Looking to take a group from my troop to Northern Tier in the Summer of 2019. Anyone have any good tips they would like to share ?

Have the kids practice portaging a canoe as much as you can between now and then. The hauls don't have to be long, it's about teaching the kids how to get the canoe up onto their shoulders and learn the art of balancing it. That's probably the biggest challenge kids have out there.

Obviously work on orienteering, camping, first aid, etc, but those are things I'm sure the kids you have in mind are already good at.

P.s. bring more but spray than you can possibly imagine. The number of "state birds" during the warm times is astounding.

+1. Invest in deet and plan to be in your tents before dusk.

Good advice above, have them practice portaging going up and down stairs at a stadium also. Some of the trails, depending on the route can be rough.

If older age group, talk to your guide when you get there about age appropriate challenges. I had a group of younger scouts and our guide balanced what we wanted and their physical ability perfectly.

Have them in their boots asap to break them in.

And as mentioned bug spray, soak clothes in it beforehand as well.

Finally, if you can afford the extra cost, fly. That is a beating of a bus ride.

Also, plan to go into Quetico (Canada) if you have the time and finances. Its worth it.

Buddy of mine said to spend more money and rent the fiberglass canoes instead of aluminum ones. The extra #s add up.

I think there was a thread about this last year. Might want to search for it.

Practice carrying very heavy packs. The food pack will likely be north of 70 pounds when you start (almost empty at the end). Your youngest and smallest will probably carry that one.

As stated above, all should learn and practice portaging. Using good technique will make the first 2-3 days so much better.

Have everyone learn and practice fishing. I spent the first two days teaching kids how to cast.

Get advice on lures and tackle from locals.

For dads, volunteer to sit in the middle (duffer), if you can. I rode between two varsity football players and trolled for smallmouth.

Thanks to everyone for the great advice. We likely will be made up of younger scouts that this will be their first high adventure trip. Probably only one scout went to Philmont but all the others are newbies, the adults included. At this point we have a small group but may pull in others from other troops. Good incentive to get my butt in shape! Much appreciated.

Don't wreck the canoes.
They get really mad and you can't keep the canoe.

We went in 2017 Crew E062517K - my write up is here -
https://texags.com/forums/34/topics/2865113/replies/49369297

We also had an Ely to Atikoken crew, so the headcount was 16 scouts and scouters between both crews.


The scouts need to be prepared for rain and being wet. Rain pants were worn in camp but not on the water, obviously. There is a reason they have saunas in base camp. Also, whatever you take on the trail you have to carry when portaging. So keep the extras to a minimum and make sure your personal items portage well. Things like fishing poles and canoe chairs are nice, definitely need the fishing gear, but make sure you have a solid plan for portaging them. That includes getting in and out of the water quickly.

We had a ground transportation company pick us up at the airport in Minneapolis St Paul and we rented a lodge for both crews at the Villas at Giant Ridge.

The next morning we took the underground mine tour at the Soudan Underground Mine State Park, before stopping for lunch and then proceeding into base camp at 1:00 pm. I highly recommend this.

Lastly, Ben's 100% deet

I agree with Pooh - keep your personal gear to a minimum. We had our crew reduce/compress all personal gear to the volume of a standard pillowcase.

Start walking and lifting - NOW.

Most of all, post photos when you get back!

Sounds more fun than philmont

azulAg said:

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Sounds more fun than philmont

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I don't know, I did both and really enjoyed both. Philmont was fun in its own way, where Northern Tier (I did the canoe base in Canada) was fun but different. Philmont had a bunch of activities you could do along the way at the different camps, and Northern Tier you set your own schedule, route, and spend more time with just your group.

Besides getting hailed on then getting lost trying to get off the top of Mount Phillips at Philmont, seeing one of my shorter scout friends find a hole of mud swallow him up to his neck at Northern Tier are probably two of the more memorable moments from my high adventure treks. Of course, there's a lot more memories, but we have our nav guy endless **** at Philmont for that the rest of the trek, and of course we all had a pretty good laugh after pulling the other guy out at Northern Tier.

I wouldn't ***** about it had we decided to choose a shorter trek which would let us do more activities, but for whatever reason our adult leader from our troop decided to choose the longest one knowing we have some small guys who straggle behind. So what should've been a 4 hour hike would turn into an 8/9 hour hike. We never even made it up to baldy because he decided the day before we were to slow

Thanks Pooh, sent you a PM and will contact you later to talk about your experience. Great Pictures.

azulAg said:

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Sounds more fun than philmont

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They each have their place. Philmont is the most physically demanding of the two, but our Ely to Atikoken Northern Tier crew may argue that point.

