BWCA Most Interesting thing you've seen/experienced in the BW ? Boundary Waters Listening Point - General Discussion
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toonces300
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06/14/2012 03:47PM   (Thread Older Than 3 Years)
For me, it would be some of the pictographs..grasping that whoever drew the images, lived quite a ways back..and yet, there we were, at that moment, connected somehow.
 
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06/14/2012 03:50PM  
Watching a huge bull moose swim across the lake, get out 50 yds down from my camp, then trapse through woods about 10 ft. behind the tent. That was amazing.
 
CrookedPaddler1
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06/14/2012 04:04PM  
There are way to many great things i have seen in the BWCA / Quetico but if I had to pick one.................

I would go with the bald eagles dive bombing the canoe on Jackfish Lake!
 
06/14/2012 04:10PM  
Most interesting thing? Many moose.
Most interetsing experience? Dragging my lard**s and gear through many feet of muck on a portage. One of my favorite things to do up there.
 
06/14/2012 04:18PM  
I am from 2,000 miles away. We don't have loons or moose where I live. We don't have white cedar or jack pine. We don't have walleye, lake trout or northern pike. Canoe trekking is nearly non-existent here. Everything was interesting to me my first couple of trips.
 
06/14/2012 04:24PM  
It's really hard to pinpoint just one thing. But if I had to say just one thing, my favorite experience was listening to a pack of wolves howl right about sunset on Alpine Lake. I will never forget this sound as long as I live. They kept it up for a few minutes, and then it stopped and never started again. It was beautiful.
 
FoxRiverRat
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06/14/2012 04:36PM  
quote CrookedPaddler1: I would go with the bald eagles dive bombing the canoe on Jackfish Lake!
"


Wow! were you near a nest or something? What did you do to get them to stop?
 
06/14/2012 04:47PM  
I've stated this before, but since you asked- watching a cougar walk along the shoreline of Brule Lake at dusk last September.
 
missmolly
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06/14/2012 05:10PM  
I've never been to the BW, but I've spent about two years north of there in the bush and the most interesting thing I've ever seen is the end of a rainbow, which is a supposed impossibility, but I paddled up to it and into it. No gold, but it shimmered like gold. I also had it happen on the Ohio River.

I wish I could trade one of those end-of-the-rainbow moments for a cougar on the shore and not Susan Sarandon 'cause she probably can't even cast or unhook a thrashing pike.
 
06/14/2012 05:13PM  
horse lake, 2006....the first time i ever heard wolves howling.
 
joetrain
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06/14/2012 06:41PM  
quote missmolly: "I've never been to the BW, but I've spent about two years north of there in the bush and the most interesting thing I've ever seen is the end of a rainbow, which is a supposed impossibility, but I paddled up to it and into it. No gold, but it shimmered like gold. I also had it happen on the Ohio River.


I wish I could trade one of those end-of-the-rainbow moments for a cougar on the shore and not Susan Sarandon 'cause she probably can't even cast or unhook a thrashing pike."
Once after a storm my son and I were able to see both ends of a rainbow and were able to shoot some photos of it. Way cool. ~JOE~
 
Beaverjack
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06/14/2012 06:49PM  
I once saw both ends of a rainbow, with a leprechaun scampering around and trying to hide. When I caught him, he kept claiming he was a mailman, but I wasn't fooled. So, I tied up the leprechaun up and set him on fire when he wouldn't tell me where his pot of gold was. Never did find the pot of gold, and the only thing I got out of the episode was a leather sack and a pithe helmet.
 
