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Gas Prices make a difference?

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Last Visit: 06/20/2013 02:23AM
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bwcadan

06/10/2012 04:56PM

At what price of gas would make you decide to not go to BW? The distance from the BW and other concerns would help determine the number. Assume availability and no gov. requests to conserve. Those close by really do not have much of a problem in this regard. My number from St. Louis is $11.00 to $13.00.

the greatest come backs are reserved for those with the greatest deficits.

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maxxbhp

06/10/2012 05:53PM

That's an interesting question and my answer almost certainly won't be typical. Last year was my first trip at age 55 after wanting to do this for 30 years. I live about 1150 miles from Grand Marais, unless it diverted money from things my family needed I don't think there's an amount that would have stopped me. I would look at it from a little more practical perspective now, and costs are always evolving, but I'd say gas would have to double in the 2 months before a trip before I'd call it off.

"Old Nashville still has a song and dance, and the Florida girls still wear no underpants. And we all get drunk at the football game, yeh the new south, thank God is still the same" Hank Williams, jr

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billconner

06/10/2012 06:06PM

Just about 40 gallons for me - so maybe $150 right now. I'd guess somewhere above $15 to $20 / gallon would cause me to think about it and probably try to find some ride sharing folks here.

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fishonfishoff

06/10/2012 07:58PM

I can't really give a price but we are maximizing the capacity of a minivan verses taking a bigger vehicle for our 700+ mile trip this fall. If this was a family trip I would hesitate sooner than our trip splitting cost with 6 guys.

"JUST TRY IT!"

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arctic

06/10/2012 08:52PM

I'm fortunate to be able to get to any BWCA entry point and back home on a single tank of gas, so gas would REALLY have to get expensive to limit my canoe tripping.

The trips out west are of more concern...

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Thwarted

06/10/2012 08:56PM

My share of the gas this year is expected to be $170.00. Double that and I start thinking we need to go with six vs. four guys.

Not even close until we get to $10.00 per gallon which might be WWIII and no one is going anywhere for a while.

At age 57 I am more concerned about wheather I will be able to walk the trails than gas prices.

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Huntindave

06/10/2012 08:59PM

Every trip I make cost me right at 200 dollars for vehicle fuel. So,,,,,,,, I plan a longer number of days in the wilderness to keep the cost per day down to what I consider an acceptable figure. I could never justify just a three or four day trip. Might be different if I went with a group rather than solo.

If the price of gas jumped up considerably, I'd just have to combine two trips into one long one. Wish the BWCAW was closer, (sigh).

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carmike

06/11/2012 12:22AM

Not for me...but I'm driving from St Cloud, so I've got it pretty good. Gas prices would have to get VERY high for me to not go up. I do realize that for others, either because of finances or because of travel distance, it could make a difference, though.

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bbrown6057

06/11/2012 08:03AM

Another St Louisan here, and we are truck pooling this trip. We found another couple to go with us and we are sharing the fuel costs. Maybe I'll get lucky and it will be a 2 trip year :-)

"You have a cough? Go home tonight, eat a whole box of Ex-Lax, tomorrow you'll be afraid to cough."

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IBFLY

06/11/2012 08:31AM

Driving from St Paul isn't too hard on the gas cost though anything over 5 dollars a gallon changes the way everything will cost and may have a domino effect.

You say that like it's a bad thing.

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Kiporby

06/11/2012 08:41AM

Canoe trips are so cheap compared to other vacations. Gas prices will never affect me going.

There is a light and it never goes out. Morrissey

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mjmkjun

06/11/2012 08:43PM

not for me. bwca wilderness tripping is religious, only much better.

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mirth

06/12/2012 12:30AM

quote mjmkjun: "not for me. bwca wilderness tripping is religious, only much better."

+1

Only question I have now is how much will my MPG be affected by having a canoe on top of the Prius. It's been fun going from Chicago to Ely or the Gunflint and back on ~30 gallons of gas!

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MeatHunter

06/12/2012 08:02AM

With a Prius? That's like portaging. One trip to take the canoe, then go back and get the rest of the gear LOL.

Just kiddin of course. If we didn't live so far out in the sticks (think Winter time), we'd have one as well. MPG is awesome on them things.

Take note on how much fuel you use with the canoe on top, be interesting to see what effect it has.

Some people see nature as being made "Just for them", and view others as an invasive species.....

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nofish

06/12/2012 08:36AM

Not sure at what point I wouldn't go any more.

