A visit to the Nautilus Submarine

On day three we went to see the historic ship Nautilus (SSN 571) Submarine Force Museum, located at Naval Submarine Base New London in Groton, Connecticut. The facility serves as the official repository for the records and history of the United States Submarine Force, from it's beginnings to the modern Navy.

The USS Nautilus (SSN 571) was the first nuclear powered submarine. From the day it was commissioned in 1955 she shattered all submerged speed and distance records. In 1958, under top secret orders, the Nautilus conducted "Operation Sunshine", which was the first crossing of the North Pole by a ship. With 116 men aboard the Nautilus accomplished the "impossible" - reaching the geographic North Pole, 90 degrees North. She is now decommission and is open as a museum.

Barbara, Ellie, Myself and Eleanor in front of a couple big huge brass props off a submarine.

Day One and Two of my trip to Stonington Borough

My trip to Stonington was fabulous. We did so many things I may not get them in the right order that we actually did them.

When we (Ellie and I) landed at the Providence RI airport, no one was there to get us. It felt a lot like when I went to camp as a kid and my mom didn't show up to pick me up. My sister had been in a bike accident and mom couldn't come get me. Well Ellie's mom Eneanor, her dad Andy and her sister Barbara did show up eventually to get us. Seems as though mom had a hard time ending a phone conversation regarding a lost desk (long story). I hope the desk has since been found.

That night we went to the Suns game (thank you season ticket holders for using your guest tickets on us). It was a great time.

Wednesday I got the tour of the Borough. It's a very nice and old. It's exactly what you picture when you picture New England. The movie Mystic Pizza with Julia Roberts was filmed there. So they showed me some of the places in the film.

We had a lunch picnic in the gazebo along the waters edge in what I believe was Westerly (thanks Ellie for the eats).

That night we went to Foxwoods, which is the largest Casino in the hemisphere. There was a Hard Rock there so I got Bill yet another shot glass. We played bingo from 6:30 until after 11:00. We didn't win a thing but had a lot of fun playing (thanks Andy for the bingo passes).

Go Suns!

Here I am with Blaze, the Connecticut Suns (WNBA) mascot. While in Connecticut last week I was lucky enough to see the Suns play twice. They have Minnesota's own Lindsay Whalen playing for them. The Suns are 2005's WNBA Eastern conference champs. So let's all cheer loud and proud for the Connecticut Suns. For more information about Linday here's a link: http://www.wnba.com/playoffs2005/whalen_qa_050827.html

Jay Cooke Hike

We're back all safe and sound from the Jay Cooke hike. Friday afternoon we hiked in 2.4 miles to our very remote camp site. It was pretty warm out and it seemed like a lot of work. It took us about an hour to get in there. We saw quite a few people at first, near the park. But the further we got out the less people we encountered. By the time we reached our site we saw no one. And we continued to see no one out there for the next couple days.

Saturday we a breakfast of pancakes with wild raspberries that Mike and Jessi picked early that morning. Then we headed out for a nice long day hike.

We went and scouted out the St. Louis River. It is very unusual. It looks like lava rocks. We had lunch during our hike. It was a little over 5 miles we hiked total on Saturday.

Sunday we hiked the 2.4 miles back out to the truck. It was a real nice relaxing time. The park is very beautiful. Another Minnesota gem.

Heading to Jay Cooke State Park

Well tomorrow it's off to Jay Cooke State Park where we have reserved a backpack sight three miles from the park campground. We'll stay there friday night and Saturday we'll either explore the park or move on to the Superior Hiking Trail. The park has 50 miles of hiking trails.

This from the MN State Park Website: "Trailblazers: this park is a must! Park trails link up to the Willard Munger State Trail at the north edge of the park; perfect for backpackers, bikers (both mountain and tour), hikers, horseback riders, and skiers. Walk on the swinging suspension bridge high above the raging St. Louis River. Visit the historic cemetery and the gorge at Thomson Dam. "

One of the features of the park that seems highly publisized is the swinging suspended bridge:

From the parks website: "The Swinging Bridge is a 200'-long suspension bridge with a 126' span over the St. Louis River. The bridge is supported by two massive pylons consisting of reinforced concrete piers faced with native stone laid in a rustic ashlar design. The suspension cables are anchored in a solid rock ledge on the south side and in concrete anchorage on the north. Stone piers on either side of the bridge support walkways leading to the suspended section. Originally, 8" or 10" peeled cedar logs were used as approach railings and the bridge deck was constructed with 2" white oak flooring laid 1/2" apart.

