Cell phone use during a trip to the Boundary Waters.

To bring or not to bring? To use or not to use?

These are the questions some in the paddling community have struggled with for years, with age often being a factor in where one stands on the issue.

Many young paddlers, for example, are embracing elements of technology on their trips to the Boundary Waters. Modern cell phones take excellent photographs, allowing paddlers to leave behind dated and heavy camera equipment. A cell phone camera allows paddlers a chance to capture memories of their trips to the BWCA, the reasoning goes. There is also the safety aspect of having a cell phone while traveling through the wilderness, particularly as cell coverage becomes more widespread across the Boundary Waters region.

In this episode, we hear from Stu Osthoff, Emilie Burditt, Ben Strege, Will Doherty, Hazel Oberholtzer and Emily Elkins on this topic.