NEW LOCATION: Meet & Greet & Gear shakedown hike Sunday, March 24

Dear Hikers,

3/21/2019 Location change: Picnic Island and the trails at Fort Snelling are under water. We will meet shelter F or G at the Wabun Park picnic area just east of Minnehaha Falls in Minneapolis. Please see the map attached below.

I will be contacting those registered for this hike in the next few days to make sure you get this message about location change.

This is the required meet & greet and gear check hike for:

• April 25-29 "Early season backpack trip: Powwow Trail Restoration" led by Susan Pollock and Siobhan Quinn
and
• May 9-13 "Powwow Trail Clearing by Backpacking and Canoe," led by Paul Stelter and Susan Pollock.

All are welcome to join us for the gear shakedown and hike and to hear about volunteering for a clearing trip with the Boundary Waters Advisory Committee.

Part of the meeting/hike will be logistics for the above two trips, but others are welcome to come along to walk with us and to go over gear choices.

Dress for the weather. Morning rain is forecast. The trails will be slippery and wet. You may want to bring ice cleats and or trekking poles and for sure our boots will get muddy.

We will go over rain gear, layering, footwear, and tick off major pack contents such as shelter and sleep system. We’ll check your pack for comfort and make sure that you have what you need, but not too much, for a safe and comfortable adventure on the Powwow trail. Leaders will have clearing tools on hand so that we can practice wrangling them in packs safely.

The gear list is being emailed to volunteers registered for these trips.

After the gear party we will head out for a hike near Minnehaha creek.

• What to bring
Dress for the weather. If you are registered for a spring clearing trip, bring the full backpack that you plan to carry on trail, 1 liter of water, a snack and at least two questions about what to bring or not bring on a spring trail clearing.

• Important to know
Thank you for volunteering! We are excited to be getting out on trail and tripping with you.