Anyone ever thought about a solo trip but would rather do the first one with others in their own solo boats? Perhaps three or four boats sharing a campsite.

I'm recently retired and a veteran of dozens of trip to the BWCAW/Quetico/Algonquin Park, etc. I've always done the Border Country trips in the summer months and would like to experience the area in September when the crowds and bugs are diminished..

Let's get a dialogue started here.

CanoeFly
(Pittsburgh, PA)

My favorite trips are two solo boats. I bet three would be OK too. Paddle when and where you want but still have a bit of company. Works for me.

One thing my partner and I agreed on was never to portage into a new lake until we re-established contact. In other words we both went across the portages together. This proved to be wise when some mis-comunication would of put us on different lakes. Fortunately we had an iron clad agreement so we knew that somewhere on whatever lake we were on the other was also there. No guessing.

When you plan your trip in the fall don't forget it gets dark early. Fortunately there shouldn't be much bugs which makes for some good times around the fire to help pass the evening (hence axe and saw ;) )

I may be interested...have you thought about where you wanted to go yet?

I'll be heading in from Nym on Aug 30.  Solo in a 15' tandem.  Happy to meet folks if anyone will be around.

I am thinking of going in around September 15 and probably around the Prairie Ptg or Cache Bay areas of either Q or BWCA.  

Want some company? Either two solo boats or one tandem, it doesn't matter as long as I get out in the pines for a week or so.

I enjoy fishing but it's not an obsession. I take my digital SLR for some serious photos. I enjoy camp cooking and do a lot of baking with the Jello Mold oven. The only bad habit I'll admit to is sitting on my butt at sunset time with a nip o' Knob Creek and a Marsh Wheeling cigar.

I did a trip this past Memorial Day weekend for 5 days to the French River Provincial Park NW of Toronto with a local canoeist that I met through the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association. 5 days with a virtual stranger and he could find no reason to get rid of me.

CanoeFly

Sure, I am up for company.  I only solo kayak.  I don't fish and am not much of a fish eater so you won't get any help from me there.  I'd prefer to stay in the BWCA (Q is expensive for me), altho I like to do the border lakes since it seems camping traffic is not so heavy on them.

Open to dialoging about it, I was thinking later though....Mid Oct.....

Canoefly,

Welcome  aboard ;D


Quote:

I enjoy camp cooking and do a lot of baking with the Jello Mold oven.

If your anywhere as good a camp baker/cook as IC is, then you and whoever joins your little group will be eating good for sure ;)

CanoeFly wrote on Aug 10^th, 2010 at 1:28am:

Knob Creek and a Marsh Wheeling cigar.

Double plus good on the Knob Creek, my fave bourbon.
For a cigar I prefer Partagas or OpusX, but if I'm feeling all Hemmingway I'll go with Arturo Fuente.

Dang, the replies have slowed down. Here's my situation:

I'm retired and my wife is in her last year of teaching high school English before she retires. I have no reason not to make the long trek to Ely and wet my paddle for a week or so. I'm up for just about anything, even trying to keep up with Intrepid Camper in his kayak. I have a choice of my 16 ft. Wenonah tandem, paddled solo or my 14' solo stripper that I built in the early 90s. Neither can keep up with a 'yak.

An October trip is not out of the question either.

CanoeFly

CanoeFly wrote on Aug 17^th, 2010 at 1:18am:

Dang, the replies have slowed down. Here's my situation: I'm retired and my wife is in her last year of teaching high school English before she retires. I have no reason not to make the long trek to Ely and wet my paddle for a week or so. I'm up for just about anything, even trying to keep up with Intrepid Camper in his kayak. I have a choice of my 16 ft. Wenonah tandem, paddled solo or my 14' solo stripper that I built in the early 90s. Neither can keep up with a 'yak. An October trip is not out of the question either. CanoeFly

I paddled with HER, May 20007.
I paddled a SR 16 tandem, backward from the front seat, using a 9 ft yak paddle. I kept up just fine, unless she was just taking it easy on me ;D
I'd look into that, with a 14 ft solo, you would really fly, into the wind and running with it.

IC is on her way to Knife lake. Her son left yesterday as we understand it. I assume Dan needed a head start so the ladies didn't make him look bad on the portages. I'll be giving him guff on that when he returns to work after the trip. Of course IC might have sent him on ahead to scare the bears away.

