This posting is dedicated to Tom Merriman who today, 26JUL2018, turns 72 (I thought it was 80; oh well...) It is also to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the adventure described within...
Prelude -
Late in
the fall of 1,997, Tom Merriman told me that he, along with Mike and Bryce - his
brother and his nephew respectively - were planning on a week-long camping and
canoeing trip in Northern Minnesota, the 10,000 lakes region, during the summer
of 1,998. He asked me if I wanted to come… I said YES!
The Planning -
On February 6th, 1,998, Tom and Mike came over to my house and we discussed a trip to Minnesota the coming July… Jan was out of town, Clarissa Ane and Valentina were with their mother, and Alex & Leah were across the street on a sleep over; so, we had free rein to talk/discuss the trip… By then, Tom and I have been friends for about 8 years; he used to work with Jan, my wife, at American Express; we met when Jan was pregnant with Alex, our first daughter (my third), in late 1,989. Since then, a true friendship flourished based on mutual respect, curiosity and genuine compatibility. Over the years we shared many family holidays, and some week-ends away…
I
proposed inviting Jan to come with us; after all, she’d been with me in two
white-water rafting trips, camping in numerous occasions and she is my partner.
Well, both Jan and Tom thought that was not a good idea, for different reasons:
Tom said it was a boys-only type of thing and a girl’s presence would
complicate matters beyond feasibility; Jan said that it was too rough and too
long for her liking. So, I relented and dropped the whole idea, to everybody’s
delight! So,
on Sunday, March 22, 1,998, I made air reservations for the trip; myself only.
This is the first time I am going away in a ‘boys-only’ adventure, and without Jan…
Interesting.
All
these preparations and plans are happening around the spring of 1,998; Tom and
Mike decided on the date of July 11 to July 18; and that was fine with me. Mike proceeded to seek a permit for camping as required by the
USDA Forestry Service, gave the deposit to our outfitter, and selected our menu
of meals for the week…
The Permit
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| The permit to camp |
Between April and July of 1,998, things changed quite a bit for me: I left EDS and came
back to American Express. My start date was June 29th, 1,998. During
the job offering/acceptance process, I let my manager-to-be know I had this
vacation commitment, already paid for; he saw no issue with that and so, I
cleared the last hurdle to go…
Preparations continued and, as such, we got instructions from Uncle Mike as of what to bring; here is the original document...
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Things to bring into the BWCA:
Personal toilet items, personal medication,
chapstick, sunscreen
Water proof watch
Sunglasses and glasses retaining strap
Cap or hat
Optional items: book, tape recorder, diary,
camera & film, knife
Clothing:
1 pr sturdy boots, 1 pr tennis shoes
4 pr underwear, handkerchiefs, 4 pair of athletic socks, bathing
suit
Light jacket, hooded sweatshirt
2 pair of jeans
2 t-shirts, 2 flannel shirts (or denim cotton shirts), 2 pair of
shorts
belt
1 pair of gloves
I will provide soap, towels, flashlights,
bug spray, playing cards, GPS, and heavy poly trash bags to line your
packs with. We can leave the clothes we drive up in - in the cars and then
wear them for the return trip. There would be time to buy anything you may
need but don't bring with with you from Florida. The Outfitter will
provide all the gear, food utensils, 1st aid kit, matches, TP,
paper towel, maps, etc., etc.
Ill let you know how much the final cost
estimate will he later. The deposit will be $35 per person so you can send
that whenever.
Mike
|
The execution (of the plan, that is)...
Tom and I flew out of Ft. Lauderdale to Minneapolis/St. Paul on Saturday, July 11th; we took a Delta flight to Atlanta (what else is new?) and from Atlanta to Minneapolis; got there at 3:03 PM - no issues. As we arrived Mike was there waiting for us right at the gate (there was a time when people were still allowed to go to the gates to meet their arriving parties – that all changed after 9/11/01). Mike had already picked up the rental car we would use for the travels and, from the airport we went to Mike’s house. What a lovely townhouse, on a small lake! All the common areas and two bedrooms were upstairs; Mike had finished the basement to have then two more bedrooms, a bathroom and a huge living room or play room; very nice & cozy (Mike did all the work himself; he put up the walls, doors, trims.. I'm impressed!). That evening I met Bryce; mid to late twenties, quite warm and welcoming. I slept downstairs. |
| From left to right, Bryce, Uncle Mike, me and Tom... |
We took
I-35 North for about 130 miles to Duluth.
In Duluth we had a great country lunch at an establishment called
Grandma’s; good experience. From Duluth we took MN 61, heading NE, practically
hugging the Western shore of Lake Superior for about 110 miles to Grand Marais.
