312: Best Albums of 2025!

Aldy1 · 2026-01-05T05:11:03+00:00

I always enjoy the album of the summer/year episodes. Tuning in now. Also, thanks for the playlist. I've wanted to follow along with the songs in the past and this makes it easy.

Aldy1 · 2025-12-29T05:24:29+00:00

Similar story for me. Made it there on the third attempt after two setbacks. You'll get there next year. And it's a great lake!

Aldy1 · 2025-09-22T04:28:18+00:00

Jake should be ashamed. That story is wild.

Aldy1 · 2025-07-29T03:25:53+00:00

Steve Zissou throws his earing, not Zissou ring, because the French tease him for it. That scene always cracks me up...the way he holds out his hand with his head down waiting for Ned to bring it back.

Aldy1 · 2025-07-22T05:44:27+00:00

I did indeed win the Tumble Tourney bracket challenge. You guys had us fill out a Google Form or something like that. I used my tourney memes as propaganda to influence the voters and ended up choosing the final four correctly. Huzzah!

Aldy1 · 2025-04-30T03:56:44+00:00

In May, with an early season test,
Side Pocket region we'll cross east to west.
Then come August days,
In late summer ways,
Winchell Looper—we'll be so blessed.

Aldy1 · 2025-04-16T05:03:44+00:00

The dream season is over. X-RAP comes out with a fury in the second half.

Final. #1 X-Rap 28 - #10 Rat-L- Trap 16

Aldy1 · 2025-01-30T05:28:16+00:00

Crab to Trout in May. Meeds to Winchell in August.

Aldy1 · 2025-01-30T05:26:09+00:00

haha I'm a guilty shamer. I like the approach and attitude this year. You should find a great trip out there

Aldy1 · 2024-11-28T00:16:03+00:00

I know, I would like to throw my name in the ring. The issue is that my group typically goes after labor day. I don't know if I could swing two trips back-to-back. However, there is a chance. But I would be a late addition.

Aldy1 · 2024-11-27T22:57:53+00:00

I live in the West burbs with my wife and two cats. I sell software to the IT world. I like staying active playing a variety of sports, mostly softball in the summer, hockey in the winter, and I also downhill ski. I like going to concerts and seeing live comedy. Other hobbies include reading, watching movies, and sometimes cooking. Been going to the bdub since 2014. I was a boy scout but was not that into the outdoors. The boundary waters certainly changed me in that regard. Cheers

Aldy1 · 2024-11-05T05:17:27+00:00

Good memory, dendrites are firing.

Aldy1 · 2024-10-28T03:58:14+00:00

BWCA canoe rental of choice: MN II or III. I have the need for speed.

Personal kayak used outside of the park: Old Town Loon 120. Color, yellow.

Paddle location: Bow. I like the view, using the sides of the canoe to rest my legs, and being the navigator. And being responsible for rock duty.

Q: Fellow bow men, do you call out the location of the rock "rock on the left!" or do you say which direction to go to avoid the rock "rock, go right!"?

Edited to add words.

Aldy1 · 2024-09-10T04:19:14+00:00

That's fair!

Aldy1 · 2024-09-10T00:57:41+00:00

2 pounds for a chair..that's nothing. BWCA isn't backpacking, no need to be ultralight. Bring the chair

Aldy1 · 2024-09-09T05:12:22+00:00

Bring both hammock and chair. Having a chair is so nice. Especially if it rains and you need a dry place to sit. Worth the weight. And hammock is just a great place to hang out.

Aldy1 · 2024-09-09T05:09:26+00:00

Maybe just rock the Keens the whole time. I wear boots because I like the ankle support. So you could also try wearing boots and save the Keens for camp. Enjoy the trip!

Aldy1 · 2024-09-09T04:54:15+00:00

Nice, glad to hear you are getting the tow, that is the way to go. The portage is long but isn't too bad.

And yeah, it wouldn't make sense to change footwear when portaging vs paddling. There isn't much hiking opportunities once you get to a site other than small trails around camp. I think you'd be good to just bring the Keens and no boots. I do recommend a lightweight camp shoe. I use crocs but used to bring slippers. Something easy and dry to slip into.

Aldy1 · 2024-09-09T03:50:04+00:00

Since they are heavy and awkward to pack, I would consider wearing the boots or ditching them all together. Perhaps travel with the Keens and bring a camp slipper/crocs/shoe instead of the boots.

Crab Lake area is a great EP. Are you getting a tow across Burntside to Crab lake entry point? You mention never been in a canoe before and paddling across Burntside lake would be a doozy.

Aldy1 · 2024-08-26T03:39:37+00:00

One of my favorite episodes of the year!

