Hey there, I tried searching the forum for advice/posts about single moms exploring BWCA with their kids but didn't find much.

Another single mom and I are planning to take our 15 year old sons to BWCA next summer (July/August). We have had several other families express interest but would not commit to the trip; we decided to forge forward on our own.

Both boys are Life scouts working on Eagle, and both of us single ladies have completed BSA wood badge, OKPIK, etc. My friend's son has done some canoeing, 5 miles max in one trip. Not sure about her canoeing experience.

My son and I completed a 4 night trip to the BWCA in 2018 with our troop through EP 25 and base camped on Ensign. The entry was a little rough, but the rest of the trip was beautiful. The leader in our contingent was experienced and had been to BWCA several times before.

I was thinking about recreating the trip to make it easier/safer going out on my first time without another more experienced adult.

However, because of the skill level of the scouts on that trip, we did not travel far on the day trips. I'm worried my son will be bored by going to the same area.

I've searched for trip plans, etc., But the BWCA is so large and there are so many resources available, it's been hard to narrow it down.

Any recommendations for easy access EPs with easy, short portages that offer good base camping and areas to explore over a 4 day period?

Also, my son had difficulty portaging in 2018 because of the width of his shoulders. That won't be a problem this time, but wanted to know of any training exercises he could do to help prepare for it indoors over the winter (we'll do a few practice runs in the spring/early summer).

Any other recommendations or advice you have is helpful. Thanks!

Ede

I am guessing that EP25 entry was rough because of the long paddle to Ensign. As an option, you could get a tow to Splash and then portage into Ensign with hours to spare.
Then paddle to the end of Ensign and portage into Ashigan. Camp there for one night. Then head to Jordan via Gibson and Cattyman. Those are easy portages. Jordan is a nice lake and you can day trip into Ima via a simple portage. There are some nice falls at Cattyman.

As you noted...this is one of a million possible plans.

Good on you for forging on for the trip. Yes there are a ton of options.....

Do a search on here for "half day" trips. There are a lot of posts on that one about good entry points that offer good trips and areas only a half day's travel from an entry point.

Do you care about how busy it is? Fishing? Sightseeing? What do you or he want to get out of it? Answering some of those can help us narrow down the many options.

But I'll throw out a few to begin with. Hog Creek entry is very easy portage from parking lot to small creek, then a winding creek down to Perent lake which is decent sized with many islands and lots of campsites. Base there and plenty of things to do and see. Baker Lake entry, Homer Lake entry would also fit the bill to an extent.

Check out this trip report .

EP #47 and head to Horseshoe, Vista, Gaskin, or Omega and back out the same EP. No overly tough portages, no huge lakes, lots of day trips options. Contact Mike or Carl at Rockwood and have them assist in outfitting and planning this winter. There are several other options close by also. They have a bunkhouse to utilize the night before and you can paddle into the BWCA from their beach/landing in the morning.

Northwoodsman: "EP #47 and head to Horseshoe, Vista, Gaskin, or Omega and back out the same EP. No overly tough portages, no huge lakes, lots of day trips options. Contact Mike or Carl at Rockwood and have them assist in outfitting and planning this winter. There are several other options close by also. They have a bunkhouse to utilize the night before and you can paddle into the BWCA from their beach/landing in the morning."

+1

Michwall2: "

Northwoodsman: "EP #47 and head to Horseshoe, Vista, Gaskin, or Omega and back out the same EP. No overly tough portages, no huge lakes, lots of day trips options. Contact Mike or Carl at Rockwood and have them assist in outfitting and planning this winter. There are several other options close by also. They have a bunkhouse to utilize the night before and you can paddle into the BWCA from their beach/landing in the morning."

+1 "

+2 This was exactly what I was going to recommend.

In terms of training...do you have access to a canoe? The best way to train for portaging a canoe is to portage a canoe. My son portages our canoe around our yard. I have been known to portage around our block which gets a few stares.

Just finished a basecamp trip with my wife and another couple. We stayed on the east side of Clearwater (EP 62). No portaging to get to camp. Lots of day trip options and hiking also. Although everyone agreed the occasional boat was a little annoying.

There is also a "Canoeing with Kids" group as well as a Women's Group on this site. You could repost there as well and probably get some good advice about entry point options and canoeing routes that would fit your criteria. Those might be helpful as well as the suggestions you're reading here.

Yeah, the EP#47 Lizz Lake option is probably good for you.

