Podcast: An Outfitter’s High Water Tales

Welcome to Big Red Canoe, the podcast from Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness, where we introduce you to captivating people and intriguing stories from America’s Treasured Wilderness. I’m Dave Meier. Grab a paddle and hop on in. ​

After a whisper of a winter, where much of Minnesota had lower than average snow totals, we thought we might be in for another drought plagued summer, which in recent memory has given way to wildfires and closures in the Boundary Waters. Instead, we’ve had a very wet season with rain and storms all spring.

In May, that resulted in road washouts in the La Croix Ranger District, and then a major storm hit June 18th that caused flash flooding and severe thunderstorms with damage across the Superior National Forest.

That resulted in road washouts and entry point closures, which left some permit holders left to scramble, either modifying plans or cancelling trips. Since then, water levels have remained high.

So we were wondering how the recent weather has affected outfitters in the aftermath of that storm and how they’ve been working with their Boundary Waters customers and what they’re seeing out there right now.

So I sat down with Ginny Nelson on the deck at Spirit of the Wilderness Outfitters in Ely last week to find out. It was a beautiful morning, but a busy weekend. So you might hear some traffic in the background.

 

David Meier: The vibe is great in Ely right now. There are a lot of people here. Saw a lot of people out walking around yesterday. And everybody’s getting excited for the 4th of July parade tomorrow. Friends of the Boundary Waters will be walking in that. Does Spirit of the Wilderness do anything for the 4th of July parade?

Ginny Nelson: we don’t normally do the 4th of July parade because we usually have so much outfitting and things going on. But this year is our 25th year in business. And we are going to have a Float in the parade and throw out some candy and some fun stuff. So, this is one of the first times we’ve been in the parade.

We always, we attend the parade. And man, I tell you, if you’ve never been to the July 4th parade in Ely, it is a sight to be seen. There is candy and things galore thrown out. Kids will not have a problem getting sugar. And there is a ton of different floats and people walking and, the park is full of stuff going on.

They have a really fantastic fireworks display for a small town. I tell ya, it rivals a lot of different places. So it’s a really fun place to be for the July 4th time frame.

I know coming into the season we were talking about, like, what if it’s a dry summer again, and instead we’ve just been soaked.

So, what were you seeing this spring, and then kind of how did that change the season when, when that big storm hit here a few weeks ago?

Ginny Nelson: Well, We got enough rain this spring maybe every week or so we’d get some rain. So it kind of, the water levels were starting to come up.

But then, yeah, we got some heavy rain on, was it, that was June 18th.

Ginny Nelson: Normally we don’t close early for pretty much anything except for maybe tomorrow with July 4th we close a little early so people can go spend time with friends and family.

But We actually closed about an hour early so our staff could go home because we thought, Oh, it looks like there’s some big rain coming, some heavy winds and things like that.

David Meier: did sirens go off on that day?

Ginny Nelson: Um, I think they may have gone off on that day, but down here. We didn’t hear any sirens. Yep. It was pretty heavy rain for, you know, quite a while, it was definitely more than we were expecting because it kept going through the evening.

And then when we woke up in the morning trying to figure out what was closed because right around Spirit of the Wilderness, it doesn’t look like it’s flooded. But then we started hearing about road washouts and different things like that. And it didn’t all happen right away in the morning.

Sometimes it takes a little bit for that stuff to happen and water to do its work. So we had some people up in Slim Lake. We had some people up in Moose River North. And Little Indian Sioux River North and those are some of the areas that were affected by some of the road washouts And that was the main thing.

So the North Arm Road had two major road washouts And so we were worried about our Slim Lake people coming out, but the road was good enough for them to drive out.

But it was definitely rutted up and actually half of the pavement was gone on one chunk and they just went for it and made it back. So we’re thankful that they’re safe. We did have a number of groups up at the Moose River North entry point which the problem with that is when it rains in Ely it takes a day or so and then the water levels go up.

Up on the Crooked Lake area Curtain Falls, the Moose River North, Little Indian Sioux River North, all the water levels raised a couple days after rainfall here, because it takes a little bit for that water to move north. Remember, we have a continental divide just south of Ely, and that continental divide makes all the water flow north instead of south .

So we were worried about them coming out, so we informed the Forest Service,

when you get a permit, you probably have to run back out to your car and give everybody your license plate number and it’s kind of annoying because you keep forgetting and then you have to get everybody’s name listed on the permit.

