Just as we were heading up the trail I heard a familiar ‘Hello.’ It was Lisa. She was going to meet us after she got off work and it looked like she made pretty good time. I don’t even think she knew how happy I was to see such a familiar face. She saw that we were soaking wet and had packed up a fair amount of things and asked if we were headed out.

She said she wondered if we were going to stick it out as when she drove to the entry point there were several trees down blocking the roads and that the radio said this storm was supposed to be nothing compared to what was going to come later on that night. Plus there were tornado watches for several regions and it sounded like more rain was inevitable.

So she grabbed a few things and noticed our sense of urgency to get everything packed up and back into the vehicles. Then Dave, Will, Crystal and Brandon showed up and we made a few portages back and forth to haul all of our gear back.

Finally we were all safe and sound and in the cars, which to me felt quite a bit sturdier and safer than anything I had been inside of, the last two hours.

We cruised back to Grand Marias and stopped at the local Dairy Queen, because by now it was about 7pm and we hadn’t even eaten lunch yet. We grabbed some burgers and sandwiches and then caravanned back to Duluth. It was a long 122 miles back and about 10 minutes into our drive it started to downpour.

The rain continued for about 60 miles and I think Lisa was glad we had Will’s tail lights to follow as it was really hard to see the road at some points. And boy what a lightning storm we watched on the ride home.

That drive in the rain reiterated our decision to not stay at camp that night. It’s too bad that we ran into such bad weather because the campsite would’ve been perfect for the weekend and it would’ve been fun to canoe around and fish and just hang out on that lake. As much as I love being in that area, this time was just not the time to be there and I guess it’ll have to wait until the next time we are in that neck of the woods.

But while in the car and driving back home with some time to reflect on everything, we realized that starting at about 7:30 in the morning, all we did all day was drive, pack up, move & transport gear, unpack, set up, get wet, tear down, pack up really wet and disorganized stuff and moved and transported all of our belongings around that day. We got back to Lisa’s at around 11:15 at night.

What a day.