In todays world of high paced and hi-tech distractions and amusements it may be tough to interest the typical teen into a canoe trip. Everywhere I go I see people interacting with "machines" instead of each other. The head is down.......hand is on the mouse or fingers on the keyboard.

What is your experience with taking teens on a trip and what advice can you suggest for a positive experience.

As for me it is patently obvious why I take teens  ;)

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We only took our kids on a trip only once, as we usually kept canoeing as a "just for the two of us" activity.  But when they were 16 and 19 we did a family trip.  Our daughter and son shared a rented aluminum canoe, and it was most interesting to watch them learn to cooperate--at first to get that canoe to just go in a straight line, and then to decide to take off without us!    ;)

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We had a very good time.  It was lots of fun and laughter, lots of learning for all of us, and making memories that we still talk of today.  (trip was in 1988.)

That year our son was seriously training for high school cross country, so at the portages and the campsites he ran and ran.  Our daughter read books and searched the water for crayfish and other treasures.  I love this photo of us doing our "things" in the campsite.

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They are grown up now, our "baby"  (that would be our son) is turning 40 in April.  Our daughter and her husband took one BWCA trip themselves, and it is their daughter who goes to the north every year with us for a cabin week.  So far our son hasn't showed much interest.

But we have never been sorry that we did do one family trip.  It was fun.

Thanks for sharing your photos and stories.  We always bring young people along; now they are young adults.  My son and daughters haven't become avid canoeists after my example, partially because we've lived in big cities; Atlanta and Chicago; although they were involved with scouting and took several trips to the Quetico and BWCA.  I guess it's just everyone's own choice in life.  I know I got addicted to canoe country at an early age and have loved it ever since.

starwatcher

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I sure am grateful for the adults in my scout troop who took me on my first Quetico canoe trip and gave me the fever for Up North.  I’m also glad that I had the opportunity to guide many teens through the Boy Scout Base.  Some of the keys to success that I’ve learned:
1. No electronics, other than an emergency radio or sat phone and a camera.  Possibly a watch, but I’d go cold turkey on that too.  Get them unplugged.
2. Have some group games, fire talks, and a deck of cards for a rainy day.  You can always cram 6 or 7 kids in a 4 person tent to play cards.  Just know a few good card games that they may not have even heard of.    (You need to Login or Register
3. Scavenger hunts – bring a few flora and fauna nature books and see who can identify such and such.
4. If they are urban dwellers, they may have never seen the milky way.  If skies are clear, get them out on a rock checking out the sky.  Also, look for meteor showers, northern lights, or even just satellites crossing the sky.
5. Challenge the heck out of them – Don’t underestimate the power of reverse psychology and also praise for a job well done.  Kids often have more physical energy and ability than they know, so push them hard. 
6. Teach them how to set up camp and do the chores, then let them do it.  You can sleep while they collect firewood, hang bear bags, and burn off their extra energy.
7. Cook over an open fire.  Most haven’t experienced it, and you have the manpower to collect plenty of firewood.
8. Bring extra food, snacks to help get over the mid-day blahs or when that bowl of oatmeal was burned up before you tackle a strong headwind or hard portage.  Teen boys eat way more than adults, so much so that we call them locusts.  They come in to camp, and suddenly all the food is gone.
9. Explain to them what you’re doing and why.  It’s far easier to get them out of bed for an early morning paddle if they know it’s to allow for an early camp and more time fishing/reading/exploring.
10. I recommend early starts in the morning and camping for the day around lunch whenever possible.  Also, be sure to plan for a couple of layover days on a trip with more than 7 nights.

Take them for "health reasons". Obesity among our youth is a major epidemic.
The financial burden of that on our health care system is going to be overwhelming as these kids move into young adulthood and many become diabetic and suffer heart/ orthopedic problems that keep them from working.

The other day I saw a report about the effects of long term texting by kids on their orthopedic health.
The Dr said that he's seeing more and kids, his daughter included suffering from tingling in the hands/elbows, numbness/pain in neck and shoulders that if untreated can result in serious life long problems and maybe even surgery.

He said the average human head weighs about 8 lbs. For every inch you bend your neck past a certain angle, you add the pressure of another 10 lbs to your cervical neck area.
People that text for hours on end with arms extended/elbows locked out and heads bent at the optimum angle are putting over 40 lbs of pressure on their necks and at a bad angle at that.

People are not going to stop using their gadgets, but maybe if kids learn that they can have fun, get some great exercise and actually interact with others without relying solely on electronic tools, they'll be able to strike a healthy balance between the two.

I think the worst thing they ever did was take PE out of the schools or at least make it voluntary in many areas. Kid need to run and play and use their imaginations. Googling and seeing how something is done isn't the same as learning firsthand and retaining the skill.

The "kids" at work our always asking me questions that I can't believe they don't know or worse yet never even heard of before?
They want to know how I know those things.

I say I read/watch PBS, they say we just Google it on our Smart Phones. I say what happens if you don't have your phone with you? They can't imagine that possibility and tell me that retaining knowledge in their heads in a waste of time when they can just look up the answer in seconds.

Not surprising they're all physical/dietary wrecks and unless they change their mind sets will never make if to geezer land like me.

Take them because if they go with you once, sooner or later, they will want to go with you again

Our oldest, who is now a junior in college, started with me when he was 11. He took a couple of those late teen years off because he was "busy".

Last year, he invited a college roomie from the east coast & a couple of highschool buddies to tag along.

This summer, he has a waiting list of guys wanting in!

The things you can teach & show your children on a trip are so easily transferable then they can take others.

