On July 13-15, 2006, boys from Troop72.com of the Boy Scouts of America spent another great weekend canoeing the St. Croix River (National Scenic Riverway). We canoed 17 miles from Taylor's Falls State Park to William O'Brien State Park, camping out on a deserted island paradise in the middle near Osceola. Because we were so close to the water the whole time, we couldn't even feel the 100-degree heat. But the headwinds on Saturday afternoon were a killer -- if we stopped paddling, we'd actually drift upstream! Sure had a good workout, though. (Note: I tried a new polarized filter on my FZ30 for most of these...not sure whether it made a difference, but thought I'd try it.) - Tom Arneberg (toma@troop72.com)