With gas prices at the point they are at now I certainly don't think about staying home but it does cause me to rethink how i do my trip.

Last year we opted to rent a kevlar canoe from an outfitter and take the Mazda 3 up to the BWCA instead of taking our big heavy tub of a canoe and having to drive the SUV. The gas savings made up for a good portion of the canoe rental so that was a no brainer when you factor in the joy of portaging a 40 pound canoe versus an 80 pound canoe.

We live in St. Paul and both my wife and I have short commutes (under 3 miles for me and maybe 8 miles for her) so our gas budget is rather small. THat makes it easier to justify a bwca trip.

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mirth

06/12/2012 09:24AM

quote MeatHunter: "With a Prius? That's like portaging. One trip to take the canoe, then go back and get the rest of the gear LOL.
Just kiddin of course. If we didn't live so far out in the sticks (think Winter time), we'd have one as well. MPG is awesome on them things.
Take note on how much fuel you use with the canoe on top, be interesting to see what effect it has. "

Yeah, although it's pretty amazing the amount of stuff I can fit in the back with the seats down. Most recently transported 6 of those rubbermaid roughneck totes for my son's Cub Scout pack.

Hear you on winter driving, especially on the need for 4WD. Only thing I dislike about the car is how traction control acts in the winter when it comes to slushy/slippery transitions to streets. If it detects a slip it automatically pulls power from the wheels, and as the driver I know that I'm so close to good traction.

I love 'B' mode for winter, though. It essentially acts like a jake brake - keeps spinning the cylinders w/o feeding it gas or spark all while still connected to the transmission. The compression slows the wheels way better than braking and is effective even on slippery roads.

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toonces300

06/12/2012 11:19AM

We just returned from our great week out there....2512 miles total...close to $500 in fuel costs...(wish my Jeep got better mileage, but that's part of the fun getting there and back).
I don't think I could put a dollar amount on it...but...double that would sure make me wince. But is it worth it to me? Every penny.

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boonie

06/12/2012 08:35PM

I also live a long way away - 1,250 miles one way - and gas is a major expense, but not the only one. I know I'm going to use 100 gallons of gas whenever I go up. I don't know when it would keep me from going, but when it is high I cut back in other areas. I also try to get someone from here to travel with me to cut the gas in half and motel rooms too. I save based on solo expenses, so if someone goes with me I have extra money :). Bt I've also decided that I need to take two weeks and do a longer trip than just a few days to be worth all the time and expense to get there. A 4-day BW trip with two days of bad weather just doesn't cut it when you have that much time and expense to get there.

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toonces300

06/13/2012 09:23AM

quote boonie: "I also live a long way away - 1,250 miles one way - and gas is a major expense, but not the only one. I know I'm going to use 100 gallons of gas whenever I go up. I don't know when it would keep me from going, but when it is high I cut back in other areas. I also try to get someone from here to travel with me to cut the gas in half and motel rooms too. I save based on solo expenses, so if someone goes with me I have extra money :). Bt I've also decided that I need to take two weeks and do a longer trip than just a few days to be worth all the time and expense to get there. A 4-day BW trip with two days of bad weather just doesn't cut it when you have that much time and expense to get there."
Ditto that, boonie -

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boonie

06/13/2012 10:39AM

quote toonces300: "quote boonie: "I also live a long way away - 1,250 miles one way - and gas is a major expense, but not the only one. I know I'm going to use 100 gallons of gas whenever I go up. I don't know when it would keep me from going, but when it is high I cut back in other areas. I also try to get someone from here to travel with me to cut the gas in half and motel rooms too. I save based on solo expenses, so if someone goes with me I have extra money :). Bt I've also decided that I need to take two weeks and do a longer trip than just a few days to be worth all the time and expense to get there. A 4-day BW trip with two days of bad weather just doesn't cut it when you have that much time and expense to get there."
Ditto that, boonie -"

I also agree that getting there and back is part of the fun. At least since I started taking two weeks (16 days actually) and an extra day or two on the way up and back so it's not rushed. My route takes me up through Michigan and across the Upper Peninsula, which is very scenic, especially in the fall. There's a lot to see and do on the North Shore of Lake Superior and I've seen the Apostle Islands, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Black River Scenic Byway, Porcupine Mountains Wilderness, Seney National Wildlife Refuge, innumerable waterfalls, lakes state parks, etc. on the way up and back.

