8-26-26

Column for 08-26-26

     As this issue of the Paynesville Press went to print, our Trail Guard kids were deep in the BWCA on our 31^st annual wilderness paddling adventure.  Five young girls, ages 12-14, joined two adult trip leaders and one special guest on a trip that tried its best to not happen.

     As nearly everyone knows, it’s been a devastating year for wildfires – including over a dozen within the Superior National Forest and BWCA in northern Minnesota.  The entry permit we reserved back in January was recently cancelled, and the areas of the BWCA that were finally beginning to open up had no available permits.  With 150,000 (or more) annual overnight BWCA visitors, competition for the newly opened entry points was fierce, to say the least.  We weren’t the only ones looking.

     But sometimes fate falls in your lap.  I called our good friends at Piragis Northwoods Company in Ely to get their take on our options.  Grim was the word.  But “Adam” in their outfitting section looked online for us - and behold!  Someone had just cancelled a Snowbank Lake permit for our date.  Adam advised going online immediately to grab it, and our group is now somewhere out there enjoying the magic that is Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

     Our attendance is strong this year, as usual.  But we have more younger kids this year than in some years, giving us a smaller pool to draw from for wilderness adventure.  Add to that a growing list of great opportunities for local kids that we never had when I was young – dance line, martial arts, sports camps, and more, and scheduling some of our outings can get a little tricky.

     But in the end, we put together a great crew.  Trip co-leaders Adrianna Schlangen and Adam Swanson are in charge of an energetic group of young paddlers – Lexi Theel, Adeline Schreifels, Sophia Arnold, Harmony Serna, and Raylee Poster. 

     We have a special guest along.  Co-leader Adam Swanson from St. Paul took a two-year gap period after high school before entering his studies at the University of Minnesota where he is now a senior.  He spent that time solo touring by bicycle much of Europe, Southeast Asia, and South America.  On the trail he met and hooked up with a fellow bike-packer from Germany named Mattis who is now a senior at the University of Freiburg, a top-tier research university in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany.

    Mattis and Adam have become fast friends.  This young German outdoor enthusiast has hoped for years to have an opportunity to paddle the backcountry of an incredible wilderness area in the United States that he has heard about all his life – Minnesota’s BWCA.  It was a perfect fit for everyone, and we are very happy to help Mattis accomplish one of his long-time goals as he brings a refreshing world view into the lives of the remarkable young Trail Guard girls enjoying the wilderness with him, Adrianna, and Adam.

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