Wtip Boundary Waters Podcast

The depths of winter rolled over the Boundary Waters in February 2021. Temperatures plummeted and overnight lows often measured 30 degrees below zero during the first full week of the month. That being the case, the WTIP Boundary Waters Podcast team embraced the cold snap as an opportunity to share stories from the wilderness. Podcast Host Matthew Baxley opens the episode with a story about the longest serving interior ranger in the history of Quetico Provincial Park, Janice Matichuk. Matthew speaks with three men who credit Janice with saving their lives when they fell into the frigid waters of Cache Bay in 2019. Their story is not unique in the sense of a heroic tale involving Matichuk, but it stands out if for no other reason than it was one of her final rescues in Quetico. Janice died in August 2020 from brain cancer. In the second part of the episode, WTIP Boundary Waters Podcast Guest Host Lindsey Gau chats with Maggie Friedrichs about the joys of winter camping in the BWCA. Lindsey and Maggie recen

It’s the start of Season 4 on the WTIP Boundary Waters Podcast! The new season kicks off with a theme specific to winter: blades and ice. Indeed, ice skating on ‘wild ice’ was all the rage in the BWCA to start the winter of 2020-21. Host Matthew Baxley takes us on a journey up Clearwater Lake into the BWCA and over to Mountain Lake on the border looking across to Canada. This specific day trip captures a stretch of time that will be remembered for years and perhaps generations to come with regard to wild ice in the Boundary Waters. To kick off the episode, Baxley and co-host Joe Friedrichs take us back to the frozen waters for lake trout ice fishing opener on Jan. 1, 2021. The annual fishing opener is a big deal in the BWCA, with a special season where only lakes located entirely within the wilderness are open to trout fishing. Learn about lake trout fishing and the value of having sharp auger blades in this report from the ice. To view footage from Matthew’s trip to Mountain Lake on ice skates, watch

It’s the holiday season in the Boundary Waters. What this means, of course, is that it’s quiet in the wilderness. November and most of December are traditionally some of the quietest times of the year in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Looking to embrace that solitude, the podcast team of Joe Friedrichs, Matthew Baxley and Lindsey Gau all traveled into the BWCA to celebrate Thanksgiving and ring in the 2020 holiday season. They share a report from the ice and snow in today’s episode, including what they’re thankful for as this challenging year winds down. Also in today’s episode, we hear once again from Minnesota resident and trail runner Alex Falconer. A dedicated athlete and director of the Boundary Waters Action Fund, Falconer recently spoke on the podcast with host Matthew Baxley about the challenges and joys of running on trails throughout the BWCA, including the Border Route Trail. Falconer shares another update in today’s episode as winter settles in on the wilderness. It’s an epis

November in the Boundary Waters is a time of transition. That being the case, here on the podcast we’re not ready to let the canoe season slide away just yet. We hear from four women today about their 2020 paddling experiences in the BWCA. Up first we hear from Aubrey Helmuth Miller and the team at Redbudsuds. Aubrey is the founder of Redbudsuds, a small business in Ohio that specializes in selling 4-in-1 soap products. In August 2020, Aubrey and her two employees, Liz Wagner and Amanda Petzker, traveled to Ely for a ‘work retreat’ to the BWCA. In today’s episode we hear an audio diary they recorded on their trip. In the second part of today’s episode we hear from Twin Cities resident Claire Campbell. Claire talks about being a solo paddler in the Boundary Waters in a wide-ranging and intriguing conversation with podcaster Matthew Baxley. Also featured in today’s episode is a collection of music with an appropriate twist to the Boundary Waters and this podcast.

Waterfowl hunting is not something most people associate with a trip to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. It is, however, completely legal to hunt in the BWCA during the annual waterfowl hunting season in northeastern Minnesota. In October 2020, the WTIP Boundary Waters Podcast team accompanied Cook County resident Sven Hoaglund on a duck hunting trip to the wilderness. We hear directly from the woods and water as the group travels in pursuit of migrating ducks. Also in today’s episode, we hear from Minnesota resident and trail runner Alex Falconer. A dedicated athlete and director of the Boundary Waters Action Fund, Falconer talks with host Matthew Baxley about the challenges and joys of running on trails throughout the BWCA, including the Border Route Trail. It’s an episode full of unique opportunities that the Boundary Waters presents to visitors in the wilderness... join us for the adventure.

