this summer i am taking our second son on his first trip to the bwca to celebrate his kindergarten graduation. the first trip with his older brother in 2010 (basecamp on the northwest corner of sawbill) was a great success. i'll have three more in 2014, 2016, 2018 (provided they all manage to graduate!). i feel so SMART for instituting this self-serving tradition!

his birthday comes up in april, and we are trying to come up with a birthday gift that would help contribute to his excitement and readiness for the trip. we'll probably go in late july.

he already has a camelbak backpack and a good sleeping bag. what other gift ideas—large and small—do you have that would fuel his almost-six-year-old excitement?

When our older daughter turned 5 we gave her a pink ccs rucksack (she loves it)and she did her first trip (hog creek to perent) the summer right before kindergarten. Our younger daughter turns 5 this summer and will be getting her own pink ccs rucksack then.


How about his own paddle? BB Twig. That is what we are giving our older daughter for her 7th bday in April. She wants to do a trip w/ just daddy this year and she has outgrown her little toddler paddle and our paddles are to big for her. She loves to paddle. Not sit and watch us do it :)

PS. Yes, it is a great self serving tradition (way to go) and do you ever "need" to fuel the excitement of a 6 year old :)

ducks: thanks for the good suggestions. we took bwpaddler's suggestion a couple years ago and bought some telescoping paddles for the kids, which they enjoy using to "help." as they get older, however, they'll need a proper paddle. that's probably a couple years out. once i get each kid initiated through the post-kindergarten trip, then it will be time to induct my wife and institute a tradition of annual family trips! and then the birthday present for us all will be a wenonah mn III! by then the oldest two should be capable bowmen. and we'll be in business!

i love the rucksack idea. that's one to mull over...

thanks! keep the suggestions coming!

Mogos, What canoe did you use for the Sawbill basecamp? Did you have any wind? and how difficult was it to get around/control w/ a little one in the bow?

The reason I ask is we have a Souris River 18.5 that works great for all 4 of us and also as a tandem for my wife and I. I want to use that for my daddy/daughter trip but am worried about it being too much boat to handle w/her in the bow if it get's windy at all. It will be a short trip and on small water so that will help. I've paddled w/ her in the bow some to practice but it was pretty calm. We will definitely have some more trial runs before trying it on a trip.

What we like about the rucksacks for them is that we can fill them light enough to work now and they will also be able to grow into them and w/ the high quality of CCS use them into adulthood. A lifelong gift. We got them with the short torso. It also helped that we got them during the 30% off sale.

other ideas....headlamp, small binoculars, camera

Got both my kids rain gear before there trips.

I was gonna suggest a headlamp, but ducks already mentioned it. Kids LOVE flashlights, and a headlamp is just way cool and fairly practical.

Ducks - I managed a SR18.5 in wind when daughter was 8 in the bow... developed a unique crowbar technique to shove the bow the direction needed, while I powered forward from the stern. Not a pretty paddling sight I am sure, but it was about 1.5-2 hours of paddling that way in some wind and it worked without feeling too unsafe. We sat out 3 hours waiting for it to die down, and eventually plunged in successfully. Definitely try it out before you go!

quote ducks: "Mogos, What canoe did you use for the Sawbill basecamp? Did you have any wind? and how difficult was it to get around/control w/ a little one in the bow?

Sorry! I may have misled you! Part of the tradition is that the kindergarten grad gets to pick a friend + dad to go on the trip. I should be willing to go just the two of us, but I enjoy the social component and the portaging/ paddling help!

So we had the two kids in the middle of a penobscot 16. Not much wind, but it would have been a long paddle up the lake if I had been the only motor. If I had to do it, I would shift the heavy gear fore to get a flat ride. So long as the bow isn't sitting up, the wind wouldn't be too bad -- to a certain wind speed.

I heartily endorse the headlamp idea as my personal favorite. My boys wear them around their neck all the time on the trip and they are always handy that way and never lost. We use them constantly outside the BWCA for reading on road trips, reading in bed when others are sleeping, etc. They never outgrow this item which makes it a good investment.

I also like the idea of a quality rain gear outfit but the kids aren't as excited about these as I am!

Other ideas:
Titanium mug or eating utensil set
Camp chair that could also be used in the canoe
Tri-power Safety Whistle