An expedition team calling themselves the Hudson Bay Girls is canoeing from Lake Superior to Hudson Bay this summer. The 1,200-mile route will take them from Minnesota canoe country deep into the Canadian wilderness and polar bear territory. The all-female team met while working with the Girl Scouts and Scouting America in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and spent the winter preparing—between college classes—for the three-month trip.
What’s inside the Hudson Bay Girls’ expedition kit
The historic route from Minnesota to Hudson Bay first entered paddling lore with Eric Sevareid’s 1935 book Canoeing With The Cree, but the Hudson Bay Girls’ trip was inspired by Natalie Warren and Ann Raiho’s 2011 expedition, documented in the book Hudson Bay Bound.
“Just hearing about Natalie and Ann’s story as the first two women to publicly paddle that route was so inspiring,” says team member Olivia Bledsoe. “I don’t think it had ever occurred to me I could be on an all-female expedition.”
Just as they were inspired by Warren and Raiho, the Hudson Bay Girls hope to encourage other young women to get on the water. “Is that a girl under there?” is a typical comment they hear on the portage trail as female canoe guides and trippers.
Here are some of their essentials for heading north.
1 Girl Scouts
The Hudson Bay Girls—Emma Brackett, Abby Cichocki, Olivia Bledsoe and Helena Karlstrom (left to right)—tackled their first portage trails as Girl Scouts, carrying 70-pound Alumacraft canoes in the Boundary Waters. “When a lot of people think of the Girl Scouts, they think of philanthropy, crafts, cookies and softer skills,” says Karlstrom. “The Girl Scouts is more than that. We are truly empowering people to do really hard things and get out in the wilderness.”
“Whenever I do something hard, I say to myself, ‘It’s not as hard as carrying an Alumacraft canoe over a two-mile portage,’” Cichocki agrees.
2 Orvis Clearwater fly rod
Karlstrom loves to fly fish. In preparation for the expedition, she received handmade gifts and lucky flies from her fly fishing community to take north.
3 Crochet project
Studio art major Brackett plans to tapestry crochet a pattern inspired by the trip during downtime in camp.
4 UNO
Anticipating windbound days on Lake Winnipeg, the Hudson Bay Girls packed playing cards, UNO and corn-themed Farkle dice from South Dakota. Cichocki vows to play games every night, even if it means playing solitaire.
5 Thrifted pots
“You guys have the nicest canoes, packs and tents, and these are the pots you brought?” a friend remarked to the team during their final gear shakedown. The girls are bringing a $1 thrifted liner pan with a hole in it for most of their cooking, and salvaged another pan from the trash after the Scouts rejected it. “[You] don’t need brand new gear to get outdoors,” says Karlstrom. “Get some pans out of the garbage and take them with you on trail.”
6 Sleep system
As winners of the Bob Swanson Memorial Grant, which supports unique expeditions in the spirit of adventure, Big Agnes donated sleep systems, including tents. While nice gear makes a long trip more comfortable, it isn’t make or break, the group agrees.
7 Spraydeck
The two canoes are outfitted with spraydecks from Cooke Custom Sewing for safer travel in rapids and on the big water of Lake Winnipeg. While the spraydeck won’t necessarily keep them on the water for longer on Lake Winnipeg, it will help them get safely back to shore if the weather turns.
8 Buc-ee’s swimsuit
Karlstrom grew up in Texas. Her swimsuit, affixed with the iconic toothy beaver mascot of Buc-ee’s, a Texas-based convenience store and gas station, has been the subject of much conversation. “All my friends make fun of me for it, so I thought it would be only fitting to bring it,” she says.
This article was published in Issue 74 of Paddling Magazine. Be prepared, Girl Scouts style. | Feature photo: Sophia Hoffman
