re: Looking for ideas for semi-adventure trip

My brother just got back from a canoe trip with his son and scout troop. They went to the Boundary Waters wilderness in northern Minnesota. It's a bunch of interconnected lakes mostly though a few short portages are needed. There are camp sites on the lakes but other than that it is wilderness and you can cover a lot of territory, even into Canada if you want. Moose and bear are possible though they didn't see any. Fishing is good.

Another if you have a big budget is to fly to Calgary/Edmonton/Whitehorse/Faribanks/Anchorage and rent a RV and go exploring. Flying to Whitehorse and doing the Alaska Highway would be where I'd start looking at this one.