Archive for October, 2009

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BWCAW 2006, LAKE INSULA

October 2, 2009

This year, we took two days to get in, camping a night on the Kawishiwi River.  We had a point site on the southeast end of the lake with a fair amount of traffice.  But the site was huge, with a large grassy area, loads of room for tent sites, and a beautiful point where we could sit and read under a tree.  It was cold in the mornings as the mist and the outfits show, but the days were pleasant, and the one thunderstorm that came through did not dump a lot of rain on us.  This is one of the “5 star” campsites on the lake, with probably great swimming during the height of the summer.  It is also the site featured in the article here in the blog called “The Legend,” where the late Mike Manlove and I wrote up a family for an illegal fire.

This was our third year base camping on Insula.  We would explore campsites and volunteer to evaluate all 47 (more than even the Forest Service or the cartographers knew about) the following year.

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BWCAW 2005–LAKE INSULA

October 2, 2009

This was our second base camp trip to Insula.  We stayed on a site just north of what we call the cut-through, a narrow isthmus between two major sections of the lake.  It saves a lot of time paddling through the lake.  We wanted to go further, but the map was misleading about the site we wanted to stay at.  We could have gone further, but the site we stayed on was open, it looked pretty reasonable and we moved in, staying five nights.

We took a daytrip up to Alice Lake and then to Fishdance to see the pictographs there.

On the way out, on Lake Two, I awoke at 0130 and went outside.  It seemed awfully bright for a night when the Moon had set.  Sure enough, we had an aurora!  I awoke Jan and asked her if she had ever seen one before.  She hadn’t.  Imagine.  We had been married nearly 35 years and I didn’t know that.  I’ve seen more striking aurorae, but this one was pretty nice, and besides, I made sure my wife saw it!

 

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

October 2, 2009

Michael Spinner Smith Born:  1948.  Married to Janice Rae Littleton (MD)  (all our children have paws or hoofs).  Two brothers, Stephen (deceased) and Andrew (deceased).  My parents were both educators, my father’s working his way from high school science teacher to school superintendent in 3 cities and assistant dean at the college of education at Cleveland State.  He authored several science books used in the 1950s and 1960s.  My mother was a sociology teacher and raised 3 boys.  She could be labeled as a saint, but as a Unitarian, she didn’t go in for that sort of stuff. High School:  Pierre S. duPont, Wilmington, DE (valedictorian), 1966; College:  Dartmouth, BA in Chemistry (summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa), 1970; Medical School:  University of Colorado (magna cum laude, AOA), 1974;  Internship:  Presbyterian Medical Center, Denver (Rotating/medicine), 1974-1975; Languages:  English (native), German (B2), Spanish (A2). Military Service: US Navy:  Reserve Ensign, LT (j.g.) 1971-1975.  Active Duty: Medical Officer USS St. Louis (LKA-116), 1975-77; Medical Officer, Amphibious Squadron SEVEN, 1976-77.  Honorably discharged as LT,  5  July 1977; Residency:  University of Arizona, 1977-1980; chief resident, 1979-80; Faculty:  Assistant professor, University of Arizona, 1979-1981.  Adjunct Assistant/associate professor of neurology, 1981-1990. Private Practice:  Neurological Associates of Tucson, 1981-1992. Medical Director, St. Mary’s Hospital, 1993-1998; senior medical director (quality), 1998. Graduate work: M.S., Experimental Statistics, New Mexico State University, 1998-2000. Consulting in statistics, quality and patient safety in medicine, 1999-2005.  Reader for AP statistics examination, 2003-2006. Organizations past held office: Pima County Medical Society, 1981-2011; vice-president, secretary/treasurer. Arizona Medical Association 1981-2004; treasurer, vice-president. Tucson Amateur Astronomy Association, Chief Observer, 1986. Volunteer work:

