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A Year in the Wilderness: Bearing Witness in the Boundary Waters
From adventurers and educators Amy and Dave Freeman, a passionate and beautifully illustrated account of a year in the Boundary Waters.
The Boundary Waters--with over twelve hundred miles of canoe routes--is one of our national treasures, yet their existence has been consistently threatened. When the Freemans learned of copper nickel mining in the area's watershed, they decided to take action. They would speak on behalf of the Boundary Waters. And they would do it by spending a year in the wilderness.
This book tells the story of that year in northern Minnesota. In visceral, immediate language and gorgeous photos, the Freemans show us the value of wilderness and why we must protect it. We hear loons whistling softly under a moonrise. We taste lobster mushrooms cooked over a fire. We watch a pine marten stalking a hare through winter's first snowfall. We linger, reverently, at the edges of a silent lake after other campers have gone home.
With the magic--and urgent message behind it--that have brought an international audience to the Freemans' cause, A Year in the Wilderness is a rousing cry of witness activism and a stunning tribute to this special region.
The Boundary Waters--with over twelve hundred miles of canoe routes--is one of our national treasures, yet their existence has been consistently threatened. When the Freemans learned of copper nickel mining in the area's watershed, they decided to take action. They would speak on behalf of the Boundary Waters. And they would do it by spending a year in the wilderness.
This book tells the story of that year in northern Minnesota. In visceral, immediate language and gorgeous photos, the Freemans show us the value of wilderness and why we must protect it. We hear loons whistling softly under a moonrise. We taste lobster mushrooms cooked over a fire. We watch a pine marten stalking a hare through winter's first snowfall. We linger, reverently, at the edges of a silent lake after other campers have gone home.
With the magic--and urgent message behind it--that have brought an international audience to the Freemans' cause, A Year in the Wilderness is a rousing cry of witness activism and a stunning tribute to this special region.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2017
24 people are currently reading
977 people want to read
About the author
Amy Freeman
2 books15 followersAmy and Dave Freeman are the authors of A Year in the Wilderness, a rousing cry of witness activism and a beautifully illustrated account of their year living in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness to raise awareness about the threats of sulfide-ore copper mining. They have traveled over thirty thousand miles by canoe, kayak, and dogsled through some of the world’s wildest places, from the Amazon to the Arctic. National Geographic named them Adventurers of the Year in 2014, and their images, videos, and articles have been published by a wide range of media sources from the CBC, NBC, and FOX to the Chicago Tribune, National Geographic, Outside, Backpacker, Canoe and Kayak, and Minnesota Public Radio. They also run the Wilderness Classroom, an educational nonprofit organization that introduces children to wild places and unique cultures.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 93 reviews
November 15, 2017
I wanted to quickly browse this book because one of it's authors, Amy, grew up attending the same church where I am a member. I ended up reading every word and becoming fully absorbed in the Freeman's year long adventure in the Boundary Waters. The book is an wonderful marriage of highly descriptive narrative and striking photographs such that I felt I was along for the journey even though I was sitting in an easy chair while they were hefting canoe and gear over innumerable portages. The book is a testament to their passion for wilderness and their fortitude in taking a year of their lives to call attention once more to its beauty and the importance of its preservation. The book does both extremely well.
December 30, 2017
The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Northern Minnesota and Western Ontario is a place that I love. The BWCAW has provided lasting memories of family, friends, woods, bluffs, falls, stars, loons, grouse, paddling and portages. It is one of the few places that provides a glimpse of North America in its primal state.
In the '70s, the BWCA was the center of a legislative battle between bills sponsored by Minnesota Congressmen Jim Oberstar and Donald Fraser. The Oberstar bill proposed to make large portions of the Wilderness a National Recreation Area allowing expanded use of motorboats, snowmobiles, logging and mining. The Fraser bill would protect the BWCA as a wilderness, curtailing motorized travel, logging and mining. I remember this as the first time I wrote to my government leaders and passionately speaking in front of my high school speech class to voice my opinion that this wilderness needed to be saved and preserved.
Memories of these past trips and the battle for protecting the BWCA were brought back while reading the Freeman's book. Amy and Dave Freeman describe 366 days spent traveling afloat, afoot and on sled in the BWCA. The book is a wonderful journal and collection of photos documenting a year in the wilderness across all four seasons. It captured the sights, sounds, smells and feelings that brought my memories of BWCA summers rushing back while also describing the wilderness experience in the late fall, winter and early spring.
More importantly, the Freeman's took their journey to draw attention and protect the unique treasure we have in the BWCA. Their trip raised awareness and support to prevent the opening of sulfide-ore copper mines just outside the BWCA, within the area's watershed. Almost 40 years after President Carter signed a bill into Law protecting the BWCA as a wilderness it still needs to be actively protected.
