Outfitting Packages
Our wilderness outfitting packages include all of the trip-specific gear your group needs to function and travel in the wilderness. All your group needs to bring is personal items (clothing, curriculum materials, flashlight, etc…). The purpose of gear and food in the wilderness is to enable you to safely and effectively pursue your individual and group learning outcomes.
Outfitting Package Overviews:
STANDARD CANOE PACKAGE (ALGONQUIN): As the name suggests, this is our baseline package. It is designed around travel units of three (3) people and is optimized primarily for youth/college group trips. If your group size is not a multiple of three, you will receive enough gear for the next increment. Tent adjustments are made based on the gender breakdown of your group. On the portage trail, this arrangement is designed so each of the three canoe mates will carry either the canoe or a pack. On the water, three paddles allow for optimum speed along with the increased challenge of keeping in cadence to avoid paddle whacking. Adult groups considering the Standard Package should strongly consider at least the 2/canoe upgrade to avoid breaching the maximum canoe capacity and high centers of gravity on the water. Available with or without the wilderness food package.
DELUXE CANOE PACKAGE (ALGONQUIN): It is deluxe! This package begins with all of the gear in the Standard Canoe package plus the 2/canoe, 2/tent and Individual Pack upgrades. It also comes with the Steak Dinner for everyone and a Pilgrimage T-shirt for everyone. If you are considering at least two of the above upgrades or add-ons, the math will tell you it makes sense to dive in and go deluxe. We generally recommend adult trips consider the Deluxe Canoe package. We also recommend that youth groups avoid the Deluxe Package OR consider leaving some of the gear behind. Extra gear is nice, but you have to carry it too! Pilgrimage W.I.L.D. trips all use the Deluxe Canoe Package.
PACKAGE UPGRADES: Some upgrades are group-wide (i.e. 2/canoe) while others are individual (i.e. Therm-A-Rest pad/chairs), but all of them serve to make your trip a little nicer. Whether you choose them for comfort or to enhance an element of your learning strategy, they provide options not included in the packages themselves.
WILDERNESS FOOD PACKAGE: Our outfitting packages are available with or without food. In its most basic wilderness function, food is fuel. That doesn’t mean it has to taste like it. We’ve worked hard to put together a menu of food that is both packable and palatable that delivers at least 2500 calories of energy per day. The staples of oatmeal and GORP are balanced with dinners with real chicken, tuna and shrimp in some cases. This package is available as part of the other packages or as a standalone for groups that bring their own gear.
Both canoe trip packages also include one overnight stay at our base camp with use of the facilities there. Groups that would like to bring some of their own gear may also arrange to rent gear in an a la carte manner using our “Build Your Own Package” program. In many cases, though, it is still more cost effective to go with the package rates.
