BWCA Trip Report - A Promise Kept Boundary Waters Trip Reports
Chat Rooms (0 Chatting)  |  Search  |   Login/Join
* For the benefit of the community, commercial posting is not allowed.
Boundary Waters Quetico Forum
   Trip Reports
      Trip Report - A Promise Kept     

Author

Text

09/03/2010 12:12PM   (Thread Older Than 3 Years)
New Trip Report posted by jcavenagh

Trip Name: A Promise Kept.

Entry Point: 25

Click Here to View Trip Report
 
Reply    Reply with Quote    Print Top Bottom Previous Next
09/03/2010 01:56PM  
Thanks for taking the time to share your story. I love reading trip reports. This was avery detailed report, pictures were good and generic.

I am sure your 12 year old is happy you told the world he went skinny dipping. Your story was one of the longest run-on sentences I've ever read in my entire life. But that's okay.

I guess the promise kept is a mystery, I am not sure what the promise was, I guess I missed it and my eyes are too fatigued to go on...... It is now nap time. Keep on floating!!!!
09/03/2010 02:10PM  
Thanks for the great report jcave. You have done you and your son a great service. You both know each other much better now, which will definitely help as he progresses through those teen years.
09/03/2010 04:23PM  
Thanks for the nice report! Loved all the pictures, glad you had a good time. ;-)
09/03/2010 09:02PM  
I know I rambled. I just started typing and went right through. At least its not Wolfe-like stream of consciousness! But the run-on nature of the report sort of reflects the unending, stifling heat we experienced. I have never had a canoe trip so hot before! As we came out of Prairie Portage I wrote in the guest book, "HOT, HOT, HOT!" jc
09/04/2010 08:39AM  
Don't get me wrong, I was poking you for fun, I really did like your report and the stream of thought reminded me of someone telling a story that they are so excited to get out that they talk a mile a minute. Loved it!
paddlefamily
distinguished member(1635)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
09/06/2010 05:38PM  
Nice trip report. Am impressed by your son's ability to help out carrying the canoe. The falls looked especially fun. Taking a kids is always an inspiration.

Thanks.
09/06/2010 06:22PM  
Nothing like a trip with your son. Ahh what you learn about them is as important at what they learn while they are with you.
Glad you had the two or you together it is what sparks memories.
Thanks for sharing!
SunCatcher
09/07/2010 06:08PM  
I never got to spend time alone with my boys. My daughter was my hunting buddy until she got married. But in July I got to spend 10 days in WCPP with my second son alone. Wow! What a time we had. I just wish we'd had been doing it all these years... He's twenty six. Don't put off your next trip... They get awful busy as they get older.
09/07/2010 06:55PM  
thanks for the nice report and pictures
09/13/2010 05:45PM  
NCTRY -
I am already planning a week or so in WCPP next year. (It might be Wabakimi, not quite sure yet...) I agree the time disappears too quickly. Already the youngest is getting busy... I have decided that I am no longer going to let the summer teams get in the way. If we want to get out in June or July, then no swim meet or baseball game is going to stop us. jc
09/13/2010 05:58PM  
Paddlefamily -
I promised my son that when he could carry a canoe himself, then I would take him into Quetico. He showed me at Bass pro shop here in Feb. that he almost could carry a 16' Kevlar. And this summer he did it. In the next couple years he'll bulk up and then...he can carry my canoe!
I am hoping to get a couple of his buddies to accompany us in 2011 or 12. I want to get out to the Absarokas for a week or so of hiking next summer, too. I hope to teach him that he can go lightweight and be OK. jc
bapabear
distinguished member(2861)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
09/23/2010 05:57PM  
I love reading father and son reports. While I canoed and fished with my son starting when he was third grade it took until I was 57 and he was 34 before we took our first trip canoe camping/fishing. Oh how I wish we had started canoe tripping earlier. That week and a half you spent with Sean is priceless and will become more treasured as you both grow older.

I feel for you with tripping in the heat. It's not fun for me either but you did get some swim time. Interesting how you knew on Friday that the weather called for rain on Sunday and it sure enough came true.

Funny coincidence with bumping into those guys from Alabama so often. Hope your knee didn't suffer too much damage. Loved the report.
09/28/2010 02:10PM  
Bapabear - I missed out with my 2 oldest. I did take my oldest son into Quetico 2 yaers ago when he was 16. At that age, he was just too cool for school and felt the need to put down everythying we did. I know his attitude will mellow with time and maybe we'll take another trip together. I never did take my oldest, a daughter, and now she is in college and off getting her own life going. Maybe in a few years I can talk her into a trip with me. Maybe with her husband, whoever that may end up being.

