My son Calvin (13yo) and I have recently gotten into hiking through Boy Scouts. We have started introducing our troop to backpacking. We are headed to Glacier National Park with another troop this August. Looking to do more and would like to tag along with others until we get a feel for it. We tagged along on a couple canoe trips with others and are now comfortable going by ourselves. If anyone is looking for company and is willing to show a couple "newbies" the ropes, send me a message. We are eager to learn.

Thanks, Freebs

Take 3 days and backpack a section of the SHT with your group. E-mail me and I can give you some info of a section I've done 4 or 5 times with second year scouts.

My son and I hiked a part of the BRT from Little John lake to Daniels lake. It was challenging, but not in the ways I thought. Best hike I've ever taken. However, If your desired site is taken, it can be a problem. The next site is a couple hours hard hiking, not 10 minutes of paddling.

Next hiking EXPO is scheduled for Duluth on August 21-23.

Another way to get some great experience is to volunteer to do trail clearing. You get to camp with people that really know backpacking.

quote ECpizza: "Another way to get some great experience is to volunteer to do trail clearing. You get to camp with people that really know backpacking."

That used to be a great way and I have done it many times...but I refuse to hike with a hard hat on as is now required by the USFS for their volunteer clearing groups.