In this short track of the WTIP Boundary Waters Podcast, hosts Matthew Baxley and Joe Friedrichs share a report on an Oct. 8 event held to raise awareness of threats to the wilderness. The Boundary Waters Action Fund sponsored an event hosted by Al Franken and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Featuring a collection of elected officials and political candidates from Minnesota, what the event largely turned into was a place to share stories about the Boundary Waters. The WTIP Boundary Waters podcast team couldn't have been more at home while listening in...

Audio diaries continue to be an essential component of the WTIP Boundary Waters Podcast. These ‘diaries’ are segments of audio recorded by the hosts and listeners of the podcast during trips to the wilderness. In this episode, we hear two different audio diaries on two very different types of trips to the BWCA. Up first, podcast host Matthew Baxley takes us on his recent journey with Lindsey Gau and her father, Jeff Gau. (Cool fact… Lindsey is the person holding the canoe in the photo used for the WTIP Boundary Waters Podcast logo!) In the second part of today’s episode, we hear from Minnesota resident and backpacking aficionado Michelle Schroeder. Michelle joined Annie Nelson in 2019 for a hike on the Border Route Trail. The BRT is particularly inviting in the fall months, as we find out from Michelle in her audio recordings from the rugged trail along the border lakes in the Boundary Waters.

A 'business trip' to the Boundary Waters is something many in the paddling community would jump at in an instant. However, finding a boss to support such a notion is likely the biggest obstacle to such a dream becoming reality. Well, apparently Aubrey Helmuth Miller is one cool boss. Aubrey is the founder of Redbudsuds, a small business in Ohio that specializes in selling 4-in-1 soap products. In August 2020, Aubrey and her team from Redbudsuds traveled to Ely for a ‘work retreat’ to the BWCA. Joe Friedrichs from the podcast traveled to Ely to talk with them following their trip. We’ve heard from Aubrey before on the podcast, when she played her banjo and shared stories at Canoecopia in 2019. In addition to being a BWCA guide for several years, Aubrey and Redbudsuds also give 50 percent of the sale of each Gunflint Peppermint shower bar they produce to help protect the BWCA. Learn more in this special short track of the WTIP Boundary Waters Podcast…

Every summer there are a number of storms that roll through the Boundary Waters that generate campfire conversations for years to come. On occasion, such as the epic 1999 Blowdown Storm, these storms become the stuff of legend. Such is the case with a storm from July 8 this summer where nine people found themselves entangled in a vicious weather event. The heart of the storm was on Trout Lake in the BWCA on the western side of the wilderness. Jason Busch and David Bell were among the group camped out as the storm ravaged their campsite. WTIP Boundary Waters Podcast Host Matthew Baxley talks with the duo about their experience from the summer of 2020. Also in this episode, Baxley and podcast co-host Joe Friedrichs discuss the recent passing of Janice Matichuk, the longest serving ranger in the history of Quetico Provincial Park and a dear friend of the WTIP and paddling communities.

Half-in, half-out. That's what many entry lakes to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness are when it comes to the official wilderness designation. And yet, it's the same water. To the lakes and rivers in the BWCA and Quetico, there are no imaginary wilderness or international lines. It's the same water. Podcast hosts Matthew Baxley and Joe Friedrichs explore this notion to open the episode. Indeed, sentiments such as these are a common message the Campaign to Save the Boundary Waters continues to share. In this episode we hear from one of their staffers, Lauren Eggert, before she departs on a BWCA in the summer of 2020 for a trip off the Gunflint Trail. To complete the episode, we have another audio diary submission! This trip report comes from Minnesotans Kaylan and Josh Dix. They did an early summer 2020 trip as well off the Gunflint, sharing the details of what brought them to the wilderness during a health pandemic and other societal issues in Minnesota and beyond. It's a complex time in the w

Janice Matichuk is the longest serving ranger in the history of Quetico Provincial Park. She is on medical leave from Quetico at this time and the Cache Bay Ranger Station is currently closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and border closures with the U.S. and Canada. During a special program that aired live on WTIP July 11, Boundary Waters Podcast Host Joe Friedrichs spoke with Matichuk about her health and some reflections on the Gunflint Trail community. Also featured in this special episode are updates with canoe outfitters from across the BWCA. We hear from the teams and Sawbill Canoe Outfitters, the Ely Outfitting Company and Tuscarora Lodge & Canoe Outfitters. It’s all here on this bonus track of the WTIP Boundary Waters Podcast.

