Wilderness continues its hold on this adventurous duo

MONTEVIDEO, Minn. — Susan Otterholt Kempe paddled into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness for the first time having never spent a night camping in the woods.

“I was a farm kid. In the summertime, my folks worked. They didn’t go on vacation,” she explained.

Her good friend, Launa Tucker, had some camping experience as a Girl Scout, limited at best.

The year was 1986, and the two were among a group of 17 women from their church, Saint David’s Episcopal in Minnetonka. One member of the group had wilderness experience.

Their equipment was largely borrowed, and included old-style, canvas tents and heavy, aluminum canoes. They packed their own food to cook from scratch, carrying potatoes by the pound.

“There was nothing easy about anything when we started,” said Kempe, of Montevide