Aidan Jones reflected on the five-day adventure in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness:

The best moment?

The very end of the trip — we paddled around the corner of Little John Lake to see the boat ramp. It was the last stretch, and it hit me that the trip was over. I realized how far we had come and how much we had seen.

His toughest moment?

Probably after the massive 660-rod portage. I was so tired I thought I could not keep going. But after a short break we were paddling. I had no choice but to keep going if we wanted to get to a good campsite before it was taken.

His most memorable moment?

Definitely the first night: I was catching a smallmouth bass every cast!

Being offline?

It was weird not having any tech or any way to contact anyone. But after a couple of days I started to appreciate it and not think about it. This made the trip way more enjoyable.

Finish this sentence: I'll never forget when ...

We decided to go to the Pigeon River Dam. It took about a half-hour of climbing very rough terrain to get to the waterfall. It was worth it.