Paul Tosto
It used to be when people brought up their Boundary Waters trip, they were talking about days in the wilderness. It was perfectly fine to brag about toughing it out, even for just a couple nights.
Primitive camping? Not seeing a soul for days? Casually ripping trout-sized leeches off your body? That’s what the words “Boundary Waters”
conjured up, my friend.
Now, though, it appears we are increasingly willing to drop in on Minnesota’s wilderness, take a picture and then run back to Ely.
While the number of Boundary Waters visitors is up significantly, the number of overnight stays has dropped, says Ron Wirtz with the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.
In his recent post, “Boundary Waters: Roughing it, for the day,” Wirtz writes:
Since 2003, the park has seen a steady drop in permits (required for overnight stays and other special uses between May 1 and Sept. 30), but an increase in total visitors, according to information from the Superior National Forest office.
The office believes the annual variation and general decline in permits is likely the result of a combination of factors, including camp fire restrictions, bugs, weather, gas prices and the general health of the economy.
At the same time, based on permits and other monitoring, the office estimates that there has been a slow, steady increase in total park visitation from an estimated 200,000 people in 2000 to an estimated 250,000 people in recent years.
This increase, according to the office, likely reflected shifts in travel patterns and length of stay, with fewer overnight stays and more day use spread more broadly across the seasons.
I’ve done one BWCA trip — four days and three nights. It was really cool. In fact, I’ve leveraged it for more than a decade, tossing it out in various gatherings as a credential of my personal toughness.
Now, we may have to create a new etiquette for Boundary Waters boasting.
You say, “I went to the Boundary Waters.” I say, “Oh, how many nights?”
You say, “Just for the day.” I stare in stony silence.