We just cancelled our permit for later in the month. We'd been planning this trip for two years with another mother/son duo, for four total (two adults, two teenagers).

They just backed out of the trip. My son would have a better time if someone besides just his mum were going, whether it's another youth close in age or adult who likes fishing, etc., And can connect with him.

We've had trouble finding trip mates because the idea of this kind of adventure can be intimidating. Someone who has had previous experience would be great, but we don't personally know very many people with that background. We're prepared to go with just the two of us, but again think it would be more fun for my son to have some else along.

We moved our reservation to next summer with the hopes of finding someone before then.

My question to all of you is how have you found your trip mates? Any ideas how we go about connecting with people genuinely interested in going and willing to fulfill the commitment of the trip?

My son age about 14 and I did what you are talking about and for some of the same reasons. He should have friends who would like to go and possibly you can do what I did and take said friend without their parental unit(s). We had a blast on that trip. Never did that again, but would if it were presented to me again in this need.

Family and friends - my brother has done a couple of trips with me and I've also done several with people I met here. There's actually a trip partner finder forum here, although it's not terribly active. Scroll to the bottom of the main messageboard page and click on view all special public interest groups. There's also a canoeing with kids forum. If you active here on the forum you'll get to know people and they'll get to know you. Someone may live near you and you will have a chance to meet. Good luck!

I think better to start with a friend of your son's and recruit their parent or favorite adult.

There is a book by Rob Kesselring called Daughter Father Canoe Coming of Age, written in 2003. Read it!
Don't overlook the opportunity (that you will never have again, and will pass quicker than you can shake an alder shrub at) to travel alone with your son. If you're thinking about sleeping arrangements, get hammocks or each have your own tent.
Each of my sons, but especially my younger son, has traveled alone with me, through all their baby, child, teen and now into their adult lives. I wouldn't trade a single second for anything. I cannot put into words how much I miss it, and how grateful I am that I read that book by Rob.
You know, they act bored at age 14. They dislike everything at age 14 except pizza and cellphones. Just ignore it. They're watching and absorbing everything, and those times will stick with them like glue when they most need it.

Go....whatever chance you get, I don't think anyone will regret it.

But if you must move it back, I've taken a lot of first-timers. You just have to do your legwork in advance with them. Make sure they're up for about anything, don't get bothered if it's raining most of a day or whatnot. A good personality and outlook is more important than the world's strongest paddler or portager. You can teach them that stuff as long as they're moderately fit. But being able to laugh when you lose a shoe in the mud or enjoy a game of cards while it rains mid-day is always good.

I think I would try to go even if no one else could go. It could be a great bonding trip. If you keep putting it off you may never go.

Do you spend any time paddling in your area? Meet other paddlers that way? We haven't had much luck finding other people to paddle with either. All our friends think we're crazy. (None of our friends like to bike or Xc ski either- we need new friends!) I think you're best bet would be an adventurous friend of your sons, then going with the 3 of you, or get the friends parent to go. Good luck.

Possibly join a local canoe/ kayak group if there is one. Or at the least a local hiking group and see if anyone wants to branch out. If all that fails and you can't find anyone you should still go with just the 2 of you.

It can be a challenge for sure...all ages or groups, adults, youth, families...people back out.

Only once have I been truly pissed about it. This was with family, my neice and two nephews wouldn't necessarily get the chance to do a trip like this without outside intervention. They had expressed interest and I jumped at the opportunity. It was going to be a father and kids trip. Myself, the other dad (my brother-in-law) and 4 kids total. We planned the trip - I told them i'd provide all the gear, they just needed to pack thier own packs and food. I spent a substantial amount of money, updating gear and outfitting them.

We were to leave on a Thursday, driving up early AM. They called Wednesday late evening and canceled, less than 12 hours from departure. Apparantly the mom (my sister-in-law), who wasn't even going on the trip, wasn't feeling well and was worried about who would take care of thier two weiner dogs, if she didn't feel well and everyone else was gone on a trip.

I originally said nothing except ok and hung up the phone. My wife bless her heart, called her sister and asked how she could help and how we could make this trip still happen...everything was shot down and they started to get confrontational with her.

