Minnesota Author and BWCA Paddler Talks About His New Book
Jim Crigler is coming up on one year spent entirely in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. To date, he’s spent 345 days in the BWCA. He aims to accomplish his goal of an entire year in the canoe-country wilderness in 2026 or 2027.
Prior to that, Jim is traveling Minnesota and other states to talk about his new book, Echoes On The Water. The book details Jim’s 2017 solo paddle of the Mississippi River. That year, at age 67, Jim paddled from the river’s headwaters at Lake Itasca to New Orleans. Jim says the journey was about more than personal endurance. It was a powerful mission of honor, he explains, in raising awareness for Vietnam War Gold Star Families who had been forgotten for decades.
Jim spoke with Joe from Paddle & Portage along the banks of the Devil Track River not far from Lake Superior. They spoke on a fine fall day in early October.
Order Jim’s book and learn more about it here.
We’ve heard from Jim on the P&P Podcast before, when we paddled Brule Lake with him and members of his family and his friend Herb’s family. A favorite lake of the former helicopter pilots turned BWCA paddlers, Herb’s ashes were scattered on Brule last summer. Listen to that episode here.