Trip Log from Urban Boatbuilders

Youth from Urban Boatbuilders – a nonprofit in Saint Paul, MN that builds skin-on-frame boats with young people facing barriers to employment – took a three-day trip on the Saint Croix River with Wilderness Inquiry.

The group of 14 started their trip from Urban Boatbuilders’ workshop located in the center of Saint Paul on University Avenue. As youth poured into the workshop, excitement and trepidation poured out. Many students from the group had never paddled before, let alone spent a night in a tent! So the experience was big and daunting. The group had already spent dozens of hours in the workshop making boats but they had never been in a boat together.

Before getting on the water, they took some time getting to know the river. They spent the first night at Interstate Park; enjoying the hiking trails and learning the geology and ecology of the area. The day was beautiful and sunny, but the night was cold and rough.

The following morning, fueled by bacon and eggs, they hit the water at the boat launch north of the campground. The first few hours on the water were spent relearning how to paddle “POWER, BACKPADDLE, J, PULL”. In no-time, they got into rhythm and spent the day as most do when paddling for hours on end; admiring rock formations and plant life, chatting, joking, and longing for lunch to come sooner than it did.

By the end of the first full day, they were so in rhythm that they nearly passed their campsite at Eagles Nest Park. Firewood was collected and with the promise of coziness, tents popped up in a flash. The group piled into one tent to play the oh so classic games like Uno and Two Truths One Lie. Once the coziness of 14 young people crammed into one small tent grew old, youth took leadership cooking, tending to the fire, and making the outdoors a little more like home.

A night of cold toes and fogging breaths greeted them to a morning of frost and fog. Frost, heck yeah! They were proud they had slept through the night while ice crystals formed around them. Spooked but excited by the prospect of getting on the foggy river, the group packed up fast, enjoyed some loaded pancakes and went on their way, finishing their trip at William O’Brien, a prouder, more cohesive group.

To learn more about Urban Boatbuilders programs, get involved, or support Urban Boatbuilders, visit urbanboatbuilders.org or call (651) 644-9225.

Happy paddling!