Mr. Yoklavich's
Letter to the Family, or Camping Journal...
Hello Friends and
Family,
Joe and myself
are back from Ely, Boundary Waters, in Minnesota on the Canadian border.
We traveled about 25 miles via canoe. Our venture included about 6
portages, about ˝ mile each, (a portage is were you carry your canoe and
equipment through the forest to the next lake or river, each one is about 2
trips to hike your 65 pound canoe, then your 40 to 50 Duluth packs, supplies,
equipment, etc.... not fun ehhh...) We
saw Eagles, Elk, Otters, and Beavers. The water was a mere 60 degrees; it rained
almost every night. The temp during
the day was about 75, and some nights it was down in the low 40s... The
mosquitoes were out in force after the showers too.
The boys in our
group were in good spirits for the entire trip.
Most of them behaved pretty well, and were not acting like little kids.
They knew they had responsibilities, and were told to be on their best behavior.
Thus we had a lot of fun. The trip forced everyone to work as a team and group.
The boys learned
about NO TRACE policies in these woods. Packing out everything you packed in.
Licking your plate clean, and doing extraordinary things to make a zero
impact on the environment we were around. Another leader, Mr. Penny, took time
each day to talk to us about NO TRACE. By
the
end of the trip,
you can tell many of the boys were doing a extra effort not to impact their
area.
I ran out of
Starbucks coffee by the fourth day, and had NO coffee the last 2days.
My back, shoulders and neck are very sore from carrying the canoes. The
ground was hard, but my cheap air mattress I brought worked for the most part.
I went through, I estimate, about 40 Advil tablets on the trip… The sun
would rise every morning at 5:00am, and would set at about 9:30 PM. I only saw
the stars on one night. We were just too tired...
The trip took us
back into the pure back wooded environment of the Minnesota wilderness. The
fishing was not very good. We had 4
boys earn the Fishing merit badge. The best part was watching them gut a fish,
for Joe it was the first time. But with the help of the other boys, he got
through it. Everyone helped gut a fish, and filet the meat off the fish.
It took us 2 days
to get to our destination, and 2-day to get back, we spent 3 days at one base
camp, and just fished around the area. All
in all, the experience was great. For this age and size of boys, our trip was
perfect, anything more would have been too much. Our other crew of boys on the trip was traveling every day,
but those boys were older and with a lot more experience in High Adventure.
As I reflect on
our experience on Boundary Waters, I know I was able to watch my son grow up
just a little more that week. It was nothing like Summer Camp. Many of the boys
commented about the difference of High Adventure and Summer Camp. At the end,
they knew they had earned more respect with their peers, and adults on the trip.
This type of trip teaches a boy things you don't get in books.
For myself, I was able to reflect on some of the best time in the world I
had had in scouting with my Dad. He
was watching over us every day of the trip. The trip gave me time to tell
stories about my Dad to Joe as we fished together. You know what, heck with
catching the fish; it was just a good time to be with each other.
I was able to see
many of the boys take time out to reflect, to look over the area, and to see the
beauty that BWCA had. Yes, there
were some time we all wished we were in a nice warm cabin (My Suburban for me).
But, all in
all, my son is
only going to be 13 years old for one summer, and this was a great summer trip
for him and me. I am very fortunate
to be with this Troop. They are a
great group of people to be associated with.
Sincerely,
Joe Sr.
Boundary
Water – Kyle Cassidy, SPL
… A Scout’s Perspective
Boundary Waters created a new meaning
of High Adventure to me. Six days in the most beautiful wilderness I have ever
seen with an awesome crew was one of the best times of my life. It seems to
normal people that canoeing and portaging wouldn’t be fun, but then again, no
one normal goes on High Adventure trips. You have to be a little crazy to enjoy
what we do. Boundary Waters was fun because the trip started the moment we met
at the church. We took a plane to Minneapolis airport and rented three vans and
began the five-hour drive to Ely. When we arrived at Ely, we met our outfitter,
John, who ran North County Canoe Outfitters. He gave us our gear and we spent
the night in the bunks there at his camp. The next morning, we split into two
groups. Blue group was Mr. Mabile, Mr. Adey, Mr. Bowers, Mr. Cassidy, Greg
Mabile, Andrew Adey, Geordan Bowers, Kyle Cassidy, and Kevin Cassidy. Orange
group consisted of Mr. McClellen, Mr. Penny, Mr. Yoklavich, Richard McClellen,
Ray Penny, Daniel Penny, Joe Yoklavich, Chris Peterpaul, and Nic Trott. We were
out in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area for six days and five nights, June
26-July1. Besides canoeing, we saw bald eagles, otters, loons, ducks, huge
turtles, and a beaver. Unfortunately we didn’t see any moose, but we caught
northern pike, walleye, and small mouth bass and added them to our dinners.
Blue group canoed and portaged 58.5
miles and moved camps almost every night. The orange group took a different
approach. They set up bases camps, changing camps a couple of times, and
primarily fished from these locations. When we finally came back to camp, the
groups exchanged stories over dinner and slept comfortably in our bunks. The
next morning, we woke up at the insane hour of 4:00. We drove about five hours
back to Minneapolis and caught a plane back home. This trip was my best Scout
experience and I hope that in the future our troop plans many more High
Adventure trips I highly recommend them.