Northern Wisconsin

Boy Scouting was a significant influence in my early years. My Boy Scout troop went camping every month, regardless of weather, and in Wisconsin that's a significant challenge during the winter months. We backpacked into most places we went, carrying our tents, food, warm clothing, etc. There were many memorable camping trips while I was a Scout, but one that was particularly memorable was a week-long canoe trip in northern Wisconsin with our Explorer Post, actually two weeks for me because I went a week early to take Voyageur training so that I could lead the group that I would take out the following week.

Northern Wisconsin has striking natural beauty, which alone made the trip memorable, but what was truly special for me was that my dad was the adult advisor on the trip that I led (left photo, back row, right side).

The trip began in the upper peninsula of Michigan in Thousand Island Lake and ended near Boulder Junction, WI after 8 portages and 2 carry-overs. We saw numerous bald eagles, deer, porcupines, and there were ten times that number that saw us, but we didn't see them. We camped one night at a site on Palmer Lake that had been raided by black bears the night before and there was packaging and food scattered all over the campsite. The trip was physically demanding with breathtaking vistas throughout that made a lasting impression on both Dad and I.

We returned to this area of northern Wisconsin several times in the following years for family vacations, finding several good campsites and fishing spots that we returned to year after year. To this day, loon calls stir the same feelings in me that I experienced on that trip. When Dad retired, he persuaded Mom to move to Vilas County (a move she made out of love for him and not the appeal of northern Wisconsin winters), where they lived until he passed away.

The natural beauty and wildness is what drew Dad to this area, and also to vacations in Colorado where his mom was born in the mountains outside of Eagle in 1895 and where he spent some of his high school years after his family moved back there from Minnesota. Dad left us too early, but I'm thankful that he spent the last years of his life in the Wisconsin northwoods that he loved.