My son used my 9' kayak paddle in my 15 ft tandem. Because of the load he had to paddle it from the stern. but when empty he paddled backwards. I couldn't keep up in my solo... One of these days I'm going to get to use my yak paddle on a trip myself. My first trip I'd lost half of it on the way up. :P

i'll be doing my 3rd bwca solo starting on the 18th of sept and coming out on the 1st of oct.  planning to put in somewhere on the brule, sawbill, baker area (still trying to decide).  no fixed route, i generally look at the map and decide in the morning where i want to head. prefer to move every day and cover a fair amount of ground/water.  i'd be willling to spend part or all of the trip on a group solo.  me, 53 yr old male, married, registered nurse, been camping, hiking, canoeing since i was 5 yrs old.  how about it?

That's an area of the Park I've never been in. All the more reason to go. I'm packing tonight for a local trip on the Allegheny River this weekend. I may depart the BWCAW party after a week or so. Not sure at this time.

I'll get back to you next week.

CanoeFly

It's next week and I'm back. I'm in for the trip. Who all is interested? I'm pretty flexible in all areas—boat, tandem paddled solo or with someone else if that's how it works out, or in my solo stripper. The dates are not a big deal. Whatever works for others.

Coming from Pennsylvania, I could also pick someone up on the way. I'll come through Chicago, stop overnight in Madison WI and make it to Ely the second day.

CanoeFly

As ST pointed out, I am a HER...hasn't been a problem in my mind on group trips, but has been an issue in the minds of guy's wives sometimes.  I am single now, not dangerous, and not looking for a relationship.  After 28 years paired up I think I have forgotten how to flirt  ;D
I haven't been into the Sawbill Brule area to paddle either and that would interest me.  Dates and length of trip are open but definitely want to go about mid-Sept and be back by Oct 1st.
It takes me a minimum of two trips to portage, sometimes 3 on a weak day.
I dislike portages over 100 rods and would like to avoid any longer ones.  

I don't have a problem with a HER especially one who obviously doesn't mind a little dirt under her nails. I'm a double portager and would help out on the third one. My wife has given the green light for a coed trip. I'm looking for a laid back trip where everyone is tolerant of the differences of a new group of folks.

I can be in MN at any date after Sept. 9th. The sooner the better but the 15th for a put-in is OK with me.

CanoeFly

gender isn't an issue for me either.  still planning to put in probably on sawbill on the 18th and generally work my way northward in a counterclockwise loop coming out on the 1st of october.  can't start any earlier as it is a 1400 mile drive for me and i'll be leaving NC on the 15th.  would love to meet and trip with some new friends.  however, i'll certainly understand if you guys need to start earlier.  possible to still meet up in the B.

MMMMMM I will look at the calendar if you all are looking for another....know the area well. Solo traditional paddler. Coed is no issue. I can cook too, gas or fire...prefer stove...would it be communal cooking or solo on that gig too? But on the other hand I like long trails and the solitude that they yield in that neck of the woods; but the time of the year sorts that out a bit....the moose hunters will be there though...just a thought. Here is a picture for the third week of Oct. last year...

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with canoefly and ic looking at a 9/15 start and being sure that i'll be covering more than 100 rods on a number of the portages starting with the 180 rodder out of skoop lake, i'll volunteer to get out of the way so that another paddler can fill out the group solo.  still hope to see some of you guys on the water.  have a great trip.

As you get closer to the 15th and you possibly have your itinerary planned out, give us a schedule and we'll plan on hooking up somewhere along the route.

CanoeFly

I looked at my calendar and had marked the 17th for a start date, only because it is a week before the full moon and I like to go in that time frame of the month.  So really, any date around that is fine with me and those of you with time constraints should decide the date.  If we each have our own permit we can collect or disperse as we please.
I would cheerfully do one, perhaps two longer portages, after that I would be whining  :P
I can drive to where ever the starting point is and meet the group.  I also like a laid back trip but mainly am out there to see new country as well.  With a kayak skirt on my boat I can paddle in almost any weather and wind conditions.
It would be easiest to plan to bring our own food for most meals, and maybe to have a few "pot luck" sort of dinners scattered in also.

IC:

I agree on the food. If we gather another person or two, some community meals might be interesting.

