This forum was established to inform and facilitate discussion about the Boundary Waters
Canoe Area in northeastern Minnesota and the Quetico Park in Ontario, Canada. This forum
was established on October 26th, 1998.
Front View........notice it is a little off to the left. I hope this does not affect the canoe too much....
Other Side View.........
Notice the little fuzzies.......I wish I would have posted my message about putting them on BEFORE I actually put them on. I might have gotten a better result.
Your new skidplates look great. Wish my fist try looked that good on my SR Wilderness.
Question: Are those kit skid plates or cut were they cut from bulk fabric? They look very large. Also, did you use a special resin for royalex canoe? I've got a OT royalex that could use some skid plates and I've got resin and kevlar felt left over from the SR job and I'm wondering if it will work on royalex
I purchased the Mad River kit for about $50.00. I found some resin and cloth for about 1/2 price, but I figured the extra $25.00 was worth the headache of trying to get the "right stuff".
I bought the cherry pigment color from Old Town......and then followed the directions for the old town pigment kit BEFORE applying the plates.
I really beat the CRAP out of my canoe this past year.........I actually used it MORE than my fishing boat. ON the two trips to Quetico, I managed to wear some of the "red" off of the back, and the front. It was pretty bad.......
I figured I'd go ahead and add them, and deal with the extra drag.
for the update. They look fine. Keep us informed how the color job wears. I have been considering coloring my skidplate installations but so far go au natural.
On the off centeredness? You may have to paddle on the port side from now on.
solo canoes and single blades...the way it should be.
One of the best repairs I have seen. I especially like that you matched the color. There is nothing like a bright yellow stem to ruin the looks of a nice green or red canoe.
Yes, I knew Dr. Bernie Donnely (and scrubbed in surgery with him numerous times) before he died many years ago. That was quite a large family (Donnely's dozen), but I really didn't know the other members personally. There is a local physician Dr. Reidel - - who is married to one of the Donnely girls. How are you acquainted with them?
I'm a transplanted Packer fan now living in eastern PA. and am wondering if there are any other fellow BWCA'ers around the area. I'm suprised at how many folks here have never heard of the BWCA. Guess it is better that way. Not much fun having to live this close to Eagle headquarters and having to listen to T.O. flap his big mouth. Anyways....would like to hear from anyone living in the area.
.....within sight of the Susquehanna! It really looks tempting to get out, but water levels are too high so I'll settle for planning my annual canoe trip!
"One final paragraph of advice: Do not burn yourselves out. Be as I am - a reluctant enthusiast.....a part-time crusader, a half-hearted fanatic. Save the other half of yourselves and your lives for pleasure and adventure. It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can. While it's still here. So get out there and hunt and fish and mess around with your friends, ramble out yonder and explore the forests, encounter the grizz, climb the mountains, bag the peaks, run the rivers, breathe deep of that yet sweet lucid air, sit quietly for awhile and contemplate the precious stillness, that lovely, mysterious and awesome space. Enjoy yourselves, keep your brain in your head and your head firmly attached to your body, the body active and alive, and I promise you this much: I promise you this one sweet victory over our enemies, over those desk-bound people with their hearts in a sfe deposit box and their eyes hypnotized by desk calculators. I promise you this: You will outlive the bastards." - Edward Abbey
I'm from the pittsburgh area-GO STEELERS. Although i'm more of a Canada canoer i have done the boundary waters. we had a platyfest in the burgh thanks to gary, aka fish fanatic. i was good to get together with people who enjoy canoeing. welcome.
I worked out there for 3-4 months, and it was like jumping through hoops to buy a six-pack of beer. First I went to a liquor store, walked down every aisle, finally asked the guy where the beer was. Looked at me like I was an idiot - why would I look for beer in a liquor store? Gotta go to a "Beer Store".
Found a beer store, behind a supermarket. You could drive through, but I went in. Didn't find a six-pack, so I grabbed a twelve pack of Moosehead or something. Walked up to the counter, and the guy looked at me like I was an idiot: "you can't buy that". Turns out, I couldn't purchase less than a case. I don't drink a lot, and it was only me in my temporary apartment, and I didn't want a whole case! If I wanted just a six-pack, I could go to a tavern and buy one to carry-out. What a fiasco!
You can only buy "hard" liquor in a state owned/run store. They set the prices. Beer and wine can be purchased in taverns, grocery stores, etc. Booze in Washington state is almost as spendy as gas. Be thankful for what you have!!!
Big Fisher Map book: looks like there is a next to nothing "portage" from Gabi to Leg Lake, then a 160 to another lake, then a 115 to Horsefish.
McKenzie map #7: 26 rods Gabimichigami to Leg, no portage from Leg to Image Lake (but looks like there's a creek?), and then showing no portage between Image and Horsefish.
If you do a search on "Horsefish", you'll get some of my previous posts on it. It's Quite late right now so I don't want to go into much detail at moment.
Leg to Image was mostly (faint trail) a bushwhack in 1998 (pre blowdown), my last time through. I bet it's still not too bad.
Image to Horsefish was a faint trail at parts but mostly a bushwhack through a dried up beaver pond.
Horsefish to Pace Lake was actually a very nice, flat, sandy, but very faint trail. 155 rods I think. You need to pay attention as to not lose the trail, though.
