82-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, July 9, 1994
Week-Long Trip Gives Life-Long Perspective
DAVID HIEBERT
Westmoreland Co. Correspondent
ELY, Minn. How would you
like to spend a week without all
the comforts of home? But not just
way from home, but in the Boun
dary Waters Canoe area which
snuggles in the upper comer of
Minnesota and flops over into
lower Manitoba? As much as you
like the amenities of civilization, a
week away from the usual sur
roundings and services might be
refreshing and give you a new per
spective on our culture. At least it
did me. And provided a memor
able experience for me and my
(then 12-year-old) son, James.
Making Contact
And Getting Started
From others who had spent time
in the wild, I knew about an or
ganization called Wilderness
Wind. Contact witih its board pre
sident, Virgil Brcncman, Goshen,
Indiana, lined us up with a group
leaving the base camp in the later
part of August. Virgil provided
guidance and information from his
The leisure to watch a sunset: One of the special eve*
nings during the week-long trip came as we took the entire
evening to watch the sun slip slowly down the sky and
slide silently past the horizon. Photo by David Hiebert.
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ig a _ ig load; The relav ,*s made portages a p<
trips. Measured In rods (16.5 ft.) on the map, the longer ones gave us new apprecia
tion for the heritage behind city names, like Portage la Prairie, Manitoba. Here
12-year-old James Hlebert demonstrates use of a canoe’s shoulder pads. Photo by
David Hlebert.
years of experience backpacking
and from his work with the Mcn
nonitc Camping Association. He
would help us prepare for the trip
and provide transportation from
his home in Goshen.
We could hardly wail for our
week on the water.
Preparation for the journey in
cluded anticipating conditions
without our usual features of
civilization: shelter, running wa
ter, power. We had to choose care
fully: Whatever we wanted with
us in the canoe had to fit in what
Virgil called a Duluth bag; Each
of us would get one bag.
After making the size choices,
making sure we kept essentials
dry was the biggest concern: The
canoe might tip over or we might
encounter rain. Just in case, every
thing would be wrapped in at least
one layer of plastic: Zip-lock bags
for the smaller items; the sleeping
bag went into a plastic garbage
bag. Our extra clothes were all
wool it would dry quickly,
even under primitive contitions.
A second concern was animals:
During the short, northern feeding
season, food attracts bear and
mice. Make sure nothing in your
gear smells like food, Virgil advis
ed. A mouse could chew up a
sleeping bag or be a unwelcome
guest in the middle of the night.
In addition to the basics Virgil
suggested, I included a few per
sonal items in my pack a cam
era, lenses, extra film and a note
pad. With some anxiety, I chose
onfc extra woolen shirt and then
wondered: Would the pack be 100
heavy? Would it all fit in that mys
terious Duluth bag? Would I be
able to add some of James’ load to
mine, if needed?
In addition to the creature com
forts question, there was a spiritu
al question: Would I be able to
find a new appreciation for God
and the creation?
In Goshen, Indiana, James and I
met Virgil for the long drive to
northern Minnesota. Ghere we
also met some of the others who
would be our companions in the
wilderness: Bruce, Steve; Glen
ford and Jeremy (another father
and son pair). Later, we would
meet Cheryl, our Wilderness
Wind guide, and Lome, a Menno
nite pastor from Manitoba.
For a canoe trip on the United
Slates side of the Boundary Wa
ters Canoe Area, we could have
added one more for a maximum of
10 people in the group. Had we
planned to cross over into Canada,
our group was as large as allowed.
In Minnesota At Last
After the drive through Wiscon
sin’s dairyland and the shipping
port of Duluth, we arrived in one
of the remote towns of the United
States Ely, Minnesota. With
only one main road into the town,
it is less than 20 miles from the
Canadian border, and about 50
miles from Lake Superior.
We would, like thousands of
others, launch our expedition
through the gateway to the wilder
ness. Tim Lehman, founder of
Wilderness Wind chuckled when I
asked about the difference be
tween his base camp service and
the many others in town: “Price,”
he said.
When urged to explain more,
Tim continued by saying that the
Wilderness Wind base camp pro
vides equipment at a much lower
rate than the commercial estab
lishments. But they don’t provide
just equipment All trips are plan-
•*'v* * %
v <
m
■
s«*
Few and far between: Fishing late in the season for us
was not impressive. Here Steve fillets one of the few fish
caught by anyone in our party. Photo by David Hlebert.
ned to provide a safe physical
journey and a spiritual experience
for each participant. The orienta
tion before going on the water in
cludes spiritual preparation and
the guide for each group provides
both spiritual and physical guid
ance for the journey.
A part of the first day of orien
tation, each person received some
standard equipment: compass,
stainless steel Sierra cup, spoon,
water bottle and Duluth bag.
Community property (things
we would all share) such as tents,
food, first aid kits, cooking pots,
paddles and canoes were also sup
plied by Wilderness Wind.
On The Water
When we launched on Monday
morning, we unde, stood the state
conservation people’s concern
about group size. Though permits
for groups are issued on a limited
basis several months in advance,
we experienced traffic congestion
as we attempted to launch our can
oes. Three or four groups were
also getting their start at the same
Boundary Waters entrance that we
had chosen.
The concentration of other
canoeists led Cheryl to push us
TRAVELLING GRASSHOPPER DESSERT
1 box pistachio pudding
12 sandwich cookies
makes 3 to 4 servings
Mix pudding with water and dried milk following package direc
tions. Crush cookies and line bottom of bowl for a kind of crust (the
rigors of a trip may have already prepared your cookies so you
may not have to expend much energy on crushing at this point)
Add pudding mix to bowl.
Jforoestead
Jloles
4
that first day get as far as possi
ble and put some space between us
.and the other groups. What she did
not expect caused our first trouble:
Rain.
As we were sorting out several
things that first day, many sensa
tions were rushing at me. Other
than an occasional canoeist, there
were no signs of civilization.
How did we know where to go?
The map and the compass helped
us sort it out a small clearing or
a tent on a shore correlated to a
campsite on the map. With the
compass we could get a general
direction. There were no street
signs or house numbers. In fact the
only sign we saw (later in the trip)
pointed some of us in the wrong
direction! -
For me, other sorting out that
had to happen was getting the can
oe to go straight. Though I’d had a
weekend course in canoeing and
water safety, and some practice,
the slippery botton canoe seemed
to go its own way. The person in
the rear of the canoe provided the
steering element, the one ahead
provided the most forward power.
Virgil was helpful with paddling
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