Which entry point are we considering at this time?

CanoeFly

I looked at my maps last night and thought I'd like to see Brule, Long Island and Cherokee Lakes and perhaps further if weather and time permits.  It looks like it is hard to go anywhere in that area without at least a couple portages over the 100 rod range  >:(  I think if I leave the kitchen sink home I could get my trips down to two per portage.  ;D
I'm going to town tomorrow so will pick up some more detailed canoe maps at the LaCroix Ranger Station which is located in my home town of Cook.  I'm hoping there are alternate routes around some of those longer portages.  :-?
I think Brule is entry #41.  I looked at the availability on Rec.gov today and most permits for the area are still available, especially after the 15th.

It looks like I should order Voyageur Maps 8 & 9. I've been using them for a few years now and I prefer them to the Fisher Maps.

How long are we going to be out?  We might be able to get to Tuscarora and Little Saganaga too.  I'm not interested in every day being long and hard, but every other one would be okay.

Northwest side of Bruele has big relief, quite pretty...mind the wind. The portage into Cherokee from Stika via North Temperance is a decent one, ledge and reasonable steepness on the end into Cherokee (ancient sites on the Cherokee). The portage into Tuscarora from Round is a highway-dont be turned of by the length. Fine sites on this one too. Nice sites on Gillis too, the burn is accessible, use your ears and dawn the blaze the moose with be singing and searched. Keep your eyes peeled for the old cabins...The Mora to Little Saganaga portage is a slice of heaven, water levels are low now (as of 10 days ago), still pretty though. Some nice older growth northeast of Cherokee into Frost (decent pines and two large cedars); very nice sites on Frost. Little Saganaga is a gem to be sure. I think I am pushing toward later yet....have the snow bug again...Good luck with you journey. I use both voyagers and fishers, starting to prefer the yellow but I still like the size the Gabimichigami contours, and info on the voyagers...neither are accurate but they work. Been to many years since I was on Long Island, Gaskin, Kiskadinna, Omega, and the like...but in the day Gaskin was a favorite with its flat topped Red pines, the memories help too! Looking forward to seeing the trip report ;)

Thanks for the info M!  I went to town for maps but they only had the west end of BW in stock so will have to wait till Friday and go to Virginia to Fishers before I can search out the details  :(
Looked at the maps again last night and it seems it could take a minimum of 12 days to see all the lakes I mentioned above with a couple of layover days thrown in.
I don't care for camping in the snow so I'm still looking at mid-September for a start date.  :)

No worries in regard to the snow. It isn't the cold that is the bummer its the humidity eh! The foliage should be awesome this year, your spot on with timing. The island site is Bruele is nice too. Make sure to check out the shoreline on Sawbill, and hospitality to boot.

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#5,6, and 8 the rest are elk....ye gods the misinformation is rampant.

Same with the sexing :o

What's the fall foliage outlook for Sept 15th? In W. PA we don't get into optimum peak foliage until Oct. 15th.

What about average night-time lows temps so I know which sleeping bag to pack?

Also—what's the best road route from Ely to the put-in at Brule?

CanoeFly

The timing for fall color should be good, it is usually over (leaves have fallen) by the first week in October.  We have some leaves starting to fall from our Basswoods now.
I plan to take Hwy#1 to Isabella/Tofte, then some backwoods DNR gravel roads over to the Sawbill area and Brule road.  Although gravel the back roads are good going, no ruts or soft spots.  There is a Superior Natl Forest recreation map with good road information available.  Sometimes the numbers are not displayed along the road well and you need to sort it out by also using the map and noting certain lakes, creeks, etc. you pass.  It should be a fairly well marked road as it is a popular place to go camping in the summer.
You may have to pick up your permit at Isabella station, it being the closest, altho you could also get it in Ely.  You can come up through Duluth and continue north on Hwy 61 to Hwy 1 at Finland, skipping Ely.

Average night time lows could be 40 degrees.

intrepid_camper wrote on Sep 1^st, 2010 at 1:15am:

Average night time lows could be 40 degrees.

Perfect!

Local weather says this week we will have one night at 42 and another at 43 degrees.  September is here....

We've had a string of 90+ here lately. I will truly enjoy the cool wx.

