Bill Rom Memorial

A memorial service for Bill Ron, long-term Ely outfitter who was one of the founders of the BWCAW, will be held 10:30 am Friday, August 8, at the Y Camp Widgi, north of Ely. Bill passed away in January and will be greatly missed.

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Trail Updates/Cautions
(June 2008)

Kekekabic Trail

Both ends of the trail present new challenges. The Cavity Lake fire burned over much of the trail just east of the Agamok bridge, making navigation a challenge. As our trail-clearing crew reported, with no trees you can see the big lakes easily, so you do have a sense of where you are, but finding the actual trail can be rather difficult. In some areas, the trail is marked by the slightly taller grass, as the trail tread was the first to regenerate.

The west end has a sizable piece that is outside the Wilderness boundary, and logging activity has obliterated parts of the trail–another navigation challenge, although our trail-clearers did work to make it more obvious. The Forest Service intends to mechanically brush it out and flag the trail to correct the issue.

The Strup Portage area was not cleared in May as usual, but will be cleared mid-summer.

Pow Wow Trail

The main concern for hikers is likely to be where the old bridge was near Lake Diane (SE section of the trail). That bridge is now totally gone (only a few metal spikes remain) and the log crossing is now just a single log. One can cross using a long pole for balance, but many might consider it impassable with a full backpack. We are working with the Forest Service to see about constructing some sort of bridge ASAP. (See photo)

The northwest section, from the campsite at Path around to the Wilder Lakes has been cleared every year, but not this year, as the lakes were still ice-covered when our trail-clearing crew came up, so they focused on the trailhead to the Wilders.

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