Duffman Winter Trip Report

[Duffman]

Duffman Winter Spring Trip Report

This springs dramatic meltage of snow put a damper on our plans, I was planning on going up into the BW, but the thought of no snow on the portages would change the original destination. I had a backup plan of hitting Seagull lake until I heard 100 high school kids were also headed up there. So all packed up and a couple hours before departure I totally changed where we were going.

We were heading in during darkness so it had to be somewhere I had been before. Pulling sleds or "pulks" on the ice has never been easier, and if I knew where we were going when I left the house Friday before work, I would have brought the power auger along. Even with a Nils hand auger, popping hole after hole in late ice was a workout. But it was so easy walking in, I could have even dragged in a mistress or two.

Once again, my sled "The Punisher" didn't live up to its name, not to mention winter camping in short sleeves didn't quite feel right. If it had been windy out, this would have been one of those rare sled by sail trips, I would have rigged up a tarp and see how far that would have taken me.

We tried some fishing, not a lot of luck (a few perch and a couple bass), but we had a good time while listening to the Gophers play their way into the Big Dance. Camp had great drainage, so all the melt wasn't a muddy mess to deal with, and it rained only during the night one night and that's it. My trips have been nothing but rain the last couple of years during camping trips, winter or summer, this was a welcome change.

Nothing too spectacular about this trip, and that's perfectly ok by me. We spent three days on a 2000 acre lake and the surrounding woods and ponds without seeing a soul. I always seem to encounter folks in the Boundary Waters winter camping, the solitude on this non-BW trip was a nice suprise.

Time to plan for some non-winter trips, a May solo canoe trip is in the works.... stay tuned.