Notes From Up-North

On my 65 th birthday the government man interposed himself between me and my doctor to tell my doctor what would be best for me. I did and do not like it, but the government man feels it is best. Now the government man is about to interpose himself between you and your doctor in order to dictate what is in your best interest. The government man tells me what kind of insurance I have to buy, but I am after-all older than 65 and the government man determines what is best for me. Now the government man has determined it is in your best interest to buy insurance; soon he will tell you what insurance to buy and if you don’t comply he will force you to pay a tax! As a young man I understood that by consenting to live within a society organized to maximize my freedom I derived great benefits; my life and property were more secure with the arrangement and I could get on with more interesting and less mundane concerns than watching my stuff all day. I understood that the legislators who gove...

  This trip to Hungry Jack has turned into a walk, or should I say paddle, down memory lane.  The last time we experienced this area was 1983.  The occasion was the first trip in the BWCAW for Alisa and Deanna.  That trip actually started at Hungry Jack Lodge.  We were first introduced to Jerry Parsons and his son Forrest; more on that later.  We caught a ride in an old pickup to Gunflint Lake to begin our trip along the Canadian border back to Hungry Jack. This is not a trip narrative, however there are a few highlights that live in our family memory.  There is  bench mark on North South portage where the girls played run around the border a few times;  mom and dad participated as well.   We became wind bound on Daniels Lake only a few yards from the portage to Bearskin thanks to dad’s failure to read the map correctly.  Then there is Deanna’s trauma on the portage to Bearskin in the rain when dad zipped her chin into a ra...

Mom and I sat on the patio overlooking the lake in the direction of Honeymoon Bluff and enjoyed a beverage as the sun went down.  The memories came flooding back created there over the past 28 years.  We invested a lot of quality gamily time here.  We are currently set up in site 11 in the camp ground.  The new lodge looks terrific.  Forrest has really done a great job with the new facility.  The new dinning room is spectacular and they have a menu at the bar.  They even have their own Hungry Jack Lager  now! We plan to do two day trips while we are here.  One to the east end of Hungry Jack Lake with a portage to West Bearskin and return to the campsite.  The second, on Wed. will take us back to the stairway portage.  That is the site where Deanna and I and Shadow discovered a bull moose eating aquatic plants just off the trail! We hit the portages today and the wind hit us!  After paddling to the far end of Hungry Jack w...

Mom and I sat on the patio overlooking the lake in the direction of Honeymoon Bluff and enjoyed a beverage as the sun went down.  The memories came flooding back created there over the past 28 years.  We invested a lot of quality gamily time here.  We are currently set up in site 11 in the camp ground.  The new lodge looks terrific.  Forrest has really done a great job with the new facility.  The new dinning room is spectacular and they have a menu at the bar.  They even have their own Hungry Jack Lager  now! We plan to do two day trips while we are here.  One to the east end of Hungry Jack Lake with a portage to West Bearskin and return to the campsite.  The second, on Wed. will take us back to the stairway portage.  That is the site where Deanna and I and Shadow discovered a bull moose eating aquatic plants just off the trail! We hit the portages today and the wind hit us!  After paddling to the far end of Hungry Jack w...

  We arrived at the beginning of the Dragon Boat Festival and consider ourselves lucky to have a camping spot for the next four days.  The weather is wonderful, temps in the high 70’s with low humidity.  Lots of activity in and around the harbor.   Dragon Boat Teams practicing for Saturday’s races. A stop on our walk to Artist Point   Lakeside flora and fauna.   Safe harbor along Superior’s shore.   Teams from Canada and  as far away as Texas compete with Minnesota teams for bragging rights throughout the next year. Evening settles over the Saw Tooth Mountains.  The end of our first full day.