Paddle and Portage Podcast

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 relates to wilderness recreation, and what trips are on the books for the paddling s...

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 the story. 

This episode is sponsored by: 

Borderland Lodge on the Gunflint Trail

Frie...

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 order calls for logging in order to increase timber production and reduce the risks assoc...

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.

Part of the podcast team traveled to Saganaga Lake at the end of the Gunflint Trail i...

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 headquarters in Grand Marais to discuss Trail life, living and working at the end of the ...

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, and Natalya Egon. 

This episode sponsored by: 

North Country Canoe Outfitters

Ely Out...

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 during the event. Rising above any tension was unity. And that unity comes from paddli...

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 of the best paddling destinations across the nation, including multiple trips down th...

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 for federal employees. The offer, commonly referred to as “Fork in the Road,” has now e...

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 and around Ely. Known locally as “Iron Mike,” he wrote and published many stories abo...

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 podcast, we talk about what ice thickness means for anglers and winter campers for th...

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 with Dan to talk about his trip reports, videos, and travels in the Boundary Waters....

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, to ongoing efforts by the Trump administration to shrink various parts of the federa...

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 this episode of the podcast, Erin talks about her upcoming Canoecopia presentation wit...

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 the process the Forest Service uses for people to book permits is to blame, at least i...

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 their proximity, why not rename one of the lakes to honor Carter? It was Carter, afte...

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 anchored, in part, in the Boundary Waters. 

This episode is sponsored by:

Cascade Va...