BWCA for Families
No posts for August, largely thanks to two nice weeks up North. Part of that was spent in the Boundary Water Canoe Area Wilderness, in what is hoped to be an annual tradition. Fortunately - it went very well. A lot of prep, great weather, a nice campsite (and a little luck) made for good memories and left us wondering if we could wait a whole year for a repeat.
Trip Round-Up
The first day - we canoed to the north end of Sawbill Lake only to find all the campsites taken. The trip had been rough for the boys and me (ages 5 and 8 ) as our longer, lighter canoe was getting pushed around by the wind.
We backtracked, tired and a little concerned we’d wouldn’t find anything. Fortunately Sawbill is not too long, and we found a campsite about an hour and a half back at the end of a bay.
It had a beach with a nice sandy bottom, so the kids could play very easily in the water. We had brought cheap inflatable rafts, and they were a hit. Nothing like floating around the wilderness watching the clouds roll by! Our daughter would kick her raft to nearby islands, and dragged me along about a third of a mile on one such adventure.
We saw a male moose the second morning, walked across our end of the lake. And we did some exploring by canoe to another few lakes over - scoping out campsites for next summer.
Overall it was a great trip and a good set-up for next year. We opted not to move around and instead stayed at the same campsite for three nights.
There were a number of things that worked well - I’ll list them in case you are thinking of taking your family in. But first - one thing stuck in our minds as an important lesson, and yet was not addressed in any reference nor advice from friends or outfitters.
With kids in the boat, you are a solo canoer. Plan like one.
We have three kids ages 10, 8, and 5. We put one adult in the back and one of the older kids in the front of each canoe, and put our five year-old in the middle. Our kids did great at paddling, but the adult is essentially solo canoeing. This has the following implications:
1) Choose a canoe that can be managed solo.
We had one two-person royalex canoe, and one three-seat Kevlar 18.5 foot canoe. The royalex was very maneuverable. The longer, lighter Kevlar was a disaster. It was very difficult to manage in the wind, either sliding sideways or weathervaning around.
We would have had plenty of room with a second two-person royalex. My youngest was happy to sit in a crazy-creek-style camp chair on the floor of that canoe. While many boundary waters outfitters have experience with families - don’t count on them to always get it right. Three seats are great for 2 or 3 adults. 3 seat/18+ foot canoes should never be taken in the solo-kids scenario.
On our trip out of the BWCA, we filled it with gear and tied it to the royalex, towing it back into the wind. That worked much better than the trip in, but we were heading almost directly into the wind and that kept the long boat aligned behind us.
2) Use a kayakers paddle.
This was obvious to us after just five minutes on the water. This style is favored by solo canoers, including the two we ran across on our trip. You have a lot more control and responsiveness, and you’re not passing the paddle back and forth dribbling water on your kid’s head.
So obvious, and yet none of the books nor outfitters I consulted mention this. Many books actually still emphasize classic-paddle solo strokes.
3) Consider shifting your seating towards the middle if possible.
If the seats are adjustable, the rear seat should be moved forward. Another alternative is for the rear adult to sit facing backwards in the front seat, have the child do the same in the back seat. Essentially you’re sitting in the canoe backwards.
This ‘act-solo’ advice would have saved us considerable trouble the first day. And would have been critical if we were on larger lakes or planning to cover more miles. If you learn one thing from our experience I hope its ‘act-solo’ in the adult-kid-canoe set-up.
Other useful things:
- Cheap inflatable rafts - hours of entertainment and comfy sleeping on top of the thermarests.
- Nylon camping hammock - only $20 at REI. A respite from your siblings, a reader’s nest, a quick snooze…
- Dried backpacker entrees. Sierratradingpost often sells package-deals that keep the cost down. No hassle or time spent on dinner prep.
- A large tarp. It didn’t rain, but after setting our 9 x 12 up, we realized it would be pretty cramped cooking and hangout space if it had rained. Next size up next time.
- Lots of rope - for the tarp, a clothesline, and for a leader on each canoe.
- A small folding pruning saw - fiskars makes one for $8 with laser-cut teeth that retracts into the handle. I thought it’d be overkill but it was great for firewood and odd jobs.
- Belt pouch. I found an old cell phone pouch that held my multi-tool and lighter. I reached for these things many times each day and having them handy was revolutionary.
- Leather work gloves. Anytime you’re dealing with fire these are handy.
- Crazy-creek-style camp chairs. Many folks we saw used these in the canoe, and at camp they’re great. Our littlest had one and kept command of it on account of how comfortable it was.
