Author: Mike

Afterword

In the aftermath of the Krueger-Waddell Challenge, I made a pretty easy recovery. My body and mind bounced back almost immediately except my hands. On the final day, easily the hardest day while slowly trudging down the Pigeon River, I told myself that the trip was stupid and not fun. Even later that day, I […]

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Day 6: Friday, September 9, Mountain Lake to Lake Superior

GPS Data: I woke up to rain on my last day. I closed my eyes for just a minute more. Couple minutes. 10 minutes and I jolted awake, not fully understanding how I could take my needed next steps while I could hear the rain. First step, unplug the air mattress, I told myself. Then, […]

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Day 5: Thursday, September 8: Granite River to Mountain Lake

After a very bright moon glared directly into my tent all night, my phone alarm went off at 5:15 and I immediately checked the weather. On my phone app, meteorologist Hunter said a storm was rolling in and it’d be rain on Friday into Saturday. Then he wished the viewers a happy Friday. Happy Friday […]

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Day 4: Wednesday, September 7: Basswood Lake to Granite River

GPS Data: My watch’s alarm went off early – 5am. The moon was bright all night. My sleeping bag was pretty moist. I could tell it was a little wet towards my feet. Ahhhh crap. Not good. I laid back down and shut my eyes just for a moment. I checked my phone – yep, […]

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Prelude

I don’t know why paddleboard travel stood out to me, but after years of a growing desire and formulation of the plan, I set it in action and secured a permit for Little Vermilion River- the western entry point of the BWCAW – for September 5th, 2022. The Krueger-Waddell Challenge was allegedly spurred initially from […]

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Brewhouse Triathlon Race Report

Race Date: Sunday, August 7, 2022 – 8:30am Another Brewhouse. I feel like I get pretty nervous or anxious before Brewhouse most years, almost like a dread. I was probably the least excited for the year’s Brewhouse than ever before. In the back of my mind I thought about bailing on the race altogether. I […]

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Fall Lake

Date: Friday-Saturday July 22-23, 2022 Area: Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Trip Plan: Launch at Fall Lake near Ely, head through a couple lakes to Basswood Lake and follow the US/Canada border west for 35-50 miles, turn around and go back the same way. Day 1 – Get past Curtain Falls and camp where possible. […]

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Big Ole Paddlefest Race Report

Race Day: Friday, July 15, 2022 – 8am My second year at Big Ole and fourth paddling race of all time started in a frenzy as I didn’t have a strap for my cell phone and 8 o’clock was only minutes away. I frantically searched through my car for the strap on the identical phone […]

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Moose Lake

Date: Friday-Sunday June 24-26, 2022 Area: Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Trip Plan: Launch at the Moose Lake entry point in the BWCA, go straight to the US/Canada border, then travel east along the boarder to Lake Saganaga. Merge south to Trails End of the Gunflint Trail, then back west to Sea Gull Lake, Kekakabic […]

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