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marsonite
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06/04/2021 06:00PM  
I chuckled when I read the "Noobs" thread, and thought "well I was never that stupid" ha ha. Then I thought about my first trip and realized I must have looked pretty foolish.

A buddy and I decided to go to on a canoe trip to Johnson Lake (near Voyageurs Park). At the time, the only way in there was a 3/4 mile portage. I have forgotten a lot, but I know we tied both our cook kit and a double burner coleman stove to our standard weight grumman's thwarts and headed off down the trail. Unfortunately, the area had recently been logged and we lost the trail. Wound up blundering around for awhile and then turned around and decided to canoe the Vermilion river instead. We paddled up to Chipmunk falls, camped, and that night it poured rain all night and got our Coleman sleeping bags good and wet. So we turned around and came home. I was in high school at the time. Didn't have bent shaft paddles at that time so at least we didn't make that mistake!
 
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eagle98mn
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06/04/2021 06:47PM  
First trip in, I went with 7 others. 5 of us were rookies. Entered at Kawishiwi Lake and paddled to Adams. I was good on the water and could have paddled further if needed. However, I was unable to get the Royalex up on my shoulders while also wearing my backpack (I'm a lightweight!). My friend and canoe-mate was awesome and picked me up on the way in. On the way out a few days later, he helped me get it up on my shoulders and I knocked out my first portage.

Over the years since then, he and I continue to trip together annually, and I'm happy to say I've mastered the portaging side of the BWCA equation (we did the Grand Portage a couple years ago!). Part of that evolution was switching to Kevlar and part of it was learning the technique to lifting a canoe. Noob indeed! :)
 
BigCurrent
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06/04/2021 07:07PM  
My first 'real' trip without adults was myself and three other 16-yr olds (1996).


Basecamped on a lake for an entire week, fished every day and never caught a thing. Later we found out that the lake is so shallow it freezes solid each winter and there aren't any fish in the lake.

Also brought some heavier gear.
-Coleman White Gas Lantern
-Canvas Army Tent
-Low riding aluminum Lawn Chairs
-Coleman White Gas 2-burner stove

We've come along ways since then.

 
Fearlessleader
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06/04/2021 08:42PM  
Read a magazine article somewhere about the Boundary Waters and even though we had only been married 4 months and had never been canoeing we headed up there in June 1971.

Started at the Lake One landing and went down the Kawishiwi River. Of course it was all rented equipment, aluminum and canvas. In those days many of the portages had marker posts and portage rests. We had no idea that a stove was optional so we cooked everything on a fire.

It was cool and cloudy and a thousand mile drive for us but we have made the trip at least 50 times since then.
 
06/04/2021 09:04PM  
My first real trip was in 1976 down the Granite and Pine Rivers. In 1973 my brother and I camped off the Gunflint Trail and took day trips since we didn’t have tripping gear but we’re outfitted for car camping. This trip really whetted my appetite for a real trip. On the 1976 trip it didn’t occur to us to take a spare paddle, or not to try to run every drop which resulted in a swim where we nearly lost our map case or to wear our life jackets. When we dumped my brother-in-law informed me he couldn’t swim. After this trip I started to research canoe tripping and accumulate more appropriate gear. As the years and trips have gone by, I find I still enjoy the trip planning process and fine tuning my trip gear.
 
06/04/2021 10:23PM  
Trying to think of my first helping trip. I have been going multiple times a year since I was 3 months old so first trip doesn't apply to me much. I do remember one going into phoebe... or Cherokee pretty well that I was not prepared for. 3 people and 1 canoe. 2 backpacks and 1 food pack. My dad took the canoe and a backpack. My younger brother took the food pack and I was stuck with the heavy pack at around 16 years old. The portage a was ridiculously long and I was an underage smoker. My father went first and I was second with my bro behind me at 14 years old. Made it halfway and decided to take a break. I think I smoked a cig and then realized I couldn't get the backpack back on. My brother came around the corner and I asked for help but he just said he couldn't stop. So now I'm alone and can't lift the pack onto my shoulders. I drag the bag into the woods to an old stump and place it on there and then I'm able to resume. This took sometime and I was good but my dad backtracked to see what was taking me so long.