My grandfather told me stories of taking a canoe trip with his brothers out of Ely in the '30's. I took my first trip in the BWCA as a boy with my father in the 70's. Since then I have taken trips with my wife, son and friends. It is important for all Americans to be vigilant, aware and active in preserving the country's natural places.
Thank you to the Freeman's for taking this trip and sharing their journey in this book. Let's protect the BWCAW so future generations can experience this place for themselves.
In the '70s, the BWCA was the center of a legislative battle between bills sponsored by Minnesota Congressmen Jim Oberstar and Donald Fraser. The Oberstar bill proposed to make large portions of the Wilderness a National Recreation Area allowing expanded use of motorboats, snowmobiles, logging and mining. The Fraser bill would protect the BWCA as a wilderness, curtailing motorized travel, logging and mining. I remember this as the first time I wrote to my government leaders and passionately speaking in front of my high school speech class to voice my opinion that this wilderness needed to be saved and preserved.
Memories of these past trips and the battle for protecting the BWCA were brought back while reading the Freeman's book. Amy and Dave Freeman describe 366 days spent traveling afloat, afoot and on sled in the BWCA. The book is a wonderful journal and collection of photos documenting a year in the wilderness across all four seasons. It captured the sights, sounds, smells and feelings that brought my memories of BWCA summers rushing back while also describing the wilderness experience in the late fall, winter and early spring.
More importantly, the Freeman's took their journey to draw attention and protect the unique treasure we have in the BWCA. Their trip raised awareness and support to prevent the opening of sulfide-ore copper mines just outside the BWCA, within the area's watershed. Almost 40 years after President Carter signed a bill into Law protecting the BWCA as a wilderness it still needs to be actively protected.
My grandfather told me stories of taking a canoe trip with his brothers out of Ely in the '30's. I took my first trip in the BWCA as a boy with my father in the 70's. Since then I have taken trips with my wife, son and friends. It is important for all Americans to be vigilant, aware and active in preserving the country's natural places.
Thank you to the Freeman's for taking this trip and sharing their journey in this book. Let's protect the BWCAW so future generations can experience this place for themselves.
December 31, 2017
Beautiful, beautiful book documenting the year Amy and Dave Freeman spent in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. They did it to spur activism and raise awareness around the effort to prevent sulfide-ore copper ore mining in an area adjacent to the BWCAW. Runoff, specifically sulfide runoff, would enter the BWCAW's water, polluting one of the most spectacular and most visited wilderness area in the United States.
They won that battle at the end of 2016 when the Forest Service and the BLM denied the mining company's leases and announced a two-year moratorium on any mining-related activity on federal land withing the BW watershed.
So they won that battle. But the war goes on. In November, 2017 the U.S. House OK'd a bill to reopen Superior National Forest land near the Boundary Waters to mineral exploration. According to MPR, "The bill, introduced by Minnesota Republican Rep. Tom Emmer, would allow a company called Twin Metals to continue developing a potential copper-nickel mine near Ely, Minn., on the edge of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness."
Continued activism would seem to be in order, which I knew as I read the book. That knowledge nearly brought me to tears at times when contrasting the unspoiled, protected BWCAW with what might be coming down the road.
Marvelous book.
They won that battle at the end of 2016 when the Forest Service and the BLM denied the mining company's leases and announced a two-year moratorium on any mining-related activity on federal land withing the BW watershed.
So they won that battle. But the war goes on. In November, 2017 the U.S. House OK'd a bill to reopen Superior National Forest land near the Boundary Waters to mineral exploration. According to MPR, "The bill, introduced by Minnesota Republican Rep. Tom Emmer, would allow a company called Twin Metals to continue developing a potential copper-nickel mine near Ely, Minn., on the edge of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness."
Continued activism would seem to be in order, which I knew as I read the book. That knowledge nearly brought me to tears at times when contrasting the unspoiled, protected BWCAW with what might be coming down the road.
Marvelous book.
September 13, 2018
I really wanted to like this book more. Some of the pictures were really beautiful. I wanted more out of the writing, though. I wanted to be able to experience vicariously living in the Boundary Waters Wilderness Area for a year. I wanted to know what the seasons felt like, what the day-to-day existence consisted of, the encounters with nature, the stillness, the drama, etc. The authors told more than they showed, and there was a shallowness to the writing that didn't allow me to feel the deeper impact of the wilderness experience. For that, I was disappointed, and I can only rate the book as ok.
