St. Olaf Graduates Prepare for Historic Canoe Trip

Like most students graduating from college, Natalie Warren and Ann Raiho have spent the past several weeks cramming for finals.

The two women, who graduated from on Sunday, have hardly had time to wind down and relax. Something bigger is on the horizon—much bigger, like embarking on a 2,250-mile canoe trip.

The pair leaves Minneapolis on Thursday on their quest to become the first women to complete the canoe trek documented in the 1935 book Canoeing with the Cree. In the book, former CBS reporter Eric Sevareid recounts the journey he took in 1930 with his friend Walter Port.

Others, including St. Olaf graduate Scott Miller, have made the trip since, but no women have completed it.

As Warren and Raiho seek to make history of their own, they are also hoping to help others—specifically young women and the campers at YMCA Camp Menogyn near Grand Marais.

“I think the main goal is to inspire younger women,” Warren said.

Warren also recounted a meeting she and Raiho had with renowned adventurer Ann Bancroft at a recent “Paddle Fest” event.

“We got to talk with [Bancroft] for about five minutes,” Warren said. “She was really cool. She just kept giving us hugs. She’s just such a role model for both of us. We can only hope to inspire younger women in the way she inspired us.”

Raiho agreed with that sentiment.

“We just need to continue to build equality between the genders,” she said. “This is a good way to do that.”

Camp Menogyn, where the two met and became friends in 2007, is another focus of their trip.

“Menogyn is the reason I’m in Minnesota,” said Warren, a Miami native.

After a friend told Warren about the camp in 2005, she came north and fell in love with it.

“They helped me build confidence and character,” she said.

The pair recently hit their budget goal of $2,500 for the trip. Sponsors have been a big help, donating gear and supplies. Stone Harbor Wilderness Supply in Grand Marais donated the canoe the women will use.

All additional money raised will go to Camp Menogyn. They are still accepting donations through their website.

Raiho, an Inver Grove Heights native, said it’s important to raise money and awareness for the camp because of “the way they go about teaching younger women the larger values of the YMCA—respect, responsibility, honesty and caring.”

Warren and Raiho want young girls—and boys—to know that someday they can go on trips like the Hudson Bay excursion or the seven-week canoe trek the two of them took with some fellow Menogyn campers in 2007 that ended at Baker Lake in Nunavut, Canada.

The journey

After departing Fort Snelling on the Minnesota River, the two will paddle 330 miles upstream, which both agree will be the toughest stretch.

After that, they will paddle down the Red River and then onto Lake Winnipeg, where they may encounter strong winds.

“Depending on which way the wind is blowing, we could be out there for [a while],” Warren said.

From Lake Winnipeg, they will transition to the Hayes River for the last leg of the trip, which they hope to complete by Sept. 1. They will then fly out of York Factory, Manitoba, back to Minnesota.

For about the last week of the trip, they will be in polar bear country, so they made sure they knew how to use the guns they’ll have along, just in case. But according to both women, polar bears aren’t a “main concern.”

While the whole excursion may sound stressful, Warren and Raiho don’t see it that way and are eager to get started.

“I remember feeling really, really empty when I got back off trail [after my last trip],” Warren said.

“I don’t particularly like being sedentary that much,” Raiho added. “It’ll feel good to just be canoeing.”

How exactly will they pass the time on such a long trip?

“We’ll sing a lot,” Warren said. “We’ll have serious conversations and silly conversations.”

And if everything goes according to plan, they will be in historical conversations soon, too.