2 moms, 6 kids, 7 packs, 3 canoes.

My friend and I just returned from a week long trip off the Echo Trail. Went in at Moose River/EP 16. Stayed at two different camps on Lake Agnes (first was a tad small for us so we moved). Base camped on a great site that gave everyone room to play and roam. Kids spent lots of time in the water. One of their highlights was flipping the canoe and trying to right it without filling it with water. Then they had to work together to get back in. Fun activity and learning a good skill at the same time. Also plenty of fun trying to dump others. It made my heart full to see the older four paddle away during the early evening exploring some back bays and large rock formations. We took a day trip to Lac La Croix as the kids wanted to swim in 'Canadian' waters. We had a blast and can't wait to do it again.

One thing that made our trip go so smoothly is that we had two nights of bwca 101 at our house with the kids. Showed them the basics, like paddling and portaging and setting up tents. It made a big difference on our trip as they knew what to expect and could jump into whatever needed to be done.

Other highlights:
-Cow and calf moose surprise on the Moose River.
-Eagles, fish, loons, beavers, trumpeter swans and lots of dragonflies.
-Two hammocks for swinging or reading in.
-Monkey bread and cinnamon twists made over the fire.
-Happy, exhausted tweens and teens after portaging 40-45# packs or a canoe. Really proud that they stepped up and had terrific attitudes about this.
-Laying on our sleeping pads under an incredible starlight sky, counting shooting stars.
-Playing games for hours under the tarp and laughing while it rained.

Nice! Good idea using boat rescue as a fun activity.

quote bumabu: "Nice! Good idea using boat rescue as a fun activity."

Great ideas! We did that EP last Labor Day and had a great time. I remember we were nailed with a violent t-storm on AGnes...which has now become part of our "family lore" :)

What trips on your agenda for next summer?

HighnDry,

A storm would make for a memorable trip! How old were your kids when you did Agnes?

I don't have any specific ideas as to where we may go next year. Will have to look over maps this winter. My husband and I did some bwca day trips with the kids when they were much younger. We stayed at a cabin. We've done the Hegman Lakes and Isabella River areas. My friend (who I went with this year) and I took all the girls from Round Lake - Gillis and back last summer. Some of our trips have been on other water like the St Croix and Namakagon Rivers.

Where have you gone with kids?

quote paddlefamily: "HighnDry,


A storm would make for a memorable trip! How old were your kids when you did Agnes?


I don't have any specific ideas as to where we may go next year. Will have to look over maps this winter. My husband and I did some bwca day trips with the kids when they were much younger. We stayed at a cabin. We've done the Hegman Lakes and Isabella River areas. My friend (who I went with this year) and I took all the girls from Round Lake - Gillis and back last summer. Some of our trips have been on other water like the St Croix and Namakagon Rivers.


Where have you gone with kids?"

Hi Paddlefamily,

We went up to the bwca several times this year. When my son, now 12 and daughter, turning 10 were younger we did a lot of car camping at state parks every summer. We had them out at Voyageurs a few years back when they were 3 1/2 and 5 1/2 but we paddled with their older cousins from back east and just base-camped on an island which they loved.

This summer, we did LIS over Memorial Day up to Loon which was wonderful. 3 portages. Only 'tough' one was over Devil's Cascade, 160r, but we stopped and had lunch at 'the top', took pictures, relaxed and then finished up the portage downhill and paddled off to our site. Weather was great. No bugs. Lots of sunshine. Little wind. :)

Also went in Sawbill to Cherokee over the 4th which I thought was a wonderful trip :) but we started late in the day so the portages wore everyone out and then it rained on us for the next 3 days...but they all still want to go back! We just did the numbered chain about 2 weeks ago with another family and that was great. Kids played. Adults tended camp, fished. We day tripped out to lake four for a picnic, swam and fished and had truly remarkable weather the entire 4-day stint. It was a great trip.

This w/e we are heading up to Mudro/Horse for just a short trip to cap the summer season for our kids as school has started.

