For their fall key experience, the 12th grade class traveled to northwest Wisconsin to canoe on the Namekagon river. On the first day of the trip, the students canoed over 16 miles to a campsite where they set up tents, cooked a communal meal, and engaged in rite of passage work, which was the overarching theme of the trip. The next morning was crisp, and students and guides awoke early and after a hot breakfast began to travel down the river again. The second day of paddling was shorter, but went through Trego Lake, where the current became barely noticable and paddling hard was crucial. After crossing the lake, students portaged their canoes across the dam, paddled a short ways to a small campsite, and then hiked half a mile to the Leisure Lake Youth Camp. Though the itinerary planned for more paddling the next two days, due to a forecast of thunderstorms, we remained at the camp and participated in olympic events, did reflective writing, and engaged in other rite of passage curriculum.