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       Trip Report - Baker Lake - Daughter's First Trip! - 2021
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Date/Time: 03/28/2024 09:16AM
Trip Report - Baker Lake - Daughter's First Trip! - 2021

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Previous Messages:
Author Message Text
01/26/2022 01:47PM
Pete2Paddle: "Hello Again!



I just told my daughter the people we met at the landing on Baker Lake commented on our trip report and she thought that was so cool! I'm glad you enjoyed the campsite and were able to get the rope down.



Just this past weekend we camped with my family and all of the cousins. She actually recruited two of her cousins to come on a trip next year! I'll get to introduce two more kids plus my brothers-in-law to the BWCA next year.



Happy Paddling!"
dogwoodgirl 08/29/2021 02:43PM
What a great first trip! My son still is my best paddling partner, and my daughter loves it too but lives too far away to go often. You will never regret starting this with your girl!
ducks 08/29/2021 08:33AM
“Great report - these parent-child alone trips are pure gold. “
So true jillpine. So true!


Thank you for sharing. This was a great report. Starting at age 5 I’ve been taking one of my daughters on a daddy/daughter trip each year. The one on one time with each of them is so special.


Big ducklings trip at age 9 and little ducklings trip this year at age 13 were there. I’ll definitely be taking little Bruin to this area for one of his 1st trips. The small river like lakes are perfect for a little one in the bow. We didn’t see moose this year, but when I was there with big duckling 7 years ago we saw moose on Peterson, Kelly, and Jack.
Papinator 08/19/2021 11:24AM
What a great trip! This is the first entry point I took Mister on when we first went as married people in 2010 and was literally just talking about returning to Baker in May with our little girl, who is now 7! It's a perfect trip for first timers with smaller waters and shorter portages at the beginning! Love that your girl plays cribbage!
Pete2Paddle 08/02/2021 10:29AM
Hello Again!


I just told my daughter the people we met at the landing on Baker Lake commented on our trip report and she thought that was so cool! I'm glad you enjoyed the campsite and were able to get the rope down.


Just this past weekend we camped with my family and all of the cousins. She actually recruited two of her cousins to come on a trip next year! I'll get to introduce two more kids plus my brothers-in-law to the BWCA next year.


Happy Paddling!
Mesaba 08/02/2021 08:29AM
The rope challenge was accepted and we were triumphant! :)


I have an 8' aluminum Coleman pole we use for the tarp and there was an 8' stick by the site, so I put the stick in the end of the tarp pole and could just reach the branch. Since the rock was so perfectly wedged in there, I had to lift the rope from the close side and eventually the rock started coming down the far side it was wedged in on.


It honestly provided us with about an hour of entertainment. Heh, heh. I'm glad you told us about it at the entry point and I REALLY hope your daughter wants to go up year after year. The tall kid we were with was half his height and half his age when he started going up there and still loves the yearly trips.


Nice trip report!
~M
cyclones30 08/01/2021 09:51PM
Nice report! Next time bring a second helinox for her :)
Freeleo1 08/01/2021 07:22PM
Beautiful pictures and even better memories. Good job watching for your daughter's limits. She probably enjoyed it more by not being over tired and just being out there was enough of an adventure.


+1 on the Helinox chair. I have the smaller 1 lb one and it will be going again.
straighthairedcurly 08/01/2021 10:38AM
So much fun to read and see your pics. Playing cribbage with my dad is a favorite memory for me, such a great life-long game. Great smile on your daughter's face. I hope you get to take a lot more trips together. It is fun to watch their skill and confidence grow.


