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Author	Message Text
Savage Voyageur	03/05/2025 09:23AM   No can do, number is high, too many years have passed to remember.
bfurlow	02/12/2025 03:45PM   I've gone with up with 3 different people - 2 friends, and my son. Always a 2 person party with the exception of one solo trip. First trip was in '92, and most recent was 2 years ago. Looks like my son will be my partner for the foreseeable future as he is completely hooked! Couldn't be happier. I just need to get my wife and other two kids on board and it can be a family affair!
BonzSF	02/12/2025 10:53PM   I’ve only gone 4 times with 5 different people. All cousins. One I’ve gone on every trip with who is also been the Trip Leader. Another who’s been on two. The last three only went once. Trip Leader had some health issues that’s making him, maybe, take a break this year. And rounding up the other cousins is not easy to pull off. So I’m thinking of my first solo trip. Though my wife isn’t thrilled with the idea of her 65 YO husband going out alone. OR maybe hopping onto a trip with someone who had a last minute cancellation. I seem to remember a topic of permit holders looking for trip companions. Is that a thing? PS I DO have a RBCP that’s good until the first week of June too
SurlyDude	01/31/2025 01:02PM   Yay another use for my spreadsheet! 40 Trips over 11 years. 17 different tripping partners. If the numbers work I love to introduce new people to the wilderness - unsurprisingly though, most people that go want to return!
straighthairedcurly	01/31/2025 11:00PM   No good way to count since I started my paddling life at a camp first as a camper and then as a counselor. But leave it to say it is a lot. These days not so many because I usually paddle with family or solo, but occasionally introduce some new people to the joy.
Dreamer	01/31/2025 11:06PM   I've taken 28 different people to the BW, and 2 others once took me. So that's 30 tripping partners. I was first introduced to the BW in 1991. Lots of family trips after that, and now I've hosted a trip that's specific for newbies every year since 2020. It's so much fun to see first timers connect with the BW. We've only had two of those that were not such good partners. Bad attitudes. I'm learning to filter those people out in the vetting process!
alpinebrule	02/01/2025 08:49AM   My list would be pretty small but the one who probably experience the most unique experience would be the young woman from Japan we hosted for a year. She was fearless, also participated on the high school cross country ski team despite never having been on skis.
Jakthund	01/31/2025 11:25PM   I started organizing trips in '91. So starting there and skipping a couple of trips when I was younger. I count 45 trips, with 52 different people and 26 who had never been before. 10 of the 26 were under the age of 15 1 trip with 10 (prior to rule change) 17 with 4 (skewed by 9 family trips with 2 kids) 9 trips with 2 5 trips with 8 Most common partners: My wife - 16 trips My friend Dave - 11 trips My kids - 11 with one and 9 with the other My friend Randy - 9 trips It was interesting to look how my trips have morphed from my pre family trips with a bunch of couples, and then mostly trips with family, and now back to mostly fishing trips with my friends and paddling with my wife.
Papa09	02/01/2025 07:45AM   I’ve taken 22 trips so far, 1998 was my first when I was 17. I’ve had 30 different trip partners. 14 trips with one person, 10 with another is second most. The next trip we take will be the same group of 4 for our 4th year in a row. Otherwise I have never had the same group even two years in a row.
DougD	02/01/2025 12:57PM   15 different partners over the years with 20+ trips. All 15 were first timers and all but two have come back for repeat trips.
TreeBear	02/01/2025 01:12PM   It is fun to look at the spreadsheet again, though guide seasons complicate the total. Haha My math says 156 different trip partners and the most common of those has about 25 mutual trips.
LindenTree	02/01/2025 11:08AM   It was pretty much just one "wifey" or I usually solo. After two years working with the BWCA Rangers it must be up to 15+ish now.
