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Article: Boundary Waters revisited
- Article from:
- Chicago Sun-Times
- Article date:
- July 28, 1996
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 1996 Chicago Sun-Times. (Hide copyright information)
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ON GUNFLINT LAKE, Minn. In the 1950s, before Minnesota's
northern canoe country became an adventure-travel destination,
suburban teenagers went there to test the waters of manhood; in other
words, to behave like hobos. A 10-day voyage into the unknown, it
was our way of hopping a freight train. We smoked and swore as we
pleased, carried cherry bombs in our pockets to ward off bears,
chucked empty Spam cans into the woods, carved our names in trees,
came home covered with ticks and wearing the same clothes we left in,
hoping at least to smell like men.
For years I resisted the urge to go back, leery of what I would
find. The daunting labyrinth of lakes had become the Boundary Waters
Canoe ...