My good friend and I are taking our girls (four of them) up to the BW in a few days. Excited for an all-girls trip! They're between 7 and 11 and very excited (they've been there before). Today we grocery shop and pack. I spent time in bed last evening thinking about all the fun things to show them now that they're older.

They're used to fall trips so we're looking forward to spending time in the water!

On a fall BW trip. Love 'em.

Looks like a fun crew! Good luck!

Where are ya heading to?

MagicStik

Entering in at Round Lake and headed to some smaller lakes. It's about a 13 mile route. We'll have a couple lay-over days for swimming..something we haven't gotten to do as we usually go late fall.

quote paddlefamily: "Entering in at Round Lake and headed to some smaller lakes. It's about a 13 mile route. We'll have a couple lay-over days for swimming..something we haven't gotten to do as we usually go late fall."

One of our FAVORITE!!! areas. Which entry point are you heading in to? Missing Link or Brant? What lakes are you heading through?

We've spent time on Snipe, Cross Bay, Long Island, Ham...

ENJOY!!!!

I will have to check this area out. Alreay planning ahead for next years trip with the daughter. :)

Magic

Have fun paddlefamily!

Hey Magic..... That's an area I'm considering for a trip w/ wife and both girls and or my next trip w/ just H. Cross Bay entry (50) I've heard is very similar to Lizz. and we know what we think of that entry :) I think it may be a great place for you if you get that "date" w/ your daughter. I actually looked into it for my trip last weekend w/ H but it was already booked.

Have a GREAT time!

Hope you have a memorable trip for all the right reasons. ENJOY!!!

We're back and had a great time. Entered at Brant Lake EP 52. Our route took us through Gotter, Flying, Green, Bat and Gillis Lakes. It was a challenging route. I could have done a bit more research on portages, etc. Some very hilly, rocky sections!

The kids did 8 portages and 9 lakes the first day. This was due to the fact that all campsites we encountered were FULL. A tad crazy. But the kids were troupers and hardly complained. My youngest daughter, 7, decided that shoes were for the birds after the second portage. She spent the rest of the trip shoeless. We dubbed her the "BW barefoot portager." Through deep mud, water, rocks and roots, her feet came through just fine. Sheeish.

Highlights-

Pet store fish nets: Thanks BWPaddler for the idea. Caught plenty of minnows.

Inflatables: Brought two, cheap tubes for swimming.

Food: Watching kids eat anything...especially stuff they might balk at back home. They were hungry!

Hammock: I brought our ENO hammock. Kids used it heavily.

Very impressive!

That's quite a challenging first day. In & of themselves, each portage is fairly tough. But, the short paddles in between really make them "memorable." Well done. Glad to hear you had a good trip. Here's to many more.

Good to hear the trip went well! That is very impressive!

Research....what fun is that???? :)

Magic

Barefoot? EEEEEK. Wow, she's a legend. I have one that WOULD do that... I'm a mean old parent I guess. She does barefoot around camp and that already gives me the willies, but then the only foot wound came when wearing crocs, so go figure.

Those portages on day one would have killed my crew - GOOD JOB! This last trip a friend introduced us to "ants go marching" on the portage trails and that was a good motivator... but uffda!! Glad they hung in there and the trip was a success!!

sounds like a great trip!

i always wonder—without trying to impersonate my grandfather—what sort of character those girls really built on that first day. in 10 years, when they are pushing through a tough semester of college or struggling with a challenging new job, i'd like to think that experiences like the one you gave them will make them a little more tenacious and determined than they otherwise would be.

there's no easy way to test it, but that stuff has got to stick! i was 16 when i first entered the bw, but i'd like to believe that some of the struggles and discomforts gave me broader perspective and helped to balance my teenage self.

i am glad to have this forum with other parents who value putting our kids in the wilderness!