Milbank Boy Scout Troop 45, including their three newest Eagle Scouts, put their skills into practice on an expedition to the Boundary Waters in northern Minnesota. The six-man team arrived in Ely, Minnesota, on Thursday, July 6 to meet their outfitter and finish preparing for a four-day and three-night canoe trip. For a month before the excursion, the crew had prepared by honing their skills on Lake Farley and Lake Herman in Madison.
Scoutmaster Jeff Loutsch said, “We put in on Moose Lake early Friday morning and paddled, portaged, and sailed over 25 miles northeast to a campsite on the South Arm of Knife Lake by Eddy Falls. During the next few days we worked our way slowly back down this same route, but stopped to enjoy it all a bit more.”
The crew hiked to a couple of overlooks to get an aerial view of their journey. They also stopped to see the Isle of Pines, where Dorothy Moulter had lived and made her famous root beer.
“We fished and enjoyed cooking and eating our fresh catch,” Loutsch recalled. “Glimpses of the Canadian border and Canadian boundary waters were often in sight. We saw eagles, loons, beavers, and other wildlife, but we never spotted any bear, wolf, or moose.”
The group left the water on Monday, July 10. Their outfitter picked them up, and they were treated to the comforts of the modern world with a much-needed shower and a meal. They returned home to Milbank on Tuesday, July 11.
Troop 45 is supported in part by Grant County Combined Appeal and is chartered by the American Lutheran Church. Membership is open year round. Contact Scoutmaster Jeff Loutsch at 605.949.1354.
Submitted Photo: (l. to r. ) Gabriel Beckman, Zachariah Ringsaker, Collin Rumpca, Christopher Loutsch, Avery VanOverbeke, and Jeff Loutsch.
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