Paddle and Portage

11/22/2025

Hansi Johnson is a Duluth resident who frequently goes paddling and fishing in the BWCA. He recently heard an episode of the Paddle & Portage Podcast that aligned with an experience he had in the BWCA in recent years.

Listen to the podcast episode he references here: https://youtu.be/6Q_KLj6oBag?si=8TnXkAA5Xhv9HE1A

11/22/2025

A food storage order in place for the entire BWCA Wilderness is set to expire soon.

The U.S. Forest Service-Superior National Forest says it will issue an update on the order in December.

Full story here: https://paddleandportage.com/2025/11/22/forest-service-eyes-december-to-issue-updated-bwca-food-storage-order/

Forest Service Eyes December to Issue Updated BWCA Food Storage Order by Joe Friedrichs | Nov 22, 2025 | News | 0 comments Superior National Forest headquarters in Duluth. Photo by Joe Friedrichs News Forest Service Eyes December to Issue Updated BWCA Food Storage Order By Joe Friedrichs November 22...

11/21/2025

The duo from the Paddle & Portage Podcast met with Tom Gable from the Voyageurs Wolf Project in late fall to learn more about the wolf population near the Boundary Waters.

Together, they paddled and portaged on the trail of a wolf, one suspected of killing a deer near a remote lake not long before they arrived to the scene. In this video, we invite you to tag along.

Listen to the full podcast and learn more here: https://paddleandportage.com/2025/11/19/studying-wolves-near-the-boundary-waters-a-minnesota-project/

This video is made possible by our Paddle & Portage member-subscribers, and by our sponsors, including Sawbill Canoe Outfitters, Sven-Saw, and Ely Outfitting Company.

11/19/2025

Minnesota has more wolves than any other state, outside of Alaska.

In fall 2025, researchers with the Voyageurs Wolf Project released an updated study on wolf activity and the population of wolves in an area located about 10 miles southwest of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. The report tallied about 100 wolves in the study area near the BWCA and Voyageurs National Park. A collection of recent media reports highlighted that number as a “crash” of the population. Tom Gable, who leads the project, said the region’s deer population ebbs and flows, as does the local wolf population.

The duo from the Paddle & Portage Podcast recently met with Gable to learn more about the wolf population near the Boundary Waters. Together, they paddled and portaged on the trail of a wolf, one suspected of killing a deer near a remote lake not long before they arrived to the scene. In the new episode of the podcast, we invite you to tag along. Listen here: https://paddleandportage.com/2025/11/19/studying-wolves-near-the-boundary-waters-a-minnesota-project/

This episode is made possible by our Paddle & Portage member-subscribers, including Grand Marais resident Buck Benson. And support comes from all our sponsors, including Sawbill Canoe Outfitters, Sven-Saw, and Ely Outfitting Company.

Watch two videos that support this episode of the Paddle & Portage Podcast:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fE7WNQ25Fwo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsQaKpCRFEc

Photos by Paddle & Portage and Voyageurs Wolf Project

11/18/2025

Have you ever heard of Wendell Beckwith?

An inventor and scientist, he built a series of cabins in the Canadian wilderness. The island where the structures were built is a landmark for paddlers across North America.

Bear Paulsen and his family visited the iconic paddling destination on Whitewater Lake's Best Island inside Wabakimi Provincial Park.

Bear writes that Wendell believed groups constrained individual creativity. Throughout the long, quiet winters he performed ‘pure research.’ In the morning, he began with a blank sheet of paper and filled it with an original train of thought. One result was establishing that the Pyramids at Giza and Stonehenge had a clear geographical relationship with Best Island, making his outpost the 'center of the universe.'

Read more from Bear in this P&P original: https://paddleandportage.com/2025/11/17/wabakimi-paddling-tales-theyre-biting-me-at-wendells-place/


Friends of Wabakimi

11/16/2025

Today’s moment of zen by Lake Superior, courtesy of your pals at P&P. https://paddleandportage.com/

11/15/2025

Constance Simes circumnavigated Lake Superior in a kayak. Solo. When the trip was complete, she'd paddled approximately 1,200 miles around Lake Superior in 57 days. She encountered high waves, of course. She also found deafening silence that moved her to tears.

Simes, who grew up in Iowa and now resides in the Upper Midwest, spoke with the Paddle & Portage Podcast about paddling Lake Superior.

Find video and audio options for the episode here: https://paddleandportage.com/2025/11/15/circumnavigating-lake-superior-solo-kayak-expedition/

This episode is supported by Loons Nest Coffee and Solbakken On Superior.

