QUETICO PROVINCIAL PARK—Wilderness guide Jason Zabokrtsky has battled constant precipitation and temperatures around freezing for the past several days, but he was on schedule as of mid-week, in his 80-mile cross-country trek from Atikokan to Ely.

Snow, sleet, and rain have soaked most of Zabokrtsky’s gear throughout, but he remained in high spirits as he closed in on the U.S.-Canada border as of Tuesday.

That could allow him to finish up his epic walk as early as Friday or Saturday.

Zabokrtsky has filed regular reports on his progress to his Facebook page, which he uploads via a satellite phone he’s brought along on his journey.

Comments Zabokrtsky posted on Monday described some of his experience due to the weather: “I awoke to about an inch of snow and sub-freezing temps.  It was the type of wet, damp snow that sticks to everything and then melts at the slightest warmth.

 “After several days of at least some rain, most of my primary gear is wet.  Even the stuff I partially dried around the fire is fully soaked once again.

 “It was one of those mornings that started by putting on cold, wet boots and hiking through alder thickets at seemingly every turn.  And then it started to snow again, and the wind howled, biting at me as it whipped in full force off each of the lakes I encountered.  Another inch of the cold, damp white stuff piled on the fir branches, showering me constantly as I plowed through the thickets.”

Despite the exertion of hiking through the forest, Zabokrtsky has been struggling at times to stay warm, and has deployed all of his cold weather gear to lessen the chance of hypothermia. He writes:

“My cold and wet weather clothing systems, though mostly soaked, are holding up well.  I wear one nylon trouser and shirt covered by a full rain suit top and bottom, covered by another set of nylon top and trousers, plus a poly fleece vest to aid core warmth.  The rain suit must be covered by nylon so it is not shredded in the thickets.  My head is covered by a fleece balaclava, a ball cap and rain hood.  My hands have poly fleece gloves with a hole cut in right thumb to work my touch screen GPS.  That seems to work well, except my thumb is too cold for the touch screen to recognize, so I have to pre-warm it on my cheek.

 “My feet suffer the most in these conditions.  My wet wool socks inside of soaked hiking boots work to conserve toe warmth.  However, the wet snow cakes to the top and sides of the boots acting with an icebox effect.  And, what little warmth emanates from my feet melts the snow causing ice cold water to seep to my toes.”

Zabokrtsky says he is drinking extra water to stay hydrated and he’s finally dug into a secret stash, of pop tarts, that he placed in the bottom of his pack as a morale booster on days such as he’s experienced recently. Despite the challenges, Zabokrtsky said on Monday: “I am still well and happy, and there is no place I’d rather be than right here, making my way through the wilderness.

“ I am camped just west of Round Lake at 48 degrees 10’ 28” N, 91 degrees 41’ 25” W.  With any luck I’ll reach the Basswood River and complete my trek across Quetico tomorrow.”

Once across the border, Zabokrtsky will still have about 10 miles of wilderness travel before reaching the Cloquet Line, which will leave him several miles of travel by road before reaching Ely.