I then unleashed a tirade upon both my brother-in-law and sister-in-law that resulted in blocking on all social media and a year of no speaking.

No point to telling my story, other than to say good luck. You could always plan for the typical bell curve of BW trip participation and try and get like three or four that are interested with the hopes that at the end there's still one mom - son combo still hanging on.

Yes, it's hard to organize a trip to the BW with others. I've had many people drop out and it's frustrating since they have no idea about the work that I put in planning and preparing, the compromises I made to make the time work, etc. My solution was to go alone if everybody dropped out. Then I just started telling them "here's what I'm doing (when, where, how). If you're interested let me know."

If nothing works out, you and your son go. You may never have the opportunity again. Things change fast with teenagers.

I go with a co-worker. Making our eighth trip in August. He’s an engineer and pretty quiet. I’m a talkative salesman. Seems to work fine. We’ve talked about asking someone to join us but we don’t know anyone who’s interested. I say go and enjoy the time with your son.

Life is too short. Our time with our children, when they can both appreciate us and tolerate us, is fleeting. Just go!! Make a plan for the two of you that also allows another of your son’s age to join, or another parent-child team, but doesn’t rely on that.

My wife and I have different things that we enjoy, and involve our kids in those collectively and separately. She has taken them each to Hawaii for hiking, kayaking, and surfing, while I enjoy backpacking and canoeing trips as well as hiking near home with them. We have both “pushed” our kids outside their comfort zones to safely expand their perspective. They are 27 and 28 with no negative feedback so far.

Every parent/child relationship is different. Every person’s relationship with the outdoors is different. Obviously, you are the best judge of what will work in your specific situation. I wish you the best! Time spent in the wilderness one on one with my kids is unforgettable.

Best

E

Edewolfe. If you want to do a trip with your boys this summer let me Know. I have led many trips and will be retiring this summer and would love to help give them a trip of a lifetime. dan@arborgateonline.com

How old is your son? I'm looking at a trip with a couple of friends. One dad would like his 15 year old son to go...but with no other kids going, the son doesn't want to go. He is an easy going kid and get along with most anyone. We are looking at the last week of June.

I feel your pain. I planned a trip many years ago and it was supposed to be a group of 5. In the end it was just myself and my wife. I was a bit bummed that the others dropped out but was determined to go and glad we did. Would not trade the experience of that trip for anything; I found out much about myself and my abilities on that trip. It would be my recommendation that you try to pull another permit for this year and go. If you find more to join great, but I would be willing to bet you and your son would be better for it with just the two of you. Kudos to you for planning this with your son. Embrace this opportunity and do not be discouraged. Best of luck and I hope to see a trip report from you.

I am lucky to have a reliable tripping partner, we have been good friends for 50 years and have gone off and on throughout that time. Over the last 10 years we have gone once or twice every year, both still have the desire and are in reasonably good health so we can still do it. Although our trips have changed a lot to be much less travel oriented and more basecamp oriented.

If for some reason he could not go I still l have a couple other guys I am pretty sure I could convince to take a trip with me. I have gone on one with both of them and both were great.

Guess I have never thought about the what if...there was nobody to trip with.

First thought would be to post on this site looking for trip partners and with flexible dates and itineraries I am pretty sure I could put some trips together. There's a lot of good people here and I wouldn't have much hesitation in doing that, especially with the long time members who I feel like I know, even though I don't.
With a teenage son in the picture you would likely be looking for a similar pair but I believe they probably exist. Try to arrange a meeting if the distances aren't too far apart. Or even a Zoom video meeting could give you a pretty good idea of compatibility.

I think I would enjoy a trip with someone new, as long as they are within the wide range of "normal". I get along with just about everyone and there is much to be gained by a trip like this too.

On the other hand a trip with just the two of you could be pretty cool, just keep his goals for the trip top of mind and maybe make it a short trip. Might just work out pretty well. If you continue to postpone it until next year, pretty soon he will be grown up and out of the house and the chance might be gone. Or maybe not.

Edewolf...I hope you find someone to trip with you and your son - since I have teenage daughters I won't be interested for another 10 or 20 years! jk :)

Perhaps a shorter trip with just the two of you would work out well. I know with my teenagers that it helps to involve them in the planning as much as they are interested. Like others have said, go and trust nature to work the miracle of capturing their attention. I do hope you can find someone to trip with to help make it better all around.

