Peta’s BWCA Blog
A Wilderness Love Story
by Suez Jacobson As posted on Great Old Broads for Wilderness It was a “win” in the Broads’ online auction that took me to the Boundary Waters in May 2017 with Peta Barret and Women’s Wilderness Discovery. I’d waited almost 50 years. The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW), remote and wild, stretches out over a million acres … Read more
ARTICLE: WWD brings Women into the Boundary Waters
Twin Cities Outdoor March 11, 2020 Women’s Wilderness Discovery, based in Ely, has been bringing women into the Boundary Waters—year ’round—since 2014. Many of these women are from the Twin Cities, and many of you who read TCO love the Boundary Waters area. So I asked founder and owner, Peta Barrett, to tell us about … Read more
Our Charming Guesthouse
Women’s Wilderness Discovery offers a charming, well-appointed two-story Guest House for your overnight stay in Ely the evening before departure into the Boundary Waters. Four single beds and two sets of bunk beds provide room for up to eight people (women’s group, family group, or mixed couples’ groups). Beds are complete with linens, pillow, blanket, … Read more
Sharing the wilderness with women—of any age
by Alissa Johnson Quetico Superior Wilderness News Last spring, wilderness guide Peta Barrett and a client walked across a portage in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Her client, a confident, fit woman in her mid-60s, carried the canoe. She had expressed some concerns about doing so but was game to try with Peta nearby. … Read more
Article in Star Tribune
OUTDOORS Currents: Peta Barrett, North Woods Wilderness Guide Peta Barrett, Women’s Wilderness Discovery By BOB TIMMONS , STAR TRIBUNE April 20, 2018 – 8:19 AM Today: Peta Barrett owns and operates Women’s Wilderness Discovery in Ely, outfitting and guiding canoe and hiking adventures in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. The trips are year-round. Reading I … Read more
Ely woman blazes new trail in wilderness adventures
Women’s Wilderness Discovery offers year-round trips through the BWCA. Article from Minneapolis Star-Tribune, October 21, 2015 by Anna Pratt After owning a casting company for over a decade, Peta Barrett yearned to make the wilderness her “office.” Driven by her lifelong love of the outdoors, Barrett moved from her home of 35 years in northern Anoka … Read more
Winter on Trail…
Deep winter in the boreal forest settles in with a stunning coat of pristine white, bundling the landscape in hushed magic. Here, caught up in crisp sunlight… there, below the pale glow of a full moon, winter’s coat glints the illusion of oh-so-many diamonds scattered about. Winter brings a unique clarity – a silence – to the wilds of … Read more
Why I Guide Canoe Trips into the BWCA
I have always loved the outdoors! I grew up, not on wilderness camping, per se, but in a family who respected all of nature…the land, the waters, the animals, and proper management of these elements to protect our valuable resources. Growing up in a family of five kids, we did plenty of “car camping” when … Read more
What’s So Cool About a BWCA Canoe Trip?
Because it’s a myth-buster! It’s not brute strength… for women it’s teamwork and finesse, a CAN DO attitude with an open mind and a willing heart….And really great trail packing! Step aside guys, women can organize a load and hustle down a portage trail faster than you can figure out who’s carrying the fishing … Read more