In Absence of Camp, Kooch-i-ching Friends Paddle BWCA

By Ben Woods

When the coronavirus pandemic prevented Kooch-i-ching from opening its doors this summer, brothers Tim and Nick London decided they weren’t going to let their disappointment keep them from enjoying the Northwoods.

With their dad, Ryan, and fellow camper Ian Redfield, they enjoyed a six-day canoe trip through the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA) Wilderness of northern Minnesota. “With short days and plenty of fishing and swimming,” Ryan says, “this was not a typical Kooch trip, though it was a continuation of many of the at-home initiatives that Kooch and Ogichi staff skillfully provided this year for remote engagement. I don’t recall much time on that trip when Ian, Tim and Nick weren’t talking about camp with eager eyes for next year.”

The best part? The boys built their own wannigans for the trip, complete with checkerboard lids.

Of course, it wasn’t all fun and games. Ryan put his sons to work at their family’s cabin in Wisconsin. “They did a bunch of house painting and I had them help me fix a broken sewer line and clean up from a nasty derecho storm,” he says. “Bribing them with trap shooting at the end of the day worked pretty well!”