Carrying a canoe and/or pack around works well for training. Another simple training exercise is to buy a sandbag. Stand it on end, grab the "ears" and lift it as high as you can for several times. Simulates picking up a pack/canoe pretty well. You can also throw it up on shoulders/back and do squats/lunges, step-ups, carry it around. It will work for you as well as your son :).

Sometimes I'll take a standard 45 lb weight plate (the ones w/ nice handles are perfect) and grab it by the handles and "pretend" it's a canoe down on the ground at my side. Bend with the knees, pick it up and lift straight over my head. Do a couple overhead presses while standing, then slowly take it down to the other side. Then back up and repeat the from the other direction. I mix that into my standard lifting sometimes. Kevlar rental canoes are in the 40's for weight so it's the same weight as the plate.

So two Life Scouts going for Eagle, and two adult leader moms who have both been through Wood Badge! You’ve also already been on one BWCA trip with scouts. Kudos of respect from an Eagle Scout and adult leader. You are definitely at a more prepared level than the average person with one BWCA trip.

Those boys will be able to carry way more weight this trip. That doesn’t mean over pack but it’s amazing to see those boys get challenged and how they will rise and lovingly conquer challenges. Definitely prepare since that helps a lot. So e great suggestions.

I’d recommend planning a trip where you have a base plan that is a decent challenge. Then know your options of what you’ll do if it’s too much. Know the best campsites on the planned route, and the best sites if you opt for a shorter trip with maybe a day where you don’t move. That is exactly what I did this year taking my wife and daughter in who had never camped before. Total immersion on a 7 day trip. Initial Plan was too aggressive and we modified.

My son (14 at the time) with one of his friends same age and I did a Northern Tier trip in 2019. I would recommend doing a trip with Northern Tier especially since you are obviously serious Scouters. It’s more expensive, but I felt it was worthwhile. We did a 75 mile trip in 6 days. Super challenging, but absolutely epic!

Also Order of the Arrow does two week trips for Youth OA members. Both in the BWCA and Quetico when open. They work and do service in the park they choose for a week and then they get a 1 week trip. They are accompanied by 2 adult interpreters/guides for the entire two weeks. Cost for OA youth is $200. You do need to know that it is designed to be a highly challenging trip. They will do serious mileage that second week. I’m looking at it for my son since I think he would absolutely love the challenge. I think it would help him grow.

Ryan

Look at ep50. trip to Long Lake. 5 or 6 portages but only the first one an issue ( longer than 50 rods at least 75 maybe more and poor landings on both ends) Bunk at Tuscarora and park right at the ep. Beautiful lakes, rivers and better than avg. camp sites. Bring a hammock.
Part of your concerns IMHO is your worried about the boys. At 15 16 they are developing the upper body muscle perfect for this type of adventure and not only can carry their own weight but yours as well. They are scouts with a great grounding in the outdoors . Give them respect ,responsibility and treat them as adults, I bet their response will make you proud. (They are only little kids in your eyes, full grown hairy mountain men in theirs)
I also highly recommend checking out trip reports and posts from straighthairedcurly and missmolly .

Put the boys in charge of planning. Good learning for them and you can't be blamed!

billconner: "Put the boys in charge of planning. Good learning for them and you can't be blamed!"

+1

I helped lead a small group of scouts this summer and we did the Lizz Lake EP. We came up with a basic outline to start the trip but allowed the boys to make decisions each day. I like how everything turned out and would follow the same approach in future trips.

Here is the trip trip report.

Northwoodsman: "EP #47 and head to Horseshoe, Vista, Gaskin, or Omega and back out the same EP. No overly tough portages, no huge lakes, lots of day trips options. Contact Mike or Carl at Rockwood and have them assist in outfitting and planning this winter. There are several other options close by also. They have a bunkhouse to utilize the night before and you can paddle into the BWCA from their beach/landing in the morning."

I agree with this suggestion. Gaskin isn’t a nice lake to camp on. Try getting the Mondale site if you can.

Ede, I would love to help you. Send me an e-mail. I live in the west metro of Mpls. I have years of taking kids to the BWCA - (mine and others).

Thanks for your note. We did get a tow to splash portage. So glad we did. The boys loved it, too. The water was rough; we had whitecaps and some canoes struggled, and even had a canoe with 2 scouts get separated. Rest of the trip was fabulous though.

merlyn: "I also highly recommend checking out trip reports and posts from straighthairedcurly and missmolly ."