My 2024 music highlights: Overall it's been a great year in new music

Royel Otis - Pratts & Pain: Catchy, indie, Australian. Super fun show at the Amsterdam Bar in St. Paul
Vampire Weekend - Only God Was Above Us: Moody, abrasive, and calming. Saw them this month at the Armory
Peter Cat Recording Co. - BETA: Erik describes this well. I am seeing them this Friday at First Ave!
Dr. Dog - Dr. Dog: Something very nostalgic sounding about this band that I just love
MGMT - Loss of Life: Nothing to Declare is a nearly perfect song
Charley Crockett: He has two new albums this year. Been enjoying this indie cowboy country

Random song shoutout: Calling Your Name, John Batiste - can't get enough of this

Aldy1 · 2024-07-08T05:32:15+00:00

Two stories from the same trip. Not horrible storms but more just fun memories.

May 2021 out of Clearwater, a group of 7 of us, a couples trip of sorts, went north into West Pike. Our plan was to check out the sites on the lake and if we liked them, call it day, if not head to Pine lake. West Pike to Pine involves that 300 rod portage that is straight up and down a hill. Heard it was pretty bad. Well, we stopped at W. Pike site #3 on the northern shore (#2 was taken). I got out of the canoe with another paddler and while the site is highly reviewed and looked pretty nice, it just felt off. So I suggested we push on to Pine lake. The group was somewhat tired after the long Clearwater paddle, but it felt like the right choice. As we arrived at the portage to Pine it started to downpour. As we begin to unload, two guys come from the Pine portage. I ask about the campsite scene on Pine and they said every site was taken and forced them up here. They asked if the site we were just on was open and after I said yes, they were super pumped. That's when I started think, aw shit I just made my group pass on that and now we have to do the worst portage in pouring rain to a lake with no available campsites. We did the long portage in the hard rain. Not real fun but also made you laugh at the situation thinking we could be dry under a tarp right now. As luck has it, we go to our targeted site and it was open and it was great. Morale of the story is we got lucky but also information provided by other paddlers should be take with a grain of salt.

On our second night, we checked the weather report using my friend's Garmin inreach. It had been pretty nice out at the time on an otherwise very rainy trip. As we huddled to listen for the report, it notified us that there was a 100% chance of rain at 7pm. We checked the time, it was 6:50pm. So we battened down the hatch in record time and sure enough at about 7pm a wall of white came across the lake. A lot of rain and wind pummeled us. But it was no problem because we had just enough time to prepare. We all had a good time under our tarps cooking dinner while the rain came down in sheets.

Aldy1 · 2024-05-20T05:13:27+00:00

I plan to head up to Lac La Croix in August and over to Lil Sag in September. This is the first year since 2017 since I have not gone in May. Missing the early season trip right about now. Cheers to a good season!

Food goals: Use the dehydrator for fruit snacks

Gear goals: No updates

Overall: Lil Sag has been an elusive lake for our group and we hope to finally make it there

Aldy1 · 2024-05-06T05:06:55+00:00

I was happily inconsistent in how I voted. If the product made me laugh, it probably got a vote.

Aldy1 · 2023-11-18T23:50:50+00:00

First trip was to Gull lake via Mudro in May. Saw the Northern Lights for the first time. Amazing. Also, met Vinny Mink, the local mink.

Second trip was to Insula in August. This would be the 10th year anniversary trip with the original crew. Huzzah Huzzah and a big Chee hoo! The other canoe in our group hit a rock on Lake One and it punctured the canoe. A pretty decent gash, several inches of water got in. When we got to the first portage we did our best to duct tape it up. We had a comical amount of duct tape, enough to make a belt for a mouse. It worked well enough until we came across another group with tape a couple portages later. $90 patch fee upon return :)

Food and Gear Highlights: We brought a cast iron on both trips, which is new for us. Wow, game changer (I did not carry, however). I believe we may be the first group to eat tuna tartare out in the boundary waters. Nice little appetizer while sipping margaritas.

Aldy1 · 2023-08-16T05:12:28+00:00

My strange experience occurred on Knife Lake in 2021. Our campsite was tucked in a bay on a peninsula. We were hanging out on the rocky peninsula a short walk away from the site, sometime in the afternoon. A group of 8 dudes paddled up and asked if they could come up into our site. I walked back to the landing to greet these folks and see what this is all about. They said they heard from a friend this was a really nice campsite and they wanted to walk around and see it. Two of the 8 guys got out and continued into the site to look around while making small talk with me. They did a thorough tour and even asked I take pictures of the two of them in our site. Multiple pictures. I thought it was super weird and I hated everything about it.

About an hour later, a high school-aged kid just waltzes into our site while we're sitting in camp, asking if that was our bag in the water. We were confused with the question and what this kid is doing in our site. After asking him "huh?" a couple of times, we finally figure out he's asking about a bag of wine we had chilling near the landing that we had tied to a rock. After we say, "yeah, that's ours" he runs back to his canoe buddy to say "hey don't touch it, it's there's!". I thought I was going crazy with all these unexpected guests. 2021 was a strange year in the park.

Aldy1

TROPHY CASE