In this final episode for Season Two of a Podcast to Save the Boundary Waters, we hear again from Emily Ford, Katie Mumm and Dave and Amy Freeman about how the wilderness has reshaped their lives. 

The podcast team also talk about their own experiences winter camping up the Gunflint Trail in the winter of 2022, and why it’s likely the first of many such trips in the future.

Episode Five Season Two Of A Podcast To Save The Boundary Waters

Canoecopia, the world’s largest paddling expo, returned in 2022. 

The COVID-19 pandemic shut down the Madison, Wisc., based event in 2020. It was a virtual gathering in 2021.  

The WTIP Boundary Waters Podcast was back at Canoecopia this year. Old acquaintances surfaced from the crowd. New friends were made as well. It was a time of connection. 

This episode was recorded in its entirety at Canoecopia 2022. 

Special thanks to Aubrey from Redbudsuds, and Nashville musicians Caitlin Evanson and Jerry Vandiver, for sharing their music on this episode.

Episode 62 WTIP Boundary Waters Podcast

It's the end of the ice fishing season for lake trout in the Boundary Waters. 

The WTIP Boundary Waters Podcast team had a good year of ice fishing. In this episode, Gunflint Trail resident Mike Seim talks with Joe about a variety of topics related to lake trout in the BWCA. 

Also of interest, a recent study out of the University of Manitoba in Canada shows some lake predators are changing their behavior due to climate change, which may have a wide-ranging effect on lake trout and the entire ecosystem of certain lakes in Ontario and northern Minnesota.

Matthew Guzzo is the lead author of the study. He shares some additional perspective on lake trout throughout the episode. 

This episode is dedicated to the memory of Werner Bahner-Würth.

Episode 63 WTIP Boundary Waters Podcast

Emily Ford is a Duluth resident who skied across the border lakes of the Boundary Waters during the memorably cold, snowy and windy winter of 2021-22. 

Ford captured national attention when she skied across Wisconsin the previous winter. 

What motivates someone to embark on solo expeditions during the winter? 

Learn this and much more about Emily Ford in this episode of the podcast.

Episode 64 WTIP Boundary Waters Podcast

Lake Saganaga at the end of the Gunflint Trail is an easy place to get lost. 

Sag, as the lake is often called, is both the deepest and largest lake in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. It’s 280 ft. deep in certain pockets, and is spread across nearly 19,000 acres.

And while Sag might be challenging to navigate for even the most experienced paddlers, sometimes getting turned around can lead to magical experiences. 

Nicole Erickson and Michael Kelly know all about this, as we learn in today’s episode. 

Also in this episode, podcast hosts Joe Friedrichs and Matthew Baxley trek to the BWCA to drill a hole in the ice on the same weekend overnight travel permits are required to start the 2022 ‘paddling season.’

Episode 65 WTIP Boundary Waters Podcast

With  one week to go before the Minnesota fishing opener, many of the lakes across the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and all of Superior National Forest remain locked in ice. 

The WTIP Boundary Waters Podcast team drilled a hole in the ice of a 181-acre lake inside the BWCA on Friday, May 6. There was approximately 24 inches of rotting ice on the lake. One week prior, on April 29, there was 28 inches of ice on the same lake, with an additional six inches of snow and slush on top of the frozen lake. 

Temperatures in the Mid-Gunflint Trail are expected to climb into the 70s by May 10. 
The fishing open is Saturday, May 14. 

Along the Gunflint Trail, lakes with inlets or flowing water featured open water. The edges of many lakes are beginning to slowly pop open as well. Nearly all the rivers along the Trail featured fast, flowing water. 

The audio below was recorded in the BWCA on Friday, May 6 by Matthew Baxley and Joe Friedrichs from the WTIP Boundary Waters Podcast.

Short Track: Ice Update One Week Before BWCA Fishing Opener

It went from fishing opener to lake opener as ice lingered on the east side of the Boundary Waters in the middle of May.

Many area lakes, from the end of the Arrowhead Trail to the Middle Gunflint Trail, still held their ice on the day before the 2022 fishing opener in Minnesota.

Minnesota’s fishing opener for walleye, bass, trout and pike was Saturday, May 14. 

As the ice lingered, many groups canceled their Gunflint expeditions on this year’s fishing opener. The WTIP Boundary Waters Podcast did not. 

This episode, featuring Matthew Baxley, Joe Friedrichs and Kevin ‘The K-man’ Kramer, tells the story of how it all went down.

Episode 66 WTIP Boundary Waters Podcast

High water levels and lingering ice are making for a treacherous start to the paddling season across the Boundary Waters this spring. 

Craig Regep, a resident of Hanover, Minnesota, experienced this firsthand at the start of a canoe trip in the BWCA on Friday, May 13. 

Regep’s trip started at the end of the Arrowhead Trail on the far eastern side of the BWCA. He was paddling from John Lake to the Royal River en route to North Fowl Lake when he capsized in a solo Kevlar canoe. After tumbling into the frigid waters, Regep was alone and without a canoe. He did not have an emergency beacon or SPOT-location device. Hypothermia started to set in as Regep attempted to make his way back to the parking area at the end of the Arrowhead. 

Regep spoke of his experience with WTIP Boundary Waters co-host Joe Friedrichs in this discussion.

Short Track: BWCA Paddler Recounts Near-Death Experience After Capsizing in May 2022

Human remains were discovered near a makeshift campsite in April 2019 near the Sioux Hustler Trail that runs through the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. 

Law enforcement later identified the remains as those of 29-year-old Jordan Grider, a New Mexico resident who was attempting to spend an entire winter camping in the BWCA. Authorities believe he was eaten by wolves, likely after he died from an unknown injury. 

In this episode of the podcast, host Joe Friedrichs and DNR Conservation Officer Sean Williams visit the site where Grider made his final camp. 

Also in this episode, host Matthew Baxley shares an update on the rebuild of the iconic Stairway Portage between Duncan and Rose lakes in the BWCA. Trail builder Willie Bittner talks with Matthew for the update. 

And with the warmer temperatures, Matthew and Joe also have an upbeat fishing report to share from the Boundary Waters.

Episode 68 WTIP Boundary Waters Podcast

Wolves are the focus of this week's episode. Reports of wolves being fed on Superior National Forest near the Sawbill Trail reached the WTIP news desk in July 2022. Tofte District Ranger Ellen Bogardus-Szymaniak said recent reports of humans feeding wolves near the Sawbill Trail led to the closure of a dispersed camping area on Superior National Forest, not far from the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Ellen shares more in this episode. 

We also hear an update on the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Draft Wolf Management Plan in this installment. The DNR's Dan Stark shares an update with host Kalli Hawkins and the podcast.

Music by Blue Dot Sessions. 
Wolf photo by Michael Larosa via Unsplash.

Wolves Being Fed Near the BWCA And DNR Wolf Plan Update

The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness is one America's most beautiful and remote places. It's known for its 1.1 million acres of interconnected lakes and rivers to paddle and portage. The Campaign to Save the Boundary Waters is working to protect this precious landscape from a destructive sulfide-ore copper mine.

Join us on our journey to discover why this landscape is so important to protect by learning about its history, being inspired by its beauty, and hearing stories about the fight to protect this iconic Wilderness.

WTIP is the community radio station serving Minnesota's North Shore. We share a variety of outdoor news content from the region, including Lake Superior, Isle Royale and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. From fishing and hunting to environmental issues, this locally-produced podcast covers important outdoor news relevant to our broad community of listeners.

New tracks tagged #Boundary Waters