Mooseman

I have the brand on my paddle, there is nothing more to it than the X. the reason it is an X is that Charles L Sommers used to be the region 10 canoe base. If you look at the picture you will also see a CLS inside a canoe, this a secondary brand but not the main brand.

It is a serifed captial X ... the roman numeral 10 for region 10.

I always use a 20 degree synthetic bag. You never know what the temperature will be like, I have seen it snow in July. With a 20 degree bag if anything happens you will be ready. It is nice to have it be synthetic because if it does happen to get wet it will still work, keeping 70% of its original warmth.

I love my -40 degree bag, works great on the really cold nights. http://www.thenorthface.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=70184&storeId=207&catalogId=10201&langId=-1&from=subCat&parent_category_rn=11749&variationId=7D8 If you are starting out though I would suggest that you combined two bags, it is cheaper and easier. Maybe a 20 degree and a zero degree... or what ever you might have.

In my experience I would also try to put parents and their scouts in separate canes, at least for the first two days. This alleviates tensions when people have not paddled much. I would also suggest switching canoe partners around on longer trips (more than 3 days). one canoe will always lag and it will create bad feelings between canoes if you don't switch things up.

My mistake, sorry. For early in the season they might be a good choice.

The majority 95% + of the interpreters (guides) at Northern Tier use jungle boots, as some one previously posted you can get them from the Norther Tier website, I think they are in the $35 range, not bad when most people going to philmont spend 3-5 times that on boots. you can also take some old backpacking boots and drill holes in the sides or live with sloppy feet the whole trip, it is really not that bad. In response to the previous poster, you would be hard pressed to find an Interpreter who would let you pull loaded canoes up on to the portage. There are some portages where ther

Swamper training is the term used for staff training. The "swamper trip" is a trip halfway through training where staff go on a 4 to 5 day training canoe trip.

Personally, I would not relate an Interpreter to a regular guide and by no means a tour guide of the BWCAW. As Mike F. related them to tour guides or buses in Europe. On the trips I have been on at Northern tier, the interpreter was there more as a role model. The Interpreter was able to challenge the scouts in a different way than I can as an adult leader who already has a history with the scouts on the trip. I see the whole reason for using Northern tier is to give the scouts this different, positive interactions with adults in their 20s. Of the scouts in my troop, I know that they

there is a really good natural history museum there. They also have a really nice bizar area called the Grand Forks. when are you going on your trip? -Karl

Everyone enjoys National High Adventure, so why not get paid for it!! Northern Tier National High Adventure base is looking for quality staff members to guide canoe trips in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in northern Minnesota and the Quetico Provincial Park in Ontario,Canada. If you or anyone you know is interested in working for Northern Tier, check out our website at http://www.ntier.org/ or call us at 218-365-4811. You must 18 years of age to apply.

Yep, I ment 5% sorry.

I have been biting my tongue but I have to say, I had a bad experience at philmont. When I went I had the expectation that it would be a challenging trip with lots of hiking in remote areas on difficult trails. Our troop had done a number of trips on the AT. With no grade more than 5 degrees and distances less than I had expected, the trip did not live up to my expectations. There were a number of other people who I have spoken to who had the same experience in that philmont was not the challenging wilderness backpacking Mecca they had been led to believe. Also my group had one very

With the holiday season coming up and people looking for gifts... what camping or scout gear do you have on your list this year? -MooSeman

I hiked the Freedom trail as a scout in boston. I believe it takes about one day and I believe that you can earn the medal just by walking it. if you stay at Sayre, which I might add I like, the scout office is there and they will most likly have info on the freedom trail. If you guys are really into history then it would take more than one day, the trail highlights all of the importaint historic parts of boston.