Rod Jetton- Keeping Fit In The Boundry Waters

Well I took a break from trail running during our fishing trip to Minnesota.  The good news is I definitely got in some workouts and i am way out of shape.  The boundary waters are a group of natural lakes on the Canadian and Minnesota boarder where you have to hike in and they do not allow engines on boats.  It is beautiful and the water is so clear and clean you can drink it right out of the lake.

Posing with the timer on

What the rules mean is that you have to carry everything you need for the week including your canoe.  Our first hike or what they call a portage was a 280 rod jaunt (about 8/10 of a mile) into the Boundary water Canoe Area (BWCA) from the road.  It took each of us two trips to get both canoes and all the gear to the water.  I carried our 64 pound canoe on my shoulders with a food pack on my back for my first trip then I jogged back and strapped two packs on the front and back of my body with several other things in my hands.  Needless to say that was a good workout but I was pumped up and full of energy with all the excitement of getting there.

Dad with all the gear he brought with him

 
We then paddled all the way through three big lakes to our campsite.  It was about a 4 mile trip, which was another good workout.  First, there was Little Gabro, then Gabro, then into Bald Eagle.  There were some rapids going into Bald Eagle and with all our gear in the canoe we had to get out and carry it over a few rocks and into Bald Eagle Lake.  Of course once we got to our campsite and unloaded everything we decided we didn't like it, so we scouted around and found a better one and had to reload everything and transport it over to the new site.  All in all, it was a full day of hiking, paddling and loading gear.  If you look at the center and bottom of the map below you can see the lakes we were in.
 

Map of the BW with all the lakes showing

That was day one and I will continue this tomorrow.  Thanks and take care.

Rodney Jetton

 check this link out for more photos

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150213692999693.329284.560729692