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PODCAST

Paddle and Portage Podcast

Paddle and Portage Podcast

This podcast is produced by people who live near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and Quetico Provincial Park. It is the source for storytelling, news, and information about the canoe-country wilderness and other paddling destinations across North America.

sports wilderness

All Episodes

28:42

Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness

Paddle and Portage Podcast ·

2025/08/21

We head west in this episode, to the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness. M Baxley joins a group of paddlers who came together under the leadership of Jordan Taylor and Sandra Newbury to travel on the Salmon River in Idaho. One of the great rivers of the West, the Salmon rolls through the Frank Church, the largest federally managed wilderness in the United States outside of Alaska. Confluences River Expeditions provided the group with rafts and raft guides while the other boaters traveled the

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01:00:29

The Glossy Marketing of the Wilderness

Paddle and Portage Podcast ·

2025/08/13

The Paddle and Portage Podcast team spent time paddling and talking around a fire with Minnesota author Joe Whitson in early August. Joe is the author of the new book, “Marketing the Wilderness.” Joe’s book pulls back the curtain on the outdoor recreation industry, on the glossy images, the feel-good branding, the well-meaning campaigns, and asks, “What’s being left out?” It traces how the idea of “wilderness” in the U.S. was built through marketing strategies that romanticize land as empty and

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32:17

Wilderness Water Safety With Abby Golden

Paddle and Portage Podcast ·

2025/08/06

Abby Golden has been teaching at an organization called Wilderness Water Safety for 15 years. She is a certified lifeguard, wilderness first responder, and experienced wilderness trip leader. She has led trips in the Lake Temagami area as a trip leader for Camp Wabun and has traveled extensively throughout the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Born and raised in the St. Croix River Valley, she talks about water safety and shares stories of danger and death and what we can learn from these

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27:42

Kari Kennedy on Connection to the Boundary Waters

Paddle and Portage Podcast ·

2025/08/01

Kari Kennedy is the producer of Almanac, a popular and long-running news program on Twin Cities PBS. She's also in love with the Boundary Waters. The Gunflint Trail has become a home away from home, and trips to the BWCA Wilderness are a big part of that experience. Kari shares her story in this episode of the podcast. Support for this episode comes from Northstar Canoes, Loons Nest Coffee, and Williams & Hall Outfitters.

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39:11

Graham the Actor Arrives to the Boundary Waters

Paddle and Portage Podcast ·

2025/07/27

He first paddled on Seagull Lake. It didn't go well. A fishing boat had to rescue him. A few days later, he drove a transport tow. In a blizzard. Graham Schatz is working at Seagull Canoe Outfitters this summer. He is not a typical "Trail Kid," those who lug canoes and clean cabins at the resorts on the Gunflint Trail each summer. Graham is an actor who has been attending acting school in Los Angeles. This summer, when he came to the Gunflint, it was his first time experiencing the Boundary

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19:09

Hudson Bay Girls Share Update From Norway House

Paddle and Portage Podcast ·

2025/07/23

Checking in with an update from their epic paddle are the Hudson Bay Girls. The four paddlers left Lake Superior and the Grand Portage in May. They're bound for Hudson Bay and share this update from Norway House, just north of Lake Winnipeg. In an update sent to Paddle and Portage July 21, they report: "We’re checking in from Norway House! We have been through so much so far. From navigating backcountry travel restrictions, dodging wildfires, a trip altering injury, and ever changing weather

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28:26

Kate From Bending Branches Talks with Erin From Lost...

Paddle and Portage Podcast ·

2025/07/22

Kate Wright is the director of marketing for Bending Branches Canoe & Kayak Paddles. An experienced paddler, Kate and her husband are taking their young child to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in the summer of 2025 for the first time as parents. Kate spoke with guest host Erin Walker from the Lost Lakes YouTube Channel for this episode of the podcast. This episode is supported by Canoecopia, Women's Wilderness Discovery, Friends of the Boundary Waters, Sawbill Canoe Outfitters, and

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40:00

Permit News From the BWCA Wilderness

Paddle and Portage Podcast ·

2025/07/16

We've shared multiple news stories in recent weeks about permits for the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. From the cost of permits to the record number of permit cancellations last year, the Paddle and Portage Podcast team break it all down in this episode. Joining the podcast duo on the episode is a Minnesota resident and BWCA regular who goes by the name Fish Brain Shane. Earlier this summer, Shane disagreed with an online post from the P&P team that supported the proposal to increase

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21:55

Update From the Solitude of Four: Lake Winnipeg Awaits

Paddle and Portage Podcast ·

2025/07/11

As promised, here's an update from the Solitude of Four. The group shares this update just as they're preparing to start the lengthy paddle of Lake Winnipeg, a key benchmark on their journey to Hudson Bay. Backstory: Four paddlers and canoe guides from Wilderness Canoe Base on Seagull Lake at the end of the Gunflint Trail are paddling north this summer. Leaving Seagull May 31, the group, paddling under the name Solitude of Four, are on a 1,250 mile canoe journey from our camp to Hudson Bay, Canada

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30:26

The Healing Power of the Boundary Waters

Paddle and Portage Podcast ·

2025/07/08

In February 2022, a Minnesota man was sentenced to four years in prison for sexually assaulting a Cook County woman at a condominium on Ski Hill Road in Lutsen, not far from Lake Superior and the Boundary Waters. According to the criminal complaint, on Jan. 25, 2020, Cook County law enforcement responded to North Shore Health, the local hospital in Grand Marais, where a woman being treated for medical issues reported that she was sexually assaulted. The woman told medical personnel and law

