Mark Zimmer, more commonly referred to as the ‘Barefoot Paddler,’ spoke with the Paddle and Portage Podcast before the start of his 2025 paddling season. Zimmer is starting his 13th year exploring the BWCA. Mark typically spends late April or early May through October in the Boundary Waters. He catches walleye, lake trout, and pike. He forages wild…

Old Man Ed is a fixture in the Boundary Waters. He's been following, in the literal sense, the Paddle and Portage Podcast team for years. Often, he crawls from the water's edge and provides wisdom and perspective to the folks who make this whole thing go. In this episode, Ed arrives on the great fishing opener weekend, which includes Mother's Day. …

Rick Slatten is the captain of the St. Louis County Rescue Squad. He recently spoke with Joe on the Paddle and Portage Podcast about the highly publicized incident from Curtain Falls in the BWCA in 2024, and other events associated with search and rescue in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. This episode is supported by Drury Lane Books, Co…

Resignations. Terminations. Confusion. Reductions. Limitations. These are all themes the U.S. Forest Service is seeing and facing on a routine basis as the 2025 paddling season arrives to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. In this episode, we hear from Barb Soderberg. Soderberg's career with the Forest Service started in 1967 on Superior Na…

The Hudson Bay Girls is an all-female canoe team paddling a historic Voyageur Fur Trading Route in 2025. The expedition will take them on a 1,200-mile journey from Lake Superior to Hudson Bay, Canada. Along the way, they will share their story to raise awareness about the importance of environmental stewardship, outdoor education, and gender equali…

Most people come to the Boundary Waters to engage with wilderness. Solitude. Peace. Escape. These are sentiments commonly shared by the more than 125,000 people who come to the BWCA each year. And while some people come to fish, not everyone does. Regardless of one's interest in angling, this episode gets into the science (and ethics) of why it's g…

The Hungry Hunter YouTube channel features outdoor adventure from the Boundary Waters and other places in the Upper Midwest. In this episode of the podcast, we learn what makes the channel's founder and content creator, Tom, click. Hint: He worked as a fishmonger for most of his life. This episode is supported by Voyageur Canoe Outfitters and Cooke…

Pete Marshall and Dave Meier are friends of the Boundary Waters, and they happen to work for an organization named Friends of the Boundary Waters. In this interview, which was recorded at Canoecopia in Madison, Wisc., in spring 2025, Pete and Dave talk with Joe from the Paddle and Portage Podcast about paddling the BWCA, the political climate as it…

Whitewater is a powerful force. It's often destructive, drastically changing entire landscapes. It can also be a place of both play and healing. For Jordan Taylor, a 30-year whitewater paddling instructor, it has been both destructive and healing. Join the Paddle and Portage Podcast team as they travel to Wisconsin's Wolf River and beyond to tell t…

The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness is highlighted on a map of possible places for “increasing timber production” that was shared by federal officials in Washington D.C. last week. The order, signed April 3 by U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, declares an emergency on more than 176,000 miles of national forest. The orde…

Canadian helicopters and drones are flying over the lakes of the Boundary Waters with greater frequency as the 2025 paddling season nears. From Lake Superior to the far western edge of the Boundary Waters near Ely, reports of sightings of drones and helicopters flying just above the tree line continue to reach the Paddle and Portage Podcast team. P…

Maddy Frawley is a fixture at the end of the Gunflint Trail. For the past decade, she's worked at Voyageur Canoe Outfitters, including the past three as a manager on site. Maddy, along with her partner, Clay, won't be around this paddling season, as they are moving to the Twin Cities in the months ahead. Maddy stopped by the Paddle and Portage head…

The Paddle and Portage team is constantly taking inspiration and motivation from wilderness. The act of regularly getting out not only inspires the work, but actually is the work itself. It is both the goal and the path to the goal. In this episode, we support this notion through the stories of Oregon Bill Busacker, Cousin Jeff Frawley, Emma Froh, …

Canoecopia 2025 found itself in the middle of a news story. As Canadian paddlers and businesses arrived to Madison, Wisc., for the world's largest paddling expo, talks of tariffs and political tension between the U.S. and Canada dominated news headlines across both nations. This simmering unfolded in multiple ways at Canoecopia, both ahead of and d…

Kelcy Huston grew up splashing in the creeks and rivers along Minnesota's North Shore of Lake Superior. She moved out West as a young adult, working a number of outdoor jobs for state and federal agencies. It was a job based near the Lochsa River in Idaho Huston discovered a passion for whitewater paddling. This passion would lead her to some some …

There was a report from the Star Tribune this week that the Gunflint Ranger Station in Grand Marais “has no employees.” The Paddle and Portage Podcast team went to the office Feb. 20 and found it was open and there were people at the front desk. In this news update on the podcast, we talk about Trump administration’s deferred resignation program fo…

Ella Hall is buried in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. A grave on a small island located on a lake bearing her name is not something most BWCA paddlers are aware of, let alone come across. In this episode, we share the story of Ella Hall. We do so with the help of the late Mike Hillman, an iconic storyteller who lived for many years in a…

