“Tour da UP IX

[junglejim]

"On the road to Grand Maris.....
Where the mighty fishes play......
While fishing was seldom spectacular, Northerns were fun to catch and release.
Of the 40 years I was encarcerated in the Midwest, I never thought to ride up there...I did ride to Maine.

Chris, you might be thinking of Grand Maris MN which is on the NW side of Lake Superior. I was in Grand Maris MI which is on the SE side of the Big Lake. Ya, I know it's' confusing. Similarly I'm in Iron River WI which is on US 2 about 150 miles west of Iron River MI which is also on US 2. I've seen the look on people's faces when they show up looking for the motel and find out that they are in the wrong Iron River. To make matters worse, between the two Iron Rivers there is also Ironwood, Iron Belt, and Iron Mountain. And none of these are anywhere near the Iron Range of MN. We need paper maps!

 

[junglejim]

Child bride and I went to that part of the world a number of times. Beautiful.View attachment 24343

We've had a few trips to the Boundry Waters and to Isle Royal too. Transported our canoes over on the ferry from Grand Maris MN and canoed the shoreline. Portaged to one inland lake. That was about 20 years ago. I've since sold my canoes. I never did fish very much. The water there is COLD! There was still ice stuck to the big rocks on the shoreline of Isle Royal in early July.

Canoeing in BWCA 20 years ago.

 

[Coyote Chris]

We've had a few trips to the Boundry Waters and to Isle Royal too. Transported our canoes over on the ferry from Grand Maris MN and canoed the shoreline. Portaged to one inland lake. That was about 20 years ago. I've since sold my canoes. I never did fish very much. The water there is COLD! There was still ice stuck to the big rocks on the shoreline of Isle Royal in early July.

Canoeing in BWCA 20 years ago.
View attachment 24344

Some of the portages could be knarley and then they removed the canoe rests. Now they have all sorts of lightweight canoes. Love the loons. Child Bride had an old Grumman...boy it was heavy. When we moved out here, I had a solo canoe, a twin and a beautuful twin with wood interior and gunwales. Before I lost all my free time, I would canoe the selective fishery lakes aroumd here. No moters allowed, one hook, no Barb, no bait. Lots of good memories.

 

[Coyote Chris]

Jim, every part of the ccountry has its charm. And yours does too. I like the memories of my youth fishing with my dad in N. Wisconsin and the child bride and I in Northern MN in the BWCA. After we moved west, she did little canoeing and I bought a solo for local lakes and to take back to the BWCA. So much peace and beauty and little noise and light polution...and the loons....Early fall is best. There was no GPS. You had a compass and water proof maps.....

 

[Frosty]

BWCA. My memory is that navigation using the islands was much easier from the air than at water level. It all looks like forest not islands. What a surprise. Pre GPS.

 

[Coyote Chris]

BWCA. My memory is that navigation using the islands was much easier from the air than at water level. It all looks like forest not islands. What a surprise. Pre GPS.

actually, the fixed camp sites and fixed portages were the best navigational aids other than the compass. Never really got lost. And many of the lakes were small.