Our crew is unique in many ways: 4 women, ages 23-71, representing completely different career paths, all with some wilderness experience. We've all done trips through the Girl Scouts' Northern Lakes Canoe Base run by Minnesota and Wisconsin Lakes and Pines Council, but we wanted to test our skills on our own- without a guide. Terry had about a dozen trips under her belt through the NLCB and with friends, I had 5, Tauna had 3, and Carolyn had 1 through the base plus other experience with friends. We spent nearly a year preparing for this trip: picking out an outfitter, deciding what we needed from them, picking and researching a route that we thought would be doable with our experience levels, and planning a menu.