Organizing a group trip offers you a unique opportunity to get to know trip participants, Wilderness Wind and the wilderness area in which you will be traveling. The information and steps below will help guide you through the process. It is helpful to read all the steps before you begin, as sometimes they don't have to happen in this order.

General information for planning a trip:

1. Plan early. The Forest Service accepts a limited number of groups into the Boundary Waters each day. Wilderness Wind (WW) starts reserving these permits in the middle of January. The sooner we know the dates of your trip, the more likely we can get a permit that cares for your interests. To apply for a permit, WW needs all the information on the reservation form.
2. When thinking about possible trip participants, group configurations are endless. A combination of friends, family, work cohorts and church groups can work well. Consider starting a church or family tradition. Some churches bring up an annual father/daughter trip when the daughters are 15 years old. Parents have come up with each child and their child's friends. Youth groups are on a four-year cycle so that each youth experiences a wilderness trip. Other churches alternate with a women's trip one year, a men's trip the next. The options abound.
3. Please keep in mind that you are the informational link between trip participants and WW. Make sure each participant has a copy of the group materials you receive from Wilderness Wind. If you have questions, contact 316-217-1129. At the end of May, please use the phone and address on the letterhead (218.365.5873).

Steps in planning a trip:

1. Talk to us: call 316-217-1129 and let us know you want to organize a trip. We will send you a reservation form, information about WW and a fee schedule. At this time we can also begin talking about your group, their interest and skill levels as well as what weeks they are interested in coming.
2. Talk to your group: familiarize yourself with the information including Completing the Reservation and sit down with your group.
• Hand out copies of the brochure and philosophy and fees sheet.
• Decide what week works best for the group. Talk about the interests and expectations of each group member. This often helps foster a better understanding of the make up of the group.
• Complete the reservation form, and make a copy for your records.
• Collect the deposit. You can choose to pay the entire deposit yourself or collect a $50 deposit from each participant. Make checks out to Wilderness Wind. The deposit is applied toward the total trip fee.
  NEW!  Your deposit can now be paid securely online, by clicking here.
• send the reservation form and the deposit to Wilderness Wind, 511 West 11th, Newton, KS 67114. It is helpful if this step is completed as early as possible. Calling with this information will keep the process going as we can apply for a permit sooner.
3. We will call you to talk about Boundary Water entry point options. The permit reservation (not the permit) will be mailed or emailed to whomever was written as the trip organizer on the WW reservation form. If it is received by email, please print only the first page and bring it to camp.
4. In spring we will send you an additional mailing that needs to be given to each trip participant. It will include a pack list, exercise suggestions, reflection questions, health and release forms and directions to camp. At this point, gathering the group to address questions is often helpful.
5. We will call you a week or so prior to your trip to ask about your estimated time of arrival, the number of people in your group, any dietary requirements and other group information that will help us serve you.
6. Items to bring to camp include:
   1. completed reflection questions, health and release forms,
   2. the permit reservation,
   3. a copy of the pack list is sometimes helpful,
   4. directions,
   5. group or individual payment in the form of cash or check.

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