It's been a cold winter across the Boundary Waters region. Damn cold, in fact. Temperatures hit -30 Fahrenheit from the Gunflint Trail to areas near Ely in the middle of February. Double-digit negative temperatures have become something of the norm this winter, dating back to the Jan. 1 trout opener in the BWCA Wilderness. In this episode of the po…

Sometimes you end up in St. Paul, Minnesota. In this episode of the podcast, the bulk of which was recorded in the Minnesota capital, we hear from Dan Johnson, the founder of BWCA Wild. Dan films the portages in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. As of February 2025, he's about a third of the way done filming all of the portages. We met up …

The U.S. Forest Service planned to host two meetings this week that would have allowed the public to provide feedback and learn more about a largescale project aimed to restore "ecological balance" to an area near Ely and the Boundary Waters. Those meetings, scheduled for Feb. 4 and 5, were cancelled. The cancellations were tied, at least in part, …

Erin Walker and her husband, Jon, have been hot tent winter camping for the past six winters together, often documenting their adventures on the Lost Lakes YouTube channel. In her most recent article for Paddle and Portage, Erin shares insight on how to select a campsite in the winter months, and what it's like sleeping in an igloo on the ice. In t…

Canoecopia is the largest paddling expo in North America. The annual event takes place March 7-9 in 2025 in Madison, Wisc. Paddle and Portage Podcast host Joe Friedrichs sat down with Darren Bush, the founder of Canoecopia, to discuss the history and future of the event, as well as what to expect in 2025. This episode is sponsored by: Voyageurs Can…

More people canceled a permit to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in 2023 than ever before, according to a recent report from the U.S. Forest Service. “Cancellations have more than doubled in five years, suggesting that BWCAW visitors continue to reserve more permits than they can use,” the report states. Some outfitters and paddlers say t…

The idea came to Robert Barrett after skiing up the Gunflint Trail, just days after the passing of former President Jimmy Carter on Dec. 29. There are two Caribou lakes near the Gunflint Trail. One near Clearwater Lake, another near Poplar Lake. Both are in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and found in the Mid-Gunflint Trail area. Given th…

Amy and Dave Freeman are widely recognized for their dedication and passion for the Boundary Waters, including their book "A Year in the Wilderness." Amy and Dave have a new book, "North American Odyssey." To kick off Season Two of the Paddle and Portage Podcast, we hear from Amy and Dave about how their travels across the continent continue to be …

The trout opener for lakes entirely within the BWCA Wilderness begins Wednesday, Jan. 1. During the 2024 legislative session, state law was changed to move the start date for the ice fishing season to Jan. 1. Lakes outside the wilderness will continue to open on a Saturday later in the month, typically two weeks after the BWCA Wilderness opener. Wi…

Minnesota officials and some Boundary Waters enthusiasts are celebrating the U.S. Senate’s passage of the Expanding Public Lands Outdoor Recreation Experiences, or EXPLORE Act. The final package of the EXPLORE Act includes more than a dozen policy measures aimed at supporting outdoor recreation on public lands, including Superior National Forest an…

In this episode we travel with Duluth based writer Ryan Rodgers to Pine Lake in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Rodgers recently wrote an article in the Boundary Waters Journal about the life of Frank Kugler, an Austrian immigrant who was tried in Cook County for murder in 1919. Kugler shot a man named John Doe on Pine Lake that year, th…

In this news track of the podcast, we hear an update on the "pause" of the Remote Area Border Crossing Program. Donny and Lisa Sorlie, owners of Chippewa Inn on the Canadian side of Saganaga Lake, stopped by the P&P headquarters in Grand Marais to share an update. Also stopping by to explain how the RABC situation is impacting him is Cook County re…

Though winter is an amazing time to travel across the (frozen) Boundary Waters, a simple fact needs to be considered at all times: No ice is safe ice. At the very least, ice is extremely unpredictable. In this episode, we hear from Eric Glasson, LynnAnne Vesper, Pete Brautigam, and John Downing. They all have experience being on Boundary Waters ice…

The Minnesota DNR has been using motors inside the federally protected BWCA Wilderness for many decades. The uses of motors range from the stocking of fish by airplane to the studying of fish populations using boats and nets on the many scattered lakes across the Boundary Waters. The DNR is allowed to use motors in the nation’s most visited wildern…

After a week of questioning from members of the press, Congressional staff, business owners, and people who are feeling left in the dark, Canadian officials are still being vague when it comes to the future of the Remote Area Border Crossing (RABC) Program. Luke Reimer, a spokesperson for the Canada Border Services Agency, told Paddle and Portage N…

In this update from the road, we hear about a tour Bear Paulsen and Joe Friedrichs took of the Bending Branches facility in Wisconsin, share audio from an event for Last Entry Point at Fitger's where Rick Slatten and members of Mark Ham's family spoke, and M Baxley brings us an update from Emily Ford. This episode of the podcast is sponsored by: Be…

Not everything about winter camping is pleasant. It can be cold, windy, and basically one giant bundle of brutal. Other parts can be, and often are, magic. Sunsets. Solitude. Adventure. The Winter Camping Symposium is a gathering to celebrate the arrival of winter and the gear that allows us to embrace the cold months in places like the Boundary Wa…

