Thanks again for your input guys. Now I'm going to break my own rule and ask about Northern Tier. I thought I had decided agains NT but after rereading some old threads and NT's website I'm having second thoughts.
Some things my boys won't be able to get with a private outfitter: official high adventure patches, T-shirts, commemorative paddles, etc. This is not a big deal to me. But the boys really do treasure them. I have an ASM, for example, who still proudly wears his Philmont patch from his days as a scout.
Yeah, our 4 leaders know canoeing, but we've not been to BWCA or Que