Barca	02/01/2025 05:48PM   Is there a caveat where you can only count trips that you were in charge of? If so, my list is short. If not.... well, it's not up to the standards of guides/camp counselors ect., but over 40+ years it's extensive. Although, I have to give most of the credit to my parents who went down the Kawishiwi river (lake one entry) back in 1971. The number of people they've introduced to the BWCA would truly be epic. Gonna have to start my own spreadsheet now... /sigh.
boonie	02/01/2025 06:32PM   My experience has been mostly solo. Otherwise, 4 others, not including 2 soloists I joined for one to a few nights. So six if they’re added and I’ve done over 20 trips.
LesliesDad	02/02/2025 08:43AM   I came up with an answer of 37 . . . assuming that we can include Boy Scouters.
Digger07	02/10/2025 08:34PM   7 in 13 trips, all have been excellent to trip with. Solo is my favorite, but my wife, son and daughter are a close 2nd.
papalambeau	02/03/2025 10:19AM   We also started tripping in 1991 and have taken at least one trip a year for all but two years - hip replacement one year and Yellowstone trip this summer. All in all I've had 21 trip partners through the years. Mainly family and a group of guys from church one year.
inspector13	02/10/2025 07:53PM   No spreadsheets or anything like that for me. In the college years it was 6 or 7 in three canoes. The only regulars were my professor and me. In early fishing/party years it was 4 or 6 with two in each canoe. Most people were regulars. In the late 1990s we were always an exploring party of 4 with one varied partner. Lately, the most partners were three in one trip. Me and my planning partner from this website met up and traveled with another. So I estimate from between 23 to 29 different individuals. But you should see how many I introduced to the North Shore.
bobbilly22	02/11/2025 01:05PM   1 trip with 6 partners. Going to go up this coming fall
4keys	02/03/2025 08:18PM   All my trips - 13- have been with my husband (and often a dog). Of those: 1 trip with with 4 additional people (son, daughter, and 2 in-laws). 1 trip with the same 2 in laws. 1 trip with son. 1 trip with son and his wife. 2 trips with nephew and his wife. So that makes 7 trip partners other than my husband. We are rather picky who we go with. No electricity, no running water, mud, bad weather, bugs, hard portages and landings, all tend to discourage a lot of people.
TrailZen	02/11/2025 09:16AM   While I've done several trips with Scouts and had eight trip partners in each of those, my trips since the late '90s have all been with with my wife/best friend. And for the past several years, we've celebrated our anniversaries in Quetico. TZ
Spartan2	02/03/2025 01:02PM   Total of 8. Started out in 1971 with only one, my husband. Every other year a trip to the canoe country, and a wilderness trip, just the two of us. Our first trip with others was in 1982, when we did a ten-day trip. Five days with three friends, then five additional days for just the two of us. The next time was with our two children, ages 19 and 17. That would have been 1989. In 1992 Spartan1 developed the kidney disease and we made a pact that we would increase our trips to the canoe country to yearly, rather than every-other-year, and also that we would travel together for as long as we were able. That year we did our 22-day trip, which was a highlight. No trip in 2008 as he was on peritoneal dialysis, but we spent a week at HoHo’s cabin and took some day trips. Another highlight of this era was our “Celebration” canoe trip in 2009, after his kidney transplant. And we were back to yearly tandem trips. A great trip in 2012, with HoHo, David, and wonderful puppy PIwi. It was called “Return to Cherokee”, but included a lot more than that, and we had a wonderful time. But we were slowing down, and it was hard to accept that we needed help to do some of the things we used to do easily. Our last trip was in 2013, just the two of us again. It was bittersweet, as we realized that mobility and health issues were slowing us down. After that we went to cabin weeks with day trips. So I only had a total of eight canoe-tripping partners, and really only one for most of the time. I can honestly say that I loved every single one of them, too.
ItascaBirder	02/11/2025 06:43PM   I'm having a hard time remembering them all, but I'm around 20 trips in 19 years with 18 different people. I've been in multiple times with 6 of those people and one of them I've been on 6 trips with and have multiple future trips planned.