October 5, 2017
Well written and beautifully photographed, this book is a fast read that I hated to finish. David and Amy Freeman put their lives where their mouths were and spent a year in the Boundary Waters in an effort to save it from mining. In the process, they shared it with the rest of us through blog posts, social media and video. While they and their compatriots still work to “save” the Boundary Waters, they have at least achieved a stay of execution that will allow many others to experience its magic. Read the book, support the cause and be encouraged that such places still exist.
November 15, 2017
This was a book given to us by James Denman who stayed with us briefly with friend Dustin Smith on their way to a winter camping trip in the BWCAW. The book was a generous thank you gift which surprised us arriving in the mail in advance of the book signing in Ely!
It was a delight to read a book so full of the names of friends and track Dave and Amy's path through the year often so close to our home on the edge of Moose Lake which is cut by the wilderness line about a mile from our house.
Most of all the book is a big outreach to anyone interested in wilderness and how it relates to the world of human beings. Dave and Amy say "wilderness is the DNA of the world;" having lived for a decade on the edge of the BWCAW, we could not agree more. Most people think they love wild animals, but without wild land, they could not exist. Getting your head around that is what is needed; then simply recall that we humans are animals, too. Wilderness? Love it or learn to love it; your life and the lives of your future ancestors depends on it. Read the book and let Amy and Dave help you understand this truth.
It was a delight to read a book so full of the names of friends and track Dave and Amy's path through the year often so close to our home on the edge of Moose Lake which is cut by the wilderness line about a mile from our house.
Most of all the book is a big outreach to anyone interested in wilderness and how it relates to the world of human beings. Dave and Amy say "wilderness is the DNA of the world;" having lived for a decade on the edge of the BWCAW, we could not agree more. Most people think they love wild animals, but without wild land, they could not exist. Getting your head around that is what is needed; then simply recall that we humans are animals, too. Wilderness? Love it or learn to love it; your life and the lives of your future ancestors depends on it. Read the book and let Amy and Dave help you understand this truth.
February 4, 2018
I cried when I finished this book. Partly because I simply didn't want the book to end having become so invested in the extraordinary journey so beautifully shared by these inspirational adventurers, and partly through sheer emotion as their year long odyssey came to an end and Amy and Dave were met by a flotilla of friends and supporters. I have only spent a week canoeing in the BWCAW but that week changed my life. Sitting in our log cabin back in the UK in Exmoor National Park reading this book I was transported back to the quiet waters and peaceful campsites, the song of the white throated sparrow guiding our portages. As soon as I finished the book I picked up a map and began planning our next trip into the wilderness of BWCAW. A wonderful read, fantastic photos and a vital message to those that threaten to destroy this natural wonder.
June 11, 2019
3.5 stars. Good book club pick. A great change of pace and we appreciated the gorgeous photos.
July 28, 2022
One of the best books I’ve read all year! Motivating and inspiring, it will remind us of our job to protect the wilderness.
August 4, 2021
The authors spent a year in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. I expected more insight into their experience and the pull of the wilderness itself. Most of the focus is on the lakes they traveled to, the visitors they had, and the food they ate.
April 20, 2018
I'm going to start by saying that I LOVE the BWCA, so the odds of me loving this book were pretty good.
A Year in the Wilderness is a fascinating read--it's the story of Amy and Dave Freeman who lived in the Boundary Waters for a year. This book was meant to be a testimonial to the beauty and wonder of this rich natural resource that is continually being threatened by the mining of sources near or in it. I thought this book would be a journal of how they survived the year in nature--instead, it was about the little intricacies of the BWCA that make it the wonder that it really is. And the photography in the book is INCREDIBLE!
It's time for me to get back up to the Boundary Waters area-- my littles have yet to experience such a camping trip.
Overall, I'm impressed with the journey Amy and Dave have been on. Check out their website: http://www.freemansexplore.com/
A Year in the Wilderness is a fascinating read--it's the story of Amy and Dave Freeman who lived in the Boundary Waters for a year. This book was meant to be a testimonial to the beauty and wonder of this rich natural resource that is continually being threatened by the mining of sources near or in it. I thought this book would be a journal of how they survived the year in nature--instead, it was about the little intricacies of the BWCA that make it the wonder that it really is. And the photography in the book is INCREDIBLE!
It's time for me to get back up to the Boundary Waters area-- my littles have yet to experience such a camping trip.