Philmont offers the scout an opportunity to learn about themselves and breaking through their personal limits. The staff camps are an amazing display of scout spirit, and the wildlife and scenery are superb.

Northern Tier can be demanding when paddling long distances. The fishing and scenery are incredible but it is a lot of the same thing. Philmont offered quite a variety of scenery imho and a variety of staff camp activities. I probably enjoyed the hiking more than the paddling and I don't like being wet all the time, so I would have to say that I enjoyed Philmont more. You enjoy better food on the water at Northern Tier than on the trail at Philmont.

In both cases, the crew is only as strong as its weakest member. At Northern Tier you can minimize portages and put the weaker members in the duffer.

At Philmont everyone has to hike, you can move weight around, but there is only so much that can be done. Preparation is more important at Philmont.

My 2 cents and I am off to Philmont again this summer, Trek #2 for me, June 12 - 25.


Miranda Valley and Baldy Mountain

We all bought 20-25 dollar combat boots that we could just throw away after. You spend so much more time in and around water than hiking. Worked out well. Fancy hiking shoe technology has come a long way though, so maybe it's affordable to buy boots that will be salvageable after the trip.

Keep your eyes up, lots of wildlife. Moose, eagles catching fish, various small woodland/water dwelling creatures. Listen for wolves and coyotes.

Be careful when it's windy on the bigger lakes, you can flip a canoe.

Don't be the one to flip a canoe, especially if you're the one who has flipped a canoe before, because you will never hear the end of it.

have fun !

Ulrich said:

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Be careful when it's windy on the bigger lakes, you can flip a canoe.

Don't be the one to flip a canoe, especially if you're the one who has flipped a canoe before, because you will never hear the end of it.

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On these notes, also practice with the rope bag/rescue bag.

Our troop took 24 boys (3 treks) in 2016. I was in the "easy" trek because we had an adult that was recovering from chemo. We probably totaled 40 miles the entire trek. It gave us a lot of time to fish, swim, explore, cook our fish, catch crawfish (which we ate), observe wildlife---all of this would not have been possible if we were burning the trail for no reason other than to exhaust ourselves. My son was glad we didn't succumb to our ego, took our time, and made some lifelong memories.. It truly was a vacation, and the other treks were jealous! If you like a camp, don't be afraid to stay there 2 nights! All the lakes are very similar, but some hold some big fish.

Some tips:

• Mosquitoes come out at dusk, but disappear about 8:30-9:00 when it cools off. If you're facing north, you may get to see the northern lights.
• Go-to fishing lure - we caught HUGE pike and smallies by trolling around rattle traps (baby bass color). Throw topwater torpedoes and topwater frogs during dusk. I had a pike go air jaws on a frog and it was like hooking up with a marlin.
• Thousands of crawfish come up to the shoreline at night. If you can bring a lightweight trap and some Tony's, you'll have a nice crawfish boil.
• I wish I would have brought a small facemask for swimming. The water is so dang clear, I wish I could have seen what was down there.
• Purchase a couple of water noodles, cut up in 1 ft sections, and cut a groove lengthwise. These will act as padding while you're carrying canoes on your shoulders. they'll stay on the canoe most of the trip and will save your shoulders!
• Get a sawyer squeeze water purification system. Quick and easy without the chemical taste.
• Bring one of those REI camp chairs. Very important after a long day.

We enjoyed our trip so much that we plan to go back with an outfitter (outside of scouts).

Going in late June, two crews. Mostly older scouts but there are a couple of younger ones in the group. We are starting our physical fitness to make sure everyone is in shape, including water time in canoes. This will be my son's third high adventure camp, having completed Philmont in 2016 and Sea Base in 2017. Looking forward to the adventure!

that sounds like a good trip, better than hiking all day just for the **** of it

I went to Northern Tier as a 14 year old. It was a blast. Must valuable information I have to offer is to make your kids have a set of dry clothes & a set of wet. You will not need more than two pairs of anything. Change into dry clothes after setting up camp for the day unless you plan to be in the water. Learn some good recipes that can be cooked on the trail & practice them at home. Dried eggs are not bad as long as they are an ingredient in something. They are bad if you try eating them alone.