06/14/2012 10:43PM  
ball lighting
 
06/14/2012 11:11PM  
quote Beaverjack: "I once saw both ends of a rainbow, with a leprechaun scampering around and trying to hide. When I caught him, he kept claiming he was a mailman, but I wasn't fooled. So, I tied up the leprechaun up and set him on fire when he wouldn't tell me where his pot of gold was. Never did find the pot of gold, and the only thing I got out of the episode was a leather sack and a pithe helmet. "

youre just too cute (sarcasm)
 
wetcanoedog
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06/14/2012 11:39PM  
thing seen,the geology.the exposed mountain roots billion's of years old and the effects of the glaciers on the rock always impress me.thats one of the reasons i shoreline the lakes rather than travel point to point.
thing experience,the weather.looking thru my photos i find i took a lot of shots of the clouds,passing storms,storms i was in! with the vast open views you get out on the lakes with no interference from power line towers,buildings and such the sky view is impressive as it changes thru the day.
 
bruceye
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06/15/2012 12:18AM  
Three of us were Winter camping and ice fishing up on Bower Trout 20 years ago. We were out on the ice, well away from camp waiting for flags. It was that classic cold, clear, arctic high pressure perfectly still night and our eyes were glued to the brilliance of the heavens when Mark said, "look at that satellite". We watched it sail through it's orbit at a pretty good clip like they normally do till something occurred that was anything but normal. It stopped dead! For maybe 2 seconds before taking off again.... at a 90!! We watched it go till it disappeared then we just looked at each other with that Barny Fife expression till somebody said "what the hell was that"! Never seen anything like it before or after.
 
h20
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06/15/2012 01:12AM  
Watched a tiny red spider navigate a clump of caribou moss for ten minutes. Made my trip seem simple.
 
The Lorax
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06/15/2012 08:29AM  
Watching a wolf chase a deer right behind our camp, up over the hill and then the deer swim away to a close island. The wolf stopped at the gravel bar, turned and looked at us for five seconds and then continued on swimming after the deer.
 
FoxRiverRat
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06/15/2012 10:05AM  
Saw a big black bear about 20 feet away from our campsite on Crab lake (08'). We were making noise too...didn't like it getting THAT close. It wandered off...
 
RaoulDuke
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06/15/2012 10:13AM  
My first trip...we went in at Saganaga and did a fairly extensive loop. We paddled into a small bay close to sunset. There was only one campsite there (luckily it was open). We saw something up ahead in the water (looked like a log). We got closer and saw it was a moose. She swam around for a bit before climbing out of the water. A minute later her calf ran up to her from down shore further. They slowly walked into the brush...great experience.
 
FoxRiverRat
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06/15/2012 10:23AM  
quote The Lorax: "Watching a wolf chase a deer right behind our camp, up over the hill and then the deer swim away to a close island. The wolf stopped at the gravel bar, turned and looked at us for five seconds and then continued on swimming after the deer."


doesn't get much cooler than that! did you watch to see if the deer got away?
 
06/15/2012 10:28AM  
While drifting along the shoreline, we spotted a wolf just sitting on shore watching us. He stayed there for over a minute just observing.
 
06/15/2012 10:41AM  
My buddy watched a wolf tearing into a beaver lodge for over an hour during one of his trips. He said it was mesmerizing.
 
CrookedPaddler1
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06/15/2012 11:09AM  
The eagle dive bombing us was a cool experience. At first we heard a sound, like something falling from the sky. As we looked up we could see 2 small dots coming straight down at the canoe. We sat and watched the dots becoming bigger and bigger until we could see that it was two eagles with their wings tucked into their bodies doing an all out free fall. When they were about 30 feet above the canoe, they stretched out their wings and came within a few feet of the canoe. They then landed in tree near the shoreline and sat there. It was a pretty amazing sight! One that I will remember forever!
 
Minnesotian
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06/15/2012 02:57PM  

By far my most favorite experience has been staying up all night and watching the Perseid Meteor shower peak back in August of 2010. We had taken the Louse river from Malberg all the way to Wine Lake. There we got the island campsite and spent the next 2 days there. I will always remember falling asleep on the rocks at the landing at dawn after spending the whole night watching shooting stars overhead.
 