11/13/2025

For more than a month, a sign on white printer paper outside the ranger stations in Ely, Grand Marais, Tofte, Cook, and Duluth read: “This U.S. Department of Agriculture Office is CURRENTLY CLOSED due to the lapse in federal government funding.”

Those signs came down Thursday morning (Nov. 13) at ranger stations across U.S. Forest Service-Superior National Forest.

The longest government shutdown in U.S. history ended Wednesday, Nov. 12 after President Donald Trump signed a bill passed by Congress this week.

Indeed, ranger stations across Superior National Forest are reopening after 43 days of scaled-back operations that occurred as a result of the shutdown.

Full story here: https://paddleandportage.com/2025/11/13/ranger-stations-across-superior-national-forest-reopen-as-government-shutdown-ends/

11/13/2025

Kris Kieper is a fiber artist with a passion for wilderness and sharing nature scenes using needle felting. She lives near the end of the Gunflint Trail with her husband, Chad, and their two dogs.

Paddle & Portage asked Kris about the fine line of staying present during a phenomenon such as the recent displays of northern lights over the Boundary Waters region, while also looking to share it with friends and others on social media. Below is her response, which we feel is spot-on.

From Kris: "There’s something about the wilderness that just makes me hit pause and seek to connect with something truly real. When the aurora borealis lights up the sky, it takes that connection to a whole new level. There’s this magical moment when everything goes quiet, and the night is alive with brilliant dancing colors. It honestly feels like the universe is putting on a show just for me—a reminder of how stunning and mysterious everything can be.

But I quickly experience a tug-of-war between just soaking it all in and the desire to grab my camera. Do I lose myself in the moment, or do I try to capture it for later?"

Follow the link to read more from Kris: https://paddleandportage.com/2025/11/13/northern-lights-over-the-boundary-waters-staying-present-vs-capturing-with-a-phone/

All photos by Kris Kieper. Find her original artwork here: Feltscaping.com

11/12/2025

“Northern Tier: Bissett” is a history of Boy Scout’s wilderness canoeing program in eastern Manitoba and beyond.

Operating in a small gold mining town, the program eventually used floatplanes to quickly go deep into the rugged Canadian Shield and reach its outstanding canoeing and fishing areas. Over five decades, almost 16,000 Scouts have experienced adventures of a lifetime in what became the Atikaki Provincial Wilderness Park.

A new book highlights this journey. The book’s authors have shared chapter one of the book with Paddle and Portage and our readers. Read it here: https://paddleandportage.com/2025/11/11/northern-tier-bissett-tales-from-50-years-of-scoutings-most-extreme-high-adventure-program/

Northern Tier High Adventure

11/11/2025

Paddle & Portage has been honored to share a number of stories featuring some of our nation's veterans.

Here are some of them, which include video, audio, and written stories:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_P_OZmS3DYE

https://paddleandportage.com/2025/06/22/paddling-veteran-embraces-the-penguin-and-viking-within/

https://paddleandportage.com/2025/10/07/minnesota-author-solo-paddles-mississippi-river-to-honor-vietnam-veterans/

https://paddleandportage.com/2024/09/22/episode-14-celebration-of-life-for-a-vietnam-veteran-in-the-boundary-waters/

https://paddleandportage.com/2025/10/01/helping-veterans-find-their-way-on-the-yellowstone-river/

11/09/2025

Richard E. Swenson (Dick), 93, died at his home in Duluth Oct. 28.

In 1961, Swenson invented "the famous folding Sven-Saw," which he humbly called "a hobby that paid for itself." He invented the compact folding saw in 1961, one year after seeing a wounded paddler between Knife and Carp lakes on a Boundary Waters portage. After learning the injured person had cut himself with an axe at camp, Swenson thought “there has to be a better way.” So he invented a saw that can fit into a portage pack and features a blade protected by its handle.

Swenson, a lifelong Minnesotan, grew up paddling, fishing, and camping in the Boundary Waters region. His late wife, Cecile Swenson, had a family cabin on Cummings Lake, in what is now the federally protected BWCA. The couple met in Lutsen. Together, they had three daughters, whom they raised in Duluth, which is where Swenson lived for most of his adult life.

Read more about the life of Dick Swenson and the history of the Sven-Saw here: https://paddleandportage.com/2025/11/09/founder-of-saw-forever-linked-to-the-bwca-dies-at-93/