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toonces300

06/13/2012 10:52AM

That is wayyyy more scenic than our route, boonie.
Let's see..... North Texas up thru Oklahoma, then Kansas, a touch of Mossouri, then all of Iowa, and even parts of Southern MN.
Grass...grass...corn..more grass... LOL.
You get the picture.

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fitgers1

06/13/2012 11:47AM

I don't think I will ever be discouraged in going due to gas prices. I may cut down on the number of times I go though. Cut out those three day weekend trips perhaps and just stay with one or two long trips. If gas ever gets that bad, I think I will just move farther north. I'm always going north from the cities so why not just move there? Yeah, that's the ticket.

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” Ralph Waldo Emerson...and...“Peace is that brief glorious moment in history when everybody stands around reloading".

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boonie

06/13/2012 11:58AM

quote toonces300: "That is wayyyy more scenic than our route, boonie.
Let's see..... North Texas up thru Oklahoma, then Kansas, a touch of Mossouri, then all of Iowa, and even parts of Southern MN.
Grass...grass...corn..more grass... LOL.
You get the picture."

That sounds a lot like my drive through Ohio and a lot like continuing west to Chicago and up. I did that the first year, but never since then. I'm willing to spend another hour (maybe, but not if you get stuck in Chicago traffic) to take the scenic route.

My daughter drove out through Iowa when they moved to Oregon. I had told her before that someone said Iowa was just a thousand miles of corn. She said it was just a thousand miles of dirt in March :).

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toonces300

06/13/2012 12:59PM

LOL !!

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overthehill

06/13/2012 02:58PM

It's almost 1500 miles one way for me and I still make once a year. I mix it in stopping a few days around 'home' near Cincy, visit a bit; then load up for the last 1000 mile leg to Ely. It helps break up the drive as well as 'fuel cost justification'. :)
The worst psych shocker so far was in May of 2008 when gas hit $4.00 per gallon. Now $3.60 seems tolerable. Duh......How did that happen?......

Not to Hurry-Not to Worry

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toonces300

06/13/2012 03:11PM

quote overthehill: " It's almost 1500 miles one way for me and I still make once a year. I mix it in stopping a few days around 'home' near Cincy, visit a bit; then load up for the last 1000 mile leg to Ely. It helps break up the drive as well as 'fuel cost justification'. :)
The worst psych shocker so far was in May of 2008 when gas hit $4.00 per gallon. Now $.60 seems tolerable. Duh......How did that happen?......"
Please let us know where you're gettin' it for $0.60 !!! May just have to rent a tanker-truck and make a trip to VA !!

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Ingvald

06/13/2012 03:19PM

Regardless of gas prices, it is still one of the cheapest fishing trips you can take anywhere.

Honesty is my only excuse.

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Stinkmann

06/13/2012 09:09PM

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LuvMyBell

06/14/2012 11:05AM

A week-long BWCA trip is cheap. Gas costs are my 2nd highest expense with food being number 1.This assumes I don't have to buy any new camp 'gadget' to make life easier.

My round trip mileage is 1420. I get 16 mpg in my truck. That's 88.75 gallons of diesel. At $3.50 a gallon that's a total fuel cost of $310. Now divide that by 4 people and it comes to $77 and some change per person.

Fuel prices would have to more than double before I would even blink or consider not doing a BWCA trip or 2 each year.

Paddle Faster....I hear banjo music

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Goby

06/14/2012 03:32PM

Gas would probably have to quadruple in price before it prevented me from going, but by that point I would hopefully have a much more fuel efficient vehicle, so maybe it wouldn't? I've taken the tank ('99 Chevy suburban carrying 2 canoes, 4 people and their gear) and I've taken my little saturn. The saturn gets about 35 MPG highway and it takes me two tanks of fuel each way (11.2 gal tank). The tank is great for long distance driving but it's fuel economy is AWFUL, somewhere around 17 MPG, but can make it up in one tank (50 gal). Even with 4 people its still worse than the saturn, but the saturn can't take the same load. Now I'm looking for a new vehicle that is a compromise between the two. I need more room than what the saturn offers, but I'd like decent gas mileage out of it too.

Tight Lines

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PINETREE

06/14/2012 08:37PM

Only 200 miles away,and like many,I am in my autumn days of life, so got keep tripping when I can, no matter what before it gets to be winter.

Sig: All of us our Dreamers. Dreams are what started everything. We our asking ourselves a great question? all of us interested in wilderness preservation are asking...What kind of world do we want.?

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