Month Long Canoe Trip

My niece is going on a month long canoe trip later this month, it’s actually only 28 days but I’ll call it a month. To say I’m envious would be an understatement.

She is part of a group known as Les Voyageurs from St. Cloud, Minnesota. It’s a non-profit company that has been sending groups of youth out into the wilderness of Canada since 1971.  Mike has lots of relatives who have been on these trips and who have guided these trips, his sister included. But this is my niece from my side of the family who is going on this adventure and I’m super excited for her.

I’ve taken her on brief trips into the Boundary Waters and she has spent time with us at the end of the Gunflint Trail but this will be very different. There will be 7 or 8 other girls in her group and the trip won’t be easy. She is an easy going individual so I’m sure it will be fine, but the thought of her in the woods without me does make me a little nervous.  And, if I’m nervous I know her Mother must be terrified.

But then I think about it.  When I’m in the canoe country I’m not scared. I’m more afraid to be in a big city than I am to spend a night alone in the woods.  They will have the adventure of a lifetime. They might get cold, they will get tired and they will most certainly encounter bugs, but what an adventure it will be.