Trina was introduced to the BWCAW in 2011 as a participant with the Girl Scouts at Northern Lakes Canoe Base (NLCB). The following summer she became a Guide in Training and then a NLCB Guide in the BWCAW and Quetico Provincial Park from 2013-2018.
Since her very first Boundary Waters trip, she has worn the same bright-colored shirt that has become her signature. On several occasions, people on trail have recognized her by seeing her shirt alone! Her effervescent personality may be the only thing brighter than her shirt in all of the Boundary Waters.
Trina loves everything outdoors from summer to winter. She enjoys fishing during all seasons, and especially during the winter. She loves to cross-country and downhill ski. She also enjoys hiking and being outside in nature. She really enjoys photography, especially nature photography, and the BWCAW provides many opportunities for her to pursue this passion.
The BWCAW holds a special place in Trina’s heart because it combines all of her favorite things in one place. She even got engaged to her husband on Knife Lake in the BWCAW in 2019! You’ll hear Tina say, “The Boundary Waters is a place where you can go to reconnect with yourself and others. A place where you can see billions of stars and hear loons calling at night. It is a place that challenges you in many ways and makes you a better person by the end of a trip.”
Trina considers the BWCAW a second home during the summer months and is a place she thinks about incessantly during the off-season. Trina has a Master of Education degree and teaches kindergarteners in Cloquet, MN, in the off-season.
There is magic in the feel of a paddle and the movement of a canoe, a magic compounded of distance, adventure, solitude and peace. The way of a canoe is the way of the wilderness and of a freedom almost forgotten, the open door to waterways of ages past and a way of life with profound and abiding satisfaction.
-Sigurd Olson