Background

Trip Description

The He-Man canoe trip is an annual canoe trip in Northern Wisconsin's Vilas County. The trip typically starts on the Friday night of Memorial Day weekend and ends on the evening of Memorial Day. It includes crossing beaver dams, portages and paddling up stream. The first night is spent at the Roloff's cabins, the other two nights are spent at DNR canoe campsites within Northern Highland State Forest.
Besides the competitions listed below, there are many traditions with the He-Man canoe trip. Traditions include the Trout Lake swim, He-Man T-Shirts, and Monday supper at Paul Bunyan's in Minocqua. And of course, a considerable amount of time in the evenings is spent around the camp fire recalling the adventures of previous He-Man canoe trips.

History

In 1984, Dave Becker and Boyd Roloff were looking for a diversion while studying for exams at University of Wisconsin, Madison. Boyd's family owned a cabin in Northern Wisconsin. Dave and Boyd decided to do a canoe trip which ended at Trout Lake, where the cabin was locate. In May after final examines, Boyd's mother dropped Dave and Boyd off at High Lake where the adventure began. A combination of factors made the trip difficult: inexperience in canoe camping, extremely high winds and waves on Island Lake, not knowing the route, and not being prepared for paddling up the current of Trout River. At least Dave at the end of trip believed that this was a once in a life time experience that was not worth repeating.

In early 1985--after some of the painful memories of the trip were forgotten--Dave and Boyd decided to invite four of their friends to canoe on a similar trip. It was decided that the trip should be called the He-Man canoe trip because of it's difficulties. And then the traditions of the trip began to form.

A number of different routes have been used (see Alternate Routes). A circular route which begins and ends at Trout Lake was settled on as the best route (see Route). As both the experience of the participants increased and the equipment used improved, the trip was getting too easy. A number of competitions were added to make the trip more challenging.

Rules

The following are not allowed on the trip:

Women (We don't want a chance to be shown up)
Electronic devices--except flash lights and cameras (One purpose of the trip is to escape society)
Fishing gear (There is not enough time during this trip to do any fishing)
Watches (A watch is useless since we pass through so many time zones)
Razors (Who do you need to look pretty for on this trip?)
Smoking Materials (You get plenty of smoke from the camp fire)

There are also the following rules:

No tipping or ramming of other people's canoes
No destruction of natural habitat
No littering (this includes using soap in water)