Later on in the trip my brother and I decided to treat my dad to no paddling and put him in the middle of the canoe. All was fine until trying to get back to camp across..I want to say it was phoebe. The wind picked up something fierce and no matter how hard we tried the canoe flipped around in the wind and I shouted at my brother to head for the bay to get out of the wind. We got in there and my dad just laughed.

Real learning experience in the power of wind and carrying too much. Also I remember the mosquitoes being crazy bad and it was hot. Portaging with a sweatshirt and jeans on drenched in bug spray.

A trip I'll never forget.
 
06/04/2021 10:51PM  
marsonite: "I chuckled when I read the "Noobs" thread, and thought "well I was never that stupid" ha ha. Then I thought about my first trip and realized I must have looked pretty foolish.

A buddy and I decided to go to on a canoe trip to Johnson Lake (near Voyageurs Park). At the time, the only way in there was a 3/4 mile portage. I have forgotten a lot, but I know we tied both our cook kit and a double burner coleman stove to our standard weight grumman's thwarts and headed off down the trail. Unfortunately, the area had recently been logged and we lost the trail. Wound up blundering around for awhile and then turned around and decided to canoe the Vermilion river instead. We paddled up to Chipmunk falls, camped, and that night it poured rain all night and got our Coleman sleeping bags good and wet. So we turned around and came home. I was in high school at the time. Didn't have bent shaft paddles at that time so at least we didn't make that mistake!"


That’s awesome! I have a cabin on the river near Bug Creek, half way between chipmunk and vermilion falls.

I made my first trip with my dad when I was 12, Moose River North to Agnes. We base camped but made a day trip to Iron. He was crabby the whole trip. I thought it was me not pulling my weight, etc. On the way home I worked up the courage to ask what was wrong, and he said there were too many G.D. people ruining the experience. I had a great time. The next year we started going to the Quetico. For a frame of reference, that was the late 80’s.
 
06/04/2021 11:02PM  
My first trip was a disaster. I was 20 (I'm 45 now). My buddy and I. Everything packed into two 50+ lb duffel bags. A 68 lb tank of an Old Town canoe. Entered at Brant lake with the idea of single portaging to Boulder lake because it was the most remote spot I could find on the map. We made it one night before we called it quits. I've come a long way since then. At least the drive up the north shore was beautiful, we saw a bull moose, and we made memories that I'll never forget. Still have the original map with my overly ambitious route markings on it.
 
06/05/2021 06:08AM  
It was 1983 and me and my girlfriend were going in at Homer Lake entry for 7 nights. I took a game trail right out of the gate thinking it was our first portage. 1st lesson I learned the hard way. We set up camp on Juno Lake. It became one of those amazingly still evenings so quiet I swore I could hear the earth rotating. It freaked us out because we were raised in the Chicago suburbs where it’s NEVER quiet.

We had spaghetti and hung up our large food duffel from a “bear bar” which the forest service provided. It was a wood pole hung between two trees. Later that evening we heard a sharp branch snap from across the lake in the narrows. Then we heard it again.

After dark in the tent we were startled by hearing our Grumman canoe rocking on the ground. I got out and put the flashlight on the butt of a fully grown black bear sniffing around inside the canoe.

It slowly walked the camp at one point licking bugs out of a fireplace log. It paid no mind to my flashlight and clanging metal cups together and yelling. It got as close as being on the opposite side of the tent and sniffing it where my girlfriend was inside crying. Things were getting REAL at that point.

Soon enough it walked back up the trail that led to the food pack. About 10 minutes later we heard a large crash in the woods. There was no way I was going to try to save our food. The next morning all we found was a pile of opened wrappers and all that was left was the coffee grounds.

We made coffee packed up and paddled out through Brule Lake very disappointed and starving. We set up camp in the Grand Marais campground for the rest of the week. So that was my first trip. I was 23 and a total greenhorn. Never seen a bear up there since in over 20 trips.

Don't ask me why because I don't know why I put the 2 fuel bottles in the food duffle. The bear was curious I guess. And that was my 1979 CJ-7 Wrangler at the landing. Our food was in the big red duffel.

