Paddle and Portage Podcast

Kelcy Huston grew up splashing in the creeks and rivers along Minnesota's North Shore of Lake Superior. She moved out West as a young adult, working a number of outdoor jobs for state and federal agencies. It was a job based near the Lochsa River in Idaho Huston discovered a passion for whitewater paddling. This passion would lead her to some some of the best paddling destinations

There was a report from the Star Tribune this week that the Gunflint Ranger Station in Grand Marais “has no employees.” The Paddle and Portage Podcast team went to the office Feb. 20 and found it was open and there were people at the front desk. In this news update on the podcast, we talk about Trump administration’s deferred resignation program for federal employees. The off

Ella Hall is buried in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. A grave on a small island located on a lake bearing her name is not something most BWCA paddlers are aware of, let alone come across. In this episode, we share the story of Ella Hall. We do so with the help of the late Mike Hillman, an iconic storyteller who lived for many years in and around Ely. Known locally as �

It's been a cold winter across the Boundary Waters region. Damn cold, in fact. Temperatures hit -30 Fahrenheit from the Gunflint Trail to areas near Ely in the middle of February. Double-digit negative temperatures have become something of the norm this winter, dating back to the Jan. 1 trout opener in the BWCA Wilderness. In this episode of the podcast, we talk about what ice th

Sometimes you end up in St. Paul, Minnesota. In this episode of the podcast, the bulk of which was recorded in the Minnesota capital, we hear from Dan Johnson, the founder of BWCA Wild. Dan films the portages in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. As of February 2025, he's about a third of the way done filming all of the portages. We met up with Dan to talk about his trip r

The U.S. Forest Service planned to host two meetings this week that would have allowed the public to provide feedback and learn more about a largescale project aimed to restore "ecological balance" to an area near Ely and the Boundary Waters. Those meetings, scheduled for Feb. 4 and 5, were cancelled. The cancellations were tied, at least in part, to ongoing efforts by the Trump a

Erin Walker and her husband, Jon, have been hot tent winter camping for the past six winters together, often documenting their adventures on the Lost Lakes YouTube channel. In her most recent article for Paddle and Portage, Erin shares insight on how to select a campsite in the winter months, and what it's like sleeping in an igloo on the ice. In this episode of the podcast, Erin t

Canoecopia is the largest paddling expo in North America. The annual event takes place March 7-9 in 2025 in Madison, Wisc. Paddle and Portage Podcast host Joe Friedrichs sat down with Darren Bush, the founder of Canoecopia, to discuss the history and future of the event, as well as what to expect in 2025. This episode is sponsored by: Voyageurs Canoe Outfitters Loons Nest Coffee El

More people canceled a permit to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in 2023 than ever before, according to a recent report from the U.S. Forest Service. “Cancellations have more than doubled in five years, suggesting that BWCAW visitors continue to reserve more permits than they can use,” the report states. Some outfitters and paddlers say the process the Forest Service

The idea came to Robert Barrett after skiing up the Gunflint Trail, just days after the passing of former President Jimmy Carter on Dec. 29. There are two Caribou lakes near the Gunflint Trail. One near Clearwater Lake, another near Poplar Lake. Both are in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and found in the Mid-Gunflint Trail area. Given their proximity, why not rename on