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My favorite backpacking and canoe trips.


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Well Glacier National Park in Montana is the most beautiful park I have seen. Two two big factors to really prepare for are bears and the weather. If you ready yourself for both and choose good dates with respect to the weather you will have a trip that you'll remember always. Also be ready to hike with a backpack on some steep trails. The more fit you are the easier any hike on challenging terrain will be and therefore more enjoyable. I'll get into hiking boots later.

We hiked to Crosly Lake and caught some nice trout. We sat and watched mountian goats move on the face of the mountains. We were amazed at the way they seemed to move about on a sheer cliff from a distance. White dots moving about from where we sat. Amazing. How in the hell does that work? They seem to be able to walk on walls. Yet they are mammals, not some insect. Again, amazing.

It's parks like these that prove some of our tax dollars are very well spent. It's just so right to preserve areas like this. Breath taking beauty, that's all I can say. We didn't see the whole park but saw enough to realize the splendor of the place. I wish everyone could visit these places.

Isle Royale National Park in Michigan is also special. Moose abound on this Isle in a big way on the west end by Windigo. Pike fishing is also great here. There are between 12-20 wolves on the isle and you can hear them at night at times. Very unusual sound but fret not. They are not a danger to humans. It's cold most of the year on the isle. Go up no earlier than June but even then you'll see a little snow left on Northern slopes. This is the least visited national park but not for lack of beauty. You will feel alone most of the time. There are no wheeled vehicles at all. Hiking boots only for guests. I think the rangers may have some horses though. Here again be sure to work up to a good level of fitness. Not only are there steep trails but many are rough. As always make you to go with high quality hiking boots. My favorite brands by the way are Asolo, Vasque and Merrill. Timberland and others make high quality boots also. Like a lot of things in life you get what you pay for. I think I paid around $160 few years ago for my Asolo's so be prepared to shell out something in that neighborhood. That's me below on the trail from Windigo to Feldtmann Lake.

 

One thing about Isle Royale is hiking along the Greenstone Ridge. This is very rocky, rugged terrain. After hiking from Rock Harbor to Chicken Bone lake we found we didn't bring warm enough bags for sleeping(no sleep that night). It got down to freezing in late June. So we had to hike all the way back to Rock Harbor about 18 miles in one day with 50 lbs packs, in one long hike(like a forced march, brutal) on that terrain. We rented a cabin and had a warm nights sleep. If you plan of hiking that ridge, factor in the terrain. Now if you go into Windigo, that's easier terrain to hike(unless you go right up the ridge). We went to Feldtmann lake from Windigo and it was nice compared to hiking on he ridge. 9 miles on rolling terrian, no boulders. There were allot of moose by Feltmann lake and lots of Pike. Nice trip! Click here for a map on Isle Royale.

The Boundary Waters in Minnesota is a great place to canoe and fish. Smallmouth bass, Pike and some trout. The best I have been to. Get some topo maps as well as literature for the US Forest service so you can choose trails to use. Talk about solitude once you get in the back country a bit. Once you get in the back country just portage, canoe and fish, portage, canoe and fish.....all day, as long as you care to. Setup camp on one of the site prepared by the Forest Service and enjoy the serenity. You'll get an idea what it must have been like for Louis and Clark. Sometimes I can't understand how these areas are kept "secret" with such beauty. My word, so few people seem to visit this area. I don't understand why. If you've ever fallen asleep with an owl hooting and awakened with loons, you'll understand why I say what I do. Majestic backwoods beauty.

Yellow Stone National Park and the Grand Tetons. Famous beauty all around in these parks. People come from all over the world to see these. Old faithful in Yellow Stone and winter skiing in the Tetons, also gorgeous in the summer.

Olympic National Park on the Olympic Penninsula in Washington State and Mt. Ranier.Yeah it rains a lot in the cool season but the summer is great. The rain is usually pretty light though. I advise a visit to Victoria, British Columbia if you can swing it. Just a ferry ride away. I found good trout fishing in Lake Crescent on the Olympic Penninsula.

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park.Very pretty but the fishing was not good for me. Lots of places to fish in the area though. The reservoirs in that area offer boat rentals and everything else you may need.

The Nicolet National Forest in northern Wisconsin. Being from Northern Illinois this is my favorite area for a weekend get away. Canoeing, fishing and camping are all pretty good in this little Northwoods paradise. Yep that's a pic below of the 'ole Stowe Mansfield fiberglass canoe I use.

 

 

This pic is of Big Bear lake in the Nicolet National Forest. Nicolet National Forest. If you look carefully you can see the top of a 12 pack of Miller Lite in the canoe, is that wrong?? No fish though at that point. I'm a big believer in catch and release.

To be honest I worked so hard to find back country lakes up there that I won't name them. But they are all in the the Around the pretty towns of Wabeno and Laona, WI. Below is a pic from a National Forest lookout tower in fall. Yeah you can climb them but not enter the tower house on top. Great vantage point. Some times I think that could be happy with a job that required me to explore remote areas like there were years ago. As long as there were trees, lakes and rivers to canoe in and maybe some nice mountains. Bet you the fishing would be great. Well for now I'll settle for doing that on vacations.

Wheeler Peak(Great Basin National Park) in East Central Nevada. It might be called Great Basin National Park now. My Mom took me there for my college graduation present. There are great tours of the Lehmann Caves but the semi-arid mountains and star filled sky at night is like nothing I've seen. If it's clear it looks like someone took a big handfull of stars and just threw them up and they remained hanging brightly above. I think because of the altitude, distance from any large city and the clear air. I stared for quiet a while the first time I saw that. No fishing that I was aware of but beautiful.

The Chequemegon National Forest in Northwest Wisconsin is also worth exploring. Very pretty country indeed.

E-mail me at:alankwak@juno.com oralankwak@hotmail.com.