Post by intrepidcamper on Jul 27, 2005 11:03:03 GMT -5
I don’t know who first did the Hunter’s Island race, many have done it. My Intrepid Dad, Ed Woolverton, did it in 1944 or ‘45 with Coleman “Dud” Fitz when they were in their 20’s and employed as summer guides for the Boy Scout Canoe Base in Ely. Their time was 64 hours and 15 minutes, starting and ending at the Moose Lake BSA base via Wind Lake. They even took time to pitch a tent and get a few hours sleep along the way. (Dad is 88, and a little vague on that far back: “where did you sleep?...on the ground.” “what time of year …summer” “how long? …a few hours, probably during the darkest part of the night”.
For any of us who have an idea of what the Hunter’s Island route in the Quetico is like, the following excepts from an article written by Sam Cook, published in the Duluth News Tribune, Sunday, July 3, 1994, are amazing:
“Dan Litchfield, 46, and Steve Park, 41, paddled the historic Hunter’s Island canoe route-145 miles of water with 34 portages – through Ontario’s Quetico Provincial Park and along the fringes of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.
They did it in 28 hours, 49 minutes and 7 seconds. That broke a 13 year old record held by two Canadians.
This was no camping trip. The two Ely men paddled and portaged from 3:35 a.m. June 22 to 8:24 a.m. June 23. They stopped only long enough to grab nourishment, guzzle some high-carbohydrate drink or take a quick dip to ward off the heat.”
…”(They) started and finished at Prairie Portage on Basswood Lake near Ely. The route took them east along the border to Saganaga Lake, northwest to Kawnipi, west to Sturgeon Lake, southwest down Sturgeon and the Maligne River to LacLaCroix and east again to Basswood Lake.
They paddled LacLaCroix, Iron, Bottle and Crooked lakes by moonlight.
Litchfield had been thinking about giving the Hunter’s Island loop a go since talking to Quetico Park Ranger Joe Meany a few years ago. Meany, the official keeper of the Hunter’s Island records, has raced the loop himself. Meany and a partner had held the two-person kayak record for the route, paddling it in 33 hours, 38 minutes in 1988.”
…”They purposely chose to do the route in mid-June to maximize daylight. And the weather cooperated. Daytime temperatures were in the high 70’s to low 80’s, with little wind, no fog and no storms. A full moon illuminated the night.”
…”Leaving Prairie Portage at 3:35 a.m. …they were on Saganaga Lake near the Gunflint Trail by 8:17 a.m. They clipped along in Park’s 40 pound, 18 ½ foot Winonah Minnesota II canoe, whipping off 58 to 60 strokes per minute with graphite and epoxy paddles. They forged northwest to Kawnipi in the heat of the day, stopping frequently to swim.
…Night fell as the men reached LacLaCroix, where Quetico Park Ranger Joe Meany met them.”
…”Both say it will take some doing to beat their record, but they welcome challengers….Park said , “I think it’s beatable.”
For any of us who have an idea of what the Hunter’s Island route in the Quetico is like, the following excepts from an article written by Sam Cook, published in the Duluth News Tribune, Sunday, July 3, 1994, are amazing:
“Dan Litchfield, 46, and Steve Park, 41, paddled the historic Hunter’s Island canoe route-145 miles of water with 34 portages – through Ontario’s Quetico Provincial Park and along the fringes of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.
They did it in 28 hours, 49 minutes and 7 seconds. That broke a 13 year old record held by two Canadians.
This was no camping trip. The two Ely men paddled and portaged from 3:35 a.m. June 22 to 8:24 a.m. June 23. They stopped only long enough to grab nourishment, guzzle some high-carbohydrate drink or take a quick dip to ward off the heat.”
…”(They) started and finished at Prairie Portage on Basswood Lake near Ely. The route took them east along the border to Saganaga Lake, northwest to Kawnipi, west to Sturgeon Lake, southwest down Sturgeon and the Maligne River to LacLaCroix and east again to Basswood Lake.
They paddled LacLaCroix, Iron, Bottle and Crooked lakes by moonlight.
Litchfield had been thinking about giving the Hunter’s Island loop a go since talking to Quetico Park Ranger Joe Meany a few years ago. Meany, the official keeper of the Hunter’s Island records, has raced the loop himself. Meany and a partner had held the two-person kayak record for the route, paddling it in 33 hours, 38 minutes in 1988.”
…”They purposely chose to do the route in mid-June to maximize daylight. And the weather cooperated. Daytime temperatures were in the high 70’s to low 80’s, with little wind, no fog and no storms. A full moon illuminated the night.”
…”Leaving Prairie Portage at 3:35 a.m. …they were on Saganaga Lake near the Gunflint Trail by 8:17 a.m. They clipped along in Park’s 40 pound, 18 ½ foot Winonah Minnesota II canoe, whipping off 58 to 60 strokes per minute with graphite and epoxy paddles. They forged northwest to Kawnipi in the heat of the day, stopping frequently to swim.
…Night fell as the men reached LacLaCroix, where Quetico Park Ranger Joe Meany met them.”
…”Both say it will take some doing to beat their record, but they welcome challengers….Park said , “I think it’s beatable.”