The Boundary Waters is different than anything else around. The rocky terrain is almost like you're in the mountains, but with endless water you can filter and drink. There's an element of adventure to it that I really like.

We were up this last weekend, base camping* for the first time — we could only be there for two nights, so we stayed in the same site rather than picking up and moving. We found this day trip adventure where we paddled up to Moosecamp Lake and we had to cross around seven beaver dams. We had to do a lot of problem solving to figure out how we were going to get ourselves and a canoe over a two-foot beaver damn with muck and branches as our only thing to stand on. We felt very accomplished when that was a successful trip.

I know there are other good places to paddle and camp in the United States, but I think the Boundary Waters is unique. It's the most visited wilderness, so they get much more exposure while still maintaining a wild quality. There can be a lot of people on certain routes, but if you go farther away from entry points, you might only see two other people for the whole day.

There’s a lot of versatility in the kind of camping you can experience as well. While we usually do more campsite hopping — a type of imitation of French voyagers from back in the day — there's been a trend in the last 10 or 15 years where people might paddle for an hour and camp in one spot for a week. You can really control how far you go and how much you explore with each visit.  

Cuyuna State Park is fun to camp at and has an amazing world class mountain bike trail network that we really love. We go there once in the summer and once in the winter every year. In the summer you can go mountain biking or road biking and then kayak later in the day on beautiful lakes. Then in the winter, you can cross-country ski on those road bike trails and fat bike on other trails.

Split Rock is another unique experience. It has the lighthouse, of course, plus a camping element and then there are pretty cool hiking trails, especially with access to the Superior Hiking Trail. There's also another really good mountain bike park there called Split Rock Wilds.

Both of those places are unique to Minnesota, with a lot of history and also unbelievable scenery. 

Canoe expeditions are probably the biggest for me, but my wife and I will dabble in backpacking. Canoeing is firmly in the lead because you can bring more luxuries — better food and amenities — you can't bring if you have to carry it all on your back.

As far as backpacking, there are hiking trails in the Boundary Waters that people don't often know about. My favorite hiking trail I've ever done goes around Snowbank Lake. There's a parking lot that you actually start from east of Ely. It's a three-day/two-night, pretty vigorous hike. While you’re in the woods mainly for the Superior Hiking Trail, on the Snowbank Lake Trail, you're popping out of the woods with amazing overlook views of the water every few minutes. If you go in the fall, you get the bonus of fall colors, too.

There are a lot of rabbit holes you can go down researching and gear can be a big barrier to people. I would recommend to people get whatever you can to try it out. Worry about which specific brand or which features or whatever later on, once you've determined if camping seems like something you'd actually like.

There are so many Facebook groups, forums and websites where it makes it seem like you should be spending thousands of dollars to get in, but you could probably borrow all the gear from a friend or get it on Facebook marketplace or Craigslist for under $100. Car camping is an easy way to start out, especially as, a lot of times, cheaper gear is heavier.

If you are doing a wilderness-style trip, I would recommend going through an outfitter first and get some good tips from them. The other thing I would say is just look up a list of suggested things to bring and make sure you don't get hung up on the brand.  

There are some lodges and campgrounds right along the Boundary Waters, like the Sawbill Lake Campground, where you can set up a campsite right next to the same exact body of water without having to hike or paddle to.

Also Bear Head Lake State Park is an accessible campground where you can get a camping experience without needing to carry a canoe or 100lb pack. 

Mosquitoes can be really annoying, but don’t forget flies, too. I sometimes think flies are worse than mosquitoes, but mosquitoes are the thing most people worry about. For both, I would recommend always bringing a black head net, which works better with your vision somehow. Your brain erases it a little bit vs the green nets really impede your vision. Just have it in your pocket or if you wear a hat, wear it partially over your head, so it's ready to be pulled over.

Mosquitoes tend to come out at dusk and dawn. Find a campsite that has wind and sun. In the day, the wind will blow them away and the sun will keep them at bay. Then try to be done with the cooking and eating dinner before sunset, so that you're not eating at “mosquito hour.” Also, get any overnight prep finished during the day, when the mosquitoes are less present, so you're not trying to do it while you're being devoured.

Another tip is more weather dependent, but you can wear winter gloves and thick pants. Tuck your pants into thick socks and then wear thicker shoes. Add a couple shirt layers and the bug net on top and you end up with a suit of armor that only the best mosquitoes can get through.

If you really hate bugs, you should look at doing a trip early May or late August/early September. By August/September the water is still warm, but the mosquitos are pretty much gone by then. If you go in May, you should plan your trip around whether there's been a freeze recently. 

I've developed some over the years and one concern that comes up a lot is about water filtration. In the past, you had to use a hand pump and someone's one role at the campsite would be the pump person. They would spend hours over the course of a few days pumping water so that everyone could stay hydrated.

Then drops started to get more popular to sanitize the water, but there's still a chemical element that you're drinking that people are hesitant about.

About 8-9 years ago, a company pioneered these little inline water filters for their Sawyer squeeze. What I did was, I got one of those filters and hooked it onto an old hydration pack bladder and then I hooked it onto a tree. I essentially made a gravity filter for about $15 that accomplished the same thing that was $200 at the time. More companies are imitating the expensive filters, so it's becoming cheaper, but my hack is still a money saver. 

Tortilla shell, peanut butter and pepperoni. I was very skeptical the first time, but it tastes way better than you'd expect. I'm guessing it's the salt, because it’s more savory than what you'd get with jelly.  

Another is tuna packets and a whole bunch of spinach stuffed into a little Tupperware container, so you have some greens. That meal usually gets wrapped in tortillas, too.

We brought sausages to grill last camping trip and I realized I forgot the buns, so... we used tortillas as a makeshift bun. It turns out, tortillas are the way to go.