Boundary Waters Quetico Forum :: Group Forum: Scouters :: 2019 scout trip
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TomP |
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Corsair |
TomP: "Our Troop has 20 scouts and parents signed up for a July trip. We'll be in three groups. Only two parents and one scout with BWCA experience. It has been fun introducing new people to the BWCA. We devote one meeting a month from Jan to July for planning. We are self outfitting, except for canoes. We are not going through Northern Tier, but they have some great planning videos for newbies. " Yea avoiding NT here as well. They said I couldn't bring my own boat. Why would I pay for one of theirs? |
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Corsair |
Jackfish: "Unless, for some strange reason, they've changed their rules (and I suppose it's possible they have), you can bring your own canoes to Northern Tier and use them on your trip. You won't get a discount, but you can bring your own canoes. Why leave a beautiful Kevlar canoe at home and paddle an aluminum barge up there? We used my Kevlar canoe on our trip through NT. No idea why they'd make a big deal about it. I spoke to them directly. They said I couldn't bring my own boat and had to pay for theirs. |
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mirth |
Found out today that I'll be advisor'ing an 8 person Christmas break trek to Northern Tier. I'll finally get my triple crown! |
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Corsair |
Just booked a August trip taking some scouts for the first time. Should be a great trip. Doing Lake One entry, haven't been through there since '12. Need to do some small canoe trips to get them ready! |
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tyh |
All had Summer Camp canoe experience and all had the canoe merit badge from Many Point summer camp we did in July 2018. All had enough Canoe experience that I was comfortable with their skills. Three of the scouts in my crew work as life guards. NT gives you the basics on lifting and portaging and you learn the rest quickly as you go, We single portaged, and on the 2nd day they had it figured out. NT gives you no choice but to wet foot it. NT wasn’t my first choice, but these guys were hell bent on going to NT most would get their triple crown, this same group had been to Philmont and Seabase in prior years. You do get an interpreter/guide and that does help take the pressure off of the adults. The food and gear NT provides are much heavier than I would carry or use, and heavier than necessary. But the boys had fun and I know it was a great experience for them. We also brought more fishing gear that we needed, everyone said they wanted to fish, but my crew didn’t fish much. They had more fun paddling, exploring and swimming at the end of each day. If this is your first Experience with Northern Tier, the check in process is a whirlwind, you basically hit the ground running and start your first portage to your cabin after a brief voyageur skit. So have your gear ready to go when you arrive in the parking lot. make sure to stop at gordy's hi-hat Cloquet for lunch, and we also stopped at soudan underground mine state park on the way to NT, Soudan has a pretty cool iron ore mine tour, 1/2 mile ride underground. We camped at Birch Lake Campground the night before arriving at NT. if you are interested i can send a link to our troops pictures |
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Jackfish |
EDIT: After I typed the above post, I looked on the NT website. Standard outfitting is now with Kevlar canoes with a $30 discount per canoe per day given for aluminum canoes. If one was to bring a Kevlar canoe from home, I would think the $30 daily discount would be offered. Didn't see it stated anywhere that you couldn't bring your own canoes. If someone speaks with NT about this, type the information in this thread. |
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JimmyJustice |
If your Troop happens to be in the Mpls/St. Paul metro area, Dakota County has a good program at Lebanon Hills Park (in Eagan). For $75 total, they will give your crew (upto 12 people I think) a few hours of instruction, which includes vocabulary, paddle techniques, paddle time on the water and if time permits rescue and boat retrieval. They also have short portages between a few of the ponds so you can work on portaging as well. A great price for what you get. |
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mirth |
Our troop knows I won't do a canoe trip thru NT, we do the Holiday Stay Okpik trip as an option for those who want to get the triple crown. I, for one, am looking forward to seeing the Boundary Waters in the winter! |