CanoeFly

[quote author=intrepid_camper link=1281314170/30#32 date=1283303656]...
You may have to pick up your permit at Isabella station, it being the closest, altho you could also get it in Ely. ... quote]


There is an Isabella station?

It is called the Isabella Work Station.  I picked up a permit there once; lucked out and hit them when they were in the office...they have limited hours if I remember correctly.  They are right along Hwy 1 as you go through "town".

Now that we are kicking it around...I wonder if you can self-register at Brule Lake???

Our plans are to go to Brule Lake, Cherokee and Long Island Lakes.  We will rendezvous at Brule Lake landing on the evening of Sept 14th and begin paddling on the 15th; returning 21st or 22nd.  So far we have three solo paddlers and would look forward to meeting others if you are going to be in the area during that time frame.  :)

I'd love to do this kind of trip, but it looks like I'll be tied up out West until the 20th or so. Looking forward to hearing about it and seeing the photos.

permit for sawbill on the 18th.  planning to head toward cherokee and then north through long island.  i'll keep a lookout for ya'll.

What will you be paddling? We'll look out for you as well.

I'm leaving first thing tomorrow for the 20 hr. trip to Ely.


CanoeFly

i'll be in a green wenonah prism, green granite gear portage pack.  

Looking forward to running into you this coming week.  I have a red and yellow, 12' kayak; purple pack and a big purple camping tarp usually pitched on the campsite.  One of our other paddlers has a cedar strip 14' canoe and nctryBen will have to chime in on what he is paddling.

Yep, I'll be paddling a natural brown Wenonah Encounter, with a green Kondo Explorer pack. I'll be the one trying to keep up with a 12' Kayak and a cedar strip canoe. ;D I just PMed IC and thought it would be good to go Cherokee and up to Long Island for a direction. If we do that we would likely be ahead of you and never see you. If we go the other way we would likely run into you.

Oh, I do have a Quietjourney decal on one side of my canoe... (The other one didn't stick.)

nctry_Ben - The replacement offer is still good.

I've not been following this thread very closely but I wish you guys the best luck. At one point I was going to recommend simply meeting on some lake and perhaps bringing some special part of a meal for everyone. Pizza and cheesecake are both well received on the loose, I'll try to meet you there scenario I'm reading. Pizza if you feel lucky. Cheese cake if you don't.

Planned meetings are a nice way to mesh different trips with different priorities. I've done a few of them over the years and the one thing that always surprised me was even when stuff happened and plans changed, the meetings have always seemed to happen.

Best of luck to you all!

db,
Are you going to be in that area in our time frame too??
IC

Bon voyage to the ones that are partaking ;) Will be watching for the trip report.

Looks like the weather will make it a rigorous trip.  We'll have tales of how we avoided hypothermia when we return  :'(

I'm packing for warmth! I hope Denton Doc is doing okay in the Q. It looks like the leaves will be turning fast, should be pretty out there. I saw some pics today from Finland MN, it's already looking good that way.

intrepid_camper wrote on Sep 12^th, 2010 at 3:50pm:

db, Are you going to be in that area in our time frame too?? IC

Sure! In spirit.

This particular board doesn't get enough play IMHO. It's tough planning a whole trip with someone you don't know plus it's a leap of faith but I've always been lucky with those.

The loose, everyone in solo canoes with their own stuff or just meeting up somewhere for a day or three with self sufficient paddlers is a great way to do it with a lot less effort. Every time I've done that I've always said if I don't show don't worry about me ('cause I know I might worry about them and I don't want to). All those were with people I kinda sorta knew and we've always connected ... sometimes not the day or exactly where we planned so while I've been surprised a few times, I've never been disappointed.

Enjoy!

Well, IC and CF are going in this afternoon... I'm meeting them on Brule tomorrow morning. I'm a little nervous since I'm going in with a couple of very experianced canoeists/ Kayaker. I'll be packing heavy due to the weather. And I know I won't be able to match them with my "shared meal"... We each are providing a dinner. But I'm hoping they are patient with me... and Bernice. My family thinks I'm nuts as I'm supposed to be getting ready for my trip to the Phillipines. I'm thinking if my plane crashes, at least I got in one more canoe trip... and with a couple of good people. Some people came into the shop yesterday from North Carolina, I think it was, on thier way to the Q. Talking to them only increased the excitement for this trip. It also reminded me how lucky I am to have this all so close to home.

