My Eagle Scouts faced the wide outdoors for one final high adventure trip.
[July 16-24]
They flew to St. Paul, MN and then rented cars and drove the last leg to their destination of Ely, an area otherwise known as
North American Canoe Country.
There are many lakes connected by rivers and streams that they canoed across. They completed short walking passages by carrying their camping gear and canoes(!) from lake to lake.
Each afternoon they carried the canoes onto dry ground
After spending the first night in a cabin, the roughing it began.
The group spent a week exploring the biodiversity of the Northern Boreal Forest unique to Northern Minnesota and Canada.
I love hiking and being on the water. The carrying your canoe part I would not have liked. Abe said that the bad part was your hands were busy holding the canoe so you couldn’t swat away the mosquitoes. 
It was muddy and slippery going up and down the trail. However, Abe said the canoe was lighter than the backpack full of food. He said it weighed about 200 pounds at the beginning of the week when it was full of food. 😳
Using the 'grouper' is also a big no for me. I mean, it's better than a straight up hole in the ground, but still.
The woods are so dense that it's easier to travel by canoe than across land.
and set up camp for the night.
They took turns doing the cooking over an open fire.
Bears like to get into food that is left on the ground, so they had to hoist all the dry goods high into the air a small distance from camp. When I first saw this picture I did not understand why they needed all of those boys to pull the bag up. Once Abe explained that it weighed 200 pounds it made more sense.
After carrying the canoes through the edge of the lake, their shoes and socks needed to be air dried for the next day.
Abe's shoes didn't take the water so well.
In the late afternoons after finding the camp site for the night, they found time to check out the wilderness sights.
Then they repeated the process for the next day.
They made it all the way to the Canadian border!
Troop 9 canoed their way past the Benny Ambrose memorial on Ottertrack Lake. Ambrose was the longest living resident on Ottertrack Lake.
The boys found time for fun, too.
All that rowing and carrying boats and hoisting food up high is tiring for teenage boys!
If at first you don't succeed...
The boys found time for fun, too.
They made the trek successfully!
Eighty miles later…
Group hug. Aww…
They were hugging their interpreter (guide) that they all loved.
Finally on their way home to comfy beds, running water and flushing toilets. A trip my two Eagle Scouts will remember, scout's honor.
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