Crew Olympics and Portage Record??

Crew Olympics (6/8)

The Crew Olympics is quintessential to the Voyageurs Experience. You and your crew go compete in multiple challenges to see who wins the Olympics. This year we had packing the kettle, portaging, setting up tarps, throw bag toss, paddling, and starting a fire. The guys struck some unfortune on the paddle and the fire. We as guides decided against teaching them how to start a fire before trail to focus on other things (current fire ban in all of Canada), yet they still brought the water to a boil. Afterwards we were planning to have a crew date with the Johnson Crew, and then they bailed on us… so we made better use of our time and went over compasses and called it a day!

Portage Record + Gear Shakedown (6/9)

At 4:39am Ryan texted one of the guides he was going to be a little late to the meeting, unbeknownst to the rest of the crew, he was gunning for the pre trail portage record before our 8am meeting. A grueling 11.75km record that had standing for over decade. Ryan broke the record, and when asked later he stated “Average monday morning, let’s get back out there tomorrow and crush the crew record”… what a guy!

The rest of our meeting wasn’t as exciting as that, everyone brought *most* of their gear, and we as guides checked it off the list, and cautioned to or away from certain items and things. We let the guys go super early, our shortest meeting yet (an hour and a half), so if they needed to change up gear before we leave they would have the opportunity to.

busy busy busy!

We have been having nonstop meetings recently.

Thursday’s meeting (6/5)

We started off the meeting with a refresher of knots and coiling p cord, and then we went straight into action! We worked on the maps, and plotted exactly where we want to travel, and some estimations of where we want to camp. Rapids, big lakes, rivers, waterfalls, “Best Island”… this route has it all! Afterwards we did a portage from basecamp to the end of Pinepoint (1.2 miles), and the boys crushed it! Right after we went paddling on the Mississippi and played a game called “Jayleaning”. The objective of the game is to keep your boat afloat, while letting water creep in over the side. Then we worked on our t-rescues, which is just a way to get a sunken boat out of the water, and the paddlers back into the boat without going to the shore.

Food Packing Day (6/6)

This is the meeting where we pack the majority of our food, we pack everything that we don’t bake on our own, or have to dehydrate, so think stuff like rice, or peanuts. The guys initially wanted to dress up like coal miners… their plan was to roll around in the dirt until “you look like a coal miner”… we moved onto lumberjacks after that. Unfortunately we couldn’t bring any axes into a school, something about a safety hazard??? so our theme really looked more like Sunday Best. Food Packing is rather uneventful, just a little chaotic. The boys devised a system where some of them would go grab food, then some of them would bag and tie it, and someone would be writing labels. To tie our bags shut we need string, so every now and then two of them would span across the whole cafeteria, and cut and fold the string into the length they wanted. The Far North Girls finished pretty quickly, so they helped us out and gave the guys a few pointers, and then we finished!

Saturday’s meeting (6/7)

Today we started off with some donuts under the tarp to talk a little more about what to expect for this next week, what each day will look like, etc. Than we had the guys take down the tarp, just to set it back up, practice makes perfect. Than we wrapped our p-cord, and it was a struggle, but we got through! We then packed the kettle with our toilet paper, now they are starting to realize the difficulty of packing the kettle pack! Afterwards we went paddling with Jack Grabinski! We went on the Mississippi and paddled just a few minutes north and played jayleaning again. A few of them successfully did it, which meant more experience with our t-rescues. We also played a game called teater toter, now this game has zero purpose is preperation for trail, it’s just kinda fun! You stand on each end of the canoe, and bounce up and down trying to make the other person fall off!

Anyways, the kids are getting excited for the Olympics and their crew date, so stay tuned!!!

Baking Day!

Baking Day was a success! Special thanks to the Wiebers for generously offering up their home for us to use for the day!

We started off by quick running to the store to get some candy to put in our baybread, initially we had just had an assortment of Reese’s candy, so we made sure to get some variety moving forward. Then we all split off into groups to tackle certain items, which would be: Hot Chocolate, Bay Bread, Hamburger, and Bannock. If you are unfamiliar with what Bay Bread or Bannock is, Bay Bread is a super dense granola bar where you can add mix ins into it to add flavor (ie the candy we just bought), and Bannock is a bread we actually make on trail, we just get everything ready here back in the states.