Looking ahead I would put these back on/include for our family list for next season (in no particular order): 1. LIS to Loon 2. Sawbill to maybe Kelso or Alton 3. Kawishiwi or maybe something up the Gunflint (Lizzy/Swamp or a border lake such as Pine). Just a few ideas that will probably change!

We've also been up in Quetico (Cirrus) and out to Algonquin to meet their cousins (this past July) but the BWCA is more practical because it's closer for a family excursion.....just a couple of thoughts. Always looking for other ideas.

We won't make the wing-nite camp-out unfortunately on the 25/26 because we will be camping at Kathio with a couple of families but we're in the twin cities if another wing-nite/get-together is organized to chat with other families about future trips. There are so many good options for family trips.

Looks like you've covered some great areas! Yes, there are plenty of good options for families.

My husband and my first trip was up the LIS, 15 years ago (he'd been to the bw as a kid). We looped through Hustler over to Agnes and down Moose River. It was nice to see some of that area again this year. I've also been up Sawbill - Cherokee - Kiskadinna - Brule - Temperance - Smoke/Fire and out. The Kawishiwi triangle is a great option for families. Pretty and fairly easy portages, but of course can be busy.

We generally try to go about 3x per year, but the trips vary from me and my husband, to me and some girlfriends, to me and my kids. At least I always go! ;)

Really cool that you're getting in one more trip this year. Fourtown is a pretty area, and the Horse River is cool if the water isn't super low. You probably know there are resort era relics on the SE end of Fourtown. Might be interesting for kids to see.

The only thing I try to avoid with the kids is a lot of big water. Partially for unexpected weather changes and partly because it tends to feel never ending to them. I'd love to do Quetico with them and wanted to this year, but my friend didn't have passports for her kids and was limited on time. Maybe that will work next year.

You'll have to pass along any trips or specific activities you do with your kids as ours are similar ages. :)

quote paddlefamily: "Looks like you've covered some great areas! Yes, there are plenty of good options for families.

My husband and my first trip was up the LIS, 15 years ago (he'd been to the bw as a kid). We looped through Hustler over to Agnes and down Moose River. It was nice to see some of that area again this year. I've also been up Sawbill - Cherokee - Kiskadinna - Brule - Temperance - Smoke/Fire and out. The Kawishiwi triangle is a great option for families. Pretty and fairly easy portages, but of course can be busy.

We generally try to go about 3x per year, but the trips vary from me and my husband, to me and some girlfriends, to me and my kids. At least I always go! ;)

Really cool that you're getting in one more trip this year. Fourtown is a pretty area, and the Horse River is cool if the water isn't super low. You probably know there are resort era relics on the SE end of Fourtown. Might be interesting for kids to see.

The only thing I try to avoid with the kids is a lot of big water. Partially for unexpected weather changes and partly because it tends to feel never ending to them. I'd love to do Quetico with them and wanted to this year, but my friend didn't have passports for her kids and was limited on time. Maybe that will work next year.


You'll have to pass along any trips or specific activities you do with your kids as ours are similar ages. :)



"

That all sounds good.

I posted what our plans were going to be this spring in this forum but we are generally open to suggestions as to where to go and will happily join others if it works out. Always happy to overlap or paddle with other families even if camping separately.

Thanks for the tip on Fourtown. I didn't see the resort relics last fall when I was up there but then again I was on the opposite shore (solo) and pushing for the 3 portages :). We will look for them as that is one option for a short day trip.

Just a quick note on kid activities: Around camp, we used to do Uno and Fairy houses when the kids were younger. That progressed to other games on their own since they are older but we play other card games such as hearts (cribbage is going to be test run on this trip :). Our kids fish as well but swimming is big past time as well as exploring, fire-building 101, blueberry picking, cooking (believe or not, they can cook!) and seeking out wildlife big and small. More will come to mind after I post I'm sure.

We should all organize a "family wing-nite" get together for any families interested. We got together with Canoearoo's family and Luft last winter (Feb?) but it would be nice to do it earlier before the snow flies (ugh, I hate to think of that at this point).