Boundary Waters & Gooseberry Falls, MN, US

The falls at Gooseberry Falls

I went to Boundary Waters as part of a Science Club field trip in high school.  The trip was kind of a milestone for me.  I'd always loved the outdoors, but I'd never really done anything adventurous like this, so week of camping and canoeing was quite a big deal for me at the time.

The falls at Gooseberry Falls

There weren't very many of us that went, but we set out at an obscene hour and made the trip up in a day.  I remember the landscape became increasingly hilly, and for someone used to the cornfields of rural Illinois, I thought it was beautiful.

We stopped on our way up at Gooseberry falls.  We didn't stay long, but it was enough time to stretch our legs and take some pictures.  It was nice, and the first time I'd ever really seen waterfalls.

Map of Boundary Waters
Source: http://www.boundarywatersoutfitters.com

I remember we spent our first night at the camp grounds, practicing our canoeing and sleeping in bunks there.  The next day we set out to canoe to our camping spot.

We spent most of the day canoeing and portaging our way out.  After a full day of that, we settled on a camp ground, and got set up.  It's been far too long (over 10 years!) for me to remember exactly where we started, the lakes we went across, and where we set up camp, but it was a long trip out.

A few classmates at the top of the waterfall, Boundary Waters

Once we got there and got the camp set up, we really had the rest of the week to just explore and enjoy the crystal clear waters.  We spent a lot of time hiking and canoeing around the lake.  One day we even accidentally found ourselves at a waterfall.

Waterfall in Boundary Waters

We spent another day canoeing out to a large set of cliffs near the Canadian border.  I remember it was so windy that on the way back, we used some large branches and a tarp to form a sail and literally sailed most of the way back to camp rather that futilely attempting to paddle against the winds.


All in all, it was a really good trip, and one that I'm very glad I got to experience.