06/15/2012 05:13PM  
The year was 1976, I was 12 years old and it was my first trip to the BWCA without my Dad. I was at summer camp and we were headed into the BWCA for seven days. We started out on Hungry Jack Lake with Rose Lake as our base camp destination. On our third night we decided to sleep out on a rock point. It was my first time sleeping under the stars. As luck would have it, the sky was clearer than anything I had ever seen. The stars were so close; it seemed like you could reach out and grab them. Satellites and a meteor shower entertained us for much of the night. You should have seen us - ten 12 year old boys awestruck by the night sky. None of us said much that night; we just watched the celestial show. But we sure talked about it the next day. I think that night is what made me want to come back.
 
TuscaroraBorealis
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06/15/2012 07:57PM  
 
Quiviracabin
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06/15/2012 08:39PM  
Woke up to a cow moose just 10 feet out in the water from our campsite one morning. Me being from Kansas and never seeing a wild moose before was a pretty cool experience.
The best thing that I have seen in the BW has to be the northern lights. One night we had enough breeze to keep the skeeters off of us and we slept on the rocks by the water. I woke up in the middle of the night to an amazing display that I will never forget. We don't see those in Kansas either.
 
06/15/2012 10:46PM  
quote bruceye: "Three of us were Winter camping and ice fishing up on Bower Trout 20 years ago. We were out on the ice, well away from camp waiting for flags. It was that classic cold, clear, arctic high pressure perfectly still night and our eyes were glued to the brilliance of the heavens when Mark said, "look at that satellite". We watched it sail through it's orbit at a pretty good clip like they normally do till something occurred that was anything but normal. It stopped dead! For maybe 2 seconds before taking off again.... at a 90!! We watched it go till it disappeared then we just looked at each other with that Barny Fife expression till somebody said "what the hell was that"! Never seen anything like it before or after."

It was a weather balloon :)
 
06/15/2012 11:01PM  
Garter snake eating a toad which seemed impossibly large to fit in mouth since it had been captured feet first. took a half hour to get it all in.
 
TeamTuna06
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06/15/2012 11:27PM  
Something about loons for me. I don't think anything encompasses the feeling you get up north, than hearing a loon. They're always a highlight of my trips. Last week we were able to get within 20' of a couple loons with a little one. After a couple minutes, it climbed up on mom's back and we watched them swim off. I'm smiling now just thinking about it. Cool animals.
 
analyzer
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06/15/2012 11:42PM  
Hard to narrow it down.

The blow down has to be number 1 for me. Crazy afternoon. The stacks of trees along the sawbill was even interesting.

I was caught in a sudden fog, and paddle up on a deer swimming across munker narrows. I don't think either of us knew which way shore was.

I have paddled near a swimming moose. The power was amazing.

Bear in camp leaves you a little breathless too, well, I'm sure not some of you that live up that way, but for me atleast.

Watching a loon swim UNDER my canoe. That was cool.

Watching 4 young eagles tear into something small brown and furry, likely a young beaver.

3 or 4 hour electrical storm, with lightning strikes every minute or two. I'd rather suffer through the blowdown I think. It was over faster.

This little guy was pretty damn interesting this trip. Hadn't seen a fisher in 35 years....





Watching my son land 2, 2lb smallies simultaneously on the same rapala.

Watching my daughter land her first smallie. She hadn't been back since the 99 blowdown, and it was wonderful to see her excitement...



I hope to have many more....
 
JJ396
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06/16/2012 07:03AM  
I had a loon swim under my canoe in May. It was very cool.
 
river rat
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06/18/2012 08:47AM  
I have to agree with the others about the wolves howling early one morning on north Fourtown. No one else heard them, they were still asleep.

 
06/18/2012 08:55AM  




Looking across Lake Three from the narrows going into Lake Two Sept. 11, 2011.
 
06/18/2012 09:15AM  
watching a bear ransack a campsite on Crooked Lake (not our site)
 
06/18/2012 12:14PM  
Moose carcass one spring, from a moose that had gone through ice and was mostly "still there".