I will definitely check these out. Thanks for the recommendation!

billconner: "Put the boys in charge of planning. Good learning for them and you can't be blamed!"

Absolutely! We're having our first planning meeting this Tuesday. The boys will do most of the trip planning.

In retrospect, I feel I over planned our 2018 trip. Every last detail and situation was planned for. I've come to realize part of the beauty of the boundary waters is relaxing and living in the beauty of the moment. Sometimes that might mean going on a different path.

Grandma L: "Ede, I would love to help you. Send me an e-mail. I live in the west metro of Mpls. I have years of taking kids to the BWCA - (mine and others).
"

Same here, email me! I wouldn't basecamp with kids that age, you can plan a safe loop and have so much fun.

boonie: "Yeah, the EP#47 Lizz Lake option is probably good for you.


Carrying a canoe and/or pack around works well for training. Another simple training exercise is to buy a sandbag. Stand it on end, grab the "ears" and lift it as high as you can for several times. Simulates picking up a pack/canoe pretty well. You can also throw it up on shoulders/back and do squats/lunges, step-ups, carry it around. It will work for you as well as your son :). "

Thank you for the suggestion. Due to COVID, we're pretty out of shape. We live in an apartment and don't have easy access to a canoe. I've started training with a bosu balance trainer I lift and carry overhead in similar motion. It only weighs about 15 lbs, but it's a good start.

Using a sandbag is a good idea. When I'm able to carry the bosu 100 rods without muscle fatigue I'll graduate to the sandbag. Thanks again.

Gaidin53: "So two Life Scouts going for Eagle, and two adult leader moms who have both been through Wood Badge! You’ve also already been on one BWCA trip with scouts. Kudos of respect from an Eagle Scout and adult leader. You are definitely at a more prepared level than the average person with one BWCA trip.

Those boys will be able to carry way more weight this trip. That doesn’t mean over pack but it’s amazing to see those boys get challenged and how they will rise and lovingly conquer challenges. Definitely prepare since that helps a lot. So e great suggestions.

I’d recommend planning a trip where you have a base plan that is a decent challenge. Then know your options of what you’ll do if it’s too much. Know the best campsites on the planned route, and the best sites if you opt for a shorter trip with maybe a day where you don’t move. That is exactly what I did this year taking my wife and daughter in who had never camped before. Total immersion on a 7 day trip. Initial Plan was too aggressive and we modified.

Ryan"

Thank you!

How do we know what the best campsites are? Do I use the map on this site? Some of the review are inconsistent. I've also heard that a lot of sites have been trashed due to overuse and disrespect.

The maps and campsites are pretty accurate. There are some inconsistencies from review to review for some campsites. Some of that might be the natural deterioration of a site due to wind damage or the like however I have found that the reviews can generally be trusted. If there's a difference of opinion, I take an average so if someone says it's a 3 versus someone else rating it a 5, it's might be a 4. There are some other sites that have campsite ratings as well.

dogwoodgirl: "

Grandma L: "Ede, I would love to help you. Send me an e-mail. I live in the west metro of Mpls. I have years of taking kids to the BWCA - (mine and others).
"

Same here, email me! I wouldn't basecamp with kids that age, you can plan a safe loop and have so much fun."

Great advice... I’d work those kids beyond what you would think possible. Travel with kids is way more fulfilling for them. I was making an easy trip years ago for a group of 11 and 12 year olds. We were on knife lake and they got to being a little we’ll just say restless, like extra energy... so without even telling even my wife I changed the route through what is now a pma I believe. So to find our way was a lot more difficult and I got them involved. The weather also got a little rough, so all in all a much better adventure for them. That was a short out of the way passage, and I kept hem more involved and it changed everything for the better.

Two sources available for campsite ratings. I can’t list the other site you have to find it since it’s against the rules. Most give you an accurate idea of the site and also help with route planning distances paddling and portaging. I put the site ratings on my map in small permanent marker next to each site. Ones that aren’t rated don’t put anything on them. We always are aware of 3 and above in the area we’re looking to camp at. If all sites are taken like that I’ll check a blank non rated site first over a 1* rated site. 1* is worst and 5* is best.

TheN it’s just a matter of having a planned loop and knowing what other options are in that area if you need to divert. Also it’s been busy this summer so early start and trying to get a campsite early was more critical this year. That created more stress fo us on longer traveling days not knowing if we’d find an open campsite. We got lucky and got sites that we wanted but had to push farther on the first day after a really long day paddling and portaging.

Ryan