RE: [Philmont]: Northern Tier

On Northern Tier . . .

Month of June: Some people steer clear of Northern Tier in early summer
because the mosquitos are supposedly at their worst in June, but slowly
taper off in July, and are practically gone by August.

Summer Weather: Some people steer clear of Northern Tier in June because
they have heard it is still too cold.

My experience: I led a crew to Northern Tier in 2002 during the month of
June. There are mosquitoes to be dealt with on the portages and at dusk.
However, we had no problems with mosquitoes while paddling in the beautiful
Boundary Waters, which is how we spent the majority of our time. As long as
we used our DEET, long-sleeved shirts & zip-off pants, and occasionally our
net-covered headgear, we were fine. The weather was terrific, and it was
absolutely not too cold.

Other outfitters: We did not fully investigate other outfitters. Northern
Tier had a competitive price and met our needs, plus we wanted to support
the BSA outfitter.

Here are a few other advantages of a Northern Tier trip over Philmont, for
those who can't get a Philmont reservations:

1. Easy to get reservations

2. Less physical fitness required for a Northern Tier experience.

3. Less prep time involved in getting your crew ready. Minimum prep time
should involve canoe practice, and basic good camping skills.

4. Those who can't go or shouldn't go to Philmont due to foot, knee, hip,
or back problems that are worsened with hiking or backpacking can usually go
to Northern Tier, and have a really good time, as long as they can haul a
canoe overhead, or a gear bag across the portages.

5. Scouts who are 13 can go to Northern Tier. (Philmont minimum age is
14). However, they MUST be big and strong enough to haul a heavy (60-75
pound) gear bag across portages.

6. A guide goes with your crew for the entire trip, to help you with
cooking, orienteering, etc.. (The guides can be inexperienced, however, so
your crew should be prepared to depend on their own skills.)

7. It's more of a true wilderness experience than Philmont, depending on
your paddling route. You might not see anyone else except your own crew at
Northern Tier for several days at a time, whereas you see other people every
day at Philmont. Even when you do see others at Northern Tier, you might
only see them in the distance paddling their canoes.

8. Usually less money is needed for equipment to take to Northern Tier
than for a Philmont trip.

Also, regarding Northern Tier . .

1. Don't let the mosquitoes scare you away from this great trip. There
are ways to handle the mosquitoes, which are only a problem during the
portages and at dusk (DEET on your face & hands and lower legs, hats with
nets for dinner time, long-sleeved shirts & zip-off pants).

2. Like Philmont, Northern Tier is well-suited to BSA groups because it
takes care of most of the logistics for your high adventure trip: food,
tents, canoes, guides, and housing on the first & last night.

3. Very relaxing and peaceful. Beautiful scenery 24/7. Lots of wildlife.
Lots of loons calling each other. Makes you feel like you are in the middle
of a National Geographic photograph.

If you can't get reservations at Philmont, by all means go to Northern Tier.

If you have scouts and leaders that can't or shouldn't do a Philmont trek,
they should definitely consider Northern Tier.

Jon Mather, Asst Scoutmaster

BSA Troop 387

Kingsport, TN

Northern Tier 2002

Philmont 1998, 2001, 2004

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-philmont@troop47.com [mailto:owner-philmont@troop47.com] On
Behalf Of CCPineoIII@aol.com
Sent: Wednesday, September 29, 2004 10:47 AM
To: Multiple recipients of list philmont
Subject: Re: [Philmont]: Northern Tier

Just an observation:

Our 2 troop/venture crews in 2004 had no trouble getting into Northern Tier
(Atikokan) with a "late" reservation in 2003. Our impression was that
Northern Tier has tremendous carrying capacity compared to Philmont or Sea
Base.

More significant possibly: schools in our part of the country are out mid-
to late May, but go back into session as early as the first Monday in
August. Getting to a high adventure base in June is no problem for our
Scouts. Staying past July 30 is a huge problem. (It remains to be seen how
our local schools will treat those students who return to school "late" in
August 2005 because they were at the National Jamboree.)

I would hazard a guess that Northern Tier is not "full" in June because a
lot of schools do not get out until the first or second week of June in many
parts of the country. There are probably a few folks who think June is
still too early for the ice to be out in Minnesota and Ontario ;-)

Charlie Pineo

Troop 994

www.troop994.org

Woodstock, GA

In a message dated 9/29/2004 9:51:36 AM Eastern Standard Time,
405geezer@igg-tx.net writes:

This indicates to me that Northern Tier is having trouble, especially
during the first month of their season. Probably due to competition from
the commercial outfitters which operate in Ely and provide an excellent
alternative to Northern Tier. Hopefully, the situation will improve as
"competition" tends to do that over time.

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Received on Wed Sep 29 14:00:09 2004