From Grand Marais we took the West Gunflint Trail, heading NW, for another 55
miles to Sea Gull Lake. Altogether, it took us about seven and a half hours to
get to Tuscarora outfitters; it could have been less but, then again, Mike was
driving…
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| The route |
The Tuscarora
outfitters were one of the many enterprises supporting excursions in the
Boundary Waters. We spent our first night in the outfitter's bunkhouse; very
Spartan accommodations (no mattress – had to use our sleeping bags) with a door
opening – no door - and window openings
– no windows…. The next morning, we bought our fishing licenses with high hopes
of a very rewarding angling experience; I had brought what it is colloquially
known as a ‘Cuban’ reel, and Tom had brought an antique fishing pole… As I
said, high hopes…
We had a
full breakfast in the chow hall; then we were assigned our gear, portable
stove, 'Duluth Packs' for personal items, and metal food pack (with frozen
steaks for our first dinner) containing the items we had previously selected from
an available menu…
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| Menu |
We
filled up our water bottles contemplating the next time we filled them it would
be with lake water. The outfitter drove us a few miles
to Alpine Lake where we were to ‘put-in’; Mike and Bryce in one canoe, and Tom
and I and another (with Duluth packs, tent, food, etc. meant the water line was
about 1/2" below the gunwale!). The canoe trip began in earnest with me in
the front where I couldn't do much damage – balance wise – and Tom in the back with two main responsibilities: keeping the canoe in balance “Miguel, can you move three and a half millimeters to your left?", and steering the vessel (I think - to this day - that he refused to paddle!) …
So, we
put in and quickly learned the first law of the wilderness: regardless of the the
direction you're taking, you are always paddling into a stiff wind! After a short break for a
PB&J lunch we headed for the campsite; the treacherous and demanding final
leg of our first day was characterized by paddling into a gale-force wind to reach our campsite and
seemingly going backwards; white crests is all we saw. When it seemed that
complete exhaustion had set in, Tom yelled: "If you have anything left in the tank, give it to me now or we'll never
reach the campsite!" Brother, for somebody running on the proverbial
fumes, those are the last words you want to hear… “DIG IN!” he yelled, and so we did... We made it!
 |
| Way in (route in red) |
Finally,
we get to our site; it is magnificent… It is like a little peninsula with
multiple levels…
We decide to put the tents in the upper levels and then the ‘kitchen’ area in the lower level, closer to the water… The weather cooperated except that the breeze made it challenging to pitch the tents… And speaking of the tents, Mike & Bryce shared one; Tom and I shared the other… Within seconds of the tent having been ready to be occupied, the zipper of the one and only door we had got jammed; it got stuck in the middle. Instead of us having a nice wide opening to get in and out of the tent, we had to squeeze ourselves through the opening left by the stuck zipper; it was like being born again on a daily basis!
 |
| Camp site |
We decide to put the tents in the upper levels and then the ‘kitchen’ area in the lower level, closer to the water… The weather cooperated except that the breeze made it challenging to pitch the tents… And speaking of the tents, Mike & Bryce shared one; Tom and I shared the other… Within seconds of the tent having been ready to be occupied, the zipper of the one and only door we had got jammed; it got stuck in the middle. Instead of us having a nice wide opening to get in and out of the tent, we had to squeeze ourselves through the opening left by the stuck zipper; it was like being born again on a daily basis!
The
evening challenge – except for the first evening when we were all exhausted - was to fall asleep before the
other started to snore… The first night I fell asleep immediately, like a
proverbial log; the last-minute strength paddling to be able to make it to our
little cove left me spent like never before! At any rate, as you see in the
photo below, our sleeping arrangements were very cozy and – as I mentioned – if
you did not fall asleep first, you would be serenaded by your tent mate’s snoring
– all night long!
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| The sleeping quarters |
After
that first night it took me a whole day to recover; then
normal life ensued…
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| Recovery time |
 |
| Cooking time... |
Other
that some eggs and bacon we took in, the rest of our meals came in envelopes,
with powder in them... As per Tom, if you added one cup of water, you’d get
scrambled eggs; two cups of water would get you beef Strogonoff; and if you added
one more cup of water you’d have dessert:
apple cobbler!
Now,
since he knew in advance about the meal-in-an-envelope deal, Tom had recommended
for us to bring our fishing gear and, as such, try to procure several tasty
meals from the lake… So, as I mentioned before, we bought our fishing license
as soon as we hit the outfitters office on the first day, and prepared
ourselves for the bounty we were to reap from the waters… We went out several
times to the middle of the late; Tom had his antique rod & reel which was
extremely valuable to him since it had been successful in the hands of many of
his ancestors; I had a simple one-hand plastic reel, no pole. Well, neither the
historied-and-pedigreed nor the mundane gear had any modicum of success – not a
bite! Here is a picture of the ‘white elephant’!
 |
| Fishing License - "White Elephant" |
The activities –
After all the setting up of the tents, and the kitchen, and all the routines, we had a lot of time on our hands; we played poker quite a bit but, after a day or so, that got a little old… As I said before, fishing was not too productive; it took very little time to realize it was a waste of time and paddle back in to the camp. Cooking and doing dishes was a breeze; collecting water to drink from the middle of the lake took Tom about 10 minutes…Hygiene related activities were also a piece of cake, although the shower part (as you'd see below) was a challenge using that cold lake water. Many days we found ourselves, right after breakfast, asking each other: “... and now what do we do?”
