Bus Packing!

Hello everyone!!

Today we had our last meeting before leaving tomorrow for trail! We spent our morning making sure we had all of our gear and resupply goods ready. The girls did a great job cleaning the bus and getting the canoes/packs all ready to go! We are so proud of the girls for the hard work and time they have put into this prep. All of their long meetings and practice will definitely pay off this next month. We are so excited to lead this amazing group through Canada and share all of our stories when we return. See you soon!

Thank you to friends and family for the support during these past few months and the encouragement along the way!

-Brooke and Maddie:)

Meeting #11 Pack Packing Day!

Hi Everyone! 

T-Minus 4 days until send-off day!! Today, we did pack-packing! We started by splitting up our breakfast, lunch, and dinner and putting them all in the pack. This took way too long(it was like Tetris 2.0). We then put beads on our boots and took a lunch break! It was a good taco bowl which was bussin’! After two hours, we all came together and put our necessities in our diddy bags and put yarn on our plates and cups! We then got into our pea pack groups and put our gear into the packs. I think I got everything! Byeeeeeee!

Isabella, Sienna, Sheridan, Enya, June, and Esther signing out!

Meeting #10: Crew Date!

Hola, today was very eventful. 

We first started with getting punished for our need for speed and had to portage from tennis courts and back without flipping down. Then we had to write a sincere apology letter to Jack himself for our irresponsibility. After that event, we packed nuts outside and finished food packing I think idk. Then we went on crew date with George and Connor’s crew. T Runk flipped a bunch of canoes. Then everyone left and June ate ice cream and drank water out of a mug.

-June

Baking Day!

We’re backkkk

Okay so today we woke up bright and early together at the crack of 7. Despite how bad I slept on the floor of basecamp, I was super excited for today because… IT’S BAKING DAY!! We started off with a quick breaky (thank you Gina, we love you) before starting on the ground beef. Shoutout Dad (aka Brooke) for bringing her Blackstone because it made browning 60 lbs of ground beef fly by. Anyways after that we got to working on baybread and bannock. Oh and let’s not forget about the hot chocolate that Sienna lowkey made a mess of lol. I mean besides putting double the amount of powdered milk and spilling some on the ground, it wasn’t actually that bad. Our bay bread took the longest but we made soooo many amazing flavors, especially the one that Maddie used an entire bag of marshmallows in. :) After some much needed cleaning we finished up about 7 hours later. Okay that wraps it up for today, thank you Gina, Mark, and the Halstrom fam for letting us use your amazing kitchen!! Byeee 

- Sher

Meeting #9: Crew Olympics, Gear Shakedown, and Sleepover! 6/8

Hello!

Today was very eventful!!! Today was crew Olympics! Our events were portaging, kettle packing, tarp-making, and rope-throwing. We tied for first in crew Olympics!! But lost after a tough battle on the paddle (mind you, by only 15 seconds!), we got second :(. We absolutely cooked at every event! After the crew Olympics, we went to Co-Guide Maddie's house for a gear shake-down. Then we are having a crew sleepover!! We will miss you Esther. Time to go have fun! SLUMBER PARTY!!!  - June and Enya

Family Potluck! 6/7

Hello everyone!

Thank you to everyone who was able to make it to our crew potluck! And a BIG thank you to the Scanlon’s for hosting! It was so nice to meet everyone and get to know you all a little more! We are so excited to lead this great group of girls this summer in Canada! Parents, please reach out to us with any questions. We would be happy to talk to you!

- Brooke and Maddie

Food Packing!

Hello everyone!

The girls (or should I say grandmas) have been crushing learning all of their new skills these past two weeks! Today we got to end off this week with our whole crew at food packing day! Food packing day includes setting up all of our food for the trip, measuring how much we need, and bagging the food. We spent our whole morning working together on this, with only a few spilled items on the floor:) Isabella, our food manager, did a great job making sure that we got everything we needed and that everything was labeled correctly with her very, very neat handwriting. We can’t wait to see all of the jokes she left for us on trail!

Great job this week, girls! We will see you and your parents on Sunday for our potluck!!! -Brooke and Maddie

Meeting #8 Kettle, Tarps, Orienteering, and more!

Hey everyone!!!