Otters (multiple) - yelling at me to leave, and scamperin and playing.
 
lazypaw
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06/18/2012 10:52PM  
Following on Otter on his rounds for most of the day. My wife and I had a great day.
 
06/19/2012 02:17PM  
Sept. 2011 on Kett Lake in Quetico I watched a bald eagle chasing another one at tree top level when they clasped talons and did a cartwheel together before resuming the chase. My jaw literally dropped open. I was fairly close - maybe 75 yards away.

The same trip, as I lay in my hammock just after dark, I heard a moose noisily walk into the small bay I was camped on. It swam around and I could hear it taking long inhales and exhales. It was undoubtedly a very large animal. Suddenly the noisy breathing stopped. About 2 minutes later I heard the breathing again. Then it would stop.

Later in my trip I read about how moose dive and hold their breath under water while they feed on the bottom plants. I'll never forget the sound of that.

Also during the same trip I saw a pack of 12 loons and 1 seagull fishing together. It was amazing. I have a short video of it on Burt Lake. Loon pack feeding

 
mr.barley
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06/19/2012 03:56PM  
Watching a wobbly calf moose come out from behind a big rock on a back bay beach on Lac La Croix while it's mother nervously ran in and out of the woods.
 
06/20/2012 07:45AM  
I've mentioned this one before:

While day tripping from Horseshoe to Vista one late September we saw a bull moose on the left shore of the narrows we were approaching. He walked out to the middle of the narrows, stopped and stared at us for a couple of minutes (were were a good 100 yards away). He turned back and went to shore (it seemed like a posturing/territorial move).

He moved around the bend and into the woods so we continued on to the narrows. After we rounded the bend we saw him standing next to a cow and her calf. We watched as he shoved the calf off into the woods. The calf returned and he did the same thing. This happened a couple more times. Realizing he would have no trouble walking out to us, we quickly paddled on and left him to his courting attempts.

Watching a loon swim under our canoe on Winchell was pretty cool as well.

Last year at about 6 pm, for three nights in a row, a large rabbit would run through camp and very shortly after a fischer would follow. It seemed like they had a routine.
 
misqua
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06/20/2012 10:44AM  
On a fall trip, on the Isabella River between Rice Lake and Isabella Lake a huge bull moose was on the shore watching us, so we stopped to watch him. Well he was not the least intimidated by our presence, in fact he got in the river and began very quickly coming straight for us. Theres no doubt that the rut was on and he was not happy with us being in his territory. We paddle downstream and to the other shore. Then he actually charged at us. We left as fast as we could. I'm sure he meant to do us harm if he got close enough to us. It was pretty cool.
 
Flatwater5
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06/20/2012 10:55AM  
May 1985, last day of a 10 day trip. Paddled till past sunset and made camp in the dark. We ate everything in the food back which i think was one box of Uncle Bens between five of us. Too tired and hungry to sleep we stayed up that last night recounting the trip and watching the stars. The northern lights started to flare. I'd seen them from NW Iowa a few times before this, faint white, brief flashes in the northern sky but this was incredible. Violet, green, blue,yellow bursts of colored light spread from the north to the southern horizon. It was like a fireworks display. A fantastic end to our trip.
 
06/20/2012 11:07AM  
I guess I can't point to any one big unusual happening. There have been moose sightings, but they weren't all that out of the ordinary. I love the loons, and the misty mornings, but they are not in the category of "most interesting".

I am going to nominate my first canoe trip. All if it, in totality. It probably wasn't a trip that was out of the ordinary either, but it changed my life. I was a certain person before that trip, and after it I was another person. In those six days I changed my mindset in ways I hadn't anticipated, we conceived an amazing second child, my relationship with my husband and with God's creation (nature, if you prefer) changed forever. I challenged myself in ways I had never done before, and I learned who I was and who I could be.



 
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