For the pure joy of watching them experience the ups and downs of the country (and maybe new ways to land fish).  And they are usually bouncing back across the portage before I'm halfway...  Agreed that they do burn through the gorp!

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I am enjoying the pics..........thanks!

Many years ago I took my 15 year old nephew who had lived in Milwaukee and Detroit to Beaverhouse and then into Jean for a week.  We had portaged into Beaverhouse and were paddling to the ranger station.  My nephew asked if he could have a drink of water.  I said sure and handed him a cup.  He looked at me like what am I suppose to do with the cup.  I said dip it in the lake and take a drink.  He said no thanks.  A few minutes later I took my cup and took a drink of water.  He looked at me with big eyes, thinking I was crazy.   A few minutes later he asked about a drink.  I said the water was safe to drink.  He summoned all his courage and took a drink.  He was amazed that he didn't die.  Later on he said that you would never drink the water in Detroit.

Later on in the days as we were going past some rocks formations, he asked he if what he was seeing was man made.  He was referring to the rocks, beaches and water.  I said everything he saw was made by god.  He said he wasn't sure because everything in Detroit was man made.  It was also great to watch him see his first snapping turtle trying to lay eyes at our campsite and see how the turtle would hiss and snap at a sick.  Plus there is always a thrill to watch a kid catch his first large fish.  Plus, it was just neat to see his amazement at his first introduction to "nature".
Westwood

Quote:

Take them for "health reasons".

Save your aching back, let the kids carry it!!!

azalea wrote on Jan 25^th, 2012 at 12:04am:

Quote: Take them for "health reasons". Save your aching back, let the kids carry it!!!

I thought that's what they meant in the "sherpa" post ;D

I was brought on a trip as a teenager in Boy Scouts. I'm so thankful I went. I learned a lot on that trip both about me and the outdoors. It also hooked me and I've been going almost annually ever since.
Now a days I'd bring a teenager to show them what the wildnerness is and what its all about. Show them why it needs to be protected. Show them the stars at night, the smell of bacon on a campfire and the sound of a loon. ALL of those things can change a person for life (usually for the better).
They usually wont realize how nice it is to get away from their computer, phone, video games etc. However they will learn that they can get by with out them and have an awesome time.

For some of them it will be their first chance to pee in the woods (exciting I know  ;D ) It is the experiences like that that can have a profound impact on them.

Make carrying gear a challenge and they will rise to the occassion.
Bring LOTS of food though :P

All of this BTW coming from someone who isn't too far past his teenage years.

My best advice is to let your teenager bring a friend.  It was absolutely the secret to my success in taking my daughter on annual Quetico trips starting when she was six (she's 24 now).  Friends mean everything to teens.  Together, Liz and her pal Emily learned how to make camp, portage, and all the other wilderness canoeing skills.  It was (is) a great tradition, it certainly enriched my canoeing experience, and I look forward to keeping the tradition alive, this time as "gramps" with my grandchildren.

prouboy

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This doesn't add to the thread much, but I was cleaning out a cabinet today and found this photo which had been taken out of my 1988 album and needs to be put back. 

It was taken on Day 6 of our only family trip.  It had rained all morning and we had been cold and wet (notice the bottoms of my cotton pants are wet and our daughter is still wearing her poncho because she was cold.  The sun came out as we made made the portage at Pipestone Dam and then we stopped at the northern campsite on Newton Lake for lunch. 

The kids are eating "Space Food Sticks".  Does anyone remember those?  They came in chocolate and peanut butter.  I bought some from a retro place online this summer to take on our September trip, just for old times' sake, but they aren't as good as I remember!   ;D

There were arguments and little tiffs on this trip.  There were many laughs and a few coughs, like when we all took refuge in OUR tent during a really bad thunderstorm on Wind Lake and we discovered that the 15-year-old teenage boy had feet that smelled so bad it would have been preferable to just be struck by lightning!  ::)  There were challenges, and there were times when their canoe got out of my sight that I worried.  It wasn't relaxing like a tandem trip.

But looking at this now, when they are grownups, with families of their own, living hundreds of miles away. . . .it does make me glad that I have this moment frozen in time and can remember sitting there in the sunshine at the end of our trip smiling at Dad, who had picked up the camera (a rare occurrence.)

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I don't feel a lot of nostalgia for blue jeans and plaid cotton flannel shirts, though.   ;)  Or those enormous eyeglass frames!

Spartan2 wrote on Feb 7^th, 2012 at 8:03pm:

The kids are eating "Space Food Sticks".  Does anyone remember those?  They came in chocolate and peanut butter.

Yes! We were very young camping Devils Lake Wi. I remember it rained for hours. The tent ended up with ankle deep water. Bro and I hung out in the back of the station wagon and scarfed down boxes of them while Dad & Mom relocated the tent.... Good times  :) thanks for the reminder.

Wow. You can still get space food sticks? Tang is still around I think. Shake a pudding anyone?

I'd take a flannel shirt and even jeans over what looks like that green rubberized raingear any day.
;)

No, actually, that is a green nylon poncho.  I still have it.  It wasn't too bad, just too full for in a canoe, so she had to watch the wind.   ;)

Space Food Sticks aren't available everywhere, but I heard of a place online that has them still.  You have to buy a big box and we have lots of them left still from my unwise purchase this past summer.

And yes, Tang is available.  We take Tang on every single trip.  Have never taken (nor heard of) "Shake a pudding", so I can't speak to that.   ;D

Shaky puddin was Burt's ( Gator) favorite I do believe ;) ;D