With the goal of seeing Lower Basswood Falls and permits unavailable for our three target entry points, we defaulted to a still available permit for the Stuart River entry point. This entry point starts with a 433 rod portage, plus five more mapped portages, as well as several additional unmapped beaver dams to climb over before arriving at the first campsites from Entry Point 19. Maybe this causes some unpopularity for this entry point, and perhaps it is this unpopularity that allowed us the permit.
Kicking off our 2018 trip to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA), our family entered the BWCA at Entry Point #16, Moose/Portage River. We spent 9 nights camped on Nina Moose, Lac La Croix, Iron and Oyster Lakes before exiting on day 10. We got rained on, paddled against gusty winds, sunned on slabs of rock and swam. We started awkwardly, careful with each move, then fell into a rhythm with our packing, portaging, paddling and camp-setting that made us feel like part of this place. Just as we began to feel like we truly belonged, our time in this quiet wilderness, like the summer of 2018, began to draw to a close.
