WTIP Boundary Waters Podcast

The WTIP Boundary Waters Podcast team spent the final days of April and start of May 2021 in Ely. Hosts Matthew Baxley and Joe Friedrichs were selected for an 'artist residency' by the Listening Point Foundation. This is property owned by Sigurd Olson that is now managed and owned by an organization in Ely known as the Listening Point Foundation. Olson was an author and a dedicated advocate for wilderness, including the Boundary Waters, but many areas across the country as well. The podcast duo recorded and produced this episode at Listening Point. The theme of the episode is 'a rite of passage' and includes interviews with paddlers sharing their love of the Boundary Waters with their children, friends and the next generation of canoeists, and where Baxley and Friedrichs fit within that concept of people who share stories about the wilderness. Up first we hear the story of Myron Klesner. Myron was introduced to Quetico Provincial Park in 1977 during a class trip. It was the first of 30 years of trips taken from Quincy Jr. High (Illinois) to Canoe Canada Outfitters and into Quetico. Myron continues to visit canoe country and he has now gone with his two boys, the history teacher who started the school trips and others who have experienced Quetico over the years. In part two of this episode, Cook County resident Hazel Oberholtzer talks about ‘her soul place,’ the Boundary Waters. Hazel frequents the BWCA and talks about her own rite of passage to wilderness travel, from camps to family trips to now paddling with her friends through canoe country. Hazel talks about the value of gaining self-awareness on trips to the Boundary Waters, learning from her mentors about strength and leadership both inside and outside of the wilderness. The episode is shared through the lens of Listening Point and the work of Sigurd Olson to protect the Boundary Waters region, with the full understanding that the torch needs to be carried from generation to generation to protect these treasured waters.

Many of the lakes in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness became ice free during the third full week of April 2021. To investigate the early ice-out situation, the WTIP Boundary Waters Podcast team ventured into the wilderness on a cold but sunny Sunday morning. The plan was to enter the BWCA in the mid-Gunflint Trail area, navigating snowy portages and ice free lakes before floating out of the wilderness on the upper reaches of the Brule River. The headwaters of the river are on Horseshoe Lake, a well-known BWCA destination south of Poplar Lake. It was not an easy trip, including the fact hosts Matthew Baxley and Joe Friedrichs had to repair their damaged Royalex canoe with peanut butter and mud. Follow Matthew and Joe on this short track of the WTIP Boundary Waters Podcast.

A love of the land is the theme in this milestone episode of the WTIP Boundary Waters Podcast. Up first in episode 40, we hear a feature about remote lakes waiting across the border in Ontario. Canadian trapper Mark Deans tells podcast host Joe Friedrichs about a collection of lakes just east of Quetico Provincial Park and just across the border from the border lakes above the Gunflint Trail. Mark and his family run traplines in this remote border country, and some of the lakes in this region are rarely, if ever visited each year by human travelers. Also in today’s episode focusing on a sense of connection with the woods and waters of the BWCA, the podcast team ventures out for one more ice fishing trip of the season. Eric Glasson is a manager at Piragis Northwoods Company in Ely. He is also the host of an outdoor adventure and fishing platform he calls ‘Farwater.’ Eric joined Matthew Baxley and Joe for a ‘lake trout redemption’ trip to the BWCA in March 2021. Fish were found, as was an extraordinary day on the ice to slowly wind down the winter season. PLEASE NOTE: Recreational camping is prohibited on public land in Ontario at the time this episode was released in April 2021, including Crown land until further notice. This is to stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus and protect the health and well-being of Ontarians. Also, the fee for a non-resident Crown land camping permit is $9.35/person/day plus the federal Harmonized Sales Tax. The permits are available to non-residents through Ministry and/or Ontario government offices and through outside license issuers.

Winter camping continues to be a favorite activity for the WTIP Boundary Waters Podcast team. In February 2021, Matthew Baxley and Joe Friedrichs took a TV news team from Duluth for a trip to the BWCA. Alex Laitala and Dan Wolfe from KBJR joined the podcast duo for a trip to the far eastern reaches of the designated wilderness. Temperatures dropped to 10-below zero and Matthew shares a report from the wilderness along with added reflection from a memorable trip. Also in this episode, podcast contributor Lindsey Gau talks with Ty Olson about his epic and important journey through the Boundary Waters and other border lakes. Ty traveled more than 270 miles over 27 days in February and March across the border lakes of Minnesota and Ontario. He called his journey ‘Ski For Fire’ and he did the trip to raise money for firewood for the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Lindsey sat down to talk with Ty just moments after his trip ended on the shores of Lake Superior in Grand Portage. The March sun is slowly melting the surface of some lakes in the BWCA. The season of change nears. A special thanks to Claire Campbell and Ian Tamblyn for their musical contributions to this episode.