Overall, I'm impressed with the journey Amy and Dave have been on. Check out their website: http://www.freemansexplore.com/
February 17, 2018
The Boundary Waters is one of my favorite places. Amy and Dave Freeman headed out in September to spend a year living in the wilderness, canoeing and dog sledding (depending on the season) from campsite to campsite in order to draw attention to efforts to prevent mining in the area and to protect the wilderness. They are certainly made from stronger stuff than I am -- living in a tent in February in northern Minnesota is something I couldn't imagine doing. After they returned, they put together this book detailing their experiences -- beautiful nature writing and gorgeous photography.
April 5, 2018
Fantastic book that chronicles one year that a couple spent in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, highlighting the beauty of this giant natural area while reminding us of the dangers associated with a proposed copper mine nearby. The pictures were gorgeous and the descriptions of their days throughout the seasons in a canoe or dogsled made me want to go take a walk in the woods. My only complaint: I wish the maps were a little bigger so that I could more easily follow along with where they were going. Great book about the northern Minnesota gem of the Boundary Waters.
January 28, 2019
The adventurer in me truly envied reading about the Freeman's during their year in the BWCA. The Boundary Waters is truly a special place, and the awareness that the Freeman's brought to protecting and saving it through their year-long stay is incredible. They are brave, daring and passionate. While this book mainly discusses the incredible beauty, grace and unforgiving nature of the wilderness, it also digs deep into why the Boundary Waters is worth saving. Any adventurer out there, or anyone yearning to learn more about the BWCA should pick this book up. Great read.
November 13, 2017
I really enjoyed following the story of the Freemans' adventures in the Boundary Waters in Minnesota.
I enjoyed the vignettes featuring wildlife in the park. I also enjoyed the stories of their dealing with nature as they went through the year. It took a lot of courage and self-sufficiency to make it through the difficult moments. The book is well-written. The reader almost feels that he/she is seeing the wilderness and wildlife themselves. Their passion for their cause is evident.
I enjoyed the vignettes featuring wildlife in the park. I also enjoyed the stories of their dealing with nature as they went through the year. It took a lot of courage and self-sufficiency to make it through the difficult moments. The book is well-written. The reader almost feels that he/she is seeing the wilderness and wildlife themselves. Their passion for their cause is evident.
February 3, 2018
A photographic memoir - their year took them through the section of the boundary waters I traveled late summer. Read-enjoy-then voice your support to prevent mining in the watershed outside of this pristine natural area. "Wilderness nourishes us and is the North Star guiding us toward a sustainable future. We must not lose sight of its value, and we must speak loudly for these quiet places." (from the book)
December 17, 2017
I learned about the Freemans following a week camping and canoeing in the Boundary Waters with my family. Having just been there, I eagerly followed their blog and beautiful Instagram feed with my children. This book, complete with gorgeous photographs, tells more of their story. I'm forever an admirer of their tireless campaigning for all the good that is the Boundary Waters.
July 18, 2018
Between the photographs and details of the trip, I was transported into the Boundary Waters and loved every minute of it. I choose to read this while in Ely, and although we were not in the BWCA it took me back to many areas I have been. Inspiring. And a testament to all of the good that we must preserve.
January 15, 2018
To those most likely to read the book, we already know and love what is out there. To those that don't read it, they need to get out and enjoy the outside and see what they are missing. Sounds like an amazing trip and includes beautiful pictures as well.
November 30, 2017
Such a great adventure to take with the authors. The photographs were amazing.
December 20, 2017
A beautiful look into the seasons in the Boundary Waters. If you have visited before you’ll be transported back.
January 1, 2018
A great read about a year long adventure in the Boundary Waters, and a great reminder why this area should be protected.
January 7, 2018
Excellent memoir of their year in the BWCA. While reading this, you can’t help but want to get into the wilderness & fight to protect it.
January 31, 2018
Incredible story! Love my MN and this story takes the reader on an adventure of a lifetime!
April 5, 2018
A gorgeous book and an inspired way to raise awareness about this wilderness area in Minnesota.
May 2, 2018
I loved this! Both the writing and the pictures are lovely.
January 12, 2019
such a calming book to read w very important messages
April 2, 2019
Incredible story, cause, and place. Passable writing.
July 26, 2022
This book is a major dose of inspiration. Not only did I love Amy & Dave’s writing style, but the couple spent a year in the Boundary Waters Wilderness in every season with the purpose of understanding its inner workings. The intent was to take a stand to protect the watershed from commercial development, particularly copper mining. Their efforts were part of a bigger campaign, and after their year in the wilderness, some mining leases were ultimately denied (I think they were eventually overturned, but that’s beside the point). This is a dang good book with some poetic nature descriptions. Made me feel like I was there!
December 27, 2023
Amazing book about the ebb and flow of life in the wild. Puts the Boundary Waters even higher on the bucket list for a long outdoor stay!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 93 reviews