We are all out of the woods and off the water, safe and alive.  Last camping trip for all of us 'till next spring.  More later....IC

intrepid_camper wrote on Sep 21^st, 2010 at 9:32pm:

We are all out of the woods and off the water, safe and alive.  Last camping trip for all of us 'till next spring.  More later....IC

Yep, and it would be nice to hear how CanoeFly did on his last night "solo". Glad to hear he was out safely... We dealt with quite a wind on Brule Lake on Monday.

It was kind of a long, boring and windy night. The only casualty was losing the pole and tent bags for my tent. I assume they blew away. I pushed off from the island at 6:00 am sharp while still pretty dark. I reached the landing 30 minutes later after dealing with strong winds from the west.

I had a great time the whole week. Look forward to future solo group trips.

CanoeFly

A photo of CanoeFly's hand built cedar strip canoe at dawn the first morning out.
Since then it has been windy and raining up here, so we timed the trip well for weather.

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sorry i didn't see any of you guys.  i made a loop from sawbill to cherokee--long island lake--tuscarora--little saganaga--kawishiwi river  (2 nights)--polly--phoebe--alton--and back out to sawbill.  stormy for more than half my 10 days in the bwca, but i expected that based on previous late sept trips.  saw a bear, 4 moose (cow with 2 calves and a bull moose), 4 whitetails, with one being a very nice 8 point, beavers, and a host of birds which i won't bore you with naming.    picked up a paddling partner on day 4 of my trip which helped keep spirits up in the wind and rain.  beautiful leaf color!  had a great time and hope that those of you who live in the area have a good hard water season.  -harry

I'd love to see more pics like the one attached to intrepid's post.

wrote on Sep 30^th, 2010 at 3:05am:

I'd love to see more pics like the one attached to intrepid's post.

I would but I'm in Washington State and flying out to the Phillippines in the morning.

Here's Ben on the portage from N. Temperance into Cherokee. Very rugged with a lot of steep elevation changes—but pretty too.

CanoeFly

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Intrepid Camper on Brule Lake.

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Ben and Bernice. She was a wonderful addition to the crew.

CanoeFly

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I.C. snapped this shot of me portaging my solo stripper.

CanoeFly

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CanoeFly wrote on Sep 30^th, 2010 at 9:53am:

Ben and Bernice. She was a wonderful addition to the crew. CanoeFly

Bernice is a looker, and I love the double paddle shot ;)

Canoefly,  how do you portage that kayak?  How much does it weigh?  I know they make some very light kayaks but still, it must be tough.

My boat is the solo stripper. Intrepid Camper paddles and portages the kayak with a clamp-on portage yoke. I carried it for her for a while and it's very light. I heard 21 lbs. It is fiberglass, not that heavy roto-molded polyethylene plastic most kayaks are made from.


CanoeFly

Here's a short re-cap of our Group Solo:

The September group solo trip was interesting.  The two fellows I went with were both very nice guys, and about as far apart as they could be on the spectrum of personalities.  NcountryBen is solid, quiet, deliberate and CanoeFly is very type A and had a hard time sitting down at camp and always out in the lead on travel days.  Ben brought a 4 yr old Chesapeak retriever along which was a very well trained and quiet dog.  She loved to fetch sticks out of the water and they had to be BIG sticks; she just turned her nose up at any stick that wasn't at least 4 feet long and about as thick as your forearm.  By the end of the trip I had her helping bring the firewood up to the fire pit from the canoe when I would go out and find some...if we told her "It's firewood" she would deposit it in a pile, if we told her it was her "stick" she would play with it.  CanoeFly totally fell in love with her.
The weather was overall pretty good.  It only rained on us the first full day out on the water and we were about to make camp anyway so took refuge under my big purple tarp.  We had some cloudy days and many windy days but we lucked out with being in small lakes or on portages on the windy days.  The mornings and evenings were very chilly, especially for CF who had just come from 90 degree weather out East.  
The portages were hard; long distances and lots of steep uphill stretches where the crews had actually built a series of rock steps to scale them.  In general the paths were pretty good and fairly level, not a lot of ankle turning rock in them.  The campsites were beaten BEYOND death with most tent pads just dirt, no grass what-so-ever!
It was surprising that we ran into so many people on the lakes at this later time of year.  However there weren't so many campers that it was a problem finding a campsite.  The larger lakes had many nice campsites and some interesting old lava-flow rocks which erroded at the wave line on shore into small caves just above water level.  We ran into some blow-down areas and a little burnt over area on the trip.
We started at Brule and went west to Cherokee, north to Long Island Lake and east to Winchell, then south back to Brule.  I would recommend going the opposite direction on the loop which would make more of the portages going down hill with a load instead of uphill.
Saw lots of different birds, large and small, maybe migrating considering the flocks.  Saw no large animals but heard a moose one evening.
It was my fifth trip for the year and unfortunately the last till next spring.  ;)