‘Potty’
time was a little odd… About 50 yards from our tents and kitchen, there was a
wood box (open in the bottom) with a toilet seat on top of it; right in the
open; no enclosures, either man-made or natural. Needless to say, the ‘accommodations’
were a little rustic; for potty time, our mantra became: “don’t look”…
The entertainment -
One particular afternoon, we noticed a group of girls who had selected as their camping site an island like 150 yards from us. Mike, of course, decided that opportunities are never to be wasted and decided that the four of us were to go and welcome the girls… Much to Uncle Mike’s chagrin, there were not as friendly as he had expected. So, we turned out canoes around and went back to our site. Once back, and after a drink, someone noticed the girls were swimming, skinny-dipping actually; there was only one pair of binoculars; as one may imagine, the proverbial squabble ensued. Not sure if anything could be seen, but it was fun while it lasted!
Showering
– as cold as a witch’s ‘ear’
 |
| Gathering courage to shower... |
 |
| ...ad the doing it! |
The park rangers.
On the fourth day of our camping adventure, a little while after breakfast, we saw a very uncommon sight: traffic! A canoe had appeared from around the bend, about 200 yards away, and was coming in our general direction. After a couple of minutes, it became apparent they were unequivocally coming our way. As they came closer it became clear they were two park ranges in a beautiful cedar canoe… One of the came aground and the other one – immediately - paddled back to about 25-30 yards from us and the shore. It became obvious to us their technique of having one on land and one in the canoe just in case they encountered a bad situation and, at least one, had the chance to radio out for help…Leisure time –
Happy Hour was also a de rigueur daily ritual (and it didn’t have to start at 5PM!)… We took in about 5 liters of wine distributed between boxes and wine skins. I don’t remember if Uncle Mike was drinking; I remember that Bryce was not; regardless, there was no wine left when we came out!! |
| Look at the knives... |
 |
| Taking a drink... |
 |
| An extra hit! |
Water duties…
Every day, either Tom or Mike, would take a canoe a little away from
the shore, towards the middle of the lake to collect drinking water; the
rationale was that the water near the shore might have been dirtied or contaminated
by the remnants of hygiene-related activities (dish washing, bathing).
And
there were, of course, the day-to-day chores of cooking and cleaning up to
which we all took turns…
 |
| Daily chores & duties... |
Some of
us took the route of taking enough ‘supplies’ (undies and such) for the whole time
we were going to be in the woods; others, seemingly, took in the bare minimum
and, therefore, laundry time was necessary!
|
|
 |
| Get a load of the bandana!!! |
Getting
out – The time came for us to return to civilization and so we loaded our
canoes; the same arrangement as coming in; I was still in the front paddling
while Tom, pretending to paddle, was only steering!
 |
| Paddling out... |
In the
other canoe, Uncle Mike was infatuated by a new toy he had (a GPS) and had poor
Bryce paddle with all his might while Mike was in the back just looking at the
little screen trying to figure out how fast they were going… Oh well, it was a
chuckle then!
 |
| Way out (in yellow) |
After a
very uneventful and easy trip in the canoe the rest of the way, we were out!
We were picked up by the outfitter and went back to their base where we were to re-pack our stuff, re-acquaint ourselves with the normal world, and then drive home… In the re-acquainting process, Tom popped up a beer and tried to enjoy the feeling; well, after one week without it, the carbonation got to him - big troubles swallowing – but, at the end, he got his groove back!
The Epilogue...
Drove back to Minneapolis to Mike’s house and literally crashed; we were exhausted! Slept like a baby and woke up with still one more day in the land of Humphrey (he was actually born in South Dakota but served Minnesota all his life) and Mondale.
That day
was a ‘free’ day for us in the twin-cities area since our flight was not until a
day after. So, we took it easy and, after a good breakfast, we rode around a
little bit and then caught a matinee: The Mask of Zorro, with Katherine
Zeta-Jones… What a treat! After the movie we went back to Mike’s place where he
treated us to his specialty: Tiramisu! Well done, Uncle mike!
Later
that evening Kerri, Mike’s daughter, joined us. What a pleasant girl! She was
affable, funny, well mannered, and game to be the fourth wheel to play a mean
game of poker with the ‘older’ boys (Bryce had left) … Very nicely impressed by
Kerri… Great time!
On Saturday,
July 18th, 1998, Tom and I flew back to Ft. Lauderdale. We left
Minneapolis at around 11 AM and, after a brief layover in Atlanta, we ran into
the waiting arms of our families by around 5 PM…
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