Heyfritty	03/04/2025 10:48PM   I’ve lead about 24 trips with 34 different friends/family that I can remember. I paddled with around 62 people in those 24 trips. At least 23 were 1st-timers. My number one partner is my oldest son at 7 trips. If I add trips I was on before college, that adds about 8 trips and 21 different people. And 8 solos to top it off.
cmanimal	03/05/2025 10:19AM   Paddling trips (18) is fairly easy as they have all been with family, so that's 8. My Son is the most frequent at 15, and Dad follows closely at 13 or 14. Hard water trips are more challenging as they were all through the BSA's Okpik program. For a few of them some of the crew were the same but most were different so taking a swag at that for 7 trips I'd say 30+
Speckled	03/06/2025 09:27AM   As you network grows...it goes up exponentially. Many trips have included people i've never met before...friend of a friend type of thing. Most are pretty cool and chill as the "core" group is comprised of pretty cool and chill dudes. They and I generally wouldn't invite anyone along that we didn't feel would be a fit. We've had some misses for sure over the years and those situations usually make for good stories.
Jefflynn06	03/06/2025 01:09PM   15 BWCA trips - 17 partners total. First BWCA trip was with my brother - and it hooked me! My wife has been with me on 11 trips. Other partners include kids - my two boys, my two step children, and nephew. My wife and I led two trips with student groups (10 students total). Add two trips to Sylvania - 4 more partners - stepdad and friends. Several trips down the Kickapoo river (we did camp on the river) - one with 3 students. So 24 different paddling partners (total) to date.
arctic	03/06/2025 02:55PM   An interesting question that is difficult to answer. I've been paddling in the BWCAW and points north since 1979, often several trips a year. The complicating factor is I worked as an instructor for Outward Bound for a few years, as well as a few summers as a canoe guide for a camp in Ontario. There were many people over the years. In addition, a lot of my recreational paddling was in the sub-arctic and arctic, and those were with a small, core-group of friends. In the BWCAW? Well over 100 people.
JimEb	03/06/2025 08:55AM   I envy you guys that have such a social network that you need a spreadsheet to keep track. Dragged my wife along a couple times but she’s really not into it. Same story with my oldest kid. Youngest kid is a total suburbanite, afraid of bugs and dirt. Got one buddy I’ve been camping with since we were kids. I bring him on easy trips. He enjoys himself but he isn’t serious. I supply all the gear and everything. He comes along wearing jeans lugging his own cooler of beer…if that helps paint a picture. It takes years to really develop a good relationship with someone in which you have complete trust and personalities mesh well. You really need this to have a good time when subjected to the discomfort and tribulations wilderness camping can bring. If both of you comeback from the woods together that’s good, if you are still friends, even better.
WesternHills	03/06/2025 04:11PM   I'm fairly new to BWCA tripping. 6 total trips starting in 2018. Most frequent trip partner: 6 (my brother's gone on every trip) Total different partners: 9 Largest group: 5 Smallest group: 2 This year will be my first year to go more than once. (That's the plan anyway)
Speckled	01/31/2025 11:40AM   I keep spreadsheets of data on past trips. We've done the lake count thing. Was curious about past trip partners? I've been on trips with a total of 31 different individuals. The most frequent comes in at 23 trips together, with the second most frequent being 13. A total of 17 people have only been one trip and 8 people on 2 trips. Our largest group on one trip was 9 people and the smallest was 1. The average group size was 3. This is over a 25 year span.
NEIowapaddler	01/31/2025 12:19PM   Pretty easy for me. Zero. I've always soloed. Partly because I don't know anyone who's seriously interested in going with me, and partly because I'm extremely picky about who I take along when doing outdoors stuff.
ducks	01/31/2025 12:46PM   Close to 30 trips and a total of 9 people. 1st trip ever was with 3 buddies 1 trip was with a friend from work Another trip with a different friend from work Several trips with my wife Several trips with my oldest daughter Several trips with younger daughter My 6 year old son’s 2nd trip will be this year. Several solo trips. Both of the coworkers unexpectedly passed away in their 40’s so I’m afraid to take anyone else from work.
x2jmorris	01/31/2025 01:00PM   I cannot remember all of my trips which is around 100 or so. Group sizes have ranged from 2 to 7. Total number of people I have gone with is 18.
