This episode previews a 3-5 day route in Voyageurs National Park, shares tips about purifying water, and gets you Trip Center listeners setup for National Parks Week!

Trip Overview:

3-5 day trip

2 lakes

About 50mi / 80km

1 portage, with opportunity to add in another

Large lakes and bays

Water purification:

Go with UV

Test well in advance

Bring backups

National Parks Week:

Get in for free 4/21/18!

Ways to Celebrate: https://www.nationalparks.org/our-work/campaigns-initiatives/national-park-week/ways-celebrate

Park Stars & Schedule: https://www.nps.gov/subjects/npscelebrates/national-park-week.htm

Music by “Blue Highway” by Podington Bear, Soul, Sound of Picture Production. Attribution-NonCommercial International License.

Crucial to consider when planning any canoe trip are the portages you’ll encounter and what your team will be able (and willing) to tackle. If your route crosses between lakes, over waterfalls, or around rapids, you should expect to hit the shore and hoist your gear onto your shoulders.

Portaging can be a welcome challenge for a lot of canoe trippers, as well as break from paddling to stretch stiff legs. Part of the joy of wilderness tripping, especially with a team, is seeing how folks rise to challenges and find emotional and physical strengths to achieve more than previously thought possible. Don’t plan your route to avoid portages–you would be missing out.

To portage well, there are some nuanced tips we encourage you to consider:

Length

Terrain

Breaks

Loading and unloading boats, efficiently

Clothing

And of course, history. Break: The Grand Portage.

Music by “Blue Highway” by Podington Bear, Soul, Sound of Picture Production. Attribution-NonCommercial International License.

We heard you when you requested guidance planning routes in our Twitter poll, so episode six covers a favorite of mine: French Lake to Beaverhouse lake in Quetico Provincial Park. For more about visiting the Quetico, its history and personality, check out our third episode.

The route in a nutshell:

7 day trip

6 lakes

50 mi or 80 km

3 portages

260 rods - the longest portage, between Pickerel and McAlpine.

Skinny lakes and large lakes, winding narrows and shallow creek, long, low portage and short steep portage, and plenty of beautiful campsites.

Join us for A Look Back, our break segment describing the pictographs that can be found in canoe country and along this route in Quetico Lake. What are pictographs? Pictographs are pictures or symbols that signify a word. In this backcountry, the pictographs have a red ochre hue and depict canoe travelers, moose, bear, birds, fish, and more of the common surroundings.

What do you need to consider when you're settling on a canoe?

Learn about the bow, stern, hull, gunwales, yoke, the materials that make them, and the way to take care of them.

Resources for your planning:

https://paddling.com/learn/choosing-the-right-canoe-for-you/

https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/canoe.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Os1NKkY-7c

Just for fun - https://medium.com/@hatieparmeter/30-signs-you-ve-been-to-camp-widjiwagan-19d44a664588

Canoeists in the Arctic - http://www.6northof60.org/

Music: "Blue Highway" by Podington Bear, Soul, Sound of Picture Production. Attribution-NonCommercial International License.

The bare necessities of life in the canoe wilderness:

Long wool socks

Hiking boots, waterproof and broken-in

Synthetic underclothes

Athletic T-shirt

Full-length, quick-dry hiking pants

Sunglasses or sun hat

Cozy sleeping clothes

Extra layers for May or August-September trips (fleece, flannel, wool hat)

We take a brief break for Trip Tips: 11 ways to use a bandana. Of course Pinterest has many more ideas for general crafting, in case you needed more reason to pick up this resourceful item.

Credit to Anchor for an excellent podcast-creation platform (anchor.fm)!

Music: "Blue Highway" by Podington Bear, Soul, Sound of Picture Production. Attribution-NonCommercial International License.

We're off to Quetico Provincial Park in the final of our first mini-series, "Knowing Where You're Going." Listen in for an overview of this Canadian park where many canoeists start out.

Quetico by the numbers:

1.2 million acres

15,000 year-old landscape

2,000 designated camping sites

600+ lakes

20,000 annual visitors

$20-30 per adult, per night

Tune in for Trip Tips: How to Pick a Campsite.

Subscribe for future episodes and check out additional resources, posted at www.thetripcenter.wordpress.com!

Credit to Anchor for an excellent podcast-creation platform (anchor.fm)!

Music: "Blue Highway" by Podington Bear, Soul, Sound of Picture Production. Attribution-NonCommercial International License.

Voyageurs National Park wilderness has 200 backcountry camping sites and lives just beyond a popular fishing hub! This the 2nd of our 3-episode series, "Knowing Where You're Going," which provides an overview of the parks where many canoeists start out.

VNP by the numbers:

200,000 acres

15,000 year-old landscape

200 designated camping sites

50,000 annual visitors

$10 booking fee

$16 per adult, per night

Tune in for A Look Back at a Day in the Life of a Voyageur.

Subscribe for future episodes and check out additional resources, posted at www.thetripcenter.wordpress.com!

Credit to Anchor for an excellent podcast-creation platform (anchor.fm)!

Music: "Blue Highway" by Podington Bear, Soul, Sound of Picture Production. Attribution-NonCommercial International License.

Welcome to 1.1 MILLION acres called the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. This kicks off our 3-episode series, "Knowing Where You're Going," which provides an overview of the parks where many canoeists start out.

BWCA by the numbers:

1.1 million acres

15,000 year-old landscape

1,000 lakes and waterways

2,000 designated camping sites

250,000 annual visitors

$10 booking fee

$16 per adult, per night

Tune in for a reading of part of Sigurd Olson's "Why Wilderness."

Subscribe for future episodes and check out additional resources, posted at www.thetripcenter.wordpress.com!

Credit to Anchor for an excellent podcast-creation platform (anchor.fm)!

Music: "Blue Highway" by Podington Bear, Soul, Sound of Picture Production. Attribution-NonCommercial International License.