We didn't start doing trips with our son until he was 13. Within 2 years we did a PMA together. When he was 16, he took a trip on his own with his best friend. And now at 17, he just finished a 29 day BWCA trip with Camp Menogyn. They grow up fast! Fortunately, he still loves tripping with his parents, too.
gravelroad 07/31/2021 11:41AM
Well, now you've gone and done it – created another wilderness paddler. If you don't want to end up visiting her in AK or BC some day, hide the maps and buy her a video console. But I think it's too late already. :-)


Kudos to you for doing this and posting the report.
lionman 07/31/2021 11:39AM
Nice trip report! I enjoyed the pictures. We took our then 21month old son on the same trip last August and stayed at the same site. It's a good one and a great first trip for kids.
Spartan2 07/30/2021 07:57PM
I enjoyed your trip report and the photos of your daughter are wonderful. Thanks for sharing.
HangLoose 07/30/2021 06:14PM
Excellent trip report. I don't have kids and I've never introduced a kid to the wilderness. I'm sure glad that dads like you choose to do it and do it so well. Way to go! You're daughter is so lucky. You made it fun and not too terribly difficult.


I quit hanging my food years ago. Attempting to get a bear rope into a tree with a rock is too dangerous and tedious. If it hasn't happened to you yet, it will. That rock will inevitably catapult back at your head as it swings around a branch. Too many close calls for me. I'm a huge fan of Ursacks. Barrels are a popular choice also.


A Ursack will give you more time to work on your fishing skills. ??
Jaywalker 07/30/2021 05:42PM
Sounds like a huge success of a trip! Glad it worked out for you to get a different permit. And I agree with pswith5, don't worry about the rope - someone will find a way to get it out of there. I've seen a couple and always take it as a challenge to try to get it out. Its usually those darn birch trees!
pswith5 07/30/2021 04:47PM
Nice report. About the age I started taking my youngest. She is 27 now. Still enjoys going. Don't sweat the rope too much. You tried your best. I've seen ropes in trees plenty of times. I hope she wants to go back! Eventually 4 of my 5 have gone with me. But, those early ones with my littlest were very memorable. Thanks for sharing.
rdgbwca 07/30/2021 02:03PM
Looks like a great trip.


It reminds me of my first trip with my sons using the same entry point. None of us had portaged before. We were a little "out of sorts" after our first portage.


We went the first week of September two years ago and I decided to get my feet wet in that low section after the first portage to avoid scraping too much.


If my sons weren't fishing they were eating something. We still had too much food. I tend to over pack the food.


We also weathered a thunder storm under a CCS tarp. A very fond memory. We were dry while it poured down hard for 15-20 minutes. Eventually lightening up and kind of drizzling the rest of the evening.


We went back last year and plan to go this year too.
bfurlow 07/30/2021 01:11PM
Sounds like a lot of fun. Perfect area for a first trip. Thanks for sharing. Hope you guys get back up there again!
ScottL 07/30/2021 09:23AM
Great report and kudos to you for putting in the time and effort to introduce your daughter to the BWCA. I was in your shoes a few years back when I first took my son on a trip to the BWCA and it started a tradition. I guarantee that she'll remember that first trip fondly and hopefully you've opened a door for her that she'll want to continue to visit.
jillpine 07/30/2021 06:40AM
Great report - these parent-child alone trips are pure gold.
The water is even lower now, even with the recent rains. I'm glad you were able to pass through safely. Also nice that you were able to score a site on Kelly. I've taken to putting a little sign in my thwart bag and slinging it onto the parked canoe that says, "leaving soon" when I'm parked on a busy route. I've done that twice this summer (once on Vern and once on Jack) when I was just day-tripping. Both times, I had folks paddle up and want to occupy the site after I left. So, I'm going to keep doing it in high-demand areas.
Agree on your camp chairs. They only get better and better :) I won't touch the hanging bag topic - covered in depth on many threads, with strong feelings both ways. But I have been very happy with my Ursack Allmitey. I don't rely on the argument that "I've never had an issue with not hanging the food pack", but I have had black bears go through my camp outside the BWCA and they have not taken the sack.
Lovely report - your daughter is fortunate beyond words to have a father who cares enough to do this type of activity with her. Way to go, Dad!
~Beth
Pete2Paddle 07/29/2021 11:43PM
New Trip Report posted by Pete2Paddle

Trip Name: Baker Lake - Daughter's First Trip! - 2021.

Entry Point: 39

Click Here to View Trip Report