Well, here’s why you have to get that information. Because we were able to talk to the Forest Service and say, here’s the, specifically the car’s license plate numbers that will be in the parking lot that are our customers. Or here’s the ones that were in and they’ve already exited, so we know that they’re already out and they’re safe.

So that safety information that we get ahead of time definitely plays a huge part.

But so we had a group come out and there was a number of, about I think it was four adults and these two little girls. And man, they showed me some videos and that, coming out of Moose River, was no joke. That was The portage is full of water and somebody had strung a rope along one part of the portage so that people could hang on to a rope.

And it was, it was like waist deep, fast moving water. Because the entry point is a little harder to get the permits these days because they have less permits, we didn’t actually have too many groups up on the Echo Trail. , we had a few groups at you know, the entry points closed for a few days or the Mudrow, the North grassy road, road washed out. Luckily we didn’t have any groups coming out at Mudrow at that point. We did have a couple of groups that had to reroute and get new permits, which Because there were new permits, they were able to re book.

Some place, you know, if there’s no permits, you can’t just go someplace else. So, they were able to re book. But yeah, it was a little bit interesting logistic wise. Every morning we’d try to figure out what they worked on, if the roads are fixed, if they’re not fixed. You know, I had a whole spreadsheet of our people, where they are and where they’re coming out.

And who we should, you know, think twice about. And who is probably in an entry point that needs They’re probably doing just fine, just more water in the lake.

David Meier: Right.

Ginny Nelson: So as an outfitter, that’s my job. You know, as an outfitter, my job is to keep track of where people are and when they’re coming and going and, you know, a few different things that people don’t think about.

They just think they’re getting a canoe from me and then they’re on their way, but we, we think about it a lot more than that and we kind of keep track of where people are.

David Meier: Well, that’s great that you provide that service and that you’re kind of thinking about that and coordinating you know, with the forest service making sure that everybody’s safe and, Do you do pickups at entry points?

Did you have anybody you had to pick up? did the timing go on that?

Ginny Nelson: Yeah, so the Echo Trail had some washouts on it at one point. Or some unstable stuff they had to fix. And to be honest, we never, we tried to stay away from the places that we didn’t need to go. So we were not the people adding to the problem of gawking.

Being there because that is a true problem when something happens.

David Meier: Really, people were driving up and checking it out. Oh yeah, we want to

Ginny Nelson: go see the washout. Well, you’re in the way. So, bye. But yeah, we did have a group coming out at Little Indian Sioux River North, which is entry point number 14. And with the Echo Trail closed, we had to go, it was a good hour and a half out of our way to go up through come on the Echo Trail from the north side down, so through Bike, the Crane Lake area.

We had to drive all the way around and come down that way. And then the group was an hour and a half late because they were struggling against the current coming out. Because remember, the current’s going north. They’re coming south to the exit point.

David Meier: Right.

Ginny Nelson: And so They had to struggle against the current, so it took them a little bit longer to get out and then we had to drive all the way back around, so it was like a, I don’t know if it was like a one o’clock pickup, and they finally got back to Spirit of the Wilderness at five.

It should have been 45 minutes each way. So yeah, that was a major day of travel that we, you know, Had to fit into our schedule of other stuff, too. Yeah.

David Meier: Do you have enough people that you can kind of have somebody who’s out and they just, you know, on a pickup and I don’t just have

Ginny Nelson: drivers sitting around waiting.

I do schedule my drivers specifically for pickups and drop offs and I don’t always have a driver on hand for that last minute stuff. So I do have people I can call in. I do have we’re a family owned business. So my parents and I, we’re all drivers. Yeah, so sometimes we end up

David Meier: picking up the slack.

Ginny Nelson: Yep, for sure.

David Meier: Then how have things kind of settled out since working through that that that initial flooding and fast water I imagine it’s remained And it’s not like the rain is let up even, .

Well, the, the main thing is Ely is still open. You can still get to Ely multiple ways. Highway 1, the detour is a little bit longer than you’d like probably, but it is doable. So everyday we’ve been trying to figure out what roads are back open most entry points are back open. There’s still some high water. Today is the July 3rd. So, you know, we still have some high water to deal with.

Ginny Nelson: Some people say, oh, I’ve been here in high water. I’ve been here for 25 years. I’ve never seen the water this high. So, it’s high. And so, you know, people are, they’re still taking great trips. But, you know, you Caution is, you know, the biggest thing and not being impatient. And if it looks like more than your ability to do, for instance, some groups in general have gone up to Moose River North and looked at the water and said, it is flowing too fast and too furious.

