Welcome to camp
Visiting the shores of the North Arm without the bugs
"Widji" is YMCA Camp Widjiwagan, a canoe and backpacking camp outside Ely, MN. This site collects 70 years of its trips: routes, photos and stories. More about the site
Trips by the numbers
- trips
- 375
- miles traveled*
- 60,455
- days on trail*
- 6,968
- raisins consumed* (72 per person per trail lunch)
- 1,069,114,176
* These numbers are approximate; the trip records are incomplete.
More numbers
- Voyageur trips: 246
- Mountaineer trips: 122
- Voyaneer trips: 3
- Hudson Bay trips: 4
- Boys trips: 172
- Girls trips: 196
- All Gender trips: 7
- Staff: 390
- Campers: 1,741*
Trips with
- Routes mapped: 82
- Group pictures: 50
- Swag pictures: 141
- Slideshows: 53
- Stories: 1
Where the trips went
82 of the 375 trips have a mapped route. Here they all are, from camp on Burntside Lake to Hudson Bay, the Arctic coast and Alaska.
See them on the Trail Building map
Was your trip's route left off? Here's how to map it, then send it in.
What's new
- More than the map News: When I started this site, my interest was to bring the paddle and mountain plaques in the Trail Building to life, to appreciate which of…
- 2023 Voyageur Kate Slattery, Ana Cowie A route map
- 1978 Voyageur Bruce Casselton A story
- 1990 Voyageur Drew Barker A group photo
- 2005 Voyageur Leigh Dotson A sash photo, claimed from Lost & Found
- + 20 more on October 26, 2026
All updates · News · RSS
A Season for Wilderness
The chapter "The Widji Way" from Michael Furtman's excellent book "A Season for Wilderness" is available here to read.
The Trail Building
375 trips · since 1955
How many times at camp have you looked over the trip plaques in the TB to remind yourself of when and where your friends and family traveled across the Far North? Here are the walls for anyone who can't make the journey to camp.
Browse all 375 tripsFamilies
86 families
Where more than one family member has been on a post high school trip.
Meet the familiesCanoe History
The canoe fleet
The canoes behind the trips, transcribed from the camp log books.
Explore the canoesSashes and hats
All the trip photos · Lost & Found: sashes, hats
BRRRIDGE!
Your help is requested.As you can imagine, this is a large undertaking. If you, or someone you know, could provide routes, pictures, corrections, and/or slideshows for any trip you find here, please reach out to me via the various contact options.
Instructions for creating and sharing Google maps are now available in the About page.