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Last weekend we took a trip into America’s favorite wilderness, the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. It is one million acres of lakes and forest. We only traveled on one lake, Saganaga. Sag has lots of beautiful islands and big enough that it would take you a week just to explore its entirety. The BWCA is one of my favorite places to camp.

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We picked a beautiful campsite on one of the islands. We were surprised to find several open campsites as August is the busiest time in the BWCA since it is bug free this time of year.

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We set the tents up under the towering pines.

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Sunset. I am in the canoe. This photo was taken by a friend, Eric Anderson.

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The first night a lightning storm went through. Unique clouds moved over the lake prior to the main storm. We were happy that we had camp all set up and that there were no close lightning strikes.

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The next day while exploring the lake we had lunch on an island campsite with a beautiful sand beach.

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Eric and Courtney exploring some of the islands.

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Sitting around the campfire always adds additional enjoyment to the camping experience.

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As I was sitting on the shore photographing the sunrise a mom and 13 teenage mergansers came by searching for minnows. It takes a lot to feed a family of 14.

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We saw several eagles. This young immature eagle was in one of the white pines. It was just starting to get it’s distinctive white feathers.

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The last night one member of our group was walking along the shoreline with his headlamp. He noticed the glow of some eyes on a rock. Turned out to a dock spider sometimes called a fishing spider. You normally don’t expect a spider’s eyes to glow. Spiders have up to eight eyes but just the two middle ones glowed.

Paul put his hand on the rock for perspective to show how big this spider was. Fishing spiders can get up to 3 1/2 inches in length, which this one was. They hang out on docks or on rocks close to the shoreline since their main prey is small minnows and frogs. Not only can they walk on water but they can go under water to catch their prey. At over three inches they look a little scary but they are a pretty friendly spider.

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August Full Sturgeon Moon 001

This was the week of the full moon. This month’s full moon is called the Sturgeon Moon. It is the last super moon for 2022. Meaning it is closer to earth in its orbit making it look larger than normal.

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A young couple and their dog was out in the harbor fishing and watching the moonrise from their canoe. They fortunately were in the right place for me to photograph them in the moonbeam.

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Cutface Wayside

The week ended with a beautiful sunrise. This one was taken from the Cutface Wayside just out of Grand Marais.

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Gitchi Gami State Trail

I stopped and took this sunrise photo of the new section of the Gitchi Gami State Trail on my way back to town. This section has some of the most beautiful views of Lake Superior. It was another good week for getting outdoors and enjoying summer.

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