Janice Matichuk first set foot on her island in Quetico Provincial Park in 1985. Located near the end of Minnesota’s iconic Gunflint Trail, this remote park is the heart of North America’s “canoe country.” Decades later, and enduring beyond her untimely passing in the summer of 2020, Matichuk’s legacy includes being the longest serving interior ranger in the history of the park. Over the course of three decades, Janice raised two children on the island. She saved the lives of canoeists who tumbled into the frigid border lakes of Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area and Ontario’s Quetico. She had been charged by moose, canoed nearly every inch of the 1.2 million-acre park, and watched many young paddlers grow into adults.This is a story about life inside one of North America’s most remote places. It is also a reflection of a woman who broke through barriers and refused to conform to societal norms. At its heart, however, it is an examination of the challenges that life presents. It is a testament to the fact that people’s experiences-good, bad, and on idyllic wilderness islands-all have much in common.

Hypothermia, lightning strikes, high winds, medical emergencies, miscalculations–the dangers are real in canoe country. Last Entry Point shares tales of tragedy and near-tragedy in the Boundary Waters while offering guidance on how to avoid worst-case scenarios.

Paddlers and hikers planning an excursion into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and Quetico Provincial Park–that storied region along the Minnesota-Ontario border made up of rock, water, and pine–usually conjure visions of sunny days, pleasant breezes, and starry nights. Though every guidebook advises being prepared, most adventurers escaping to these remote areas assume that all will be well.

But even those who are thoroughly prepared–who wear their life jacket and scrupulously map their route and scan the skies for impending weather–may still encounter the unexpected. And in those cases, being ready for anything can mean the difference between a memorable trip and a life-changing, or life-ending, event. In Last Entry Point, experienced paddler and longtime regional journalist Joe Friedrichs gathers tales that involve tragedy or near-misses, interviewing people who confronted danger and walked away, as well as those whose loved ones died in the wilderness. He talks with search and rescue teams to learn what goes into finding those who go missing or who experience a medical emergency miles from help. In his explorations he considers what it means to step into the wilderness, to calmly troubleshoot problems as they present themselves, to survive a rapids or extreme weather when others in your party do not, and to be left behind when an adventurer in your life does not return home.

These narratives of tragedies and hazards may seem calculated to warn BWCA enthusiasts away from their
dreams, but in fact they are meant to encourage all paddlers and hikers to think through what could happen, and to be prepared for all contingencies so that, ideally, they return with their own tales that are memorable for only the best of reasons.