Our Friendly Neighbors to the North

After receiving an e-mail last night from the US Forest Service denying our request to kite the BWCA we decided to contact the Quetico Provincial Park in Ontario, CA.

The Quetico is a protected, pristine wilderness retreat of international acclaim west of Lake Superior on the Canada-U.S. border. The park’s tangled network of lakes once formed water routes travelled by Ojibway and fur traders. Now it is primarily the destination of experienced canoeists seeking solitude and rare glimpses of wildlife by cascading waterfalls, glassy lakes and endless forests. The park is accessible at four points by canoe and two by car (Dawson Trail Campground and Lac la Croix Ranger Station).

I called the office in Atitkokan this afternoon and was greeted by a great lady who was extremely helpful! I explained our intent and she was actually very excited about what we are trying to do. She said she had never been asked about kiting before but didn't see any reason why we couldn't. She had to run it by the Park Superintendent who is an avid skier and she thought he would like to give it a try himself. As it turns out the Super will be presenting at the Winter Camping Symposium in Ely, MN this weekend so we will get a chance to visit with him.

After a quick look at the map last night we are thinking of going from the Beaverhouse Ranger Station to Atikokan.


View Larger Map

Mouse Turds, Misura?

Aaron contacted Hansi Johnson, one of MN's premier skiers and movie makers, to get his input on a ski set up for the trip. Hansi suggested a pair of Karhu XCD GT skis and a pair of Scarpa T3's for a light tele set up that would allow us to get our ski on if the wind died down. Only one problem, they don't make T3's anymore. Moorhead, MN doesn't have a lot of used tele gear, none actually. So I started looking on the web and there are still some new boots around, but not my size, go figure.

Then I was looking on E-bay and came across a nice lady in Louisiana who just happened to find a pair of boots in a storage unit. The box from Skinny Ski said T2 - Misura 11, but I was pretty sure I had just found a pair of elusive T3's that were in the wrong box. Some quick research with an English to Italian dictionary and I was able to figure out that Misura was Italian for Women's. Hopefully it was the pair of men's 10's I needed. I sent an e-mail and suggested she pull out the liner to help verify the size and she was able to find some additional info inside the boot - "10/11." Double Fist Pump right there. Men's 10's.

She also disclosed on the product description that a mouse had done some minor damage, but I figured that would only help keep the price down. After hanging out with Manger the last couple of years I am ready to bring back the FUNK and few mouse turds will only give the boots some character. I put in my bid on Tuesday night and I was sitting on top at $0.99. Now I just had to hang on until Sunday.

I fired up the computer about 45 minutes before the bidding closed on Sunday. After watching a couple of small bids I put out a confident bid to let them know I meant business and they weren't going to be able to run me up $1.50 at a time. I was back on top again, but grew worried as time ticked down that there might be a last minute bid that I wouldn't have a chance to counter so I grabbed a PBR, settled in and bumped my max bid with eight minutes to go. Just as I anticpated, some shady character snuck in a bid with just a few seconds left, but the bidding closed and I was still the top bidder. Who Hoo! One Guitar Kick and another PBR to celebrate my small victory! I am now the proud owner of a pair of size 10 Scarpa T3's, maybe.

Edit - It turns out they were T2's, they were size 11, and the lady underestimated the amount of damage done by the mouse. On the plus side I was able to trade them straght up for a pair of Asolo Extremes that fit with a guy from Winnipeg at the Ely Winter Camping Symposium. The quick exchange called for a couple of PBR's. I saw the guy a couple of hours later with the boots still on. He really liked them.

Matti

Pulk Building Continued

Finished the Cockpit cover, it took longer than I expected. It was difficult to get the snap placement right because of the stretchy material.

I flopped the pulk upside down and pulled it around the yard. The cockpit cover stayed on with no problems.

One things that might have to be done to improve the Pulk it to coat the bottom to aid in less friction when being pulled in the snow. The down side of kayak plastic it that it is heavy, very durable but heavy. I think that some kind of spray on coating will help,not sure what is on the market.

Just weighed the Pulk, Oh Shittles!
Pulk+Cover+Pole+Harness = 30 lbs

Looks like ultralight is not an option, but on the positive side, I'm figuring that I should be able to pull 100+ lbs of gear if needed and none of it will be on my back.

Building a High Speed Pulk

When winter trekking over long distances most most people prefer to use a pulk rather than hauling a heavy load on their backs. The main problem with using a traditional pulk while snow kiting is that pulks don't fair well with high speeds and rough terrain.









Our attempt to solve this problem is to build a pulk that can hold its own at higher speeds and if it does flip over it won't look like a yard sale. This is what we came up with. Yupper, it is a whitewater kayak, a Perception Phat AKA "The Phat Turtle". The plan is to modify it to function like a pulk by cutting out the cockpit rim, which will make a bigger key hole to get gear in and out. After cutting out the rim large enough to stow gear this idea had enough promise to take the poles and hardware of my traditional pulk and fasten them to the Phat Turtle.

After pulling the Phat Turtle around the yard, I found that it pulled nice and easy, but when traversing a slope it had a tendency to slide out because of the smooth rounded hull. I think I will try to find a way to fasten either a single or a double runner on the bottom.







The next step was to make a cockpit cover, I found what I call Fuzzy Rubber. A fabric that has a thick layer of micro fleece on one side and a layer of rubber on the other. It is very stretchable and I hope durable. To hold the cover on the pulk I fastened some round button snaps to the kayak and the fuzzy rubber. The cover is stretchy enough to have gear in the pulk higher than the keyhole opening and the snaps hold. I did reinforce the outside of the cover where the snaps attach by doubling over the fabric and using seam sealer and sewing the border.



Aaron found a destroyed creek boat with a crack running halfway down the hull, I'm pretty sure that the boat was a victim of spring creeking on the North Shore.






Aaron procured a plastic welder, cut out the cockpit rim and used the plastic to fill the hole and weld the crack.

It looks like he did a good job piecing it back together. I just hope that the the plastic didn't become brittle.

I'm not sure what Aaron is planning to do for poles and cover.

We will update the progress and testing of the pulks as the experiment progresses.

The Big Idea

The idea of the Crossing the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA) using Snow Kites powered by the wind was influenced by several other prior and more difficult expeditions. Liv Arneson and Ann Bancroft used snow kites in their 2001 attempt to be the first women to cross Antarctica. The 2008 “To Cross the Moon (2XtM)” an eco-friendly snow kiting expedition across North Dakota raising awareness about wind energy and climate change, and several other kiting expedition in Greenland and Alaska harnessed the wind complete their expeditions.
Why did we choose to attempt to cross the BWCA? The BWCA is a one of a kind location for any outdoor enthusiast, but to visit the area in the grip of winter, when the area is isolated by its cold temperatures and fierce winds, not to mention the frozen lakes that run in a northwest/southeast direction, make it a perfect place to plan a kite expedition.
Every expedition has obstacles and challenges to overcome to complete the adventure, otherwise it would be call a trip. Right? Well, like most great expeditions in the last 50 years, ours starts off with the challenge of permits and government approval. Our first goal is to convince the BWCA / US Forest Service to let our expedition to us snow kites to aid in our travels while in the BWCA. As of now there is no rules allowing or disallowing the use of snow kites to travel within the BWCA, but when we ask the BWCA their position on kiting, it is unclear if the will allow to use snow kites. We have great respect for what the BWCA stands for in the preservation and conservation of the area. We will wait patiently for an official ruling where or not we are welcome.

map test

View Larger Map