It’s a mix of news, important discussion and wilderness adventure in this important episode of the WTIP Boundary Waters Podcast. Up first, host Joe Friedrichs travels back to the BWCA with Kevin ‘The K-man’ Kramer. Joe and Kevin travel deep into the wilderness, finding moose, solitude and many walleyes along the way. Also in today’s episode, host Matthew Baxley talks with Miki, aka ‘Tricky Miki' from Minneapolis. Miki is an artist, documentary filmmaker and host of the Minnesota-based Black Helpline Podcast. Matthew and Miki discuss access to the wilderness for people of color, in addition to challenges that some in the paddling community perhaps are not aware of when it comes to who is comfortable in the BWCA and why. The 2020 paddling season has started. Along with that, it’s a time of change, education and transition across the planet, including inside the BWCA.

He loved the outdoors. For most of his life, camping, hiking, canoeing and experiencing life in nature were Billy Cameron’s driving forces. Despite years of experience with various and often rugged forms of outdoor recreation, Cameron died May 20 on Tuscarora Lake in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness when the canoe he was in capsized, sending him and two of his dear and lifelong friends into the frigid waters of the deep and remote lake. Nataly Yokhanis started dating Cameron in July 2011. A resident doctor at the Dayton (Ohio) VA Medical Center, Yokhanis told WTIP May 22 that her boyfriend died from hypothermia and drowning. He was 29. “This has broken me at my deepest. I am shattered,” Yokhanis said. “I don’t think I’ll ever be whole again.” Ahead of Memorial Day weekend, Yokhanis spoke with WTIP Boundary Waters Podcast host Joe Friedrichs about the loss of her boyfriend, Billy Cameron.

The WTIP Boundary Waters Podcast has some great news in May 2020! The Radio Television Digital News Association announced May 12 that the WTIP Boundary Waters Podcast is the winner of a 2020 regional Edward R. Murrow Award. More than 750 Murrow Awards represent more than 350 local radio and television news outlets from 49 states and four countries for this year’s awards. The winning work includes 36 podcasts, a new category for 2020, along with nearly 50 investigative reports and more than 100 examples of excellence in innovation, social media and multimedia. In the small market radio category, WTIP won for the ‘Best Podcast’ category for the original “Boundary Waters Podcast.” The award is for overall series content based on the submission of Episode 18, the story of Erik Dickes from Omaha, Neb., who recorded an audio diary on a trip to the BWCA in May 2019, to commemorate his late father, and tell the story of a canoe trip they had planned to take together in 2018. In today’s episode, we again hear fr

It’s the WTIP Boundary Waters Podcast update to the 2020 paddling season amid the COVID-19 situation. Host Joe Friedrichs shares today’s audio update on the podcast. What we know: As of April 21, the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness will be open for the 2020 paddling and hiking season starting Tuesday, May 5. In a press release sent to WTIP and the podcast on April 16, the US Forest Service says that in order to help lessen impacts to local communities while Minnesota’s Stay-at-Home order is in place, and to help slow the spread of COVID-19, the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness will be closed for both day and overnight use from April 15 through May 4. Reservations made through May 4 will receive a full refund including reservations fees. The temporary closure should have a minimal impact on travel in the BWCA. Many of the lakes in the wilderness are still locked in ice, with some lakes in the Mid-Gunflint Trail area still holding more than 20 inches of ice as of April 15. A traditional start to

It’s a time of unknowns in the Boundary Waters. Paddlers and hikers are heading into April 2020 uncertain of travel plans or even if the wilderness will be open for the upcoming season. In this episode of the WTIP Boundary Waters Podcast, hosts Matthew Baxley, Joe Friedrichs and Chelsea Lloyd put that notion itself on hold and focus on community, paddling and storytelling. Matthew talks with longtime BWCA paddler John Oberholtzer about his experiences in the Boundary Waters. Also in today’s episode Chelsea talks with Rachael Romnek and her unique and deeply meaningful visits to the wilderness area. Please note: In short tracks coming soon, the podcast team will be relaying specific information about the impacts of COVID-19 and how that could impact the 2020 paddling season.