  • Wilderness ranger, US Forest Service, Ely, MN, Kawishiwi District, May-October 1992.
  • Volunteer work, US Forest Service, Minnesota Boundary Waters, 1993-1999.
  • Mathematics, chemistry tutor, CDO High School, 2002-2011.  Substitute teacher, CDO HS 2010-2012.
  • Mathematics tutor, Sabino High School, 2002-2011.
  • Literacy Volunteers of Tucson, 2006-2010.
  • Tucson Audubon Society Field Trip leader, 2006-2012.
  • Rowe Audubon Sanctuary, Gibbon NE, 2008, 2010-2018.
  • Past docent, Kitt Peak National Observatory, 1986-87.
  • Eugene, Oregon Parks and Outdoor Services 2014-17
  • Eugene, Obsidian Hiking Group 2014-  (100, 200 hike leader award; 600 hikes award) Over 1000 hours
  • Eugene, SMART (Start Making a Reader Today), 2014-15
  • Eugene, Lane Community College Math tutor, 2014-20  Over 1000 hours.
  • Eugene, Science Factory (Hands on Museum for Children), 2015-2017
  • Cascade Volunteers 2019- ; Secretary 2020-22  Over 2800 hours (including Scorpions)
  • Scorpions Trail Crew 2017-; Certified Crosscut Sawyer (bucking)-B certification. Over 2000 hours
  • Winter Trails (High Cascade Forest Volunteers-now C.V.), 2017-
  • Covid Vaccination (2021)-75 clinics, 390.5 hours

Publications:  60 articles, not including twenty years of weekly astronomy columns (750 in all) in the Arizona Daily STAR and 9 years of monthly columns in Pima County Medical Society. Articles published in the following fields:

  • Military Medicine (Naval Institute Proceedings)
  • Mental arithmetic (The Arithmetic Teacher)
  • Wilderness ethics (The Boundary Waters Journal)
  • Volunteering for the Forest Service (Medical Economics)
  • Patient safety columns (Physician Executive)
  • Neurology (clinical) (Archives of Neurology, Neurology)
  • Neurology (humanities) (Neurology)
  • Eclipse viewing and chasing
  • Variable star viewing (Intl Amateur-Professional Photoelectric Photometry)
  • Past CME Web page on why physicians make errors

Writing awards: American Academy of Neurology: Creative Expression Award for Human Values in Neurology (A Wise Owl),2003.  Prize donated to Médècins sans Frontières (Doctors without Borders). Writer’s Digest:  Honorable Mention, Non-fiction, “Lunar Phases for Writers and Editors,” 2003. Hobbies: Canoe Tripping, Backpacking and Hiking, Amateur astronomy and eclipse chasing, Mathematics and anything numerical, Reading, Freelance writing, Running, Former cyclist (65000 miles, until I had one too many accidents, bringing my fracture total to nine); past volunteer with PBAA for  cycling events. Taking care of more cats than I ever thought we would have. OUTDOOR RESUME CANOE TRIPPING: 25 trips into Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario–150 days.  Guided four trips (1967); 69 trips into the Boundary Waters/Quetico (Minnesota/Ontario)–325 nights, 360 lakes; the upper 200 miles of the Yukon River, including Lakes Laberge, Bennett, Nares and Tagish; the Nahanni River (World Heritage Site) from Rabbitkettle Hot Springs to the Liard River. BACKPACKING/HIKING: Section hiked the southern quarter of the Appalachian Trail (527 miles). 6 multi-day Grand Canyon trips, including rim to rim. 2 times over Alaska’s Chilkoot Trail. 2 trips into ANWR (Kongakut and Aichilik River basins). Arrigetch Peaks (Alaska), Alatna River (and Takahula Lake), Gates of the Arctic (Dalton Highway to Summit Lake). Noatak River (Alaska), 16 miles backpacking, Wulik Peaks (NW Alaska), 40 miles of hiking), 80 miles of river travel. Walked the length of Isle Royale (wolf in my campsite for 10 minutes, 10 miles from nearest other person.) Multi-day trip into Olympic National Park. Fourteen twenty-plus mile days, including three in a row. Fifty times up Wasson Peak, twenty times up Mt. Wrightson and Mt. Kimball (Tucson). Nine hundred ten hikes into Oregon by 20 Nov 23. NATIONAL PARKS: Seen 50; have hiked more than 10 miles in more than half, 50 miles in nine. VOLUNTEER WORK: Five months with the Forest Service in Ely, MN (1992). Week-long trips from 1993-1999 with the Forest Service in Ely. Volunteer at Rowe Sanctuary (Audubon) during Crane Migration, Gibbon, NE, 2008, 2010-2018. ECLIPSES: Seen 26 central solar eclipses, 19 total, 7 annular on or over all continents, both North and South Poles.  Seen 15 total lunar eclipses.  The total eclipses were seen in Baja Mexico, Bolivia, India, Siberia, Aruba, Zambia, over Antarctica, South Pacific Ocean, Libya, over the Arctic Ocean, China, Argentina,  Australia, Uganda, over the Atlantic Ocean, over the equatorial Pacific (2019, 8m 27s totality) Indonesia, and Oregon.  The annular eclipses were seen in Arizona (2), San Diego, Oregon, Costa Rica, Spain and Kenya.

