Taking my two girls to the BW this summer. My husband and son will be off on another adventure.

My eldest will be nearly 11 (my bow paddler) and the youngest 7. How far would you expect an 11 year old to paddle/portage in a day? Route I'm looking at has portages under 60 rods, with two around 100 rods. All small lakes. Total distance for route is under 15 miles. I was thinking that 4 miles is realistic. Any thoughts?

I should add that trip will be 4 days, with two nights at one site, and two nights at another. Plenty of time to fish and swim!

Let me start by saying this was our first portage trip as a family so we are definitely not pro's!
I (mom) took my (then) 13,11, and 9 year old boys on a MEA weekend adventure this past October. We paddled a Souris 18.5 across Poplar to Lizz to Caribou. That is 3.5 miles of combined paddle and portage (53 rod portage from Poplar to Lizz and 67 rod portage from Lizz to Caribou that had a chest high blowdown across the path). It was a windy day and the kids begged to basecamp on Caribou instead of pushing on to Horseshoe and Vista. If it hadn't been so windy I think we could have easily made it to Horseshoe which would have brought the combined paddle/portage total to 5 miles for the day (including an added 21 rod portage from Caribou to Horseshoe).

I was in the stern, the 13 year old in the bow, and the 3rd seat duo took turns with the third paddle so we had 2 strong paddlers and one additional paddler that was marginal but I found if the two kids paddled on one side it perfectly offset my stroke so it worked well for us. My boys are by no means what you would consider strapping so we portaged the packs and then I went back for the canoe while the kids "guarded" the packs and food.

So in a nut shell I think 4 miles is realistic with you and 2 girls!

BWpaddler could probably chime in with some good advice as she paddles all the time with her kids!

Hmmm, well, I'm not so good at tracking "mileage". Obviously you know your kids best.


Believe it or not, last summer I went the farthest with the youngest kiddo. Granted, it was kinda like a solo paddle with portaging help, lol. I got a workout. But she's also the kid that's ready for anything. My tween/teen were ready to stop less than an hour in on their trips...

So, with the 9 year old, we did 4 days, 3 nights, traveling every day. She was a bit anxious about "how far are we going today? where are we going to stay?" because she's that kind of kiddo - prefers to know the plan. But she handled it well for her.

I'll try to estimate paddling distance via Voyageurmaps online. That trip was about 4 miles day 1, maybe 6 miles day 2, about 9 miles day 3, 4 miles day 4... Longest portage 115 rods, but she does great on portages (they all do) and sometimes prefer them to paddling. Just not a ton of them.

Seriously, my tween (boy age 12) and teen (girl age 13 with friend age 12) begged to stop with under an hour paddling in and one 80-ish rod portage. They were totally fine in camp and paddling for fishing, but getting them on a longer trip will require group peer pressure - that's what I'm gonna try this year ;) They are getting WORSE as they age. The previous year, we went in 4-5 hours on a group trip, and my 12 year old daughter went into ANGLEWORM (2 mile portage in) with dad and zero complaints.

If you have a route where you can be flexible and make your choices on the way, it would be good. Once we committed to the "loop" with disparate end points, there was no turning back. Going in and out the same EP means you can have a loose plan and adjust as weather and kids require.

My first trip with all three and no other adult was 2007. They were 8,7, and 5. We went in just 3 lakes and a river (2 hour paddle?) and stayed 2 or 3 nights. I have the best memories of that! It was windy coming out, but we made it. The main thing was that we DID IT and I didn't have to rely on having a second adult along. Very freeing feeling.

You guys are gonna have a ball!!

quote BWPaddler: "
Granted, it was kinda like a solo paddle with portaging help, lol."

I LAUGHED SO HARD WHEN I ENLARGED THAT PHOTO!

Too funny...

Thanks everyone!

BWP-I'm not surprised your youngest held up the longest. Our youngest is game for anything and enjoys the outdoors. My eldest daughter is very excited about our BW trip and I'm happy she still is. Our son (almost 13) is more like your teens. He's ok to hike once in a while, but as he says, "I'm not really an outdoors person, Mom". :)

I do have a route planned where we can be flexible. Planning on entering/exiting at Poplar and doing a route similar to what nojobro did.

If you get to the campsite on horseshoe that I'm always raving about, you will not regret it! It might be a tad far for your put in day, but now that I think about it, we took out the last day from that campsite. We got up, packed up, and left and didn't stop for lunch and were at rockwood by 2, but I have no idea when we woke up. Husband was triple portaging.

