OS  Hey Ho 40 way to go!  Keep up on the glucosamine and chondroitin before the second knee limits you.  Quetico is waiting for you again   My first trip was back in 1987 with my cousin Roger.  Up through Moose, Newfoundland, Sucker to PP.  Into Basswood riding fast with a tailwind out of the south we rigged up a spinnaker out of the rain fly and two paddles.  Made 7.5 miles in an hour, camped on White island and had every storm come directly over our site.  Had to dig a sluice around the tent to keep dry.  Big northern and fiesty smallies that flexed in our hands.  Way too much whiskey and Yukon Jack than two people should have carried and consumed. Waking up on Burke lake quietly watching our island neighbor hanging out something to dry on a line wearing only a sweater on top and cute naked little buns glowing in the morning sunlight.  Damn I was hooked alright.   Oatmeal never tasted soo goood.  Paddling out across Bayley bay through a downpour drinking Canadian Club and singing the theme song to Gilligan's Island.  Named our canoe The S.S. Minnow and getting a quick tow back to the landing at Moose lake.  Finally taking a shower back at Doug Johnson's on White Iron lake and passing out from exhaustion under the warm clean water.  Next trip was already in the planning stage on the ride back.  Did I leave any thing out?   Marc

My first trip was 12 years ago. It was a trip with ROTC. We stayed on Insula and then took a day trip into Alice. We almost got wind bound on Alice with all our gear still sitting at our site on Insula. The thing I remember most is that it was the first trip that I was able to easily portage a canoe by myself. The summer before we did a trip up the Vermillion River and I guess I just wasn't strong enough to do it well that year.

I have only been Tripping in the BW/Q since the late 90's ...I'll die a rookie...

I remember my first canoe paddling experience though.. I was eleven

it was church camp, a week long, had to qualify to take out the canoe and then get a counselor(probably 16) to ride along on paddles... Me and my canoe buddy would always get the same girl,   I can't remember her name but she was beautiful and I had a crush on her the whole week..it was hard to concentrate or sleep...  and I'm not talking about the canoe...

OS,

Twenty years for me.

This was trip #1 in 1990 =  (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links); ;  never underestiimate the newbie/moron factor!

Wish I could have could have hooked up with you forty years ago; I'd be that much more ahead of the game by now!


Jimbo   

40 years is a good long time, congratulations on that old salt. Nice when you find something you really like. 

It's coming close to 20 years since our first time up there, but I don't remember using any canoes that first time  We did take our first canoe trip the next summer... only about canoe 8 trips total so far.

A few things I remember from that first trip to the Ely area are those big pine trees, starting to realize the enormity of the area, the number of lakes and the way they are connected, and all of the other sights, sounds and smells that go with it. We really had no idea where we were until I noticed the map on the wall of the outfitters. Completely floored me. We ditched the cabin and loaded up some extra gas to go camping for a few days on Basswood... never travel without the camping equipment. No bad experiences that I remember, but a lot to try and learn along the way. When we came back from that first canoe trip in Wabakimi, I noticed my hiking boots still contained the sweet pine scent from the duff stuck in the treads.

I wish you another 40 years of tripping old salt, you guys have all set the bar pretty high.

That's a long time O_S, feels good I bet. I prefer not to think about being unable to go at some point. This will be my 30th. Missed one year because I was too young and dumb to negotiate vacation time at one job I needed or I may not have wanted to go that year and needed an excuse. I know early on I once paddled out swearing I'd never be back for numerous reasons. Now I just couldn't imagine a year without at least one trip.

My first was a college art course. Early May, 18 people, mostly women. Most of us had no clue whatsoever. One, "The Princess" would only last a week. Slept on a logging road and started out of French. The water level had been raised and lowered a few years before. Scary looking dead trees and mud banks - ugly- I wondered what I had gotten myself into.

Ate prunes for the first time ever - no one seemed to want them and I was hungry. DOH!

Froze my butt off and only dozed in and out due to shivering in my damp Ted Williams bag many nights. 3-4 day stretch of cold rain/drizzel and ill prepared from my head to my frozen toes. My tent partner almost burned down our tent one night. I was hanging by the campfire when someone asked if that was my tent and why was it so bright. As we studied the sight imagining causes, there was a sudden Ouch! ... Oouch! !Zip, zip and out comes a flaming plate of candles to delight the audience.

Going out shooting with the professors was vary enjoyable. I still bushwhack back to a couple very unique spots every time I go that way. I love seeing how places change in different conditions and over the years.

One night another student and I went out to a nice sunset location on a different corner of the lake. The sunset (Mount St. Helens era) lasted forever and then we waited for northern lights. After a while we realized everything looks the same after dark and we didn't really know which island our campsite was on.