 
06/05/2021 06:46AM  
My first trip was out of Sawbill and up to Cherokee for lake trout in May '01 or '02. Everyone caught at least one laker, so that was good. No one told me how cold it could get up there in May. It was tee shirt weather 300 miles south of the BWCA. I was wearing my pfd in camp just for warmth and paddling with my extra socks worn as gloves.
 
06/05/2021 07:53AM  
It was 1984 and thrown together the night before with stuff from my cabin and equipment lent to us from a guy at a bar in Biwabik. A lot of really bad equipment choices where made and an Old Town Pathfiner is not a good tripping canoe. Made it to Horse Lake and had a blast. I learned a lot.
 
mjmkjun
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06/05/2021 08:45AM  
Solo in 2007--mid-June. Choose an easy one--Hog Creek entry paddling a Prism w/double blade. I hit the bank of every S turns on Hog Creek except one. Shrub branches in my face hindering forward motion. Water was high and flowing strong that June so it was really difficult to determine the main route by gauging the forward bend (southern flow) of the vegetation growth. I took every false turn, of course. Frustration peaked. When I reached Perent Lake I was exhilarated! I worked up a good speed on open water and was moving! ...until I hit a submerged boulder. BAM! I sheepishly back off knowing that sound was probably heard clear to Kawishiwi Campground. Damage minimal, thankfully. Just a minor surface cracking in the epoxy of the UL Prism. I grew up in the deep south with swamps as a playground and had never encountered lakes with such massive boulders hiding just beneath the surface. Fancy that! Respect learned. Everything smooth afterward. Every year I return to feed the addiction.

 
missmolly
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06/05/2021 10:30AM  
A tube tent, which is a half notch above sleeping in a garbage bag.

All cotton clothing except for my plastic poncho, which again, is a half notch above donning a garbage bag.

I figured I'd eat fish for five weeks. Well, by the third week, I was sometimes going hungry instead of eating more fish. If I'd had a garbage bag to eat, I might have. I just might have.
 
06/05/2021 12:03PM  
missmolly: "A tube tent, which is a half notch above sleeping in a garbage bag.


All cotton clothing except for my plastic poncho, which again, is a half notch above donning a garbage bag.


I figured I'd eat fish for five weeks. Well, by the third week, I was sometimes going hungry instead of eating more fish. If I'd had a garbage bag to eat, I might have. I just might have. "


5 weeks?? Was this solo? I also used a poncho on my first couple trips in the 1980s. I also used a boat cushion instead of a pfd. Remember those days? :)
 
colddriver
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06/05/2021 12:52PM  
Probably 95 or 96 went with a church group,
Don't remember lakes or anything but the adult leaders wanted to teach us how to upright an over turned canoe In the water.
They picked one of the canoes,brought it out on the water,swamped it and the boat sank straight to the bottom......
Luckily was only about 10ft or less as we could see it sitting on the bottom of the lake lol. They dove down and put a rope on it pulled it up and out. Very scarry that was the second day of a 12 day trip, we used that Canoe rest of trip.
 
SunrisePaddler
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06/05/2021 01:11PM  
Really enjoying these stories. Unfortunately (I think) no crazy childhood trips here.

My very first trip was in my 40s with three older and more experienced paddlers. I was happily along for the the ride, eager to soak up knowledge and learn the ways of the wilderness. Trip leader was generous and well meaning, providing all packs, gear, organization. He assured, and I trusted, he had everything covered.

We almost ran out of -- of all things -- toilet paper and had to ration for two days.
 
Stumpy
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06/05/2021 03:31PM  
Wait till I tell it !
 
outsidethebox
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06/06/2021 07:51AM  
My first trip in was last September-at age 67. My younger brother and I were guided and well cared for. Our family spent many summer family vacations on the Northwest
Bay of Rainy. We know how to fish. My brother was all fly and I was all "live". We caught a ton of incredible brook trout.
 
straighthairedcurly
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06/06/2021 08:57AM  
I love reading all the stories. I was lucky enough to start my BWCA visits through a camp. My first trip was as a thirteen year old. I was too small to carry the Grumman canoe, but I was a fierce pack carrier and always took the heaviest pack, the cook pack. The trip was pretty trouble free until we were camped on a big lake (I think it was Seagull). One canoe of girls went out fishing and hadn't come back when expected. Our counselor found someone with a motorboat who took her around looking. She had to call camp and let them know when they still couldn't be found. It was a very scary night. Fortunately, the ending was good. The next morning they were delivered back to our campsite. Apparently, they had gotten turned around and had stopped at a campsite at dusk to ask for directions. The group at that site said it was too dangerous for them to continue as night was fast approaching and made them stay. Would have been a lot better for everyone if that group had just helped them get back where they belonged right away. But at least it ended well.
 