The depths of winter rolled over the Boundary Waters in February 2021. Temperatures plummeted and overnight lows often measured 30 degrees below zero during the first full week of the month. That being the case, the WTIP Boundary Waters Podcast team embraced the cold snap as an opportunity to share stories from the wilderness. Podcast Host Matthew Baxley opens the episode with a story about the longest serving interior ranger in the history of Quetico Provincial Park, Janice Matichuk. Matthew speaks with three men who credit Janice with saving their lives when they fell into the frigid waters of Cache Bay in 2019. Their story is not unique in the sense of a heroic tale involving Matichuk, but it stands out if for no other reason than it was one of her final rescues in Quetico. Janice died in August 2020 from brain cancer. In the second part of the episode, WTIP Boundary Waters Podcast Guest Host Lindsey Gau chats with Maggie Friedrichs about the joys of winter camping in the BWCA. Lindsey and Maggie recently took a winter camping trip and share a full report, including how to stay warm and dry while winter camping in the wilderness.

It’s the start of Season 4 on the WTIP Boundary Waters Podcast! The new season kicks off with a theme specific to winter: blades and ice. Indeed, ice skating on ‘wild ice’ was all the rage in the BWCA to start the winter of 2020-21. Host Matthew Baxley takes us on a journey up Clearwater Lake into the BWCA and over to Mountain Lake on the border looking across to Canada. This specific day trip captures a stretch of time that will be remembered for years and perhaps generations to come with regard to wild ice in the Boundary Waters. To kick off the episode, Baxley and co-host Joe Friedrichs take us back to the frozen waters for lake trout ice fishing opener on Jan. 1, 2021. The annual fishing opener is a big deal in the BWCA, with a special season where only lakes located entirely within the wilderness are open to trout fishing. Learn about lake trout fishing and the value of having sharp auger blades in this report from the ice. To view footage from Matthew’s trip to Mountain Lake on ice skates, watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hLw6rlFcsQ

It’s the holiday season in the Boundary Waters. What this means, of course, is that it’s quiet in the wilderness. November and most of December are traditionally some of the quietest times of the year in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Looking to embrace that solitude, the podcast team of Joe Friedrichs, Matthew Baxley and Lindsey Gau all traveled into the BWCA to celebrate Thanksgiving and ring in the 2020 holiday season. They share a report from the ice and snow in today’s episode, including what they’re thankful for as this challenging year winds down. Also in today’s episode, we hear once again from Minnesota resident and trail runner Alex Falconer. A dedicated athlete and director of the Boundary Waters Action Fund, Falconer recently spoke on the podcast with host Matthew Baxley about the challenges and joys of running on trails throughout the BWCA, including the Border Route Trail. Falconer shares another update in today’s episode as winter settles in on the wilderness. It’s an episode of reflection while also sharing in the spirit of new adventures in the Boundary Waters.

November in the Boundary Waters is a time of transition. That being the case, here on the podcast we’re not ready to let the canoe season slide away just yet. We hear from four women today about their 2020 paddling experiences in the BWCA. Up first we hear from Aubrey Helmuth Miller and the team at Redbudsuds. Aubrey is the founder of Redbudsuds, a small business in Ohio that specializes in selling 4-in-1 soap products. In August 2020, Aubrey and her two employees, Liz Wagner and Amanda Petzker, traveled to Ely for a ‘work retreat’ to the BWCA. In today’s episode we hear an audio diary they recorded on their trip. In the second part of today’s episode we hear from Twin Cities resident Claire Campbell. Claire talks about being a solo paddler in the Boundary Waters in a wide-ranging and intriguing conversation with podcaster Matthew Baxley. Also featured in today’s episode is a collection of music with an appropriate twist to the Boundary Waters and this podcast.

Waterfowl hunting is not something most people associate with a trip to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. It is, however, completely legal to hunt in the BWCA during the annual waterfowl hunting season in northeastern Minnesota. In October 2020, the WTIP Boundary Waters Podcast team accompanied Cook County resident Sven Hoaglund on a duck hunting trip to the wilderness. We hear directly from the woods and water as the group travels in pursuit of migrating ducks. Also in today’s episode, we hear from Minnesota resident and trail runner Alex Falconer. A dedicated athlete and director of the Boundary Waters Action Fund, Falconer talks with host Matthew Baxley about the challenges and joys of running on trails throughout the BWCA, including the Border Route Trail. It’s an episode full of unique opportunities that the Boundary Waters presents to visitors in the wilderness... join us for the adventure.

