SWEMB BIRT Voyageurs National Park Day 7

 After a long day on the water we drove over to International Falls, Minnesota.  It was about a 5 hour drive from the boundary waters.  We were all so exhausted.  We couldn't wait to get to the hotel, shower, and sleep.  The boys wanted to get in the hotel pool so we all swam just a little more! 

We had a late 10:00 boat tour of Voyageurs National Park, so we slept in and then headed to the park.  Voyageurs looks a lot like the boundary waters so it wasn't as exciting to see the islands.  If it was our first stop on the trip, I think we would have loved it; however, we had seen the same type of scenery for three days so I think the boys were over it.  There was a thunderstorm while we were on the boat so we had to wait 45 minutes until it passed.  We took a small hike around one of the mines on an island then we headed to a fishing camp.  It was really interesting to see the way people lived in the harsh conditions of the north.  

After our tour we had another 4 hour drive to Minneapolis.  Everyone was exhausted by the time we go to the city.  We searched for some ramen and stopped at The Spoon sculpture.  After wondering downtown Minneapolis, we went to the worst hotel!!  It was so gross.  The towel rack was held on by duck tape and they advertised three beds but only had two.  So two boys had to sleep on the ground.  Not ideal. 

 

SWEMB BIRT Boundary Waters Day 6

 This was the day I was the most excited about.  Edward also looked forward to canoeing the boundary waters.  He really wanted his own canoe but we learned the canoes were super hard to control with just one person so he was glad we shared.  I had done a ton of research on the boundary waters so I felt like I was ready.  I had bought some very strong bug spray and memorized the map.  We started at Hungry Jack Lake and headed up to Rose Lake Falls.  This took us across two lakes, Bearskin and Dunkin.  We had to carry our canoes over two portages to reach our final destination.  I didn't take a lot of photos on this day because we spent most of our time rowing.  It ended up taking us about 5 hours to do the entire trip.  Once we got to the falls, we had our lunch and swam in the water.  It was so refreshing.  On our way back, I couldn't find our final portage.  Luckily, a fisherman saw us and pointed us in the right direction.  

Edward and I shared a canoe with Erik and Anders.  That meant that Edward had to do most of the paddling.  He was the back and I was the front.  Edward carried the canoe over two portages and I did two on the way back.  Carrying the canoe was tough!  It weighed 35-40 pounds and had to be carried on your shoulders.  I tried to get a photo of carrying it but my phone was in a waterproof bag so the photo is fuzzy.  This was by far the most adventurous things we have ever done on a SWEMB BIRT and it was so rewarding.  I am so glad we embarked on such a difficult journey.  I would love to go back someday and camp with Stephen and see more of what the boundary waters have to offer.