06/06/2021 11:23AM  
1971.....

how it started

my folks were
always
sending me away

the summer
i was twelve
they put me
on a van
up the north shore
back in the spruce
woods where
the air
was cool and
magic

canoes
met us
on the shore
and we began
to learn
how girls
could become
voyageurs

it was all
that
girl scouts
was not
we used
knives and
axes and fire
i saw that
perhaps i
was strong and
sharp
maybe even
dangerous

five days into
our journey
the rain was
constant
it was cold
i hated
freeze dried eggs
and my
feet hurt and
i wanted to
go home

once
i got home
all i could
think of was
please
can i
go back

 
06/06/2021 11:54AM  
As noted in most of my trip reports, my first trip was in 1978 at age 27. I was an adult advisor for a Boy Scout crew of seven from western NC. I'd had 12 years of flatwater and whitewater paddling experience by then, but had done only a couple canoe camping trips. At Charles L Sommers Canoe Base on Moose Lake we were assigned an "interpreter", bringing group size to nine. After swimming and canoe swamping/recovery tests, we were outfitted with two Alumacraft canoes and a Seliga that was used by the interpreter. Each canoe had three people and two packs; portages were single-walked with three of us carrying canoes and six carrying packs...

Our route was primarily in Quetico. Most of the Scouts had little paddling experience and NO portaging experience. On the portage between Brent and Darkwater (then Darky), we waited about 15 minutes for a couple stragglers, then I started jogging back up the portage to see what was delaying them. I stopped jogging when I heard the 'boom-a-loom' canoe coming toward me, and they explained that the Scout carrying the canoe "had problems with it". In camp that evening the two stragglers started laughing about the portage and told the REAL story: When he was popping the canoe over his head, a gust of wind caught the canoe. He strained to keep control of the boat and soiled his clothes. The delay was to clean himself and bury his underwear...

Personally, my first experience in BWCA/Q was the discovery of my perfect paddling venue. In '79 I returned with my wife, and we were both hooked. We've been back with our kids, but our favorite trips have been just the two of us. Now retired, we were able to make trips in '17, '18, & 19. We had Quetico reservations for '20, but we all know how that went. We're hoping for August/September '21--fingers crossed.

TZ
 
06/06/2021 12:25PM  
My first trip. 1971,

Scary, painful (sunburn), uncomfortable (canvas tent), fun, relaxing, sexy, inspiring, companionable (my husband did a good job of making it pleasant for me), breathtaking.

I was planning the next trip before we even finished on the 6th day.

How It All Began
 
Podunk
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06/06/2021 01:25PM  
1992, my buddy backed out so I did it solo. Island River back to outfitter at Farm Lake. Thought a river route would mean cruising downstream, was somewhat disappointed by wind blowing the aluminum tank upstream. Remember trying to cross Bald Eagle in the afternoon winds, that didn't work. Great fishing, saw moose, bear, mink etc. Great trip and was hooked. Also remember a killer Portage on the Kaswishi that almost did me in.
 
missmolly
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06/06/2021 02:11PM  
TomT: "
missmolly: "A tube tent, which is a half notch above sleeping in a garbage bag.



All cotton clothing except for my plastic poncho, which again, is a half notch above donning a garbage bag.



I figured I'd eat fish for five weeks. Well, by the third week, I was sometimes going hungry instead of eating more fish. If I'd had a garbage bag to eat, I might have. I just might have. "



5 weeks?? Was this solo? I also used a poncho on my first couple trips in the 1980s. I also used a boat cushion instead of a pfd. Remember those days? :)"


Two weeks with family. Three weeks alone.
 
