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Voyageurs 2000
More Interesting Voyageur's 2000 photos
The Voyageurs 2000 trip really began about two months before we left, with discussions about the route we would take, what kind of food we'd bring, and other logistical issues. The trip was 6 days, from August 19th to 24th.
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Dawn Departure
Meeting to load gear and boats at 5 a.m. on a Saturday morning takes some effort! But we managed to do this, load boats, transfer gear into cars, and head north as dawn broke. Our goal was to be on the water around noon or so. Our put in point was the Rainy Lake Visitor Center in International Falls. We loaded boats on a dock, since there was no available beach, and then lowered the heavy boats into the water. Little did I know how often we would do that this trip. Trip packing does take some time on the first day out, and this was no exception. Lunching fisherman sat in their motorboat amused by the event. It continually amazes how much actually fits in a kayak. Also amusing was the unique way my boat looked with 8 ears of corn under the bungie cords on my rear deck.

Corn and Docks
We paddled about 7 miles to a campsite at Arden Island. The site was wooded, pretty, though climbing out of the boat onto the dock couldn't be done with cramped legs. It took a bit of finesse and grace, something I wouldn't say this group was particularly equipped with. We set up camp and made a fire to cook marinated steaks on. We chilled two bottles of Nalgene-stored zinfandel in the lake, along with the 8 ears of corn, unhusked. The meal was excellent! The corn was tossed in the fire to steam/roast and came out perfectly cooked, with a slight fire roasted taste. Highly recommended....

Fox in Boots
The next morning, we broke camp, loaded boats. On my return to the site for a few remaining items, I looked up and found myself watched. A fox sat staring at me. I leaned over to grab my camera and she stayed where she was. As I knelt down, she began to walk towards me. For a moment, it was as if a small dog was coming to me -- but then I saw the golden eyes, wary, watching, and I stood up. She seemed to have black boots on and an injured front and rear leg. She stayed around camp while we packed. I mentioned the sighting to the ranger upon our leaving the park -- other campers have reported the fox and attempts have been made by the park service to live-trap her. I suspect she survives because of campers' "traces."

Soldier's Point
On day 2 we paddled out around Soldier's Point and down into Saginaw Bay. Our goal was to basecamp down there for three days. The paddle was a good one, although the wind made for some long stretches. Rich's excellent navigation gave us islands to block us from the wind. Going around Soldier's Point headed us directly into wind, with waves reaching about 2 feet. In rounding the point, we had the waves cutting into us from the side for a while. It was fun, though a bit of a challenge. Interestingly, on our way home, the lake was dead calm, and this point turned into a placid, calm and beautiful place to paddle.

Of Thrones and Kings
The Saginaw Bay site was large and on a point, allowing for some nice views. It had the highlight of not only a bear box (as did the other sites) but an actual outhouse. Although one can really enjoy the lake vistas from the "thrones," it sure was nice to have a door. However, on my last chance to "enjoy" it, I burst out hollering since a good size rodent happened to be in there with me. Perhaps the vista version is better after all... the critters keep their distance.

Rolling in Saginaw Bay
We spent a morning exploring the bay in which we were camping. We spied a perfect place to practice rolling. See Rolling Hall of Fame for some shots. We also did a small hike to see what we could see...

Food
This trip took quite a bit of food preparation. We carefully planned the menu and spent days dehydrating food. Some of the things we dehydrated were experiments; some were tried and true. All the meals were very good, although the scrambled eggs (from powdered eggs) turned out a bit gummy (the hash browns made up for it). We had along an outback oven and used it a few times to make parts of meals: ginger cake, foccacia bread, cinnamon coffee cake and brownies. We ate pretty well. The dehydration made the food sacks a bit lighter than they would have been otherwise -- spaghetti sauce for 12 (okay, so I went overboard) took up less room than a pair of socks.

Boreal Expedition
On our 5th day, in a wide open expanse of Rainy Lake, we spotted two canoes headed our way --- and man, were they moving! We watched them approach and saw two women in the sterns of the canoes, and two men in the bows. They were loaded and moving fast. They were part of the Boreal Expedition 2000, a group of twenty-somethings out to bring attention to the plight of Canadian boreal forests. They were on day 95 and we were the first paddlers they'd seen. They had about 70 days to go. Their route took them from northern Saskatchewan to Ottawa, passing through Lake Superior, the BWCA, among other locations www.cpaws.org/boreal2000. We chatted with them for about fifteen minutes, asking about the expedition, what their meals were like, etc. It put our 6 day trip in a whole different light.

This was a terrific trip. There was good paddling, lots of exploration, time to relax and swim, lots of banter, very good food, a night of northern lights and excellent company. Voyageurs National Park is an interesting destination.