Wilderness Trails Kickoff Event Prepares Hikers for 2023 BWCAW Backpacking

Boundary Waters Advisory Committee

Contact: Mel Yackley

Eagan, MN; March 25, 2023. More than thirty Boundary Waters enthusiasts attended a “Wilderness Trails Kickoff” event at Lebanon Hills – Dakota County Regional Park – Camp Sacajawea Retreat Center. The event was the fifth ‘annual,’ and the first held since COVID-related shutdowns began in 2020. 

The event brought together three Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) volunteer trail maintenance organizations: the Border Route Trail Association, the Boundary Waters Advisory Committee, and the Kekekabic Trail Chapter of the North Country Trail Association (NCTA). The purpose of the half-day meeting and presentations was to highlight and provide information about trails being maintained by these organizations, such as the Border Route, Kekekabic, Powwow, Eagle Mountain, Brule Lake, and Sioux Hustler hiking and backpacking trails. These trails together comprise about 150 of the approximately 200 miles of maintained hiking trails in the BWCAW. Most of these trails are in existence today because of volunteer groups that maintain them and/or have advocated for the reopening of them after natural disasters, such as the 1999 Storm of the Century and the 2011 Pagami Creek Fire. 

In addition to learning about the trails and volunteer organizations, attendees were treated to a presentation from BJ Kohlstedt, retired Emergency Management Director of Lake County, MN. BJ spent a career searching for missing hikers, hunters, canoeists, children, runaways, and people with dementia. Of note, BJ taught participants about the US National Grid, a location coordinate system that allows search and rescue responders to more accurately know a caller’s location in case of an emergency. Site-specific National Grid coordinates can easily be posted at trailheads and are available via app, even in areas without service. Learn more and download the app at https://usngcenter.org/ 

BWAC is grateful to the various sponsors for contributing door prizes for attendees, including Piragis Northwoods Company and Trailtopia. 

More information is available at: 

Border Route Trail Association: https://www.borderroutetrail.org/

Boundary Waters Advisory Committee: https://www.boundarywaterstrails.org/

Kekekabic Trail Chapter of the NCT: https://northcountrytrail.org/trail/minnesota/kek/