06/06/2021 02:14PM  
Besides family trips my Boy Scout trips were very memorable. Our troup master was a marine with Pacific Ocean combat experience. We were his mini marines and mistakes were not tolerated. He was an engineer at univac, back in the days when the computer industry was big in Minnesota. He was also an expert on most anything outdoors and was very keen on sharing that knowledge with us mini marines. There was hell to pay if you confused a swainsons thrush with a veery. As a kid this man seemed like a deranged lunatic, in hindsight he was one of the most impressive person I had the honor to know
 
06/06/2021 04:32PM  
I had been to the BWCA for many weekend trips, but my first week-long trip was in 1976. There were seven of us and two counselors from a camp called Voyager's Landing on Hungry Jack Lake. We ate things like powdered eggs that were stored in 35mm film canisters, Rye Krisp with peanut butter and jelly, "ham butt" that we roasted over an open fire. We drank directly from the lake.
We sprayed the inside of the tent with Bug Bomb each night while we were in there. And, we did not have sleeping pads.
The highlight of the trip was sleeping out on the rocks that protruded into Rose Lake. It was an amazingly clear night with a meteor shower the likes of which I had never seen before. I think I stayed up most of the night just looking at the stars. One of the guys rolled halfway into the lake that night and never woke up.
His sleeping bag was drenched.
The low part of the trip was when we were climbing the rocks on Rose Lake and a buddy fell backwards onto a dead tree and a broken branch went through his hand. He had to be carted out that evening and taken to the hospital. No permanent damage, but it cut the trip short.
 
R1verrunner
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06/06/2021 05:19PM  
1978 I was 12 wet canvas tents heavy alum canoes Trout lake.

Rain rain and more rain.

Big waves.

I loved being in the woods with my Dad and brothers trying to catch fish.
 
treehorn
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06/07/2021 10:16AM  
1999ish...me and 3 other buddies were about 20ish.

Almost fully outfitted by a place in Ely (don't remember who). Entered Fall Lake and went up around Basswood Falls, and back down through Horse River, Horse Lake, Jackfish Bay, etc, back to the original EP. 5-night trip, and we moved camps every day.

It was July and we had perfect weather. Only one little evening storm which just provided us with some entertainment.

I think we had one, maybe 2 fishing poles between the 4 of us.

The first night in the motorized zone provided some "excitement" as we were being harassed by a boat flying up and down what I think was Pipestone Bay, shouting profanities at us and any other campers they came across. I have no evidence, but it likely could have been the infamous Barney Lakner and company.

But the trip overall was perfect. My first real exposure to wilderness camping and once we got around the big Basswood portage, we were alone for like 3 days. I absolutely loved the solitude and just being off the grid with my buddies. I was hooked. The feeling of going in with very little idea of what to expect is kind of a once in a lifetime thing...I know too much now and it's not quite the same.
 
06/07/2021 01:27PM  
Just myself and 9 year old son, July 2015, Granite River route.

Successfully ran a very small rapid.

Unsuccessfully ran a different very small rapid and flipped the canoe.

Saw Mama Bear and 2 cubs from about 100 yards away.

Had a bald eagle fly 5 feet over our heads and snagged a small pike we had just released.

Caught and ate fish. Even the smallmouth tasted good.

Learned how to hammock camp.

Had a blast, been back almost every year since.



 
SunrisePaddler
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06/07/2021 05:14PM  
johndku: "Just myself and 9 year old son, July 2015, Granite River route.


Successfully ran a very small rapid.


Unsuccessfully ran a different very small rapid and flipped the canoe.


Saw Mama Bear and 2 cubs from about 100 yards away.


Had a bald eagle fly 5 feet over our heads and snagged a small pike we had just released.


Caught and ate fish. Even the smallmouth tasted good.


Learned how to hammock camp.


Had a blast, been back almost every year since.



"



Wow, talk about a memorable first trip! Some bucket list experiences there.
 
06/07/2021 07:09PM  
Photos tell a better story than my verbiage,
Superior North 1983, fly in to Clay Lake, EP Mack to McKenzie the the Falls Chain to Cache Bay (actually the second trip, but a better documented repeat of the 1982 Q trip).

butthead
 
06/07/2021 08:02PM  
35 years ago my new husband convinced me that going to the boundary waters was a great way to spend our honeymoon. What new bride wouldn't want to spend a week without showering, using a thunderbox, packing/ unpacking gear everyday, all while sharing the trip with bugs? And oh, our 1st portage was the looong Crab Lake entry.

