I recently returned from a trip to the Northern Tier High Adventure Program's Charles L. Sommers base in Ely, MN. While there, my son, other scouts and advisors and I canoed through the Boundary Waters in the US and Quetico Provincial Park in Ontario, Canada for six days and five nights. This trip was over a year in the planning and we all had a great time! I'll focus on some other items related to the planning and execution of a high adventure trip in other blogs, but today I wanted to focus on some of the equipment we purchased and used.
While planning the trip, I found very little information on the internet about equipment. I don't know if this is because of how I was using Google to search or what. There was much anxiety over equipment because once you canoe out of the Ely base, your crew is on your own with what you are carrying for the next six days!
There were three purchases that made all the difference in the world to our trip: boots, socks and underwear. These items were critical because you are wet most of the day from at least the knee down and sometimes from the waist down. Without the proper footwear and underwear, the days of paddling could have been miserable, but instead they were quite comfortable.
I'll start with the underwear. The leader who was organizing the trip contacted our local REI store and arranged for an equipment discussion and demonstration early one Sunday morning before the store opened. I found that to be very useful and full of great information. We were met by two store employees, one man and one woman, both of whom spent a lot of their spare time out of doors engaged in high adventure. The man had been to NT many years ago as a scout but had recently canoed in Maine.
It was the woman who suggested Ex Officio underwear to us. She had done a lot of through backpacking and highly recommended them. The "Give-N-Go" comes in boxer, brief and boxer brief styles and is a nylon and Lycra spandex blend that is treated with a chemical that resists bacteria that causes odor. They are soft, breathable and incredibly comfortable as well as quick drying. The REI woman suggested two pair and that was plenty for our trip.
As underwear goes, they are pricey (about $28 each) but well worth it. I'm not the most nimble on my feet and fell over a couple of times while getting into or out of the canoe or while portaging across rapids. Even while completely soaked, they were comfortable and didn't itch or chafe the way cotton underwear sometimes does on canoeing trips. I also found that they frequently dried faster than the Columbia Voyager Convertible Pants that I was wearing.
The boots caused me the most anxiety. From the Northern Tier gear list is the following:
1 pair Boots (REQUIRED)
o All participants are required to wear boots
that have full ankle coverage, a rugged
stitched or vulcanized sole and drainage at
the instep. If you are unsure if the boots you
are planning to bring meet this requirement
please feel free to contact us prior to your
arrival. Crews arriving with inadequate
footwear will be asked to purchase boots in
the trading post prior to departure on water.
The health and safety of our participants is
of utmost importance to us, for this reason
there are no exceptions to the boot
requirement.
It is incredibly difficult to find boots that meet this description. The only readily available style is the Merrell Moab Mid Ventilator. These are good boots. I bought a pair myself but did not take them to Northern Tier, although everyone else in our crew except my son, our interpreter and myself had them. I was concerned about two things with them: the ankle support and whether they would stay on in very muddy areas. While you can lace them tightly, they feel a bit loose and could come off if you stepped into deep mud. We had heard horror stories of people stepping into waist deep mud and loosing their boots! The Northern Tier trading post sells these Merrells for $99.95, but they can be found for less than that. I think I paid around $80 for mine at Bass Pro Shops. Everyone in our crew that wore them had no complaints.
I did a ton on internet research on these boots. I found Navy Seals and others who frequently work in and around the water who swear by these boots and find that they last a good long time, even with daily use. I decided to order two pair, one each for my son and me. NRS says, "Whole sizes only. Women order one size smaller. 1/2 sizes order one size larger." My son normally wears size 8.5 so I ordered him a size 9 and they fit perfectly. I normally wear a size 10 but I have wide feet. I decided to take a chance and ordered size 10 for me as well. I needed a size 11, which upon their arrival, fit well.
I ordered from Landfall Navigation and cannot speak more highly of the experience. A few days after my initial order, I received an email saying the boots were back ordered and asked when I needed them. I replied saying we needed the boots well before our July departure to break them in. The boots arrived maybe 10 days later. I again emailed asking about exchanging my size 10's for size 11. Less than a week later, the size 11's arrived with instructions on how to return the 10's. If you're planning a trip to NT or just need gear for water activities, I highly recommend Landfall Navigation.
The first time you put them on, they are very tight and very difficult to pull on. However, by the second or third time, the neoprene sock inside has limbered and they slip right on. I wore them several times around the neighborhood walking our dog and even wore them to work. I found that they broke in more quickly than other boots I've owned. On the trip, the boots were a dream! They give a ton of ankle support, drain well after submersion and generally felt great, even while hiking on long portage trails. Each day once we got off the water and pitched camp, a couple of hours drying in the sun and they were good to go the next day. Even after six days of constant and rigorous use, they are like new. I will not return to NT without a pair of these boots!
Finally, the socks are nearly as critical as the boots. The NT gear list states, "All trail clothing should be non-cotton and made of synthetics and/or natural non-cotton fibers." For socks, the list suggests three pair of wool or wool/synthetic blend socks. Our REI advisors recommended any of their thin hiking socks, Merino wool or wool blends. I bought one pair from REI but then on a trip to Cabela's, bought their Cabela's +Icebreaker thin cushion Merino wool socks. They are thin but durable and incredibly comfortable. Just like the boots, peel them off and place them in the sun for a couple of hours and they were good to go each morning! My son wore the REI socks and he was comfortable the whole trip as well. I think the key is wool, thin cushion and comfortable.
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| My son and I before hitting the water |
The other boot listed on the Northern Tier trading post website is the Wellco Jungle Boot Model #B130 but they are listed as discontinued. These are the boots that our interpreter wore and she really liked them. I found them on various web sites but most were out of stock. I found one outfitter that told me Wellco was purchased by a different company so they had temporarily ceased production, but would restart production once the sale went through all hurdles. It that's true, by the time you read this and are preparing for an NT trip in 2016 or beyond, they may be more readily available.
I liked the Wellco Jungle Boot because I wanted military style, jungle boots; boots that are tall on the calf and provide lots of ankle support. I spoke with someone at a boy scout event who was ex-military and wore his US DOD issue jungle boots to NT. Outside of a military base's PX, these boots are difficult to find.The boots I settled on came from a mother's recommendation who had sent her son to NT several years ago: NRS Workboot Wetshoe. NRS does not sell direct to consumers but I found several outfitters that had various sizes in stock.
A trip to NT is expensive, but I believe it to be less expensive than the grandfather of all BSA high adventure trips, Philmont. We live on the East Coast, so getting to MN is less expensive than getting to NM. We also chose a 6-day excursion as opposed to the 10-day excursions that are available to NT. I'll touch on expenses in a different blog, but much of the equipment we purchased can be used again and again for other boy scout trips, even those that aren't high adventure related. If you are careful, do your research and buy good quality, the equipment should last for years of fun ahead!
On a personal note, I would not trade the 9 days with my son for anything in the world. He is 15 and doesn't always want to be around his "pops" but we had a great time and really pushed ourselves physically and emotionally across those days. I think we both came back slightly changed, although he more than me. Even if you are not an outdoors person, if you have the chance to go on any high adventure journey with your son or daughter, you owe it to them and to yourself to do it. If you are careful, thoughtful and do it correctly, you will not regret a second of it!
