All of our entry points on the Gunflint Trail have remained open all summer. While we have been able to operate business as usual, areas near Ely have had to deal with multiple closures. We’ve been in drought conditions much of the summer and wildfire danger has been ever present. Yeah, heaven.We’re happy to report our immediate area of the Gunflint Trail received over a half of an inch of rain last night. He was probably nailing smallmouth bass with his hand-tied flies. World class fishing in unforgettable surroundings. They were talking about their route, and the weather, and how many miles they wanted to make each day, and which portage is how many rods long, and who has the rain gear.actually that was my group. I saw them in a passenger van towing a canoe trailer with 6 canoes stacked 3 x 3 rumbling through the forest to a put-in point they settled on months ago. But the thing that brought me back in 2018 was the still perfectly clear memories of those first trips. Same everything except I can camp out of my car. Just across the street from a BWCA put-in point Baker Lake, without the 100% wilderness vibe. Then I decided I have to go back up there but I don't want to carry all my shit and portage and paddle and everything else that comes with the BWCA. There's a chance Minnesota gets drenched with some rain and some of these folks can salvage some sort of positive experience because it is a bucket list type destination. Dreamed of it at night for months in advance. But the people who went into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, or who were about to, planned that shit for years, got entry permits, fixated on what gear they would be carrying over portages. If the Forest Service closes Crescent Lake campground I'll be pissed but it's not the end of the world.
The Whelp Fire, which is close to where I camp, grew from 30 acres to 80 yesterday. The Greenwood Fire is about 9,000 Acres, while the John elk Fire is around 1500. So it's not so much that the BWCA is on fire but that the equipment they need to handle normal business in the BWCA is very busy right now. So rather than telling people they're on their own if they break a leg out on the Moose Lake portage, a potentially fatal injury if it happens off the beaten path, they're telling everyone to just get out. However, they don't want to allocate any planes or helicopters for people who need rescue from the BWCA.something that happens with some regularity. All aerial water bombing, which they are doing. Those are closer to where I'm going to be for 11 nights, theoretically, starting Sept 5.Īccording to the US Forest Service, they're evacuating the entire BWCA for at least a week because they can't devote the firefighting equipment or effort to areas out in the middle of the wilderness, by design. There are a couple of other fires, the John Elk Fire and the Whelp Fire, which are burning within Superior National Forest as well. It's sort of in the BWCA, but not entirely. The Greenwood Fire, which is causing a lot of anxiety, was caused by lightning. Imagine sitting there at your campsite and some ranger paddles up and tells you you have to pack up your shit and hurry out of the wilderness.īy the time the campers follow a return path to their cars and RVs and trailers it could be another 2 or 3 days. There are people three days out into the wilderness. So we're starting with the east side.įor starters the BWCA is a million acres so this is going to take some paddling and portaging for those sweepers. The US Forest Service announced it yesterday.Ĭurrently we have wilderness rangers paddling in the Boundary Waters to sweep people from the areas, and we're trying to do a systematic sweep.
No new entry permits being issued, and everyone in the BWCA has to get out. First time in 46 years the BWCA is being evacuated.