Back COuntry Girls Canoe TRAIL GUIDE

With less than a dozen father/daughter duos, this Backcountry Expedition is intentionally designed to be small and personal. We have crafted an experience that will invite you to step away from the grind and enter the holy space of offering your daughter life and love for a lifetime. 
This is not just a camping trip. God the Father used the wilderness as the context for Jesus’s preparation for ministry, and we believe there is no better place to help your daughter discover how she reflects God’s strength and beauty to the world. All the while, we will be canoeing, camping, and climbing mountains away from civilization and enjoying the fierce beauty of the Colorado Rockies.

It is easy for us men to get caught up in the practicals and logistics and lose sight of the heart. As you prepare for this summer's trip, we encourage you to take significant time to address your own life and story as you simultaneously think about your daughter's. An experience like this is meant to augment the fathering you are already doing, acting like an exclamation point on the end of your fathering sentence. Do not lose sight of the bigger story for yourself or for her.

Back Country Canoe is truly a wilderness experience, and all participants must recognize this is completely primitive with no facilities but the woods. Our wilderness guides from Noah’s Ark provide delicious meals and outdoor skills-building so there is no need for prior wilderness or canoe experience. We have both male and female guides who are highly skilled in all things outdoors, so you and your girls can be at rest. While no prior back country experience is needed, all participants (girls and dads alike) need to have the physical ability to operate a canoe and carry gear for short distances.

As this is a backcountry trip, each person needs a certain amount of gear. This website contains a list of recommended items to bring. Tents, sleeping bags, sleeping pads, and backpacks can be rented from Restoration Project if needed. Email michael@restorationproject.net to coordinate this gear rental.

You are responsible to make sure the gear you bring is functional. Also, temperatures can dip down to 40 degrees even in June, so pack clothing accordingly.

There is much more to come in the months ahead. We look forward to journeying with you and your daughter this summer!

Fathering daughters can be one of the greatest gifts in a man's life. It can also be extremely challenging. Whereas raising boys calls a father to remember for himself what it was like to be a boy, dads just don't have that same experience with girls.

The process of girls becoming women is both vastly different and strangely similar. Both sons and daughters need the intense intentionality and presence of their fathers. But they need it in different ways. Far more with daughters, fathers are called to assume a different posture with their girls in order to launch them into womanhood. Rather than teaching them about what it means to be a woman, fathers create both the space and the platform to launch her into the fullness of both her beauty and her strength.

As she emerges from the little girl into the young woman, she needs your presence, your strength, your guidance and your intention. While you cannot be the one to lead her into womanhood (that is her mother’s role), God designed you to be her security, safety, and strength from which she will take wing and fly. If a daughter feels close to her father now, she will trust the father's guidance and instruction in the future. Dad's role in raising daughters ultimately is more about clearing the path for her to become rather than teaching or training her (as he might for his sons)

If you haven’t already, you will soon be receiving some material that will help you as you prepare your own heart for this trip, and to engage your daughter’s as well. Please take the time to go through this material and consider the following questions about your own story and your engagement with your daughter:

What aspects of your own heart have been well cared for?

What aspects have been wounded

When you consider fathering your daughter, what excites you? What scares you?

How would you describe your current posture towards your daughter?

The more you can begin to engage these questions now, the more impactful your time in the Back Country will be with your daughter.

The trip will begin in Delta, Colorado at approximately 2:00 pm on Monday, June 23rd. It is your responsibility to arrive there at that time ready to go with all of your gear. We will not be actually geting on the water until the next morning when we will also work on coordinating getting all of our vehicles to the river take-out spot, where they will be waiting for us on Friday. You will be able to leave your car at the river take-out for the duration of the trip and while we cannot fully insure the security of your vehicle, we do know that this is a spot that is remote and rarely visited. Our experience will conclude at approximately 1 pm on Friday, June 27th near Whitewater, Colorado where your vehicles will be waiting for you.

We encourage carpooling with other participants to Delta (if at all possible) and will exchange contact information to help facilitate this process. Don't hesitate to reach out to us if you have any questions regarding transportation location and logistics. More information regarding exact meet-up locations will be given closer to the trip.

This experience is a 4-night, 5-day canoe trip down the picturesque Gunnison River. Each day we will be honing our paddling skills, hiking, swimming, fishing, and enjoying all the grandeur of the Gunnison River.

We will begin the river trip out of Delta, Colorado and paddle down through some of Colorado’s most beautiful scenery. Overall it will be about a 30 mile paddle. We have mapped out our days, and have divided them up to maximize our time together as a group, as well as having significant time just for father-daughter engagement.

Please keep in mind this area is remote, and there will be no cell reception. Be good men and let your wives and significant others know where you will be, and when they can expect to hear from you. We do have experienced trail guides trained in first aid and wilderness emergencies.

We will be providing you with an emergency phone number to leave with your loved ones in case of emergency in the front-country. They will be able to reach us.

If you have any questions at all about the trip, please email Jeremy and/or Michael.

Please note: All Canoes, paddles, life-jackets, dry bags, spray skirts, helmets (when required), meals , and cooking equipment will be provided.

Camping Gear:

Tent (for you and your daughter)
Sleeping bag (32 degree rating or better)
Sleeping pad
Small Backpack (day-pack)
Lightweight camp chair
Duffle bag (no larger than 100L)
Small mesh bags to organize clothing & gear

Clothing:

Moisture-wicking T-shirts
Moisture-wicking pairs underwear
Quick-drying pants/shorts
Long-sleeve shirts (for sun, bugs)
Sun-shielding hat
Swimsuit
Hiking Boots/shoes
Socks (synthetic or wool)
1 Insulating jacket or vest (i.e. fleece)
Warm hat
Rainwear (jacket and pants)
Water shoes (not just sandals or flip-flops)
Warm hat and gloves (for night time)

Personal Items:

Refillable 1L water bottles
Bandanas (useful for many things)
Multitool/knife
Headlamps/flashlights
Extra batteries
Reusable coffee mug/cup (1 each person)
Reusable plate (1 each person)
Reusable eating utensils (1 set each person)
Sunscreen
Towel
Biodegradable soap
Lip balm
Insect repellent
Hand sanitizer
Sunglasses with strap (to keep them from falling off)
Eyeglasses/contact lenses (if needed)
Prescription medications (if needed)
Toothbrush, toiletry kit
Feminine products (if needed)
Eye-mask (for sleeping)
Earplugs (for sleeping)
Camera (the one thing you CAN use your phone for)
Notebook and pen/pencil
Bible
Fishing gear (if desired)
Colorado Fishing license
A sense of humor and adventure!

While our days will not be overly strenuous it's important for participants to be in good physical condition.

Please let us know ASAP if you have any physical limitations, medical needs, or concerns.