- These things are kinda wobbly.

- Woo!

(canoe tipping) - Woo!

(edgy music) (upbeat music) Here we are in Ely.

We're gonna take one of these canoes out.

Meeting up with Wilderness Canoe guide Eliza Vistica.

She's gonna teach me some valuable lessons about wilderness canoeing.

I'm stoked.

I can't wait to get my feet wet.

(upbeat music continues) - So you wanna put a hand on each side and then step into the middle so your weight is balanced and low to the canoe.

Perfect!

- All aboard.

(paddle splashing) I'm so excited for what we have in store!

Besides a canoe, paddle and life jacket, you'll want a few items to protect yourself from the elements.

A trip up here is amazing, but if you're looking for something a little more local, a handful of lakes in the Twin Cities have canoe rentals and rates go from hourly up to a full day.

State parks are another great option.

They have rentals and offer lessons throughout the summer.

When I got on, you told me to hold the paddle.

Like inexperienced, I would think I would use this underside, the logo side because it kind of feels like it's scooping, but it's the opposite.

So it's kind of the backside of the scoop.

- If you think of a little duck's foot in the water, think of that angle.

That's what the paddle is basically simulating, nature.

Use your full body, not just your arms.

For flat-water paddling, front person is providing the power and the back person is doing a lot of C and J-strokes to help steer the canoe.

They propel you forward but also turn you from side to side without having to like break all of your momentum.

J-stroke is just a forward stroke and then you turn your paddle out and hold it in, and it'll turn you to the side you're paddling on.

And then the C-stroke is a big wide stroke and then you pull it in to your hip at the end and that'll turn you.

It's a lot more effective than slamming in a rudder, 'cause that kind of breaks all your momentum, if you wanna have efficient strokes.

- Superior National Forest was established in 1909 and is the largest national forest East of the Mississippi River.

The forest is 6.9 million acres and 695 square miles of it is surface water.

The Boundary Waters Canoe Area is within the bounds of the forest, and a permit is required for overnight paddles.

Year-round recreational opportunities include hiking, camping and fishing, to name a few.

(upbeat music) What's some common mistakes that you see newbies doing?

- See a lot of people not putting on sunscreen.

The water's really reflective and people get a lot of sunburns on their chins and on their knuckles from paddling.

- Reminds me of that line from Forrest Gump when he is like "Sometimes the rain came from underneath."

(both laughing) The sunburn can come from underneath.

That's something you might not consider.

- And then also bringing too much stuff and not packing it well.

So even if you're out for a day trip, it's nice to have like a big bag that you put all the loose things in.

Might be portaging from lake to lake, and if you've got 14 loose items it's a little harder to carry across the trails.

I'd also say good footwear.

- What are those?

These are my new paddle shoes.

- Something that not everyone knows is just packing everything out that you pack in.

Even if it's something that can compost like an orange peel.

You gotta pack it out because it also attracts bears and animals.

- So when people are camping and stuff is there any wildlife to look out for?

- It's a lot of mosquitoes.

- The Minnesota State Bird you mean?

(laughing) - If you're lucky, bears, wolves and moose are kind of the big exciting animals.

- I've heard the moose are actually the most dangerous.

- An angry moose, sure.

- I feel like that's a name of a beer or something.

(both laughing) - The Angry Moose.

- The Angry Moose.

(Eliza laughing) - We're coming up to a portage here.

(water sloshing) Portage is a trail that connects two lakes or takes you around rapids that you can't paddle through.

We're gonna learn how to flip up the canoe and carry it across and carry all our stuff across to get to Little Sletten Lake.

- I've been looking forward to this.

I have to put these paddle shoes to work.

- Woo.

(water sloshing) (happy music) - These are Kevlar canoes.

They're really nice because this canoe only weighs about 40 pounds as opposed to an aluminum, which can be over 80.

So you'll be carrying it with these pads on your shoulders.

You'll grab the edge and kind of walk it up so the bottom of the canoe is against your legs.

Kind of use your hips to pop it up and over your head.

Then you'll end up facing that way with the canoe on your shoulders.

Yep.

And then pop it up.

(edgy hip hop music) - Successful portage!

Not a very long one.

- Portages are measured in rods.

One rod is 16 and a half feet which is about the length of a canoe.

So 15 rods and- - Just to make it complicated.

- Nobody knows.

It's got its own terminology of measurement.

(laughing) - It means you can brag you did a 15 rod portage and no one will know what it means.

- Went at least 15 rods out there in the Boundary Waters, canoe on my back.

(Eliza laughing) Let's load up and paddle some more.

(edgy music) So what's the longest portage you've undertaken?

- The Grand Portage brings you to Lake Superior and it's 2,720 rods, which is about eight and a half miles.

- With a canoe on your back?

- An aluminum canoe.

- How?

(Eliza chuckles) - A lot of snacks.

- Are there any portages that are longer than that?

- The Ely Marathon has a Portage Division every year.

There's people who carry a canoe for 26 miles in the marathon.

- Why?

- Just I think to say you did it.

- The beauty of being in the Boundary Waters is that we're surrounded by water.

If you run outta drinking water, what do we do?

- Got this magical device.

Uses UV light to purify your water.

- Whoa, this is wild.

- Let's go ahead and scoop it.

- Okay.

- Put it in, it'll start counting down.

- 85.

It's a little counter.

Stirring it, stirring it.

- [Both] 3, 2, 1.

- Drink it, drink it!

(Eliza laughing) I'm drinking the Boundary Waters.

That is some high quality H2O.

This is real good.

(peppy music) Any misconceptions, maybe not just the wildlife but the whole experience that beginners might come with?

- That it has to be challenging to make it worth it, but it's really accessible to all different experience levels.

Finding a program or a guide who can meet you where you're at and make the experience meaningful and memorable and fun.

If put in the right situation to learn, anyone can have fun out in the Boundary Waters.

- Is it common that a canoe tips?

- These canoes are designed for Boundary Waters, travel.

They're pretty sturdy.

The most common place that they do tip is at the landing.

Should we practice tipping the canoe?

So you can see how easy it is to turn it back?

- Sure.

So we should probably practice a little closer to shore.

- We'll take our gear out of the canoe and we can practice flipping it.

- Cut to when we're done unpacking.

(edgy music) Boom!

Here we are.

Getting ready for the the plunge.

Oh my gosh.

Are we ready?

- Let's do it.

- Okay.

(chuckling) I'm a little nervous.

Here we go.

- Woo!

(canoe tipping) Woo!

(laughing) - Woo!

(happy music) - Now we can flip the canoe over, make sure we've got our paddles.

- Yep, we got 'em.

- Okay.

Now we're just gonna bring this canoe full of water over to the shore.

- What a surreal day.

You know, I learned a lot that was interesting to learn about, the lengths of portages being measured in rods.

Interesting to learn about using a bent paddle.

I drank lake water on purpose.

You don't have to be the most equipped or skilled outdoors person to come and see this.

Your first trip, and you get a guide that makes you feel comfortable where you're at.

Definitely worth it to not write it off as something you'd never do.

And if you're not able to make it all the way out here, taking a canoe around your local lake can give you some of that same experience to just get back in touch with nature.

Growing that relationship between just because I've never done it doesn't mean I can't do it could lead to some really fulfilling experiences.

It's something to see and I swear I'm going to be back.

So with that, it's Chance, signing off.