Women in the Wilderness

We booked the trip through Women in the Wilderness, founded by Judith Niemi. Our guide was Janice Springer.

Women in the Wilderness began by organizing trips in the BWCA, and now has them in many places. We give Women in the Wilderness -- and Janice -- a six-star rating out of a possible five! Put your life in their hands, and have the time of your life!

As far as we know, Women in the Wilderness does not have a web site. Judith's too busy living a true wilderness woman's life. Their address and phone are:

566 Ottawa Avenue
St. Paul, MN 55107

612-227-2284

This was the kind of trip that could bring friends closer together -- or ruin a good friendship. Thanks to Janice, the four Pennsylvanians are now even better friends than we were before.

She called us beforehand to explore what we wanted from this trip, as well as our dietary needs and preferences. Shirley and Susan are vegans (strict nondairy vegetarians), Shirley is a diabetic, and one of the side-effects of Mary's bone marrow transplant is that her mouth is sensitive to spicy foods, and to crunchy foods.

Every meal was a delight, and Janice was up early every day with "cowgirl coffee" ready when we rose.

We were all a little scared of whitewater, so Janice had just one little Class 2 rapids thrill for us,

and personally guided each of us through it, one by one.

If you want to get a reaction from Cynthia, just say "portage."

One of the things that impressed Cynthia was the size of the pack Susan carried.

She was sure it was big enough for Susan to get inside.

she led us in stringing a tarp to keep all our stuff dry before we pitched our tents, and then before pitching hers, ... she made us soup!