Sixteen scouts and leaders returned from an amazing trip to the Boundary Waters of Northern Minnesota. Our troop divided into two crews and paddled two different routes over a span of 6 nights and 7 days. This was real high adventure trip that was physically and mentally demanding! Everyone did fine and I could not be more proud of our scouts for their accomplishment.

Scouting is a unique program that instills leadership and life skills at an early age. We are all thankful for and being able to participate in an outstanding program at Northern Tier High Adventure Base. This will be a summer highlight and a lifelong memory! For our scouts, you simply can't duplicate the challenge and ruggedness, combined with the fun and fellowship. I only wish more youth that are not in scouts, are able to experience something like this.

Our scouts had the opportunity to paddle on remote lakes in a pristine wilderness environment ( no motors allowed), see countless bald eagles and loons, catch several fish, swim, experience nature's wrath with thunder, hail and wind, appreciate the warm sunny days, and eat delicious trail meals while enjoying the adventure. There was a lot of portaging of canoes from one lake to another. We counted over 40 portages on our trip. That meant each of us had to carry either a canoe (70 pounds) or one of the gear bags (60-80 pounds) varying distances of a few hundred feet to 1/4-1/2 miles.