If you can get to Vista (not necessarily to camp...could be a day trip) I've heard it's great. We did not quite make it there.

quote paddlefamily: "He's ok to hike once in a while, but as he says, "I'm not really an outdoors person, Mom". :)"

Thank GOODNESS someone else hears that. Finally got my oldest to say that she likes "camping" but she still denies liking hiking or paddling and the "outdoors" is more "my" thing than hers. Sigh. I wonder if I was this way at that age? I still have fingers crossed that it will "stick" and I take heart when a child points out the moon, or the peace and quiet. Same kiddo will say "You can just THINK out here when it's so quiet." and I breathe a little easier :)

I think a lot of it depends on the kids and the expectations that they have for the trip. I would sit down with them before the trip, and get their input in on what they want to do. Give them a variety of options for destinations, layover days, fishing, sight seeing, etc., and explain the amount of work that would need to go into each of them. Then when out on the trip, continually work with them to see how they are holding up. Having guided lots of kids on trip for both the scout base and outward bound, my goal was always to push the kids a bit beyond what they thought they could do, but not so much that they were miserable. And so many factors beyond our control can also impact the travel plans (wind, rain, storms,super hot weather, super cold weather).

So my suggestion would be to make a plan with their input and then revisit it several times during the trip. If the kids really want to see something they will work to see it. My favorite times are now spent with my daughters (12 and 10) running around the BWCA. Just remember, they main goal when you take the kids along is to have fun!

crookedpaddler-

Thanks for the input. Both girls have been to the BW before, but this will be my first time taking them solo. We canoe around our home and so they're comfortable with paddling, etc. Their enthusiasm will help and I think taking to them about what they hope to see/do is a great idea. (In past trips we've included their meal suggestions). :)

quote nojobro: "If you can get to Vista (not necessarily to camp...could be a day trip) I've heard it's great. We did not quite make it there."

We didn't make it there to camp but we day tripped to Vista and it was beautiful (but so is Horseshoe!)

We took pics of the 5 star site which is the southern most site on Vista. This is the view from the fire area.

luft- Yes, nice looking site. Wish I were there now.

quote nojobro: "If you can get to Vista (not necessarily to camp...could be a day trip) I've heard it's great. We did not quite make it there."

What does Vista have to offer and why is it so great ? I am planning a trip from Popular and Liz to Caribou, Horseshoe, Gaskin, and maybe Winchell(If we can make it) in late July with my Son, daughter-in-law, and 2 sons (11 yr old and 8 yr old) - they are leaving the 3rd boy (4 years old who is a wild kid to watch at home). My grandson who is 11 is a Big Big fishing guy - often fishes with his Dad in a large Lund fishing boat with 200 hrs moter. So it is very very important that we get to a lake that has good fishing. I heard that Winchell has large northerns in it that is reason I would like to make it to Winchell. Winchell also has a cool waterfall and high cliffs to climb on South side, though it is a very large lake so could be windy and rough. Also might try to basecamp and make side trips to smaller lakes nearby.

I don't know because we didn't make it there. LOL. But, it's often mentioned. I do know it's supposed to be good for seeing moose. I don't know about fishing.

I've booked the permit (a while ago).

We're going to do the 'Flying Seahorse' loop EP 52. About 12ish miles with plenty of day trip options. Girls are excited. I've already started my packing list, although it's months away. Thanks to someone here (maybe nojobro?) I'm going to print up t-shirts for the group.

We'll consist of two moms and four daughters.

Sounds like fun - I was wondering the other day if it's too early to start packing for my late May trip... funny!

@BigAl2

Vista is held up by many to be one of the most beautiful lakes in the BWCA and the southern most campsite is considered a "5 star" campsite...so a 5 star lake with a 5 star site and relative privacy in that there are only two campsites on the lake.

This of course is subject to personal opinion and while I did think Vista was beautiful, I also thought the same of Horseshoe! The river area that leads from Horseshoe into Vista is reported to be a "moose highway" and I think nojobro stayed in the campsite along that river area and raves about it.

quote BWPaddler: "Sounds like fun - I was wondering the other day if it's too early to start packing for my late May trip... funny!"

I have a few things piling up in the basement already for our late May trip so I give you full permission to do the same:-)

quote luft: "

quote BWPaddler: "Sounds like fun - I was wondering the other day if it's too early to start packing for my late May trip... funny!"

I have a few things piling up in the basement already for our late May trip so I give you full permission to do the same:-)"

I agree, never too early to pack, except when I have to pull stuff from the kids 'packed' clothing for them to use on an outdoor activity, like weekend hiking. :)