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Last week I enjoyed a summer Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness camping trip. I am fortunate to have been able to camp in the BWCAW seventy seven times since first being introduced to canoe country as a kid.

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It is my favorite wilderness area and feel very lucky to live next to such a magnificent expanse of lakes, rivers, trees and wildlife interconnected with hundreds of portage trails.

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Just about every one of the 2,000 plus campsites in the BWCAW is located in stands of stunning old growth pine or cedar.

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We situated our hammocks in the cedars. The aroma of pine needles and cedar branches is one of my favorite smells.

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A view from the hammock.

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While enjoying the campfire several loons called to each other from out on the bay. My favorite wilderness sounds are the calls of the loon and howls of the grey wolf.

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Some of the campsites have sand beaches.

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This campsite within sight of the Canadian border was surrounded with a mat of blueberry plants.

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They were pretty tasty.

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We awoke at 2:00 a.m. to check for aurora. No aurora displays but we were rewarded with the moon setting over the islands in front of our campsite.

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On our last night, we experienced a great sunset.

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We got rain a couple of times but the benefit of having rain is the rainbows that follow.

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