I usually talk to people who are into that sort of experiance and mention that they should come with me sometime and if they indicate interest. I then exaggerate how tough the trip is, making it sound about twice as miserable and hard as it actually will be. If they're still interested I let them know that I assign the camp chores so they realize I'm not a guide and they will have responsibilities on the trip. If they still say yes then I know they're serious about going. I try to invite about 6 to a trip in case some cancel.
I never invite people that I think won't embrace a challenge. I figure if they can't be miserable and be ok with it, they will make the trip miserable for everyone else.
That being said I realize it's not just about me and the majority rules when actually on the trip. I've changed my route, left early, went to different lakes then originally planned, etc. because I was overruled and I was fine with that.
So far I've never regretted taking new news with me.

We take up 14 to 18 men and boys each September, split into 3 groups. What we do to avoid all the different opinions is we leave Seagull Outfitters and paddle through Seagull and Alpine, base camping on either Alpine or Red Rock Lake. From that point everyone day trips to as many lakes and routes as they want. Others are content to just stay in camp.

When you make the Boundary Waters about how far you can paddle and how big of a challenge you can make it, you really limit the people that want to come with you. We have also found it is far easier to portage an empty canoe and a day pack, and can actually see more lakes that way then 4-5 double/triple portages each day, plus setting up and taking down camps.

And we found after all the years of portaging 5-6 portages in that we missed too much to see paddling through lakes just to get to the target lake.

I'm guessing edewolfe has quit monitoring this post from 7/2021 . . .

She did leave her email though.

boonie: "I'm guessing edewolfe has quit monitoring this post from 7/2021 . . .


She did leave her email though."

Oh geez. I didn't even realize it was from 21. Should have noticed that. Duh...

She did say she'd move the reservation to this summer in hopes of finding someone, so if she didn't maybe she'll check back.

Non-refundable cash up front for your half of the expenses will separate the chaff from the wheat.

boonie: "She did say she'd move the reservation to this summer in hopes of finding someone, so if she didn't maybe she'll check back. "

Hope she does. Really would like to hear that her and her son go

boonie: "I'm guessing edewolfe has quit monitoring this post from 7/2021 . . .


She did leave her email though."

I'm still here! Thank you for keeping the thread going. I changed jobs last summer and didn't have any PTO available. So I'M BACK!!

I have a group of 4 going this summer (2023) so far: my son, retired Assistant Scoutmaster and his Eagle son. We'd like to bring on a few more if anyone following this thread is interested. Here are the details: EP 25 through Williams and Hall outfitter. Looking at put in on July 24th (July 17th as the backup). Will be getting permit by the end of the week.

Will be 4-5 day trip. Not looking for any extreme portaging, so we'll likely camp in the same spot a few nights. As a group we'll review the routes and make a decision from there. Lots of fishing, going where the loons go, and avoiding mosquinados as much as possible.

My son will be 18, so anyone with a youth or youthful personality would be especially welcome. @newbie2021 were you and your friend and his son able to make it out last year?

If anyone is interested, please respond here or email me at ead603@yahoo.com directly. Looking forward to a great summer with many memories!

Glad to hear you are going to make it happen this summer. I hope nothing gets in the way this time. Sounds like you have found a couple of good trip partners. Have a good trip with your son.

Glad to hear you all are going to make the voyage this year! EP 25 (Moose Lake) has a lot of great options - I solo'd that area for four months last year. I'm going in the same EP again this year, so I'll be in the neighborhood when you make your voyage. While I haven't visited all of the lakes in the area, I did see many of them, if you have any questions about the region, feel free to ask :).

JohnGalt: "Glad to hear you all are going to make the voyage this year! EP 25 (Moose Lake) has a lot of great options - I solo'd that area for four months last year. I'm going in the same EP again this year, so I'll be in the neighborhood when you make your voyage. While I haven't visited all of the lakes in the area, I did see many of them, if you have any questions about the region, feel free to ask :)."

John,
Grandma L here. Please contact me - I would like to track your travels again this year. You don't have an email listed or I would send you a message.