Everyone took turns rotating tasks, helping others, and stepping into action when needed.

Our Bay Bread was taking longer than expected to bake, so we had to tweak a few things to get it to cook right, so for a few lunches on trail we are going to have some crispier bay bread…

The guys crushed making hot chocolate and bannock, and it was fun to see how they reacted to how much hot chocolate we are bringing now that it is tangibly in front of them, and not just a number.

Midway through the day we needed to quick run to the dehydrator to bag the jerky, and swing by basecamp to grab some more supplies for baking day, so Jack generously volunteered to stay back and cycle in and out bay breads from the oven while the rest of us worked on the jerky and supplies. This actually made things move a little faster because when we got back we had essentially all the bay bread cooked, we just had to bag it. Unfortunately we still had to cook most of our beef, and when everyone started to realize this could mean we would be here for a lot longer, people started stepping up and offering to cook some of it at their house, and let others go home. We decided to roll with this because we still had around half of our beef to cook, and the rate we were going at it, we were going to be here all day.

Only 9 days out from trail. It is starting to get surreal! We’re all getting antsy and excited to get out there!

Reroute, and Knots!

Today was a shorter meeting ,we started off with quickly putting all the jerky onto the dehydrator. Afterwards we migrated to Basecamp. We talked about our new area to explore, Wabakimi Provincial Park. We talked as a group on what we wanted to do, some of the logical considerations like where to resupply, how to plan for solo day, etc. The boys made a very rough outline of what they wanted to do, and we will touch up on it shortly in a future meeting.

Next we went over two knots, the first being the double half hitch. The double half hitch is a sinching knot, so it’s function can being tying a piece of rope to something, ie a tree. Our second knot we covered is called the taut-line. The taut-line’s function is to secure a line of rope, with an adjustable tension, in simplier terms we can use it to adjust the tension on a tarp so when we need it to be hung up we can make it really tight, and easy to take down.

Afterwards we had a quick review of every knot we have gone over so far, and then a quick competition, Ryan won all the marbles!

To cap off our meeting we quickly went over our kettle pack again. They packed it phenomenally. Other guides were very impressed and Program Director Jack Grabinski rated it 9/10! The future is bright with this crew, and all the guys are started to get excited for trail!

Our knot racing competition!

Drawing sticks!

Jerky Day + a little more!

Today was Jerky Day! Jerky Day at LVI is a longstanding tradition where every crew comes together, cuts slabs of beef, trims them, and puts them in marinade to marinate. It is a lengthy process where you have to trim all pieces of fat of the beef, and put them in a bucket. If someone were to catch you wasting precious beef and putting it into the fat bucket, they could dump it… it only happened once to us. The guys also partook in another longstanding tradition, honoring a slab of beef, they chose to honor it to the Johnson Crew, this means they are going to be going on a crew date! The boys made quick work of the beef, made such good time they actually had to donate it to other crews!

Cvancara Hanson Crew X Johnson Crew

On Sunday we went over a whole assortment of stuff, firstly we went over our kettle pack. Our kettle pack houses some of the most important stuff for the crew, tarps, rope, water filters, etc. We walked the guys over what each does, and we gave a quick demonstration of the stoves, which may prove to be very necessary this summer… anyways we showed them how to set up a tarp, and how to pack the kettle. They gave a crack at packing the kettle, and they did a great job at it! Afterwards we set up our tents, and did a little impromptu tent repair. Afterwards we went for a quick paddle, and called it a day!

Route Planning and Paddling!

Today was a very productive day! We started off with a quick portage, to the red mail box, which is around half a mile! The boys absolutely crushed it, and then we got to paddling. Paddling is the most used skill on trail, so we went over each stroke, Power Stroke, J-Stroke, and the C-Stroke. Each stroke plays it’s own role in steering and propelling the canoe forwards. The boys paddled on the dock so both of us gave pointers on correct technique, and ways to adjust poor technique. Afterwards we got into the bulk of our meeting, route planning! The boys are super ambitious and we are all for it! Talks of Fourth of July Falls, rapids, fire towers, and much more were all taken into consideration. The boys decided they wanted to do the Pigeon River, so they had to figure out how to maneuver from our starting point, Wallace Lake to the Pigeon River, and include everything else they want to see and experience. Unfortunately we ran out of time, but towards the end there was talks of a crew portage record.

