BWCA 2019 Scout trip Boundary Waters Group Forum: Scouters
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01/28/2019 09:17PM   (Thread Older Than 3 Years)
Well,

Just booked a August trip taking some scouts for the first time. Should be a great trip.

Doing Lake One entry, haven't been through there since '12.

Need to do some small canoe trips to get them ready!

 
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01/29/2019 03:21PM  
Have a great trip!

Found out today that I'll be advisor'ing an 8 person Christmas break trek to Northern Tier. I'll finally get my triple crown!
 
01/30/2019 05:22AM  
Our Troop has 20 scouts and parents signed up for a July trip. We'll be in three groups. Only two parents and one scout with BWCA experience. It has been fun introducing new people to the BWCA. We devote one meeting a month from Jan to July for planning. We are self outfitting, except for canoes. We are not going through Northern Tier, but they have some great planning videos for newbies.
 
02/02/2019 06:43PM  
TomP: "Our Troop has 20 scouts and parents signed up for a July trip. We'll be in three groups. Only two parents and one scout with BWCA experience. It has been fun introducing new people to the BWCA. We devote one meeting a month from Jan to July for planning. We are self outfitting, except for canoes. We are not going through Northern Tier, but they have some great planning videos for newbies. "


Yea avoiding NT here as well. They said I couldn't bring my own boat. Why would I pay for one of theirs?


 
JimmyJustice
distinguished member(736)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
02/20/2019 08:50AM  
A few years ago, our troop debated self outfitting or going through NT. Because I had a lot of gear myself we decided to go it on our own. Great decision. With some help from Lynn & John at VN, we were off to the races. I have been taking at least one crew up the the BWCA from our Troop each of the past few years. Not once has there been an incident of bad attitude. Each year I am impressed with how the scouts handle themselves, their eagerness to move forward and adaptability to weather conditions. A couple of years ago, they took great pride in keeping the fire going while it rained. Great trips, each and every one (so far...).

If your Troop happens to be in the Mpls/St. Paul metro area, Dakota County has a good program at Lebanon Hills Park (in Eagan). For $75 total, they will give your crew (upto 12 people I think) a few hours of instruction, which includes vocabulary, paddle techniques, paddle time on the water and if time permits rescue and boat retrieval. They also have short portages between a few of the ponds so you can work on portaging as well. A great price for what you get.
 
02/27/2019 02:00PM  
We had two full crews late summer 2018. With the exception of me, my son and one other scout, none had been to the bwca before.

All had Summer Camp canoe experience and all had the canoe merit badge from Many Point summer camp we did in July 2018. All had enough Canoe experience that I was comfortable with their skills. Three of the scouts in my crew work as life guards. NT gives you the basics on lifting and portaging and you learn the rest quickly as you go, We single portaged, and on the 2nd day they had it figured out. NT gives you no choice but to wet foot it.

NT wasn’t my first choice, but these guys were hell bent on going to NT most would get their triple crown, this same group had been to Philmont and Seabase in prior years. You do get an interpreter/guide and that does help take the pressure off of the adults.

The food and gear NT provides are much heavier than I would carry or use, and heavier than necessary. But the boys had fun and I know it was a great experience for them.

We also brought more fishing gear that we needed, everyone said they wanted to fish, but my crew didn’t fish much. They had more fun paddling, exploring and swimming at the end of each day.

If this is your first Experience with Northern Tier, the check in process is a whirlwind, you basically hit the ground running and start your first portage to your cabin after a brief voyageur skit. So have your gear ready to go when you arrive in the parking lot.

make sure to stop at gordy's hi-hat Cloquet for lunch, and we also stopped at soudan underground mine state park on the way to NT, Soudan has a pretty cool iron ore mine tour, 1/2 mile ride underground. We camped at Birch Lake Campground the night before arriving at NT.

if you are interested i can send a link to our troops pictures
 
Jackfish
Moderator
  
02/27/2019 02:23PM  
Unless, for some strange reason, they've changed their rules (and I suppose it's possible they have), you can bring your own canoes to Northern Tier and use them on your trip. You won't get a discount, but you can bring your own canoes. Why leave a beautiful Kevlar canoe at home and paddle an aluminum barge up there? We used my Kevlar canoe on our trip through NT. No idea why they'd make a big deal about it.

EDIT: After I typed the above post, I looked on the NT website. Standard outfitting is now with Kevlar canoes with a $30 discount per canoe per day given for aluminum canoes. If one was to bring a Kevlar canoe from home, I would think the $30 daily discount would be offered. Didn't see it stated anywhere that you couldn't bring your own canoes.

If someone speaks with NT about this, type the information in this thread.
 
02/28/2019 03:27PM  
I'm hoping to get a group up for 2020 soft water season. It'll be the summer after my oldest and his peers who crossed into our troop from Cub Scouts graduate high school, so we could easily have a crew of Venturers up there in addition to the younger Scouts.

Our troop knows I won't do a canoe trip thru NT, we do the Holiday Stay Okpik trip as an option for those who want to get the triple crown.

I, for one, am looking forward to seeing the Boundary Waters in the winter!
 
03/09/2019 08:04PM  
Jackfish: "Unless, for some strange reason, they've changed their rules (and I suppose it's possible they have), you can bring your own canoes to Northern Tier and use them on your trip. You won't get a discount, but you can bring your own canoes. Why leave a beautiful Kevlar canoe at home and paddle an aluminum barge up there? We used my Kevlar canoe on our trip through NT. No idea why they'd make a big deal about it.

EDIT: After I typed the above post, I looked on the NT website. Standard outfitting is now with Kevlar canoes with a $30 discount per canoe per day given for aluminum canoes. If one was to bring a Kevlar canoe from home, I would think the $30 daily discount would be offered. Didn't see it stated anywhere that you couldn't bring your own canoes.

If someone speaks with NT about this, type the information in this thread."


I spoke to them directly. They said I couldn't bring my own boat and had to pay for theirs.

 
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