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25:29

The Call to Paddle North: Solitude of Four

Paddle and Portage Podcast ·

2025/07/01

Four paddlers and canoe guides from Wilderness Canoe Base on Seagull Lake at the end of the Gunflint Trail are paddling north this summer. Leaving Seagull May 31, the group, paddling under the name Solitude of Four, are on a 1,250 mile canoe journey from our camp to Hudson Bay, Canada. It is a 2.5 month expedition through some of North America’s most remote waterways. Why are they doing this? We spoke with Ryan Mohr, Kathleen Grube, Maren Johnson, and Timea Vrabcová about what led them to embark on

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35:38

Paddling Veteran Embraces the Penguin and Viking Within

Paddle and Portage Podcast ·

2025/06/22

Nathaniel Gueltzau (AKA The Penguin Viking) is a long-distance paddler and military veteran. After returning from Afghanistan, paddling became more than just a sport-it became a way to process emotions, navigate personal experiences, and find new purpose. The pursuit of pushing physical limits, overcoming mental hurdles, and feeling a sense of accomplishment led Nate to seek out even greater challenges. At the heart of Nate's paddling journey is a philosophy of survival and resilience. Whether

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30:23

The Labor of Trail in the Boundary Waters

Paddle and Portage Podcast ·

2025/06/11

The Border Route Trail on the eastern side of the BWCA continues to grow in popularity and use. The trail is 65-miles long and follows the international border between Minnesota and Ontario. It is the first long-distance, wilderness backpacking and hiking trail in Minnesota planned and constructed by volunteers.In the spring of 2025, just as the ice was leaving many of the lakes across the Boundary Waters, the P&P team met up with a group of volunteers to learn more about the history, current

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43:54

Boundary Waters Conversation with The Barefoot Paddler

Paddle and Portage Podcast ·

2025/06/01

Mark Zimmer, more commonly referred to as the ‘Barefoot Paddler,’ spoke with the Paddle and Portage Podcast before the start of his 2025 paddling season.Zimmer is starting his 13th year exploring the BWCA. Mark typically spends late April or early May through October in the Boundary Waters. He catches walleye, lake trout, and pike. He forages wild edibles, including mushrooms, roots, and various fruits and vegetables that grow in the woods here. Zimmer paddles a solo canoe and sleeps in a

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27:48

The Triumphant Wisdom of Old Man Ed in the Boundary...

Paddle and Portage Podcast ·

2025/05/23

Old Man Ed is a fixture in the Boundary Waters. He's been following, in the literal sense, the Paddle and Portage Podcast team for years. Often, he crawls from the water's edge and provides wisdom and perspective to the folks who make this whole thing go. In this episode, Ed arrives on the great fishing opener weekend, which includes Mother's Day. Music on this episode is shared, with permission, from the album Crooked Step, Open Gate, by Upstream Drifters. The duo features P&P writer and dear

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01:13:51

Rick Slatten Talks History of Search and Rescue In...

Paddle and Portage Podcast ·

2025/05/15

Rick Slatten is the captain of the St. Louis County Rescue Squad. He recently spoke with Joe on the Paddle and Portage Podcast about the highly publicized incident from Curtain Falls in the BWCA in 2024, and other events associated with search and rescue in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. This episode is supported by Drury Lane Books, Cooke Custom Sewing, Northern Goods, and Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness.

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26:34

The Status of the Forest Service as BWCA Paddling...

Paddle and Portage Podcast ·

2025/05/10

Resignations. Terminations. Confusion. Reductions. Limitations. These are all themes the U.S. Forest Service is seeing and facing on a routine basis as the 2025 paddling season arrives to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. In this episode, we hear from Barb Soderberg. Soderberg's career with the Forest Service started in 1967 on Superior National Forest, and she was intricately involved with crafting the 1978 BWCA Wilderness Act. She retired from the Forest Service in 2007. Soderberg is

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42:11

Hudson Bay Girls - The Beginning

Paddle and Portage Podcast ·

2025/05/06

The Hudson Bay Girls is an all-female canoe team paddling a historic Voyageur Fur Trading Route in 2025. The expedition will take them on a 1,200-mile journey from Lake Superior to Hudson Bay, Canada. Along the way, they will share their story to raise awareness about the importance of environmental stewardship, outdoor education, and gender equality in outdoor spaces. This video episode of the podcast was recorded at Canoecopia in Madison, Wisc. This episode is supported by Northstar Canoes and

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31:35

Let the Big Ones Go: A Science Update

Paddle and Portage Podcast ·

2025/05/01

Most people come to the Boundary Waters to engage with wilderness. Solitude. Peace. Escape. These are sentiments commonly shared by the more than 125,000 people who come to the BWCA each year. And while some people come to fish, not everyone does. Regardless of one's interest in angling, this episode gets into the science (and ethics) of why it's good to release the larger fish one catches in the Boundary Waters and beyond. Support for this episode comes from Cascade Vacation Rentals, North Country

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28:38

Hungry Hunter: A Fishmonger's Tale

Paddle and Portage Podcast ·

2025/04/22

The Hungry Hunter YouTube channel features outdoor adventure from the Boundary Waters and other places in the Upper Midwest. In this episode of the podcast, we learn what makes the channel's founder and content creator, Tom, click. Hint: He worked as a fishmonger for most of his life. This episode is supported by Voyageur Canoe Outfitters and Cooke Custom Sewing. Watch the full interview on the P&P YouTube Channel.

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86 results

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