In this short track of the WTIP Boundary Waters Podcast, hosts Matthew Baxley and Joe Friedrichs share a report on an Oct. 8 event held to raise awareness of threats to the wilderness. The Boundary Waters Action Fund sponsored an event hosted by Al Franken and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Featuring a collection of elected officials and political candidates from Minnesota, what the event largely turned into was a place to share stories about the Boundary Waters. The WTIP Boundary Waters podcast team couldn't have been more at home while listening in...

Audio diaries continue to be an essential component of the WTIP Boundary Waters Podcast. These ‘diaries’ are segments of audio recorded by the hosts and listeners of the podcast during trips to the wilderness. In this episode, we hear two different audio diaries on two very different types of trips to the BWCA. Up first, podcast host Matthew Baxley takes us on his recent journey with Lindsey Gau and her father, Jeff Gau. (Cool fact… Lindsey is the person holding the canoe in the photo used for the WTIP Boundary Waters Podcast logo!) In the second part of today’s episode, we hear from Minnesota resident and backpacking aficionado Michelle Schroeder. Michelle joined Annie Nelson in 2019 for a hike on the Border Route Trail. The BRT is particularly inviting in the fall months, as we find out from Michelle in her audio recordings from the rugged trail along the border lakes in the Boundary Waters.

A 'business trip' to the Boundary Waters is something many in the paddling community would jump at in an instant. However, finding a boss to support such a notion is likely the biggest obstacle to such a dream becoming reality. Well, apparently Aubrey Helmuth Miller is one cool boss. Aubrey is the founder of Redbudsuds, a small business in Ohio that specializes in selling 4-in-1 soap products. In August 2020, Aubrey and her team from Redbudsuds traveled to Ely for a ‘work retreat’ to the BWCA. Joe Friedrichs from the podcast traveled to Ely to talk with them following their trip. We’ve heard from Aubrey before on the podcast, when she played her banjo and shared stories at Canoecopia in 2019. In addition to being a BWCA guide for several years, Aubrey and Redbudsuds also give 50 percent of the sale of each Gunflint Peppermint shower bar they produce to help protect the BWCA. Learn more in this special short track of the WTIP Boundary Waters Podcast…

Every summer there are a number of storms that roll through the Boundary Waters that generate campfire conversations for years to come. On occasion, such as the epic 1999 Blowdown Storm, these storms become the stuff of legend. Such is the case with a storm from July 8 this summer where nine people found themselves entangled in a vicious weather event. The heart of the storm was on Trout Lake in the BWCA on the western side of the wilderness. Jason Busch and David Bell were among the group camped out as the storm ravaged their campsite. WTIP Boundary Waters Podcast Host Matthew Baxley talks with the duo about their experience from the summer of 2020. Also in this episode, Baxley and podcast co-host Joe Friedrichs discuss the recent passing of Janice Matichuk, the longest serving ranger in the history of Quetico Provincial Park and a dear friend of the WTIP and paddling communities.

Half-in, half-out. That's what many entry lakes to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness are when it comes to the official wilderness designation. And yet, it's the same water. To the lakes and rivers in the BWCA and Quetico, there are no imaginary wilderness or international lines. It's the same water. Podcast hosts Matthew Baxley and Joe Friedrichs explore this notion to open the episode. Indeed, sentiments such as these are a common message the Campaign to Save the Boundary Waters continues to share. In this episode we hear from one of their staffers, Lauren Eggert, before she departs on a BWCA in the summer of 2020 for a trip off the Gunflint Trail. To complete the episode, we have another audio diary submission! This trip report comes from Minnesotans Kaylan and Josh Dix. They did an early summer 2020 trip as well off the Gunflint, sharing the details of what brought them to the wilderness during a health pandemic and other societal issues in Minnesota and beyond. It's a complex time in the world, and the BWCA is not absent from its own challenges in 2020. It's all told plainly on this episode of the WTIP Boundary Waters Podcast.

Janice Matichuk is the longest serving ranger in the history of Quetico Provincial Park. She is on medical leave from Quetico at this time and the Cache Bay Ranger Station is currently closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and border closures with the U.S. and Canada. During a special program that aired live on WTIP July 11, Boundary Waters Podcast Host Joe Friedrichs spoke with Matichuk about her health and some reflections on the Gunflint Trail community. Also featured in this special episode are updates with canoe outfitters from across the BWCA. We hear from the teams and Sawbill Canoe Outfitters, the Ely Outfitting Company and Tuscarora Lodge & Canoe Outfitters. It’s all here on this bonus track of the WTIP Boundary Waters Podcast.