Note the lake elevations as marked on the maps, that may sort out the uphill and downhill that you speak to on future route planning. ;)

Our route was through several lakes which were beginning to show the same terrain as further east near the North Shore of Superior.  Precipitous cliffs, ridges between every lake and "mountainous" terrain in comparison to our flatter topography further West in BWCA or northwest in the Q.
My least favorite portage was 160+ rods which took us to an elevation 200 feet higher than the lake we started in, within the first half of the portage.  :P
But I shouldn't whine...the guys said I must have grown a set of balls to do it and I know I lost a couple sizes in my butt from the way my jeans fit when I got home.  ;D

intrepid_camper wrote on Oct 4^th, 2010 at 9:03pm:

...My least favorite portage was 160+ rods which took us to an elevation 200 feet higher than the lake we started in, within the first half of the portage.  :P But I shouldn't whine...the guys said I must have grown a set of balls to do it and I know I lost a couple sizes in my butt from the way my jeans fit when I got home.  ;D

Yep, IC was a trooper on the portages... I expected some whining, but if anyone did it was likely me. Canoefly was amazing on the portaging. I was especially impressed with the stripper he'd built. We were in a pretty good wind the last day and his canoe looked good in the wind. IC had a never ending supply of good snacks... I'm talking healthy like veggie stuff and the like. I got out in time to head out to the Philippines for... well there for three weeks... with traveling and all it was a month. But my canoetrips will be the high light of my year. Thanks IC and CF for getting me and Bernice out one more time.

A good time was had by all. These were some of the most grueling portages I've ever seen strung together in the BWCAW. Thank goodness for the steps that the Forest Service must have put in to make it a bit more tolerable. It really reminded me of backpacking in the mountains of West Virginia.

It was a new area to me and I hope to get back to that corner of the Park someday.

See photo attached—Ben on the portage trail

CanoeFly

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Here's the photo

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I tried to post pics but the files are to big and I'm not sure how to shrink them. I tried putting them in cold water. ;D

Ben:

Hot water works if they are cotton or wool. Cold water doesn't do much.

This is how it works on my Mac:

Open the pic on your desktop. On the Mac I get a bar across the top called PREVIEW. Go to TOOLS and drag down to "Adjust Image Size" There you can adjust the width or height to a smaller dimension and you'll see the size change with each modification. I think the max. for this site is 250 K. I usually change mine to 5 or 6 inches wide at 72 dpi and that gets it below 250K.

Did you get the prints that I sent?

CanoeFly

Thanks CanoeFly! I didn't know that Preview did anything but annoy me when it opened instead of PShop sometimes.

Is there a program that comes with Windows that will do the same thing and can anyone give easy directions? I tried Paint but... (Worst case you could email it to me.) Cameras come with software too don't they?


Think of the 250K limit as a weight restriction. The average POD ends up at 50K after it's processed. The forums will automatically limit the display size on it's own as the weight limit will still allow images that we'd all have to scroll to see as well as any text on the page.

I find I have better luck shrinking things in the dryer.  >:(

intrepid_camper wrote on Oct 4^th, 2010 at 4:18pm:

Here's a short re-cap of our Group Solo:   ...By the end of the trip I had her helping bring the firewood up to the fire pit from the canoe when I would go out and find some...if we told her "It's firewood" she would deposit it in a pile, if we told her it was her "stick" she would play with it...  ;)

IC your training is still embedded in Bernice. Yesterday, I was cutting firewood from a tree that fell in the wind we had and she piled it up for me away from the road. Sewing Tarps and such, Carpenter, Dog Trainer... What else do you do?