Cricket67	02/05/2025 01:23PM   I wish I would have kept better records, but I come up with 43 different travel partners over 20 some trips starting in 1984. Interesting thing I discovered that until my solo trip this last season, every trip I've been on has included at least one new person that I had not traveled with previously. Not something I had thought about before.
MikeinMpls	02/05/2025 03:30PM   Hmmmm... I gotta do this the hard way: Estimating I've done somewhere around 40-50 trips, to include solos. Most trips are with my wife. Two or three trips with a former girlfriend. Before I met my wife. One trip with my brother and his buddy. One trip with a buddy of mine. One trip with three boys from the group home where I was working. That was an adventure! One trip with my dad, his brother-in-law, and my brother. One trip just with my dad. One trip with my dad, his cousin, and his cousin's son. I guess they were my cousins, too. That count is 12. These are trips after high school. I did a couple trips with high school groups, but I'm not counting those. Mike
lindylair	02/12/2025 12:18AM   After reading all of these posts my curiosity got the best of me and I set about trying to recall all of my trip partners over the years - not an easy task with 50 plus trips to try to remember, dating back to 1972. The total I came up with is 56 but I am pretty sure I have missed a few, probably wake me up in the middle of the night tonight:) As a caveat I must say that my first two trips were with an organization called the Twin Cities Institute for Talented Youth in which I participated in a summer class for Creative Writing at Macalester College in the summer after my sophmore and junior years in high school Their tradition was to take their students up to the BWCA the first week to "get their creative juices flowing". It did much more than that for me. I had no idea a place like the BWCA even existed. It created an interest and passion for me in wilderness camping and paddling that lives on to this day. Those groups were both around 15-16 people including instructors (early 70s, before group size limits) I went both years and there were a few others who did the same so I am going to set the number at 25 for the two trips. I was a 16 year old kid who had hardly ever camped and the BWCA blew me away, not to mention my shy conservative demeanor was shocked by the pot smoking, skinny dipping hippies that accompanied me. Wow! The second year they encouraged everyone to do an overnight solo and I agreed so they dropped me off on a nearby island about noon with the promise of returning the next morning to retrieve me. I won't get into that but it was an incredible experience fraught with fear, anxiety, learning and ultimately satisfaction. Aside from the trip partners from those two trips the best I can figure is an additional 31 people, most of whom I organized to go on the trip. Of this total 25 of them were on their first trip. Most of them have returned although honestly I have lost touch with some of them so I would not know if they ever returned or not. This was an interesting experience that brought back lots of memories as I wracked my brain to try and recall...who all was on that trip again? I will say that as far as I know they all enjoyed it but truthfully probably only half or so caught the passion for the BWCA that most of us have. Who knows I may still have the chance to bring a couple newbies up there, although the trips would be a far cry from those in the late 70s when we would routinely travel 13-15 miles a day and take 15-20 portages and just be a little tired when we got to camp. Wow, I am tired just typing that:} So I am calling 56 different trip partners but I can only claim about 25 that I have introduced to the BWCA but I am pretty happy with that number. It was a great experience doing so.
grizzlyadams	02/12/2025 08:13AM   11 trips with 18 different individuals. Group sizes have ranged from 2-6 people with 4 people being the most common. The most traveled with on my list is 8 trips for one individual and 3 individuals with 3 trips. 7 individuals have gone on 2 trips with me and 7 have gone on only 1 trip with me. It's fun looking back on trips and figuring this stuff out!
Ausable	02/12/2025 12:45PM   I've traveled with 11 different people. The most in a group was 7, including me. Most trips I've had 1 or 2 partners. I haven't been canoe-tripping nearly as long as most of you; my first time was in Quetico in 2009.