The U.S. Forest Service is facing a budget cut for 2025. Looking ahead to the 2025 paddling season, if some of the seasonal backcountry staff are absent from the BWCA Wilderness it could dramatically impact the visitor experience, Forest Supervisor Tom Hall acknowledged during a recent public meeting in Grand Marais. “How do we make sure that we’re…

The Winter Camping Symposium is a gathering to celebrate the arrival of winter and the gear that allows us to embrace the cold months in places like the Boundary Waters. The Paddle and Portage team attended the 2024 winter camping celebration near Moose Lake. We’ll be sharing stories from and about the event in the next full episode of the podcast.…

Erin Walker and Jon Kelly are the duo behind the Lost Lakes YouTube channel. They live on an inland lake not far from the Canadian shores of Lake Superior. This summer, Erin and Jon embarked on a three-week, 280-mile (450-kilometer) canoe trip into the subarctic barrens. It was a journey of many firsts: their first time in Nunavut, their first enco…

Booze or a dry run? Opinions vary about bringing alcohol on a trip to the Boundary Waters. Many enjoy sipping whiskey or wine around the campfire. Others prefer no alcohol at all. And then there are those who tip back and glug until the bottle is gone. In this episode, we hear from a group of five paddlers who chose to paddle the BWCA Wilderness wi…

Herb Koenig and Jim Crigler loved to paddle in the Boundary Waters. It was the one place where they felt comfortable talking about their experiences serving as helicopter pilots during the Vietnam War. In this episode, we hear about why the Boundary Waters opened the door for reflection, communication, and adventure for these two veterans. And we d…

In this episode, Tim and his daughter Sylvie embark on the trip of a lifetime. The crossing of the BWCA from west to east along the voyageur highway is abruptly interrupted by a tragic slip on the Granite River. What unfolds next is a skillful evacuation by fellow paddlers that redeems everyone's belief in the power of human kindness.This episode i…

Janice Matichuk first set foot on her island in Quetico Provincial Park in 1985. Located near the end of Minnesota’s iconic Gunflint Trail, this remote park is the heart of North America’s “canoe country.” Decades later, and enduring beyond her untimely passing in the summer of 2020, Matichuk’s legacy includes being the longest serving interior ran…

Dan Cooke was a "mentor's mentor" when it comes to the paddling scene in North America, particularly around the Boundary Waters region. The longtime owner of Cooke Custom Sewing, Dan passed away July 1. A paddle parade was held on Lake Nokomis in Minneapolis August 10 to honor the life of Dan Cooke. Stories were shared about Dan’s love of paddling,…

In life, people tend to get consumed by the concept of how something can be done, without giving thought as to why something should be done. When the Paddle and Portage Podcast first heard about the Boundary Waters paddle known as the Ely Challenge, we were guilty of this notion. We became fixated on the how. The idea for the Ely Challenge is simpl…

Emma Froh is an architect from the Twin Cities. She recently spent a week on Mallard Island, the former home of wilderness advocate and Boundary Waters paddler Ernest Oberholtzer. Emma and two of her colleagues, Mary Springer and Natalya Egon, were staying in what’s known as the Cedarbark House at Mallard Island. The structure used to be a floating…

Rain. It’s marked the start to the paddling season this year across the Boundary Waters. There was so much rain, in fact, that many portages and waterways across the BWCA flooded in late June. Roads near the Boundary Waters, from the Echo Trail to Highway 61, also flooded and were damaged by the heavy rain. In one area of the BWCA, a community form…

We all have to start somewhere. Even Sigurd Olson had to be shown how to paddle and portage a canoe at some point. We share stories in this episode about people taking their first trip to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. We hear from Bob Carlson, who took a group of young paddlers on the Frost River in the BWCA this spring during a multi-…

Sex in the Boundary Waters. It's a thing. Happens on some trips, not on others. In this episode of the podcast, we explore the sexual energy that stirs in the Boundary Waters and other wilderness areas, and among the people who visit these types of wild places. Featured in the episode of the podcast are: Dave and Amy Freeman, experienced paddlers w…

Traveling across the Boundary Waters in May represents many things. A sign of spring. The start of the paddling season. And, of course, the great Fishing Opener. The team from 2023's epic and nearly fatal Fishing Opener trip on the Temperance River are back again this year. Omaha Erik Dickes. Kevin The Kman Kramer. Lord Baxley. And Freddy Friedrich…

Tony Jones is an accomplished Minnesota author who has a passion for wild places, including the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. As he describes it, when Tony walked out of the church several years ago and into the woods, he left the orderly pews and numbered hymns for chaotic spaces and untamed wilderness. Tony writes about this in his new b…

Friendship is an often-overlooked component that brings people to the Boundary Waters. So often we’re quick to reference solitude, natural beauty, the means to get away from the day-to-day grind, and other factors that bring people to the BWCA and Quetico. Three friends, Chad Roy, Mike Larson, and Glen Bruchmann, come to the Boundary Waters every y…