The bridge was originally 18' above the St. Louis River. However, the bridge deck was raised in 1941 due to a problem with washouts. The bridge was again modified in 1953, when the existing concrete cores of the pylons were extended. This further minimized the possibility of a washout by increasing the distance from the bridge deck to the river. The spalled concrete caps were repaired In 1977. "

Pheasants Forever Banquet

Here I am with my big win. I dumped some bucks into the raffles and didn't win anything. No one at our table did. And I think between Dale Kaiser and Dave Boeckermann there was some considerable dough dropped. But I did walk away with the "Hunters Choice Marinade" that was on our table because my birthday was the closest to the date of Pheasant opener on October 15th. A certain Mr. Mike ran off with the 12 gauge shells I should have also gotten when he lied about his age, stating he was the youngest at the table and he wasn't....I was. I'm also seen here modeling Dale's new PF hat. It was a good time. Thanks David Jr.

Pheasants Forever

I'm off to the North Country Pheasants Forever Banquet tonight. David Boeckermann Jr. is unable to attend and has a ticket, so I'll be going in his place. I'll tell you more when I get back from there.

Good Day on the River

Jim Eide and myself win the Brainerd Lakes Bassmasters tournament Sunday August 14th on the Mississippi River. This is the third tournament in a row that we've fished together and won. It just seems that each time we are paired up it all works out. I caught the biggest bass I've ever caught at 4 pounds 15 1/2 ounces, just a half an ounce from 5lbs. It was a hog. But Craig Paulson caught a 5 pound 2 ounce bass that beat me for big bass. It was a great day on the water. It wasn't too cold and it wasn't too hot. We ended up with 18 pounds 5 ounces for 5 fish.

Nate carrying AL over a portage.

Makita with his canoe and pack on a portage

Dave Beockermann carring his canoe over a portgage.

Day 9, Saturday July 30, 2005

On this final day of our nine day "adventure" into the BWCA, we woke at 6am, broke camp and set off by 7am. The wind had come up during the night and that always makes a paddler a little worried. Winds can be your worst enemy while out in large bodies of water. We had two to cross this morning. We were on the water by 7am. We paddled across Disappointment lake, it was windy but managable. We then did a 80 rod portage. Then we paddled across Perent Lake, which was a pretty small lake, and did a 85 rod portage into Snowbank Lake (the lake we originally set out on a week before). Snowbank wasn't bad getting across as far as the wind goes but the sky was dark and the lightning was striking behind us. Ellie paddles really fast in the lightning.

By this day Nate had transferred all the heavy items into the small pack he was originally carrying and had passed this pack off to his father Mark. Thus the Duluth pack Nate was now responsible for weighed little of nothing. I picked it up and was surprised how light it was. Yet Nate still refused to try to carry both that pack and the canoe. So while the old duffers portaged both their packs and their canoes, Nate would grab just the pack and walk the portage, go all the way back and get the canoe and walk it again. Marks back was getting noticeably worse. He could hardly get in and out of the canoe. Me and Ellie had to help him put his pack on each time. It seemed like a good day to head home.

We were at our vehicle at 9:15 am. On the way home we stopped in Ely. It was Blueberry days and the town was packed. We did a little shopping at Piragis and headed south. In Tower we stopped and had a burger and a beer at Benchwarmers. The burger was real good and the beer was real cold. Nummy. We were home by 4:30pm.

This was the end of our adventure and already I can't wait for the next one.

Day 8, Friday July 29, 2005

Today we slept in. We didn't get up until after 8am. We sat around and had a couple pots of coffee and then went out fishing. We expected to catch a bunch of walleyes after we'd done so well the day before but we didn't catch a one. Nate caught a real nice smallmouth that he released. We came in and had some lunch and took a quick "bath" (the water was pretty darn cold). In the afternoon we all went out fishing again (except Mark and Nate...they took a nap). We didn't catch a thing except some really little smallmouth, so we gave up early, collected some firewood and went in to start packing up for our trip out the next day.

Nate helped make supper and Ellie fried corn bread banick on the fire (in yes...you guessed it... in Eddie and Ron's pan). It was very very good. We hit the hay at around 10pm.

Day 7, Thursday July 28, 2005

On this day we woke up at 6am but it was raining. By 6:30 the rain had ended and we got up and broke camp. We were on the water by 8:00am. We did quite a bit of paddling and six portages. A 105 rod into Gibson Lake, then a 25 rod into Cattyman Lake, a 10 rod into Adventure Lake, a 10 rod into Jitterbug Lake, a 15 rod into Ahsub Lake and finally a 25 rod into Disappointment Lake.

We got a great campsite on Disappointment. It had three tent sites (which sometimes is hard to find) and it had a decent swimming area.

While we were making lunch it poured rain. After the rain storm we went out fishing and Dave caught a couple real nice walleyes right away and Nate caught about a six pounder. We cleaned them up and fried them up in Ron and Eddie's fry pan.

Day 6, Wednesday July 27, 2005

On this day we stayed put in our camp on Ashagan Lake. We sat around in the morning and drank coffee and just relaxed. We went out and caught enough fish for lunch. Mark caught a nice northern that Ellie put in foil and baked in the fire while the other fish she fried in Eddie and Ron's fry pan.

