One Week and Counting

Today is a big day for this trip- after months of planning and training we are now just 7 days ( six and a half actually) from taking our first steps in the BW.  Food is starting to pile up, gear is in various forms of construction/ completion and my tent is starting to take on the appearance of a northwoods outpost.  One of my favorite reasons to take on a lengthy expedition-style trip like this one is the degree of planning, organizing, and figuring just how you are going to pull off such an adventure. 

New ice chisel made from a 1 1/2" wood slick,
a section of steel pipe and black ash handle.

For example, this trip has had us dehydrating meat, fruits and veggies, welding tools like the ice chisel in the picture, sewing bags to hold gear and also fit on the long and narrow toboggans, retrofitting/ modifying the gear we have that doesn't work quite right and inventing pieces of kit that you just can't buy anymore.  I spent the better part of a day last week figuring out a new snowshoe binding that gives me a solid feel but that is soft enough to work in conjunction with moosehide mukluks.  What I came up with is something that you can't buy (unfortunately because they work great) and that is tailored to fit my needs and the environment I live in.  

We will be heading up to Ely next Monday night and will be staying over 'till tuesday morning.  If all goes according to plan we will be loading up our toboggans and heading out from the end of the Gunflint trail on Wednesday morning and returning to Ely on or close to the 11th of March.