Swimming Through the Quetico Park

I admit there have been times when I have thought swimming across a particular lake in the BWCA or Quetico Park looked like a fun challenge.  I’ve also wondered what it would be like to hike beyond the portage trails in the canoe country wilderness.  Something I have never thought of was attempting to swim and hike my way from Atikokan, Ontario to Ely, Minnesota.

Jason Zabokrtsky from Ely is going to attempt to swim and hike his way eighty miles from Atikokan to Ely. The kicker is he’s going to do it yet this fall,  by himself and hopes to finish in two weeks.  If he accomplishes this feat then it may increase his guiding business but if he fails then what? He’s gotten a little bit of media coverage so far and knowing our media’s love of all things bad and failed he might just receive a little more attention even if he fails.  I wonder if he gets lost out there in the wilderness how his guiding business would do next season?

Kudos to Jason for putting himself out there for public scrutiny. I’m the type of person who would attempt the feat and then tell people about it after I had already succeeded. I’d have it well documented with an online trail from a SPOT or GPS,  I’d have tons of photos and then I’d search for media to cover the story or not. I’m kind of a private person about personal accomplishments.

Who knows, maybe Jason is on to something and we’ll be outfitting people with wetsuits and floating inner tubes next year for other swimming and hiking trips across the Boundary Waters or Quetico. It’s definitley a niche we haven’t yet explored at Voyageur Canoe Outfitters. 

Maybe he knows something about that area I don’t know because hiking on trails is tough enough.  We wish him the best of luck and a safe return.    http://www.twincities.com/sports/ci_24269176/ely-man-bushwhack-swim-quetico-boundary-waters