We went swimming for a little while to wash up. The water seemed colder than previous days. But then again it did get down into the 40's the night before.

In the afternoon it started to storm out. It got very windy and rained pretty hard. We all ducked into our tents until it passed. We got out of our tents and pumped water and then bam...it hit again. So we all crawled back in our tents and listened to the Twins play the Yankees. Most of us fell asleep for a while too.

After the storms passed we got up and made spaghetti and sat around the fire while things dried out. It was a nice peaceful evening.

Day 5 Tuesday July 26, 2005

This day we got up at 6:15 am and broke camp. Mark's back was hurting pretty bad so Nate had to portage the canoe. We did two portages, one that was 180 rods and one that was 55 rods into Ashagan Lake. We went to the furthest campsite. We setup camp and made chicken wildrice soup for lunch. Then we went out fishing and got a real nice bunch of fish for a nice fish fry. Ellie cooked them over the fire in Eddie and Ron's fry pan. It was so very good.

Me with my pack on a portage July 26, 2005

Dorothy Molter's Story

"Root Beer Lady" of Knife Lake

Dorothy Molter was born May 6, 1907. She was one of six children. Her mother died when Dorothy was seven and the children were placed in an orphaniage. When her father remarried in 1919, he moved to Chicago and reunited the family.

Dorothy attended high school in Chicago. She was active in a variety of sports includingthe school rifle team. She won the city championship in 1925. Little did she know that her shooting skill would become a key to her survival in the wilderness later in life. After high school she went to school to become a registered nurse and completed her training. Once again she had no way of knowing how valuable her nursing skills would be to herself and thousands of visitors to the wilderness.

Dorothy came to Knife Lake for the first time in 1930. She came to stay permanently in 1934, to help Bill Berglund operate the rustic Isle of Pines Resort. When Berglund died in 1948, the resort was deeded to Dorothy.

Due to the Wilderness Act of 1964, Dorothy's property was condemned and purchased by the United States Forest Service and she was ordered to leave the area. Her many friends and visitors circulated petitions in order that she be allowed to remain. She was granted a lifetime tenancy in 1975 by the U.S. Congress and was able to stay on the Isle of Pines until her death in 1986.

Each year as many as 6,000 visitors from all over the world would stop by the Isle of Pines and visit Dorothy in her wilderness home. She would make between 11,000 and 12,000 bottles of root beer per year to share with her many visitors and she gained the nickname "The Root Beer Lady".

After her death in 1986, Dorothy's homestead was dismantled and transported by dogsled and snowmobile to Moose Lake and then on to Ely, where volunteers later restored two of the cabins (the Winter and Point cabins). The dreams of many dedicated volunteers were finally realized when in May, 1993, the museum was at last open in memory of this strong, kind and gracious woman.

Dorothy Molter was the last of a special breed of people, and the last legal resident of the Bondary Waters Canoe Wilderness Area. She believed in herself and in her ability to take care of herself even in the harshest conditions and facing great challenges. She lived in harmony with the environment. She respected the plants and animals with which she shared her world. Most important of all, Dorothy was willing to give of herself to anyone in need. Many a conoeist has sought out medical aide from Dorothy. She probably holds the record for pulling fishhooks out of people. She tended burns, sprains, broken bones and more serious medical problems through the years. The time of day or night, or the task she was involved in meant nothing to Dorothy if someone needed her help. She held and lived they types of values we want to pass on to future generations.

You can find out more about Dorothy in Bob Cary's book "Root Beer Lady" or by logging into www.rootbeerlady.com

Day 4, Monday July 25, 2005

Me on Dorothy's Rainbow Rock

On this day we started out by A. Makita finds Dave's Leatherman and B. Mark slips on a rock on on the lakeshore and hurts his back. The back injury will accompany us the rest of our journey.

We portaged into Knife Lake from Vera. It was an interesting portage. Very rocky with steep inclines and steep declines. Mark and Nate had borrowed AL (remember Al....the Alumicraft canoe?) which weighs around 63 pounds. Nate had to carry Al because of Marks back. It was his first time carrying one. Probably not the best portage to break someone in. But keep in mind Nate is 15, is probably 5' 9" or more and weighs 160 pounds. Did I mention he's a hockey player and plays football too? Well at one point during the first portage Nate threw Al to the ground and called it a "piece of crap canoe". Al was hurt I'm sure. But eventually the kid did get Al into Knife Lake. If he's going to keep carrying canoes he'll have to probably go buy his own, lighter, easier to carry canoe.

We paddled to Dorothy's Isle of the Pines. I will write more about Dorothy soon. But in the meantime I'll tell you that we went on the islands, saw her wildflowers and touched her Rainbow Rock. It was something I wanted to do for a long time. It was awesome.

We paddled/portaged back to Vera. It started to rain and rained most the afternoon. That night there was a beautiful sunset and rainbows.

Day 4 Makita just "happened to see it"

Makita dives in and finds Dave's sunken Leatherman.