Did you know you can take four boats into the BWCA this year.

Here is the BWCA's web site www.bwcaw.org/

: Going backwards, People would ban kayak carts for the same reason that they
: would ban mountain biking. The wheels from bikes and carts cut into the
: soil more than footprints, promoting erosion. where a foot print creates a
: small puddle, a wheel track creates a furrow that rain flows through. My
: guess is that this is the reasoning behind such a ban.

: Second guess is that you would be foolish to even try to use a cart in the
: areas where I traveled in the Boundary Waters. The paths are narrow,
: unpaved, rutted, rooted and steep. You would carry the boat over every big
: bump, and there is a big bump every couple of feet.

: A portage is ALWAYS uphill, each lake is in the bottom of a giant bowl. You
: climb up from lake level to the rim of the bowl to get to the next lake.

: The proper Boundary Waters Canoe Area is mostly in Superior National Forest,
: in the northeast corner of Minnesota, with a matching length north of the
: border in Ontario, Canada. The Canadans have their own names for portions
: of this area. However, the actual size of the area that you can canoe (or
: kayak)exceeds that, and almost any spot along the southern edge of
: Ontario, from the eastern edge of Manitoba to Lake Superior is a lake or
: river, which loosely could be considered a 'boundary water', too.

: You may need a permit to enter the area. You can get these from ranger
: stations In the Superior National Forest. Any decent guide book will have
: the address of where to write, or the phone number to call. The rangers
: can probably give you the official reasons behind most of the rules. I was
: able to get maps of the area from the ranger stations, too.

: hope this helps.

: Paul G. Jacobson