I'll also add that the food is much better than Philmont. Fresh veggies like potatoes, carrots, onions, but it's heavy as heck!

azulAg said:

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Sounds more fun than philmont

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It's just different as jabber said. I loved the variety that Philmont offers but I personally found the challenge of Norther Tier considerably harder. It might have something to do with me being a skinny 4'11" and 14 at the time. If I hadn't worked hard on learning to portage a canoe before we went I'm not sure I would have made it. My group also did a difficult trek and covered ~110 miles. Saying that I enjoyed Northern Tier more but I love the water.
Growing up in West Texas and going to Buffalo Trail every year it was nice to see some water and different scenery.

i had always wanted to go sea base, but yea i get what youre saying

Northern Tier is great. Probably the coolest thing I did in Scouts.

azulAg said:

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i had always wanted to go sea base, but yea i get what youre saying

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Sea Base is interesting in that there is a variety of things you can do.

jabberwalkie09 said:

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azulAg said:

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i had always wanted to go sea base, but yea i get what youre saying

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Sea Base is interesting in that there is a variety of things you can do.

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Had a crew that went to sea base last summer and didn't like playing survivor in the sweaty sand all week. They really liked the fishing, however.

There's a seabase trek that is strictly fishing. You sleep in an AC cabin and they take you fishing to different inshore an offshore locations. Basically a guided fishing trip for a week--but much cheaper!

OneNightW said:

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jabberwalkie09 said:

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azulAg said:

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i had always wanted to go sea base, but yea i get what youre saying

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Sea Base is interesting in that there is a variety of things you can do.

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Had a crew that went to sea base last summer and didn't like playing survivor in the sweaty sand all week. They really liked the fishing, however.

There's a seabase trek that is strictly fishing. You sleep in an AC cabin and they take you fishing to different inshore an offshore locations. Basically a guided fishing trip for a week--but much cheaper!

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My troop had a trek that did the sailing around the Keys into Key West. Like I said, quite a bit of variety.

If you are looking for a different and less expensive experience, look into Swamp Base. It's a high adventure opportunity to explore the Atchafala swamp in southern Louisiana. It operated by the Evangeline Area Council in Lafayette. For more info, look at the Swamp Base group on Facebook.

Obviously I love Philmont, but I have always wanted to see Northern Tier. I did Sea Base, pretty but I could take it or leave it, but that is me.

Looking forward to Jr getting to high adventure.......but I should be hitting Philmont in September.

Have a blast.

We went to Northern Tier in Bissett, Canada two summers ago. It was a trip of a lifetime. Our crew was young and small. The boys are recommended to be 5 foot and 100 pounds at the minimum. The packs and canoes are heavy ( 60 to 80 lbs on the average) Everyone has to pull their weight, so I encourage your group to start training. If you go to Bissett, I recommend the trek including both the Heartbreak and Beaver Damnation portages. They will test your metal. Our trek was 50 or so miles with one day set aside to do a 20 mile back and forth trip or to stay at camp and fish. Pack light and prepare to be wet most the time. Get good boots (not water proof but quick drying - we used Merrell Moab). We bought permethrin and soaked our clothes, and brought head nets as well. Being covered in deet was making some of the boys feel ill. There is a small period in July between hatches of mosquitoes and black flies, and we got really lucky. Bring gloves... for protection against blisters and for the bugs. We only took two sets of clothes each for the actual canoe trip. I recommend Kuhl pants. They are expensive, but they stretch at the knees and dry fast. We did a 7 day trek, and you have to pack all of your food. Supplementing fish for food is great bonus, so make sure you have good fishing gear. An extra rod and reel is worth the extra weight. I recommend braided line on a larger spinning reel with a four piece travel rod in a carry tube( lots of unprotected rods were broken in the canoes). Take a ton of lures. We used daredevil spoons, Blue fox vibrax spinning lures, H&H spinners, and the kids lost more than I can count. I took way to many types of lures ( let's see if this will work lures - bad decision) Take a water proof camera, good filet knife and a colored water bottle ( the lake water is not crystal clear but rather tea colored). Note, Pike have a lot of bones, so focus on walleye. Last, when the kids go to the map room, some will get inspired to do the longest trek possible. Make sure you have a plan regarding what the entire group wants to accomplish before that meeting, and stick with it. PS - The float plane ride was worth the trip alone.

Everyone, I greatly appreciate the advice and will take all the bits of wisdom to help draft our plan. This is why we come to the outdoor board. Thanks