5 minute read
Roberta Laidlaw
In the second grade, while living in Southern California, Laidlaw joined Girl Scouts, which contributed greatly to her life of outdoor adventures. Her troop leader, Mrs. Shea, taught her the skills of backpacking.
“She’s the one who laid out the groundwork for me, learning how to spend your life outdoors in the wilderness sleeping on
“Everything Girl Scouts had us doing outdoors, I loved it with a passion. It was like, that was my place,” Laidlaw said.
The call of Northern Minnesota
Laidlaw, now 62, carried the knowledge she learned from Girl Scouts into her young adult years. In 1995, she completed her degree in outdoor recreation management and forestry from the University of Minnesota and worked as a park ranger at Father Hennepin State Park on Lake Mille Lacs. She began backpacking with friends and then started solo backpacking. She first learned to backpack in seventh grade, and in her 40s, she took on solo backpacking.
In 1990, she encountered the Minnesota Rovers Outdoors Club, which introduced her to northern Minnesota.
“It’s so unique. There’s no other place in the United States that’s like the Boundary Waters,” she said.
Laidlaw started reading everything she could about the Boundary Waters: how to canoe, how to paddle, the history of other canoeists and how it once was logged, and how it once hosted a variety of resorts.
Her enthusiasm for the northwoods of Minnesota grew so much that in 2015, she settled in Duluth. In 2019, she landed a job working as the administrative assistant for Lake County Forestry. Co-worker Leigh Neitzel explained Laidlaw’s devotion to the wilderness.
“This woman’s passion radiates from her entire being,” Neitzel said. “She loves the sport of backpacking and canoeing. It has become a part of her. It is necessary for her own spiritual survival.”
Solo canoeing
Laidlaw explained that the key to being able to solo canoe and take multiple-day trips is the ability to portage between lakes, carrying the canoe by yourself.
“Sometimes you might be walking three minutes and sometimes you might be walking half a mile long. The key to me doing this was finding the right canoe that was light enough and that I could balance on my shoulders without dying,” she said with a laugh.
The canoe she eventually purchased was the Northwind Solo canoe by Northstar Canoes, a Minnesota company.
“I can’t emphasize enough the importance of a lightweight solo canoe,” Laidlaw said. “The canoe I bought, after first renting several brands, weighs just under 40 pounds. It’s so light that even at my age, I can portage that canoe.”
To be able to physically do her canoe trips, she tries to keep a basic level of fitness all year long, including longdistance walking and lifting weights.
Preparing for the journey
To prepare for her nine-day feat, Laidlaw first completed two separate multi-day journeys. The first trip was a five-day pilgrimage to the former homestead of Dorothy Molter, a woman who lived and operated the Isle of Pines Resort from 1948 until her death in 1986.
On the drive up there, Laidlaw’s fear of solo canoeing set in.
“I had my canoe and my packs. I was sitting there on this little island, and I was filled with terror,” she shared. “It’s like when you’re going to give a speech and you’re completely nervous right before you go on and once you go up to the podium and start talking, the nerves go away.”
Once she started paddling, a group of loons came out to greet her and her nerves calmed.
Her second solo preparatory trip was exploring part of the route of her
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• Busing from Duluth and Two Harbors upcoming nine-day trip. This allowed her to test her skills and navigate around the different lakes. Completing those journeys gave her confidence to continue planning the nine-day loop.
Boundary Waters
nine-day adventure
The nine-day excursion began at wilderness entry point No. 55, which is located at the end of the Gunflint Trail on Saganaga Lake. The circle route she completed takes you into the interior of the Boundary Waters.
“I like the interior lakes that take longer to get into. I want the feeling of having to work to get more into the center of the Boundary Waters,” she said while explaining that the lakes closest to the wilderness boundary are the most crowded with people.
Starting out, the fear set in again.
“When the tow dropped me off at Honeymoon Island, near American Point, I had the same feeling of terror, but I had it even more intensely,” she said. “Even with 40 years of experience, I still get nervous. I feel like being nervous is good, because it keeps you on your toes and aware of the dangers.”
She explained that solo canoeing takes effort.
“You’re always moving, getting across portages, heading to a destination, getting to a basecamp, making a basecamp, and preparing your food.”
While on her trips, she also enjoys her photography hobby.
“When I plan these trips, I want to trace down history, see people who lived here, and see special places and pictographs,” Laidlaw said. On this trip, she visited another canoe legend’s homestead, Benny Ambrose.
“Other than Dorothy Molter, he was one of the last people allowed to continue to live in the Boundary Waters. I was so happy seeing his site,” she said. After visiting Ambrose’s site, her next destination was Lake Kekekabic, one of her favorite lakes in the Boundary Waters.
Regarding her time as a solo adventurer, she says there are moments that she gets a twinge of feeling lonely, but that her time alone in nature is worth it.
“When you’re alone, you feel it more deeply, all of these things about nature,” she said. “When you’re with somebody, a lot of times, you’re relating to that other person. When you’re by yourself, you’re in the moment, absorbing nature to the fullest.”
Advice for women
For those who are interested in venturing more into the outdoors, Laidlaw shared some well-earned wisdom.
“Baby steps,” she said. “Start day hiking with the Women Hike Duluth group, a good group for bonding and meeting people.”
There are a variety of ways for women to learn the skills needed for backpacking or canoeing.
“I was fortunate to start young and have this background, but you can start at any age and there are people that will help you,” she said.
The University Minnesota Duluth and Lake Superior College have classes on canoeing, while Duluth Community Education offers beginning backpacking courses.
For women who don’t have the equipment or skills for a multi-day canoe trip, they can hire a guide to take them into the Boundary Waters. Many of these guides are based in Ely and Grand Marais. The Women’s Wilderness Discovery is another guiding group.
Future trips
Future trips for Laidlaw include canoeing into Quetico Provincial Park in Canada, a canoe trip in Pukaskwa Provincial Park, and canoeing in Alaska and Canada.
“Now that I’ve learned how to solo canoe, I’m going to keep doing this as long as I live,” she exclaimed.
Her ultimate outdoor life goal is a paddling and climbing trip in Patagonia.
“Life is so exciting. There’s so much to do,” she said with a grin. D
