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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

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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40:38

Talking Paddling and News with Pete and Dave from...

Paddle and Portage Podcast ·

2025/04/15

Pete Marshall and Dave Meier are friends of the Boundary Waters, and they happen to work for an organization named Friends of the Boundary Waters. In this interview, which was recorded at Canoecopia in Madison, Wisc., in spring 2025, Pete and Dave talk with Joe from the Paddle and Portage Podcast about paddling the BWCA, the political climate as it relates to wilderness recreation, and what trips are on the books for the paddling season ahead.This episode of the podcast is sponsored by: Loons Nest

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41:41

Spring Whitewater on the Wolf River: The Jordan...

Paddle and Portage Podcast ·

2025/04/09

Whitewater is a powerful force. It's often destructive, drastically changing entire landscapes. It can also be a place of both play and healing. For Jordan Taylor, a 30-year whitewater paddling instructor, it has been both destructive and healing. Join the Paddle and Portage Podcast team as they travel to Wisconsin's Wolf River and beyond to tell the story. This episode is sponsored by: Borderland Lodge on the Gunflint Trail Friends of the Boundary Waters Tuscarora Lodge and Canoe Outfitters

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16:37

Logging Order with BWCA on the Map and Impact of...

Paddle and Portage Podcast ·

2025/04/08

The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness is highlighted on a map of possible places for “increasing timber production” that was shared by federal officials in Washington D.C. last week. The order, signed April 3 by U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, declares an emergency on more than 176,000 miles of national forest. The order calls for logging in order to increase timber production and reduce the risks associated with wildfires. The map accompanying the announcement clearly

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45:48

Winter Trip to Cache Bay - RABC Permits in Action

Paddle and Portage Podcast ·

2025/04/01

Canadian helicopters and drones are flying over the lakes of the Boundary Waters with greater frequency as the 2025 paddling season nears. From Lake Superior to the far western edge of the Boundary Waters near Ely, reports of sightings of drones and helicopters flying just above the tree line continue to reach the Paddle and Portage Podcast team. Part of the podcast team traveled to Saganaga Lake at the end of the Gunflint Trail in late March to check out the situation. We traveled to Quetico

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48:00

Maddy Frawley Talks Gunflint Trail Life and Next Chapter

Paddle and Portage Podcast ·

2025/03/21

Maddy Frawley is a fixture at the end of the Gunflint Trail. For the past decade, she's worked at Voyageur Canoe Outfitters, including the past three as a manager on site. Maddy, along with her partner, Clay, won't be around this paddling season, as they are moving to the Twin Cities in the months ahead.Maddy stopped by the Paddle and Portage headquarters in Grand Marais to discuss Trail life, living and working at the end of the Gunflint, and why she is moving on to her next chapter. This episode

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01:00:43

The Wilderness is the Work to Share

Paddle and Portage Podcast ·

2025/03/16

The Paddle and Portage team is constantly taking inspiration and motivation from wilderness. The act of regularly getting out not only inspires the work, but actually is the work itself. It is both the goal and the path to the goal. In this episode, we support this notion through the stories of Oregon Bill Busacker, Cousin Jeff Frawley, Emma Froh, and Natalya Egon. This episode sponsored by: North Country Canoe Outfitters Ely Outfitting Company Tuscarora Lodge & Canoe Outfitters

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34:41

Canoecopia 2025: Canada-U.S. Unity and Cliff...

Paddle and Portage Podcast ·

2025/03/10

Canoecopia 2025 found itself in the middle of a news story. As Canadian paddlers and businesses arrived to Madison, Wisc., for the world's largest paddling expo, talks of tariffs and political tension between the U.S. and Canada dominated news headlines across both nations. This simmering unfolded in multiple ways at Canoecopia, both ahead of and during the event. Rising above any tension was unity. And that unity comes from paddling, as event organizers share in the podcast. Also featured in this

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