And I remember stuffed lakers for our end of semester critique. That became a nice tradition we continued for a long time. Those I miss. I miss Roger Thew when I drive by his place too.

I wasn't all that enthused after my first 4-5 trips. For me the draw became stronger every year. The earlier trips were a means to end. Often uncomfortable sometimes downright miserable, a necessary evil. It took 20 years to be relatively assured of comfort in challenging conditions and fish to eat. It takes a lot longer when all you have is your week or two a year, a book or three and a quarterly to get ideas from.

Hi, my name is Snow_Dog and I'm an addict.

As noted, I have Old_Salt to thank for my 34 years of addiction.  The stories I could tell (and probably should, someday) of that first trip!  

Thinking back, the misery probably outweighed the high moments by a large margin, yet I recall knowing down to my core that the suffering was worth it.  

This is how it goes with addicts, right?  

The fleeting moments of an incredible Quetico high drown out the hours of pain willingly endured.  

The lies we tell ourselves in order to continue to feed the addiction (next year, I'm sure it won't rain as much...next year, I won't lose that fish at the boat...next year, we'll get some better gear).  

Spending way too much time between trips dreaming about how great the next high is going to feel.

Taking foolish risks to keep that high rolling (like filleting fish on a rock island barely larger than the canoe while a massive windstorm is mere minutes away...or trolling for lakers in wind and waves that only a total imbecile or a total junkie would even dream of tempting).

Covered in mud, staggering to the end of hellhole portages that no sane person would ever attempt.

Spending way too much money and time to tweak my gear and systems in an attempt to make every high a little better than the last one.

Going to canoe expos to meet other junkies I met on the internet who continually reinforce my addiction.

Yeah, I'm willing to admit my addiction...but unwilling to end it.  I think that's the telltale sign of an irredeemable junkie.

Congrats Old Salt. Where better to spend 40 years of vacations?

If you count my first trip with my parents to Crane and Sand Point when I was 6 mo. old, this will be 54 years to that country.
My first real trip by myself was in 1972 when I was 16. Another 16 year old and 2 14 year olds went to LLC and McAree and Minn for 9 days.
What were our parents thinking????? I'd never let my kids do that now days. ( Well OK maybe, they are probably better prepared than I was ).
My wife and I will celebrate 34 years of going to Q this summer with our usual 2 week trip the end of July. ( Doing the Cache - Trousers portages for the first time ).
Memories from when I was 16 .... Catching more fish than even a kid knew what to do with. We fished until our arms hurt and we ate more fish than you'd think humanly possible. I caught an 8 lb Walleye. Awesome weather, great company, wolves howling at night. We had a red squirrel get into our food pack - it took 3 days but we finally killed it with rocks and sticks. Revenge is important as a kid...
I camped in the same spot last summer, things have changed a lot, but the important stuff is still the same.... quiet, peaceful, beautiful, relaxing, good fishing. It is a good place to refresh the mind, body and spirit.
Memories from my first trip with my wife in 1978 ( our 2 week honeymoon ).   I can't believe that I was able to talk my wife into going to the Q for a 2 week honeymoon.... Darky River, Brent Lake, Argo Lake.... is there a more beautiful place to spend the start of a lifetime together? We started in a downpour and ended with a beautiful sunset 14 days later. ( My line for the rain was "Big drops, won't last long" ) 3 hours later the sun was out.  She had never camped or canoed before. 34 years later, she can't imagine not going to the Q for vacation.

Lots of random thoughts but I wouldn't change a thing about all my years of paddling in Quetico Park. Thanks OS for the trip down memory lane.

GeneM

This year marked me turning 40 and my 30th consecutive year going to BW/Q.  The past 10 years since I moved back to MN I have been fortunate enough to go 3-5 times a summer.  Usually short 4 day weekend trips but makes the summer last longer.

The first ever trip was a family trip with my parents, brother and 2 sisters.  It was a great trip but a time prior to pumping water.  On the way out we saw a lady shaving her legs in the lake that we had been drinking from.  It was enough for my one sister, and she has not been back.  The rest of them family have made several other trips together and individually.

Hey Old Salt, congrats on 40 years and especially that new knee.  It's amazing what they can do these days when it comes to joint replacement.  I was out of canoeing (hell I could barely pull my socks on) for 15 years becasue of my hips.  About 6 years ago I had my second hip replaced and I suddenly got 20 years younger.  Three months after that second surgery I was hiking with my wife in Algonquin and I realized, "I can do this again!"  What a blessing, I'm hopping around now like a young gazelle and so grateful to be able to get back into the bush again.  My wife and I will be doing our first (hard to believe after all these years of tripping) trip into the Q this summer -  three weeks from the middle of August.  I hope your new knee gives you the same pleasure every day as I get from my hips.  Stay in shape, my friend, and you'll have 40 years more.