I believe I will be in Wabakimi next year, having already gotten one buddy on board. That looks like quite an adventure and we might bring the 12 yr olds with us.

As for the weather, I just looked at the NOAA/NWS site for a few days before we left. The weather was predicted with detail for 3 days so we knew what to expect the first few days. After that I predicted the weather using my "keenly honed natural observation skills." Clouds moving in might rain on us, clouds moving out might mean sunshine to follow!

As for the knees, well...52 years of living take its toll. As most baby boomers, I refuse to submit and will keep going like a twenty year old until I just break down completely!
09/28/2010 03:20PM  
jcavenagh, Awsome report, looks like you had a great time. Anthony ps . the Absarokas rock also, I went in 03 and 06.
plexmidwest
distinguished member (398)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
10/18/2011 02:42PM  
A PROMISE KEPT.

This hits home for me. I told my oldest son that when he graduated high school, I would take him on a BW trip. He passed away when he was 19, and I really regretted not keeping my promise. I will ALWAYS regret that. In an attempt to make things right for my own sanity, I have taken his younger brother, now 19, to the BW 4 of the last 5 years. I had never been up there before, but I knew it MUST be done. We truly love our time in the BW now.

The photo shows my oldest son on the right when he was 18 in Eagle River WI, and my youngest son when he was 17 in the BW on the left. The photo was taken in 2009, but I photoshopped my oldest son (passed in 2005) in because the poses were so similar.

Keep those promises so they will not haunt you.

John
10/19/2011 02:01PM  
John - I cannot possibly know your pain, but I sympathize with your message. I have come to the realization over the past few years that I must let my kids share my most precious moments. I didn't do that for 20 years or so and now I'm trying to correct my mistake.
PineKnot
distinguished member(2021)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
10/20/2011 11:00AM  
That was a really nice report! I've been paddling with my two sons (now 19 and 21) since they were 5 years old. It's an amazing shared experience. Hopefully, you'll be able to keep taking your son(s) with you for many more years to come.
hcarter
  
10/26/2011 02:44AM  
I say that the best kept memories are the ones where you know you kept a promise.I remembered my dad when I read your trip report and i was quite touched. I can see that you and your on really had a great time and i do hope that your bond grew stronger now that you got to spend more time together. Time flies so fast so it is best that you really cherish the moments with your son because before you know it, he's probably a grown man, busy with his own thing. I do hope that you will be able to spend more quality time with him, maybe another trip in the future. please keep us posted!
10/27/2011 04:27PM  
I want to do another trip with him. But, he just turned 14 and is pretty much too cool for school, if you catch my drift. I keep throwing ideas out and hope he bites on one of them.
10/31/2011 06:44AM  
Very nice report and pics. I took my son to the BW when he was 16 and 17 years old. He definitely wasn't into it like I am but seemed to go with the flow. He was fairly quiet and slept a lot I remember.

Now he's 19 and has been in the Army a year and a half and really wants to go to Quetico with me. There's something strange about those mid teen years.

It's excellent that you got to do this with your son and I'm sure he will look back on those pictures in later years with very fond memories. I've been to Louisa Falls and that is a spectacular place to take kids. No shots of the big falls and the pool below though...

Also, I just want to point out that when you type up a report it easier to read if you make some paragraphs. Sorry to be a nit picker. Anyway, I hope your son asks you "when are we going back to the Bdub Dad?"
11/01/2011 12:42PM  
TomT - Pics of the bottom part of the falls were taken in 2008 and I think I included some in the Easy Does It report.

As for style, I have tried various styles in my trip reports. This one was more stream of thought. I pretty much sat down one night and banged it out all at once. You can tell that I was just sort of winging it because my tenses and participles don't really match. There is internal incoinsistency in the text. But I get what you say about ease of reading with the paragraphs to break up the page.

My most recent report is broken up into very small paragraphs with photos in between, which is different than the first two reports. I kind of like the way that flows, as the pics are integral to the story.
11/03/2011 12:23AM  
Thank-you for that report J.
It was a good read, enjoyed every bit of it.
 
Reply    Reply with Quote    Print Top Bottom Previous Next