How do you navigate a challenging wilderness when you can’t even see it?

In this fascinating and deeply moving episode, we sit down with Kelly Carver, who has been paddling the Boundary Waters for over 40 years—including the past three decades since he became legally blind.

After being diagnosed with a degenerative eye disease following his first BWCA trip in 1982, Kelly refused to let vision loss stop him from experiencing the place where he says “part of his soul” resides.

Kelly takes us inside what it’s really like to navigate the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness without sight, from paddling across lakes to mentally mapping each campsite, then ultimately rising to the challenge of completing the epic 220-mile Border Route, which included traversing the legendary nine-mile Grand Portage by himself. He shares harrowing moments—a mysterious canoe flip, 40-mph winds on Knife Lake—and magical ones, like the fox standing three feet away that he never saw coming.

Through it all, Kelly reveals what it has meant to finally embrace the word “blind” after years of fighting it, and reminds us that the wilderness belongs to everyone willing to step outside their comfort zone.

Whether you’re facing your own challenges or simply want to experience the Boundary Waters through another viewpoint, Kelly’s story of determination and adaptation is almost certain to change how you think about what it truly means to experience the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

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