Dash at a Trout Lake campsite in the BWCA Wilderness. Photo by Bear PaulsenThe MagazineA slim ray of sunlight crept through the curtains of our Virginia motel room. I read while waiting for Dashwa, my almost five-year-old son, to wake. He dressed...
Jim Gallagher and his loyal BWCA dog, Bonzo, in the early 1980s. Submitted imageNewsBOUNDARY WATERS – I have owned just one dog in my life. He was with me for nearly 17 years. My wife and I got the Labrador puppy from our friend Mary. In the 1980s...
Thick brush and route finding in May 2025 along a remote BWCA portage. Photo by Pam WrightNewsPushing through the thick brush, I’m looking for the portage. The sound of the nearby rapids drowns out everything else. I’ve been looking for nearly 40...
Emily Morrison and her crew prep for another winter camping adventure. Submitted photoThe MagazineEditor’s Note: Emily Morrison is a 30-year-old from Ontario, Canada. An avid camper, paddler, and winter camper, she spends much of her free time...
The author of this story and his mother, Cheryl. This was the last time the two were able to spend together outdoors. Photo courtesy of the Janis familyThe MagazineIt was a Canoecopia presentation by Rob Kesselring that introduced me to Jack...
Brian Johnston and Gerry Reichsiedler on the Lorillard River. Photo by Jim GallagherNewsA paddler new to the Arctic might survive their first trip by luck alone, but not dying is a very low standard to measure success. Completing many rivers over...
Emily Morrison settles in for another winter camping adventure. Submitted photoNewsEditor’s Note: Emily Morrison is a 30-year-old from Ontario, Canada. An avid camper, paddler, and winter camper, she spends much of her free time exploring the...
Eric Glasson on his 2025 deer hunt in the BWCA Wilderness. Submitted photoNewsI’ve never been one to do things the easy way. One of my wife’s earliest memories of us as a newlywed couple comes from our trip together to the Boundary Waters Canoe...
The last building Wendell Beckwith constructed and occupied is considered an architectural and ecological masterpiece, the Snail. Here, Bear and Dash stand outside the structure in Wabakimi. Photo by Claire PorterNewsSlap. Slap. Slap. In the center...
Bill Rom reviews Quetico-Superior maps in Ely. Photo by Joe FriedrichsNewsELY – We met at a golf course. Bill Rom, 80, who grew up in this town on the edge of what is now the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, chose the location. The public...
Claire and Dashwa make the trek up Fiftymile Creek in the canyon lands of the great Southwest. Photo by Bear PaulsenNewsIntroductory note. Four years ago, Ryan Rodgers wrote an article about Bob O’Hara for the Minnesota Conservation Volunteer. As...
Ron Porritt stands along a river in the BWCA Wilderness. Submitted imageThe Magazine, Subscribers OnlyEditor’s Note: Author Joe Whitson recently spoke on the Paddle and Portage Podcast about a new way of thinking about wilderness. There are...
