Voices from the Trail

What does your generosity do?

It gives kids a life-changing experience. Our Northern Forest Explorers program gets Northern Forest youth outside and on the water. This year, we provided scholarships so kids could participate in trips with Raquette River Outfitters in New York, Northwoods Stewardship Center…

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Taking care of your trail

Stewarding the Northern Forest Canoe Trail and inspiring people to paddle on its many waterways represents the heart and soul of our work — but our impact extends much further. We help stimulate local economies, create opportunities for youth to…

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Sore muscles, new friends, 8 moose … and no regrets

As October draws to a close, so does a memorable Northern Forest Canoe Trail thru-paddle for Dutch adventurers Zoë Agasi and Olivier Van Herck. Zoë and Olivier hail from the Netherlands (although Olivier is originally from Belgium) and have been…

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Just Add Water offers unique experience for thru-paddlers

The Northern Forest Canoe Trail is excited to welcome Just Add Water Floating Camps as a Class III Business Partner. Located on Rangeley Lake in Maine, Just Add Water is a great lodging option for thru-paddlers and paddling enthusiasts, or…

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Rendezvous on the Raquette

As we admired the sprawling view down Long Lake toward Round Island, I looked around the parking lot and did some mental math: nine paddlers, with an average age of 12, all cramming their gear into dry bags and saying…

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NFCT auction supports stewardship, programs for 740 miles of waterways

This fall, paddlers and outdoor enthusiasts have a chance to bid on amazing experiences and gear, for a good cause: supporting Northern Forest Canoe Trail (NFCT) stewardship and programming. NFCT’s online auction will take place Nov. 14 to Dec. 1….

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Dream job

I spent quite a bit of my free time last winter applying for internships. I thought I had my summer planned in Minnesota — until I found the posting for a GIS intern with the Northern Forest Canoe Trail. It…

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In good company

Trailwork is teamwork. Just about every stone step I placed this summer weighs more than I do. I learned this lesson early on, after an attempt to move a stone solo deposited the rock in the opposite direction of where…

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Making magnificent maps

This summer was a truly extraordinary, applicable, and often difficult experience. Never before had I camped out for any longer than a week at a time. Going two whole months without a bed was challenging! However, to be able to…

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135,000 pounds

135,000 pounds. That’s my calculation of how many pounds of stone, timber, and gravel our stewardship crew and its partners moved, installed, and fretted over this summer.  Physics tells us that work is “a measure of energy transfer that occurs…

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