When my friend Jon Lehtola and I last left Minnesota's Boundary Waters in 1995, he told me that we should someday plan a trip to a lake where his great-something-grandfather homesteaded many years ago.  He wasn't sure of the man's name or the lake, but the story of this pioneer's year-long homestead in what is now the Boundary Waters had been passed down to him, and now he was passing it to me.  I thought the trip sounded like a great idea, but the next summer I headed off to college and even though Jon and I attended the same school, we didn't spend much time planning trips.  In the spring of 1998 we got together with some friends to hike along the Superior Hiking Trail, and being in Minnesota together again reminded us of our plans to go to the Boundary Waters in search of a lake which held part of Jon's history.  No plans were made for 1999, and plans we made for May of 2000 fell through in the final weeks before the trip.  Jon and I returned to the Superior Hiking Trail in August of 2000, and we decided that we'd try for the Boundary Waters the next summer.  In June of 2001 Jon, his father Jerry, and I headed for Lake Tuscarora.

Jon and Jerry

I've known Jon and his dad Jerry for about 11 years. We met in the Boy Scouts, and through our many outdoor experiences I learned to appreciate and rely on Jon for quality companionship in the wilderness.  Many of those outdoor experiences were coordinated by Jerry, the scoutmaster of our troop.  I had 4 different scoutmasters when I was a youth scout, but I have always regarded Jerry as "my" scoutmaster.  Although Jerry, Jon, and I had all been to the Boundary Waters in both 1993 and 1995, Jerry unselfishly had always volunteered to lead a crew of younger scouts, meaning Jon and his dad had never really traveled the Boundary Waters together.  That would change with this trip, and I was happy to tag along.

Last Updated Monday, October 08, 2001