What suggestions would I give others who might consider bringing a young son or daughter to the Boundary Waters?
Plan the trip around your child's abilities and not yours. Be smart, be safe. Slow and steady is OK. They will not care if you paddle 1 mile or 20 miles. To them it is all new and exciting. Include them. Buy a small backpack and have them be responsible for carrying a few of their own personal items. Lauren brought a couple books, a box of crayons, a coloring book, a deck of cards and her stuffed bunny in her pack. It worked great. Let them help set up the tent, cook dinner, and build the campfire. Who cares if it takes longer? They will enjoy just being with you. Talk to them. They are dying to learn from you. Listen to them. You would be suprised what might learn from them.
So yes, bring your son or daughter to the boundary waters. Teach them to enjoy the simple things in life and to love the great outdoors. Just maybe you will find a paddling partner for life. I think I have.
-Dan Knutson, Seagull customer following a BWCA trip with his 5 year old daughter
BWCA/Quetico trips are about so much more than a vacation.
On the third day of our trip, my 20 yr old son asked me, "What are we going to do tomorrow? Go over and fish in Wet Lake or go down to Canyon Falls ? And, what do we do if it keeps raining?" I replied, "Artie, I came along on this trip to cook and be a pseudo guide if you needed. This is your trip. You and Zack figure what you want to do, if you want me to join you I will, if you don't, I'll fish here. Tell me when you want to eat and dinner will be ready, you're running the show."
From that moment on, Artie stepped up. He led the group, ensured that camp was neat, wood was cut, the packs were hung and boats were secured throughout the rest of the trip. On the last and longest portage, out thru Silver Falls , he took the heavy canoe and grabbed the heaviest pack (leaving me kevlar and the lightest pack).
This might be hard for some people to understand, but the experience assurred me that my son is and will always be the man that I've hoped he would grow up to be.
It ended up one of the proudest times of my life.
-Schmoe, submitted on the Seagull discussion board
I wasn’t sure whether Dan could handle the physical demands of our trip as a 14 year old, but he showed me how strong he is, and I believe this trip made a man of him. He held his own and he can’t wait to do it again. The memories made on an adventure like this between a father and his son is priceless.
-John Robinson, AKA plexmidwest from the Seagull discussion board
Invest in Your Family...Realize the Value
When you book a Boundary Waters trip for your family, you might just get more out of it than what you budgeted. Canoes, tents, food and such are included in the package price, but what isn’t advertised in the package rates is where you’ll find the most value.
The value of a trip to the Boundary Waters or Quetico with your family is so much more than what the ticket price might read. In fact, the value of a trip to the Boundary Waters is just that, the values in life. To realize the full value of a family trip to the BWCA or Quetico, you must experience it for yourself.
You see, the benefits that aren't advertised in the package price, are the exact things that make a trip into the BWCA or Quetico a steal. The indescribable emotions and feelings that you'll share with your family members are the things that hold the real value.
The Boundary Waters represents everything that’s good in this life. The BWCA speaks to the solid foundational morals and values that shape our character. The undeniable fact that is echoed by any family that has experienced a Boundary Waters canoe trip is that the few short days spent together in the wilderness draws the family closer together. And that alone is worth every penny.
Think of the Boundary Waters as a metaphor for some of the more core values to mold your life around. The Boundary Waters will teach you all of the following and more:
- How to face challenges head on
- Shows you that everything good in life is worth working for
- The value of teamwork
- Appreciation of the little things
- The importance of preparation
- Not to take things for granted
- How to prioritize
- Gaining perspective
- The power of planning
- Perseverance
- Work ethic
Along with the values, you’ll be presented many teachable moments to help engrain life lessons into your children...and probably even yourself. A few of the many lessons you’ll be able to teach will have a lot to do with survival, including: providing for yourself, starting a fire, cleaning a fish, respecting the weather, leaving no trace and more.
Above all, a family trip to the Boundary Waters will allow you to bond with your children, parents, brothers or sisters and spend quality time with no outside distractions. This quality time for so many parents and children of all ages is priceless. The emotional bond that a Boundary Waters trip provides can hardly be put into words, even by those that have experienced it.
Regardless of your family situation, the Boundary Waters has a silent way of tugging at your emotions. If you want to feel closer to your parents or children or brothers or sisters, the wilderness of the Boundary Waters and Quetico will provide the perfect venue to make that happen. And it will not disappoint.
The memories you’ll make will last a lifetime. You’ll relive stories time and again over holiday dinners. And you just might find that deep down pull inside you, like those that have experienced it before, to make a Boundary Waters vacation with your family an annual tradition.
At Seagull Outfitters, we provide you with the equipment and the knowledge to make a trip possible, but it’s the spirit of the Boundary Waters that unites families closer together. The feeling is indescribable, and the only way to fully know that feeling is to experience it for yourself. Granted, we’ll try to explain it, but words don’t do the feelings justice.
Visit our discussion board and ask those that have gone before what it feels like to see their son catch their first northern pike, or to pick blueberries with their daughter for breakfast pancakes. All you have to do is be open to the idea, and let the Boundary Waters make it happen. The BWCA and Quetico have been turning boys into men and girls into women for hundreds of years. Book your family trip today and experience the transformation for yourself.
The Boundary Waters builds relationships. On the surface we come to the Boundary Waters for the fishing, scenery, hiking, paddling, you name it. But deep down inside, you’ll find, we all come to the Boundary Waters for so much more. It’s the relationships and bonding through quality time spent together in nature, where it all began, that brings us back. We all have a burning need deep down for family.
There’s nothing quite so pure and raw as spending a few days in the wilderness. You’ll find out quickly what’s important to you. The stresses of the work week, the schedules that we're all demanded to meet…none of that matters in the Boundary Waters. Inviting your family on a trip to the Boundary Waters or Quetico will reward you multiple times over. And we invite you to share in the experiences that make us feel the way we do.
The Boundary Waters can be viewed as a metaphor for life. It teaches you about the important things, and helps you gain perspective that you can carry home with you to apply in your daily lives. You'll learn so much about yourself and about your family through the time spent here that will pay dividends for years to come.
So invest in your family. Invest by putting unforgettable experiences into your memory bank that your family can share forever and build upon. The canoes, tents, and equipment you’ll have to return to us after your trip. But before you get half way back down the Gunflint Trail on your way home, you’ll realize the true value of the trip. This type of value doesn't have a price tag, and you'll find that the memories and relationships that were made on a trip to the Boundary Waters, were worth everything and more.
The expense of a trip to the Boundary Waters is purely physical. But the return on investment is emotional, spiritual and relational…and those are the things that matter in this life.
We’ll provide the equipment, and we let the Boundary Waters create the memories, and above all, provide the value.
Invest in your family...invest in the Boundary Waters.
Article Copyright: Johnse Bushlack. All rights reserved, may not be reproduced.
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