The WTIP Boundary Waters Podcast team was all set to return to Canoecopia 2020 in Madison, Wisc. However, the event – scheduled for March 13-15 – was canceled due to concerns about COVID-19, the coronavirus capturing headlines across the planet. With their plans cancelled, WTIP Boundary Waters Podcast hosts Matthew Baxley, Joe Friedrichs and Chelsea Lloyd brainstormed on what to do instead. It took nothing more than a few seconds of planning before it was agreed upon where they should go instead: The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. In this episode, join the WTIP Boundary Waters Podcast team as they go winter camping in the BWCA on the weekend that Canoecopia 2020 was scheduled to take place. Stopping by their camp near the Canadian border were other patrons who had their sights set on being at Canoecopia as well. It’s the 2020 ‘Canoecopia in the BWCA’ episode. Be certain to listen all the way to the end, as there is a surprise guest who makes an unplanned appearance.

Winter still has its firm grip on the Boundary Waters as anxious paddlers start to think about the upcoming canoe season. However, something known as the ‘Death March Portage’ in Quetico Provincial Park could make the slow trudge across a frozen lake sound delightful by comparison. In this episode of the WTIP Boundary Waters Podcast, we hear from the father/daughter duo Scott and Emilie Burditt. Scott and Emilie are Wisconsin residents who make an annual trip to Quetico Provincial Park. They share their stories about a love for the outdoors and paddling in canoe country, and how this bond keeps them connected throughout the year. We previously heard from them on episode 16 of the podcast. Speaking of traveling across a frozen lake, in part two of this episode we hear from longtime Cook County resident Jeff Nemitz about building your own pulk sled. Nemitz is the engineer at WTIP in Grand Marais and an avid ice angler who has enjoyed many winter BWCA camping trips. After years of hauling ice fishing and ca

It’s the start of season three on the WTIP Boundary Waters Podcast! The new season comes out in style, as it’s the first ever live recording of an episode of the original Boundary Waters podcast! The entire episode was recorded live at the Gunflint Mail Run Sled Dog Race on the Gunflint Trail. The episode was broadcast live on WTIP Saturday, Jan. 11, 2020, from the race headquarters near Trailcenter Restaurant on the Gunflint Trail. Featured in the episode are some familiar voices to the podcast and WTIP airwaves. Up first, host Matthew Baxley talks with Gaby and Werner Würth from Germany. Gaby and Werner are frequent visitors to the Boundary Waters. They have appeared on the first episode of each new season on the podcast. Also in today’s episode, host Chelsea Lloyd talks with a newcomer to the Boundary Waters region, Anastasia Gill. Anastasia quit her job as an accountant in Houston in 2019 and found her way up to Moetown Kennels off the Arrowhead Trail on the edge of the BWCA. She is working as a d

It’s the last episode of season two for the WTIP Boundary Waters Podcast! Many great things are already in the works for season three starting in 2020, but this year ends with both a look back and a look forward in episode 24 of the podcast. Host Chelsea Lloyd talks with Nashville-based musician Jerry Vandiver about his love of the Boundary Waters. Jerry is a singer-songwriter who has done a number of songs about paddling over the years, including songs specific to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Jerry is also a regular attendee and performer at the annual Canoecopia event in Madison, Wisc. To wrap up this episode, Matthew Baxley from the podcast team talks with Darren Bush about the 2020 Canoecopia extravaganza. Darren is a key player and organizer of the annual paddling and gear expo. In this episode he talks about what to expect in 2020 and some of his favorite paddling memories from the Boundary Waters.