No one wants a trip to the cabin to end. Unless you wake up on the last morning of your stay and it’s pouring. But that never happens on last days.

Instead, you wake up to what’s probably the most beautiful weather of the entire trip.

White, fat clouds floating weightlessly across a blue sky. Warm sun rays cutting through the trees. Morning dew dripping off tree branches and flowers. A bald eagle soaring far in the distance. A soft, cool breeze kissing your cheek.

These are the kinds of days you pray for when you’re planning your trip to the cabin, and these are the days you finally get when it’s time to pack up and leave.

Maybe you squeeze in one more boat ride, one more cast off the dock, one more hike through the woods.

But most of your time is spent packing up, cleaning up, locking up. Because even though the day you get makes you want to never leave, you must.

It’s back to work, back to school, back to sports, back to busy.

So you pile into the car, make the left turn, and head back toward civilization, even as the perfect day is doing everything it can to keep you where you are.

As much as you would like to stay, you can’t.

The best you can do is spend the rest of your drive home planning your next trip back.

— Rob Wormley, Publisher

The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness is one of the most paddled destinations in North America. For decades, a significant number of those paddlers traveled to a small island on Knife Lake for one thing: root beer.

That root beer was brewed in small batches by a woman who had been living alone on that island since 1934, through brutal winters and decades of federal pressure to leave.

Dorothy Molter arrived in 1930 on a family fishing trip and never really left. She was a trained nurse from Chicago who found something in the pines and lakes of northern Minnesota that she couldn't find anywhere else.

By 1934 she was living full-time at the Isle of Pines resort on Knife Lake, helping its owner Bill Berglund run the place and providing medical care to anyone who came through. Outfitters began marking Isle of Pines on their maps as a place paddlers could stop for first aid. Dorothy learned to cut ice by hand, dog sled through brutal northern winters, and hunt for her own food. People started calling her the Nightingale of the Northwoods.

Berglund died in 1948, leaving Dorothy alone on the island. What followed was a decades-long standoff between one woman and the federal government. New laws authorized the Forest Service to acquire land within what would become the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, and Isle of Pines was on the list. Dorothy refused to sell. When President Truman's 1949 executive order banned planes from flying into the BWCA, all of her supplies had to come in by canoe across fifteen miles of open water. A group of locals called "Dorothy's Angels" helped haul what she needed.

Without bottled soda she could no longer pack in, Dorothy started making her own. Sugar, root beer extract, and the crystal-clear water of Knife Lake, stirred together with a canoe paddle. What started as a practical solution became something much bigger.

Paddlers who stopped for first aid started leaving with a cold bottle of homemade root beer and a story. Word spread across the canoe routes of the north. Her log book recorded as many as six thousand visitors arriving by paddle each summer, drawn as much by the Root Beer Lady as by the wilderness itself.

She outlasted every attempt to remove her. The Wilderness Act of 1964 brought new pressure, but public support was fierce enough that Congress eventually passed a resolution allowing her to remain at Isle of Pines for the rest of her life. She became part of the fabric of the Boundary Waters, a living landmark, a reason to paddle a little farther, a destination inside a place that was supposed to have none.

Dorothy Molter died on Knife Lake on December 18, 1986, at age 79. Her gravestone reads: "Nightingale of the Boundary Waters." Her two cabins were moved log by log to Ely, Minnesota, where the Dorothy Molter Museum still stands today.

The museum coordinates the brewing of Dorothy's Isle of Pines Root Beer, based on her best bottle, and sells it at the museum store. It's also available at shops throughout the North Shore and across the state. If you find yourself up in Ely, it's worth stopping in.

If you want to see a little of what her world on Knife Lake looked like, this video from PBS is worth watching:

A few things worth knowing before you head out this week.

Ahead of every issue we send, we dig through forums, threads, and comment sections so you don't have to, and surface one piece of gear hunters and anglers are actually standing behind.

This week we're looking at the Leatherman ARC.

The ARC is Leatherman's most advanced multi-tool to date, and the thing that separates it from everything else in their lineup is the MagnaCut steel blade. MagnaCut is a relatively new steel that holds an edge longer and resists corrosion better than most blade steels on the market, which matters if you're using a multi-tool in the field for anything beyond casual tasks.

Here's what buyers who’ve used it had to say on r/Leatherman:

“Always had a Wave or Rebar - now have an Arc and now I couldn't go back. The "one hand" use for the tools is second to none and it's tough. I am a carpenter and Forest Ranger and it is really useful in both roles.”

“I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend the Arc for EDC. The Magnacut isnt a necessity but definitely nice to have. I have used every tool on it and the 1 handed use is what won me over to choose it for my EDC.”

“IMO if money isn't a concern get the Arc. I have both and the surge is a bit too chunky for me to want to EDC. I alternate them at work, but I use a sheath. When I'm not at work I almost always pocket carry the Arc.”

“Depending on the budget you have I’d go with Arc or Wave+. Wave+ has a lot of easy to open tools and the tool set is fantastic to begin with. Arc is probably even nicer and the tool set is the best imo, but the price tag is pretty wild for a pocket tool.”

At $249.95, the ARC is not cheap. But it comes with a 25-year warranty, free sharpening service for the MagnaCut blade, and is made in Portland, Oregon.

Getting them hooked

How do you get a work friend who has never fished before to come join you for a few hours of fishing?

A few tips that can make the day easier on them and on you:

Fish from a dock or landing, not a boat.
A day of fishing doesn’t have to be overly complicated. The idea of being on a boat all day can be intimidating to people who haven’t fished before. What if it starts raining? What if I need to use the bathroom? What if someone gets hurt? These are all questions that can pop into the minds of someone who’s already on the fence about going. If you want to invite someone who has never fished before to join you, start on a dock or on the side of a lake. It’s much less pressure, and you can still catch fish.

Provide all the gear and set up.
Make it easy for the person you want to fish with you. Don’t ask them to bring any gear. Just a fishing license, and you’ll take care of the rest. Lack of gear and lack of knowledge are two real barriers that make it hard for people to get into hunting and fishing. Make it easy for them, and get them hooked on the hobby first.

Don’t overwhelm them with technique.
It’s easy to overwhelm someone who’s new to fishing with constant tips about casting, reeling in, placement, bait, weather, etc. Resist the urge. Let them figure it out for themselves. If they ask for help, that’s your opportunity. Otherwise, just fish and have fun.

End with lunch or drinks somewhere nearby.
End your day with a trip to the local watering hole. Grab a couple cheeseburgers, a few bottles of beer, and enjoy reflecting on the day you had together. It’s a good way to wrap up a day, and a great way to plan the next fishing trip.

In August we’re kicking off a new cooking/recipe video series called Wild Supper.

Wild Supper will give you meal ideas, inspiration, and step-by-step recipes you can follow to cook all the wild game you catch and harvest: bass, walleye, northern, perch, venison, wild boar, elk, turkey, pheasant, alligator, and more.

We’ll publish videos on YouTube and include them here occasionally in new editions of OUTFIT. Stay tuned!

That's it for this week. Get out there when you can. We'll see you next time.

— OUTFIT