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VERMILION COMMUNITY COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIPS

October 1, 2009

 

 

The Boundary Waters and Ely have meant a great deal to me.   In 1992, I spent six months as a volunteer wilderness ranger in the BWCA.  I spent 100 days in the woods that year, took 22 different canoe trips, saw nearly 300 lakes and cleaned more than 400 campsites.  I saw first hand how many up there lived, on the edge of the wilderness and frequently on the edge of poverty to stay in this area.  Even in good economies, many are fortunate to survive at minimum wage jobs that are seasonal.  These scholarships at VCC I’ve established or contributed to mean a great deal to my wife and me, for the reasons mentioned above, but also because Sig Olson was Dean from 1935-1947, when the school was known as Ely Junior College.

In 2010, I had a special day.  I arrived in Ely seven hours before the banquet, rented a canoe, and paddled 11 miles up and back from Pipestone Falls on a perfect day, alone, seeing eagles, mergansers and a loon.   I ended up paddling about 11 miles then returned the canoe, changed clothes completely, and presented four scholarships: the Michael and Janice Smith, the Friends of the Boundary Waters, and the Brekke-Langhorst to two recipients

MICHAEL AND JANICE SMITH SCHOLARSHIP – $1,000 award – to a student who will be new to VCC in the fall of 2009 or continuing at VCC in the fall of 2009 and studying environmental or wilderness coursework leading to a career in one of those fields.

Past Winners:

2006–Kelly Bray

2007–Wendy Forss (Kelly and Wendy pictured below)

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2008–Katherine Hagsten

2009–Matthew Chopp

2010–Mara Brogan

Mara Brogan

2012–Nathan Kluge

Nathan Kluge, 2012

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As a member of the Friends of the Boundary Waters, I thought the organization should sponsor a scholarship.  I was willing to put my money where my mouth is and the Friends did the rest.  My thanks to Paul Danicic and Greg Seitz, whom I met in Minneapolis the morning after the banquet, for their thoughts and idea that we should have the members contribute a little more annually in hopes of establishing a second scholarship.  Sig Olson once wrote that wilderness travelers craved “the fierce satisfaction that comes only with hardship.”  But as Dean, he would not have wanted such hardship to be part of getting an education.  Putting two Minnesota organizations together–the Friends and the VCC Foundation–to create this scholarship was one of the better ideas I’ve had.

FRIENDS OF THE BOUNDARY WATERS WILDERNESS SCHOLARSHIP – $500 award – to a student who will be new to VCC in the fall of 2009 or continuing at VCC in the fall of 2009 studying environmental or wilderness coursework.  From 2012 on, the Scholarship will be presented by the Friends, this year by Ian Kimmer, the Friends’ representative in the Northland.

Past Winners:

2008–Nathan Prokovic

2009–Katherine Hagsten (pictured above with the Smith Award)

2010–Travis Wuori

The third was one that I contributed to as a veteran to one of  the veteran scholarships offered.  Moises Langhorst died in combat on 5 April 2004 in Fallujah, where some of the fiercest combat occurred; his cousin Dale Brekke died from PTSD.   I cannot imagine how the family survived this devastation.  I was deeply honored to be allowed by the family to contribute to this scholarship:  one veteran presenting a scholarship to two other veterans in memory of two brave young men, who never lived to adulthood, who died serving their country.  I was asked by Jeanette (Jet) Cox, their aunt,  to present the scholarship, one of the deepest honors I’ve ever been given.  I’ve long wanted to establish a scholarship for veterans, who frankly ought to be given four years of tuition-free education; I finally was given a chance to do so; I just never expected I would ever present the scholarship.  I am incredibly grateful to Ms. Cox and the Brekke-Langhorst families for creating a memorial, their willingness to allow a stranger to contribute to it, their courage in the face of tragedy I cannot comprehend and requesting I present the scholarship.

DALE ANDREW BREKKE-MOISES ALBERT LANGHORST MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP – two $500 awards – to a student enrolled at VCC who has served in the U.S. military during or since 1998 to the present and/or spouses, parents, or children of those who served in the U.S. military during or since 1998. Preference will be given to those who served in the Middle Eastern theater of operations. Applicants must be in good academic standing. Students who will be new to VCC in the fall of 2009, those continuing at VCC in the fall of 2009, and students graduating from VCC in the spring of 2009 and transferring to another college or university are eligible to apply.

