Browse archives: 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | 1997 | 1996 | 1995

Published on 07/24/1995 All articles from this issue

Los Altos Boy Scout troop accepts nature's challenge in Manitoba wilderness

printer friendly version

By Nick Kocharhook

Special to the Town Crier

Manitoba: It's not just a land of many lakes. It's not only a province of Canada. Manitoba is the destination of Boy Scout Troop 37 this summer.

While other kids stay home and watch TV, 10 boys and six adults from Troop 37 are going to Manitoba. The B.S.A. high-adventure camp we are headed for is called "Northern Tier." We'll be canoeing for 10 days in the Manitoba wilderness, about 150 miles north-northeast of Winnipeg. The fishing is supposed to be great, too. It had better be, since we will rely on it for more than one of our meals.

Getting to Northern Tier will take a while: about 8 1/2 hours, to be exact. We leave on Aug. 5 and return on the Minneapolis. It's 3 hours and 35 minutes. Then we wait for 55 minutes. In another hour and 30 minutes, we're in Winnipeg. There, we spend the night, and the next morning, we take a two-hour bus ride to Basset, where our plane leaves. This time, though, it's a float plane. After about a 30 minutes flight, we arrive at our destination: Northern Tier headquarters on Scout Lake.

Getting ready for Northern Tier has taken many hours of hard work. For example, most of the adults and all of the Scouts have participated in a 16-hour American Canoe Association training course. We learned lots of important stuff and all of us got dunked at least once.

Other things we have done to prepare for this potentially rigorous trip:

• We practiced carrying canoes throughout the streets and byways of Los Altos. This occurred on April 2.

• All the Scouts and adults have been thoroughly briefed on emergency first aid. In addition, all the adults going on the trip will be certified in CPR.

• We have reviewed the weather patterns of Manitoba for last year and will be prepared for any type of weather.

To give you an idea of how much packing space we have, imagine you have a five-gallon bucket. (This is not a typo: A five-gallon bucket.) Now, take a sleeping pad. Wrap it around the inside of the bucket. Take the rest of your gear and put it inside that. We will not be bringing boom boxes.

Don't fret! You'll get a rundown of how the trip went just as soon as we get back!

Kocharhook, a member of Los Altos Boy Scout Troop 37, will be providing periodic accounts of the troop's Manitoba trip.