Today we had to wake up really early for our meeting at 7am! Sher was a couple minutes late so she had to do one push up, but turns out she was checking our jerky that’s in the dehydrator. (There might be a little extra protein on some of them, oops) We first started with the kettle pack and learned what was in it and how to put everything away nicely. We did it first try!! And it was really really good. Everyone gave us an 8 or higher out of 10!!! Then we went over and set up a tarp, turns out June likes to wrap the p-cord in a weird way. It adde character!! We then went on a quick little portage a little past the tennis courts, but Esther did an extra good job or going to the tennis courts and back!! And to end our meeting we went out on the river and canoed!! It was a really fun meeting, but now I’m going to take a nap!! -Enya

Meeting #7: Jerky and Sewing Day!

You guys!

It has been an eventful day wow. It started off with jerky day! Only having half of our crew there, we were super speedy at cutting the meat chunks. AND we got asked out on a crew date by George and Connor’s crew , they dedicated a big chunk of meat in our name, how sweet. We stopped for some fuel at Chick-fil-A then got back to the grind at base camp practicing portaging, setting up and taking down tents and our knots. Then we moved over to Maddie’s house for our sewing day! Thanks Grandma Mary for all your help!

Time for bed! -Esther

Meeting #6: Route & Packs!

What’s up, y'all! 

Today, we perfected our route, which included our UTM’s. Since this took forever to finish, we enjoyed some raspberry fritter bread that Sienna brought, which was SO good! We also set up our packs and shared some giggles hehe. Alright, peace out! We’ll be back tomorrow for Jerky Day!

-Isabella

Meeting #5: Route!

Bonjour!

Today, I showed up 3 minutes late and had to do five whole push-ups! I promise I am done showing up late! Anywayssss our crew made a rough draft of our route in Canada! Turns out we are doing double the sas, aka we are doing both the big and little sas portages. TURNS OUT THERE IS A FREAKING CHIPOTLE ON SAS LAKE!!!!! (might just have to pull up brothas) and we now have a Brookie who is mommy and Maddie is daddy. I’m very hungry, so that's it for tonight!

Got to go eat more BoDiddlys Bye now! - adios, Sienna

Meeting #4: Skills, Route, and Paddling Games!

Hey guysss!

Today we had such a good meeting! We started off with a nice portage, my shoulders were definitely burning by the end lol. After that we went inside to start thinking about the route we want to take and which river we want to end on. As of now we are thinking of going north on the Berens River and then ending on the Bloodvein River. Thennn we went on the river for a while to practice the T rescue and some bow strokes… and of course some games too. :) We also learned some knots and how to start a stove. Ok I’m kinda tired after that, so that wraps it up for today! Bye guys!! -Sher

Meeting #3: Flipping the canoe, portaging, and paddling!!

Hey this is Esther! Today was so so fun we learned how to do basically everything. Yeah we learned how to flip up the canoe and balance it. Then we learned the power, J and C strokes and went on our first paddle! It was so lit. And to finish it off we finalized our menu with a lot of discussion over our desserts. Jack please let us bring 100 desserts please!! 

-Esther

We also had a great time portaging and paddling with Isabella and Sheridan yesterday! These girls are rocking it!!! -Maddie and Brooke

Meeting #2: maps, menu, & more!

Hi Everyone! This is Isabella! Tonight, we had our first meeting together! First, we solved and laid out maps of Canada! We also worked as a team to create our menu for the trip! We started to realize that June is a picky eater! Alright, that was it for today! See you guys on Wednesday! 

-Isabella

First Meeting!

Last night we met up at Dairy Queen for a sweet treat and a get to know you night! We spent the night asking and answering questions, and sharing our first laughs together! The summer preparation has officially begun! See you girls tonight!

- Brooke and Maddie :)

We missed you Sheridan!

Guide Introduction!

Hello all!

My name is Brooke Pogatchnik, and I am one of this crew’s guides this summer. I am currently in my second year at North Dakota State University studying pharmacy. In my free time I love to go on walks, hangout with friends and family, and pretty much anything outside. I completed my first trip in 2023 and then a far north trip along the Missinaibi River last summer. I am so excited to share this experience with all of you! Yay!

Guide Introduction!

Hello everyone! My name is Maddie Halstrom, and I am one of this crew's guides for this summer! I am currently a sophomore at UW-Madison, where I am studying nursing. Outside of school, I love to read, go for walks, spend time on the water, visit coffee shops, and of course, camp:) I completed my first Voyageur trip in 2023 and then my far north last summer, traveling up the Missinaibi River. This will be my first year guiding, so I am very excited for everything to come and to get to know everyone!!

Welcome!

Welcome to our crew’s blog!

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!