Читать книгу Boundary Waters Canoe Area: Western Region онлайн

19 страница из 90

The predominant game fishes are northern pike, walleyes, smallmouth bass, and lake trout. Black crappies and bluegills are also plentiful in many of the lakes. Even rainbow and brook trout have been stocked in some lakes.

Contrary to the perception of most paddlers, water covers only about 12 percent of the BWCAW. A coniferous forest of jack pine, red pine, white pine, tamarack, black spruce, white spruce, balsam fir, and white cedar covers most of this region. There are also extensive stands of deciduous trees, including paper birch and quaking aspen. Very few dry land areas in the BWCAW are not forested. Bogs occupy the rest of the region that is not covered by lakes or forests.

Bears

Black bears are common throughout the BWCAW. Although they are not considered to be dangerous and are usually quite shy around campers, they may be pests when they are searching for food—your food. Over the years bears have learned that canoe campers always travel with food packs and (unfortunately) often leave food scraps and garbage lying around their campsites. Where people most frequently camp, bears are most frequently a problem. Actually bears are not the problem, people are. Where campsites are kept clean and food packs are suspended properly, bears are not a problem. Nor are the smaller creatures that might come to depend on humans for their daily sustenance (chipmunks, mice, and the like).