March Letter to Friends of BWCA Trails
Warm weather is here and it is time to think about getting back on the trails! This spring we are on track to restoring the Powwow Trail in 2020 for hiking experience like not seen since 2011.
Your registrations for trips have so far filled 60 spots. There are twenty volunteers who intend to sign up. BWAC needs twenty more to meet our target of 100 volunteers on Powwow Trail this May. Powwow will still be a challenging hike, but our vision is that backpacking the loop after Memorial Day weekend will be much easier than a year ago.
The Forest Service is impressed with BWAC volunteers’ accomplishments and appears to be on board to restore the campsites. To help the Forest Service with trail restoration, BWAC had contacted several key legislators by letter, including Betty McCollum, chair of the Appropriations Committee of the Natural Resources, urging them to support key funding for “deferred maintenance” of hiking trails in the BWCAW. In addition, our Advocacy Team plans to meet with the Forest Service in March in Duluth to discuss priorities and tentative timetable to address the trail needs. This will be an opportunity to bring about change we have anticipated for several years and to collaborate more closely.
Now that we have support of the Forest Service, we need your continued pledge as well. With twenty openings on May trips, consider joining one of the backpacking or canoeing adventures. And whether you registered for a trip yet or not, I invite you to the 2020 BWCA Backpacking Trails Kick-Off this Saturday, March 7 at noon at Lebanon Hills Regional Park. Become more knowledgeable about both sides of the BWCAW: a) keynote speaker Dr. Mark Neuzil of University of St. Thomas will present “History of Canoe in North America,” and b) you will discover/get an update on three BWCAW backpacking trails: Kekekabic (40 miles), Border Route Trail (70 miles) and the Powwow Trail (30 miles). Registration is only $5 for pizza (youth under 18 for free, but let us know) and following the presentations, choose one of four of the 20 minute workshops: “What’s in my pack, Water purification, Camping stoves, and Map & compass.” In addition to pizza lunch, Trailtopia is hosting a demo of tasting their freeze dried foods and giving away a door prize of Trailtopia mix. Crew leaders will be on hand to answer your questions about the trips and gear. Please help us to get a head count for lunch by RSVP’ing today here.
Remember that when you volunteer with BWAC, you gain personally rewarding experience while you serve a higher purpose that benefits the society. Together, we are making the Boundary Waters better. Thank you for volunteering.
Regards,
Martin Kubik, organizer. Questions? Reach me at wtrails2@yahoo.com or call/text to 651-214-5849
PS What's it like? See photos from 2019 event here.