Past Winners:

2008–Brandi Weigandt

2009–Joe Hiller

2010–Steven Pederson

2010–Laurel Heino

2012–Micheal McEvoy


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BWCAW 2005

October 1, 2009

So far, this has been my last solo trip.  I was going to go with Pieter Helmke, but a pet got very ill and he had to cancel.  Pieter and I took many trips together to the Nahanni and Yukon rdivers as well as into the Quetico.  We went into the Quetico in 1997 and had a great, but very difficult trip.  Our last time together was in 2002, when we went into Crane Lake and did the western part of La Croix.

Anyway, this trip was my last one into Kawnipi, although I always hold out for one more.  I’ve been into Kawnipi 6 times, and that makes me very blessed as anybody who has seen that lake would admit.  I had flat water all the way up Agnes, stayed a night on Kawnipi, then came back in the rain, with again calm water, and stayed on Meadows Lake, which is usually a 20 minute pass through on the way in and out.  Meadows is a great lake to camp on.  I came out in fog.

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BWCAW 2004

October 1, 2009

We went down the Nina Moose River and got to LaCroix the same day.  We then paddled to Iron and Crooked, where we saw a bear.  Should have paddled further down the lake, but we thought one night would be safe.  It was.  Problem was, we got hit with 3 inches of rain and 50 knot winds, so we stayed put.  Mr. Bruin showe dup that night and knocked the pack down.  I heard Jan the next morning say, “Mike, there’s a bear in camp.  Should I bang some pots?”  Yes, and no, it didn’t help.  So, we got what food we had, found the pack and left.  Had rice for breakfast and mash potatoes for lunch.  We were a bit hungry when we finished, 3 days later.  Only time I’ve ever been hit by a bear.  I stupidly tried to reclaim my food and got bluff charged, followed by a deep hiss.  I almost backed into the lake.  Sorry, no pictures of him.

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BOUNDARY WATERS CANOE AREA WILDERNESS

October 1, 2009

I discovered the BWCAW in 1981, quite by accident.  I had spent six summers canoeing Algonquin Park from 1962-67 as part of Camp Pathfinder on Source Lake.  My last year was spent as a head tripper or guide on trips up to 6 days.  Back then, we had can pits, cut tent stringers with live trees, cut pine boughs and had wooden Old Town canvas canoes that soaked up water and weighed up to 100 pounds by the end of the summer.  I remember vividly one camper who was sick, and I carried his pack and the canoe simultaneously down Misty River.  I’m not a big guy, and I’m not particularly strong, but I could go when I had to.

On a plane trip, I happened on a discussion of the BW in the inflight magazine.  I went up in June 1981, did a 5 day solo trip into the Quetico via Carp, Emerald and Plough Lakes, turning around on Knife. I met Dorothy Molter, and loved my time there.  Work had pressures, and it was five more years until I went up again, this time to Thomas, Fraser, Kekakabic, Knife, Amoeber and back down again.  I was hooked!

I took my wife on her first trip in June 1987, not the best time to introduce somebody who breaks out when bitten by mosquitoes!  We went up to Kahshahapiwi, a difficult trip in any circumstances, let alone what we were doing.  After that, I went with some friends or by myself.

In 1992, thoroughly burned out in private practice of neurology, I took a six month leave of absence and worked as a volunteer wilderness ranger for the Forest Service.  I took 22 trips into the woods that summer, many with the FS, some by myself, and some with others.  I spent 100 days in the woods and was in all districts of the BW except the Gunflint.  My last trip, in October, put me into Little Sag on a special night, which will be posted later.  I was six days without seeing another person, paddled in blizzards, got within 20 feet of a moose twice, and had a remarkable trip.

I returned from 1993-1999 and volunteered with the late Mike Manlove, who put up with my travels and about whom I wrote in the post The Legend, under medical society articles.  I also brought my wife back and did some solo trips. 

In 2001, we went in on 9/11 and didn’t hear about the attacks until the following day and then nothing else for 5 more days.  It was probably the best place to be during that time.  In 2003, my wife had had neck surgery and a weight limitation for carrying, so we base camped on Lake Insula, taking day trips.  Other than 2004, when we went down the Nina Moose to La Croix, we’ve spent a week on Insula every year since.  We wrote an article on the campsites in the lake, published in the Boundary Waters Journal, discovering sites that neither the Fisher nor the McKenzie maps had commented upon.

All in all, I’ve taken 57 trips into the BW/Quetico, spent 267 nights out there, been on over 400 campsites, cleaned at least 300, dug 16 latrines, and have traveled on over 300 lakes in the region.  On the last trip to Insula, I did it without a map with no difficulty, having finally figured that lake out.

So, lots of pictures and here goes!

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