...and then there were two

I am down to just 2 children this week. :( Saturday morning, Drew & Nick got on a plane to Minnesota to participate in the Northern Tier trek with their fellow Boy Scouts. They will be out on the water for the week, canoeing. They'll carry their packs and food with them, going through the lakes in the boundary waters between the U.S. and Canada, portaging the canoes where necessary. From what we've heard, of the big 3 Scout treks, (Northern Tier, Philmont, and Sea Base) this one is, by far, the most remote. There are 3 crews, and each crew has 5 boys, 3 adults, and 1 guide. Drew & Nick are in the same crew, and Nick is the crew leader.

We've spent months, little by little gathering the gear that they needed. The big thing was having to take synthetic clothes; t-shirts, shorts, pants, socks, even underwear (eww.). That's so that everything will dry quickly. We got new hiking boots (yea!) then brought them home and drilled holes all through the soles (huh?) so that when the entire foot gets submerged, the water can eventually drain out. Sort of like do-it-yourself jungle boots! Packing was interesting - everything had to be in dry-sacks or in large ziploc bags. The boys were very good about it - they packed everything (more than once!), made sure they had everything on the list, and even knew what things they could actually do without.

I am so proud of them, but at the same time, I worry. I'm sure everyone has seen the story of the 4 young men that died last week at the scout camp in Iowa. This is a very different situation than my boys will be in, but nonetheless, it still comes to mind way too often. That said, I'm sure that they'll be having the time of their lives, and making wonderful memories.