Greetings All,

Monday, July 26th - 7pm - Prep Meeting at the Parish Center

Friday, July 30th - 7pm - Loading at the Parish Center

Saturday, July 31st - 6:30am - Assembly - Depart by 7am - Drive to Niagara Falls (Canadian side) - drive to Hamilton - stay overnight at Days Inn

Sunday, August 1st - 7 am - Depart for Killarney - Arrive around 12pm; canoeing by 3pm - in park through Thursday morning

Thursday, August 5th - Return to Killarney Basecamp; camp out on main lawn of the lodge

Friday, August 6th - Kayaking in Prince George's Bay; camp at local campground; pack for return trip

Saturday, August 7th - 7am - Depart for Home - Major Break will be taken in New York or (more likely) Pennsylvania - if driving Adults are OK, we will continue on to Arlington after the break; if not, we will camp locally, or stay at another hotel for the night. In the former case, we will arrive in Arlington around midnight; in the latter case, we will return Sunday, August 8th, in the early afternoon.

We will be canoeing, kayaking, and camping in a true wilderness environment. No established campsites, latrines, campstores, or anything else. It's just us and the Great Green North, baby. Killarney Provincial Park isn't "all the way" out there, but it's damned close. We are likely to see far more wild animals than fellow humans; this includes bear, moose, loons and geese, etc. The fishing is supposed to be exceptional (see update). The nightime skies will be Philmont-like. This is Scouting at its absolute finest.

We have hired two Killarney guides for the entire trek; this is probably overkill, but being that this is the Troop's first true wilderness adventure in over 10 years, it is prudent to have a little more expertise than Bob's fading memories of treks long past. The guides, however, are guides, not Sherpas to carry our gear, set up our camps, or cook our meals - those are still our jobs.

The waterway we have chosen is a combination of lakes linked by small rivers. The rivers are not passable (at least, not for us!) This means that we will be portaging from lake to lake a good number of times during the trek. For those unfamilar with the term "portage," it means we have to basically carry all our stuff - including the canoes - from one lake to the next. The canoes weigh about 60 pounds apiece, and my guess is that each person will have close to that in personal and Troop equipment, especially early in the trek (when we have all our food and fuel.) This can be "challenging," especially if the portages are lengthy. (I have asked on this, but have not yet received a reply.) If the portages are short, we may be able to double-portage (take two trips), which will allow some relaxed standards on equipment and weight. If they are lengthy, however, we will make every effort to minimize our carry weight in order to be able to do single portages. (If this seems odd, note that a single portage of just over a mile and a half turns into a 5 mile double portage, since you cover the same ground three times - that's a heck of a difference!)

For obvious reasons, it would be worthwhile for each trek participant todo some physical conditioning over the next week - like walking a couple of miles a day, and some pushups and pullups to build up your shoulders a little bit. This is tough to do in the kind of weather we've had around here just lately, but it's crucial - the better shape you're in, the more you will enjoy your trek. Even an hour a day will help you a lot in Canada. As you can see from the itinerary, we will be canoeing a few hours after we arrive - so there's no acclimation period to speak of. You will likely pull over 10,000 canoe strokes during the week; Fair warning to all.

Our menu will also be mandated by weight restrictions. We will eat well, but not to excess - since it's a wilderness environment, we'd have to pack out all our leftover food. I expect to eat a fair number of fresh fish, too! (see update)

I am not going to provide an equipment list until I hear back from Killarney on weight and length of portages (and several other issues.) I hope this will be tomorrow - but then again, I expected it today, and here I sit. I have their list, and also the equipment list for the BSA Northern Tier (a similar type Scout-run program in Minnesota), but both lists have a lot of variance in them, and don't really address weight as well as I'd like to see. Anyway, this means everyone will need to be somewhat reactive next week (I will provide a list by email once I get the information we need, but several trek participants do not have home email addresses, and so will not hear from me until they go to work Monday morning.) Note that, unless the long-range weather forecast for the area is very wet, we will not need a lot of clothes. We can wash everything every day. Start looking through your stuff with an eye towards low weight and high versatility. We may pack in duffel bags, or we may pack in backpacks - the portage lengths dictate the choice. Everything goes in the canoes, each day, so waterproofness is key. You can stand a lot of wet, so long as you can get dry and warm each night. There will also be a separate list of "carry-on" gear for use on the way up and on the way home; this will be kept separate from the trekking equipment. More on this topic later....

We will fill our days with canoeing and kayaking, fishing, watching the local wildlife, some merit badge work, and basic camping and cooking. I'm sure a few decks of cards, Chess games and frisbees will come along for the ride, too. We *may* qualify for the 50 Miler Award; we'll have to track our mileage carefully.

We will have 2 kayaks along with us on the trek itself; these are for fun. Everyone will get plenty of opportunities to use them. After we return, the entire Troop will be outfitted with kayaks for use on a sheltered section off Lake Huron, for an entire day. That should also be a lot of fun.

Be looking for more emails, start getting in shape, and start getting your paperwork and gear together. Talk to you soon! And see you Monday night, July 25, 7pm at the Parish Center.

- Bob

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25 July 1999