For our very first BW portage we wanted to single portage, so we threw on the packs and double carried our alumnacraft. Now I had an external frame pack which was great for double carrying- the canoe rested on the top bar of the pack (a Northface D-3 which I still have but don't use it for the BW) and my husband balanced the canoe seat on his head. But really, double carrying isn't so great and we quickly learned a better carry method. Good thing I am very patient and knew how to keep my comments to myself.

Because I had such a nice pack (translate, big) and it was easy to lash things to the outside, I ended up with the tent and the heavier pack. And the tent, sleeping bags, thermarest, jeans, flannel shirts, tennis shoes, Cotten sweatshirts, etc were a lot heavier then than what we have now.

From Crab Lake we did a loop around the smaller lakes. We wanted to avoid people and do some fishing. Saca, Hassel, Battle, Phantom, Sprite,Lost, Meal,Clark. Back to Crab. We only saw 2 other people on that loop.

Two years ago we went back to Crab and we had a hard time finding the portage into Clark, or maybe it was Saca, and it looked really steep and overgrown. I'm guessing that loop doesn't see a lot of use. I know this time we stayed and explored Crab.

When we hit the end of our last portage there was a large Boy Scout group, with cups etc hanging off their belts and packs. Not very organized. While crossing Burntside another couple flagged us down, couldn't find the portage. I remember them because the woman had huge hoop earrings, which I thought would get caught on a branch. And because they did not have a compass or map. We just pointed them in the direction of the Boy Scouts and kept going.

So our anniversary is today. We've been back to the BW many times, have taken our kids there, and still enjoy it. In fact, we are leaving on Sunday for our next adventure there. I guess maybe the bwca was a great place for a honeymoon!
 
06/08/2021 05:16AM  
Happy Anniversary, 4keys.

As much as I loved canoe-tripping and as much as I loved my husband (actually I think I loved him more once we began canoe-tripping together), I am glad that our honeymoon wasn't in the Boundary Waters! I wouldn't have been ready for that yet, and I suppose being married in December would have made my first trip very different, too.

I still love him after 53 1/2 years of marriage, but I know I do love him more because he shared the canoe country with me for 50 of those years. Not every single year, but enough that it feels like it was part of the fabric of our marriage.

 
jwmiller39
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06/08/2021 02:47PM  
This thread is a great reminder to take it easy on the influx of "noobs" entering the BWCA the last year and a half... Everyone has to start somewhere and they are just as entitled to enjoying the BWCA as you and I.
 
JWilder
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06/08/2021 04:18PM  
What was my first trip like?

Well, aside from not knowing a dang thang. It was like “where have you been all my life?!” Simply amazing...

JW
 
06/09/2021 05:23PM  
Some great first trip stories here! Fun to read.
For me, I was a recent transplant from Canada. The father of the girl I was dating used to guide BWCA trips and took us on my first trip along with their whole family. Strangely, I have almost zero memories of it! I remember a bunk house, a bear encounter and vague memories of the campsite. But I strongly remember loving it...probably because I was infactuated with my paddling partner. :-) Whatever the case, the passion for paddling took root.
 
SCNDACT2021
  
06/11/2021 07:50PM  
We spent half our childhood east of Santa Fe. On a river, high up in the mountains. We would get the river rocks and build a dam and swim.
One year my mom and a man she was seeing took us on a rafting trip on the Chama River. I don't remember any wild rapids. Some fun bumpy ones though! We had a blast! We would pull off the side of the river in the evening. Set up our tents. Cook. Go fishing. If I remember correctly there were some warm springs on the side of the river that we would sit in. The next morning we would get up, eat, pack up, get back in the raft and away we went. We would fish and jump off the side of the raft and swim. We would play games. We had a couple of plastic travel games. This was mid 80's. Make our lunch and sit on the side of the raft and eat.
I miss the rivers. I was always a river rat! Lately, too many people on the river. Here in Texas, it's a lot of floating in tubes.
 
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