Second Crew Meeting!

We had a successful crew meeting today! We first started off with a review of some of the knots we will be using on trail, and then got some practice on rewrapping the p cord neatly. Right afterwards we tackled the food menu for our trip. Connor and I briefly went over what each meal would look like (ie a lunch will have a bread, candy bar, nuts, etc) and then we let them tackle it! They took time thinking through each choice logically, and letting everyone weigh in on what they would and wouldn’t like. Then a lengthy talk of whether or not they would like to go for the hot chocolate record (60lbs of hot chocolate!!!).

Right after we loaded up our dehydrator into my car to take to Caleb’s house (Thank you to the Thompsons for keeping the dehydrator at their house) and while we were doing that, Henry found a toad! We drove over to the Caleb’s house, and unloaded and prepared the dehydrator. The dehydrator is important piece of our preparation because without it, we couldn’t dehydrate our food we’d be eating. Afterwards we explained how to use it, and some of the expectations and responsibilities for the crew moving forwards!

First Crew Meeting 5/4

Today we had our first crew meeting! We carpooled over to basecamp, and gave the kids a quick tour of basecamp, and some of the rules and expectations of being at basecamp. Then as a crew we set goals and expectations for each other for anything before, and during the trip. Afterwards we sanded the paddles as a crew, so anything they want to paint on the paddle, will actually stick on and get varnished.

Right when we got done with sanding the paddles we tackled the maps. Connor and I let them try and figure it out without any of our help, and they got most of it figured out before we gave the trick that helped them piece all 20+ maps together. Then as a crew we talked about what we could do on trail, cliff jumping, shoot rapids, and any cool landmarks . The crew was inquisitive about where we could do a night paddle, which rivers could we finish on, and even where our resupply was. It’ll be fun in future meetings watch them take these empty maps, and make a trip out of them!

Right after we went outside to the really nice weather and started learning how to flip a canoe! The canoes weight around 70lbs, so it can be pretty hard to get up on your own. The whole crew went into step by step, and each and everyone of them got it up and down, multiple times! We also portaged to and from the tennis courts, this is nowhere near what a portage path will be like (asphalt road), but it gives everyone on the crew a chance to feel what it’s like to portage a canoe! After we put the canoes away, we got inside and finished by learning two knots we will be using on trail. The bowline and square knot, these are pretty common and universal knots, and they caught on pretty quick on how to tie them, we quickly taught them how to wrap the paracord, and then the meeting was done! It was overall a very successful day, and we are excited for our next meeting!

Hello!

Greetings Crew and family, 

My Name is Connor Hanson, and I will be one of the guides for the Cvancara-Hanson Crew this Summer! This will be my 3rd trip with the program, with my first in 2022, and Far North in 2024. I am a 2024 graduate of Cathedral High School, and I am currently attending college at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire with a major in Geospatial Analysis and Technology. For hobbies, I enjoy anything active, including biking, hiking, bouldering, and running, and I will be running in the Eau Claire Marathon at the end of this month! I’m beyond excited to be a part of this crew, to get out there, and explore with you all this summer!

Hello Family and Friends!

Hi everyone, I am Grant Cvancara (“Swan - Chair - Ah”), and I am one of two guides on the Cvancara-Hanson crew this year! This’ll be my third trip so far with LVI, my first being in 2022, and a Far North in 2024. I went to Cathedral High School, and graduated last year. I am currently a student at the University of Saint Thomas, and I am studying Mechanical Engineering, and considering a minor in either math or physics. In my free time I enjoy whitewater kayaking and canoeing, rock climbing, any forms of exercise, amongst other things. I’m super excited to see this crew come together, and all the adventures ahead!

Welcome!

Welcome to our crew’s blog!

As summer and the Les Voyageurs season begins to pick up, you can receive updates on our crew’s progress through photos and the blog on our page. Check back soon to get an inside look at the different skills, knowledge, and steps we are taking as we prepare for our expedition of a lifetime this summer.

Please feel free to reach out with any questions or concerns!