We’re just not going to go. And that’s a smart call. You know, it might be really hard for your brain to turn off that you’re not going to do a trip right then and there. But it may be the smartest thing for you and your group. If you’ve got an inexperienced group, you don’t want to put them in white water conditions that they haven’t practiced.

David Meier: Yeah and so I imagine you’re, pointing out possible trouble spots to people when they’re heading out, or are you kind of suggesting alternate routes or is it even coming to that?

Ginny Nelson: We did suggest some alternate routes for some groups, for sure.

Yeah, we’re definitely pointing out different, you know, things to be cautious of. This year the Boundary Waters has had a lot of snow. Things happening and the number one thing we keep telling people is wear your life jacket. Oh, people say, oh, but I’m a really good swimmer, I can just grab it if I need it.

No, when you need it, it’s probably an instant situation that you’re not thinking like, hey, I need to grab my life jacket. So, the number one thing is wear your life jacket. And then the other couple things we’ve been telling people is don’t overestimate your ability. If it’s super windy in Whitecaps, that’s a good reason to stay on shore.

David Meier: Pull over.

Ginny Nelson: Pull over and wait it out. Waiting it out doesn’t mean 30 minutes or a half hour or an hour or something like that. It means, like, it might be till evening when the wind dies down. You might be windbound for four or five hours. It’s not an immediate gratification kind of thing. Well, I waited for a bit, now let’s go.

Stuff like that has been a big issue this year as well. People are not conscious of what their ability is sometimes. You know, more caution than not is preferable.

David Meier: Yeah, well, yeah, you can head out a little bit earlier in the morning and at least avoid the wind. Yes, yes. With the water being what it is.

Ginny Nelson: I can tell you probably almost all the outfitters have the same thought. We open at 630 in the morning. And the reason we open at 630 in the morning, we actually want people to get going early in the morning. When people show up at noon, 1 o’clock, and they’re going to start their trip that day, it makes me nervous, as well as a number of outfitters.

We want people out on the water, probably 8, 9 o’clock at the latest, because the wind is the least amount in the morning, and then later after dinner. And so we want you to get going on the trail, out there, so you have a good chance to get going, get to a campsite, you know, maybe when the wind picks up so you have a place to settle down and, you know, button down.

David Meier: Definitely talk to an outfitter, you know, not only for your expertise and helping to plan a trip and knowing places to go and getting outfit and getting gear, but also for things like you’re talking about, kind of having somebody looking out for you a little bit while you’re out there.

Ginny Nelson: Well, for sure. That’s exactly one. Some one group came in after that high water and the fast moving water. And I said, Oh, good. I’m glad you’re out. We had your name in with the Forest Service. And they said, You did said, Well, yeah, we want to make sure that we were keeping track of you and where you were.

And now that we’re out, we’re going to let them know you guys got out. And they were just kind of in awe that it we actually, you know, Went a few extra steps to make sure they’re safe and that’s that’s a big part of what outfitting is as well It’s not just here’s a paddle and a life jacket and a canoe It’s really we we take a few extra steps and make sure that you do have some more information that you are Treating the wilderness the correct way

Yes. Thank you, Ginny Nelson of Spirit of the Wilderness Outfitters in Ely for sharing with us what it’s been like with the high water this year. If you’ve got a trip planned in the near future, check with a ranger or your outfitter for more information and use caution and common sense in the wilderness.

Stay within your skill levels and if conditions exceed your group’s abilities, turn around and exit the area. Also, remember to always wear your life jacket..

Dave Meier: And thank you everyone for listening. If you enjoyed the show, please share it with a friend and leave us a rating wherever you get your podcasts. We’ll be covering a wide range of recreational topics this season, and we’ll meet some great personalities from the B W C A along the way.

So be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss a thing.

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Dave Meier: Big Red Canoe is a presentation of Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness Original Music by Surge and the swell. I’m Dave Meier and we’ll see you next time on Big Red Canoe.

The Boundary Waters is more than a stunning collection of pristine water, trees, and ancient rocks. It’s the people, the memories, the life changing experiences that make this wilderness such an important part of our lives. Connect with this special place by subscribing to Friends of the Boundary Waters newsletter or following us on social media.

Visit friendsoftheboundarywaters. com www. friends bwca. org to learn more.