I went through that route solo, with my Grumman, so any determined group should make it ok.
email me if you wish...
stumpylake@sbcglobal.net
Hello all! I currently own a Alumacraft 17ft canoe and am quit happy with it. My question is simple for those who own aluminum canoes. When using them solo has anyone ever taken the twart out that sits directly behind the front seat? For those who don't know what I'm talking about, to use that size canoe solo I turn it around and paddle from the front seat.
The thwart sits higher than the seat and is somewhat in the way when paddeling. From a strength stand point I'm not sure it would hurt it much if at all. I'm just curoius if anyone has ever done this. Thanks for the input, all questions welcomed.
they paddle very nicely that way. my uncle has his on with wingnuts so he can take it off easier. not that he has it on very often.
shane
The earth is being overrun by mankind and his machines. There will always be a need for quiet places that can only be reached by physical effort, skill and endurance. Bill Mason
drill out the rivets and replace with bolts and wing nuts. Sit in the front seat facing backwards. On my 15 foot smokercraft the seat is close enough to the thwart and offers plently of strength., so the thwart is probably not even needed although I keep it on when not paddling solo anyway.
Thanks for all the replies, my canoe is new enough that the thwart is screwed
on and not rivited. So it should be an easy enough task to perform. I was really only concerned about the strength issue, although from the looks it appears as though the thwart isn't even neccessary. Once again thanks to all for replying.
In the middle 90's I built a MCA BWCA Cruiser. I had help from the MCA in the form of weekly hand-on training. I attempted to keep my project a couple of weeks behind the training project. In that was I would make my major mistakes on someone else's project and – more importantly – have expert advise to point out my mistakes and how to avoid them and fix them. It worked out very well. I launched the boat in the middle of the summer of 96? and have enjoyed it since.
It was always my intention that my first boat would be a learning experience for me as well a platform for extermination. It has done that and more.
Many times while portaging my relatively lightweight stripper (~55 pounds) I wished for a lighter canoe. My thoughts drifter to Kevlar or Carbon Fiber. Of course I could go out and purchase a commercial boat, but then I would be reluctant to make major modifications, would not have the enjoyment (or curse!) of another project, and have the same boat as many others. I did some research and found James Moran's book “Building your Kevlar Canoe”. Over the year I check the book out of the library several times. I like the similarity of construction techniques with a cedar strip and of course the ability to make my own changes at will.
In the winter of 2004-2005 my promises of a new canoe project turned from dreams to threats and then to reality.
I spent quite a lot of time looking at designs before I settled on Moran’s family canoe. I knew I wanted a canoe about 17 feet long with a bit more depth than my Cruiser. I went through about twenty designs. To evaluate them I entered the form offsets into an Excel spreadsheet. The offsets were plotted using Excel’s charting feature. This proved to be a pretty powerful tool, even more useful than a CAD program. I could compare a number of designs side by side on my compute screen. Rocker, tumblehome, sheer and many other parameters could be compared. One thing I did find is that not many of the offsets as they come out of books produce a fair curve. Some tweaking was needed on most of the designs. When I decided on the Family canoe I then copied the Excel charts to Powerpoint, scaled them appropriately and printed them on a plotter. Full size plots! Great for making forms.
At work I have found a friend sharing my interest in canoes and canoeing. He is more into it than I am but then again, his kids are grown and gone. Dan is an ME and uses his education and experience to evaluate materials and techniques. Together we have accumulated technical characteristics on a variety of fiberglass cloths and epoxy resins. It is amazing the variety of weights, strengths and abrasion characteristics on the market today. It is also amazing that there is no correlation between technical specifications and price. Some of the best performing fabrics are also the least expensive.
Our research suggested that multiple layers of lighter cloth is stronger that one single layer of heavier cloth. Using thinner resin it is easier to achieve the optimum ratio of 1:1 resin weight to cloth weight.
Jim Moran suggests using one layer of 8.9 ounce Kevlar 49 and a layer and a half of 5.6 ounce S-glass. A quick Internet search did not find the specified cloths. Evidently over the years these weights have gone 'out of style'. Using the specifications we have accumulated I duplicated Moran's recipe. I went one stage farther and looked for easily available and inexpensive substitutes. As a result of our research I found Kevlar for $16 a yard and e-glass for $1.20 a yard. Plus shipping of course. This means two layers of each cloth plus another layer of fiberglass in the football, but that should also result in a stronger hull.
Our resin research determined the US Composites 635 resin to be the most economical. Using the medium hardener it appears to be just as thin as the resin from Raka or Progressive. Those are much thinner than West or some of the others. System Three clear coat is very thin, but also pretty expensive comparatively. I am comfortable with my choice.
The choice of fabric and epoxy results on a hull cost of about $375. Quite reasonable!
I used the strongback I had built for my BWCA Cruiser for the Kevlar. I found it was the correct length. I just needed to move the form blocks to the correct spacing and attach the forms.
For the forms I contemplated using a number of materials. Because the forms are just needed to provide contour and a gluing surface I added foamboard, OSB, and chipboard to the normal plywood and ‘real’ wood candidates. My decision was made when I saw some large pieces of OSB in a dumpster at a local building site. The construction workers were quick to give permission and I was off dumpster diving.
The Moran method is based on using pink poly insulation as a basis for the mold. My son & I went to Menards and picked up 3 sheets of 1 inch foam. I set my saw to the correct settings (8º and 1 7/8” rip) and away we went. It was easier to first rip the sheets in thirds, but in any case we went from sheets to strips in about 30 minutes.
I agree on US Composites. I have been using it for the past year on a S&G sailing canoe and various projects around the home. It's as good as the high priced spreads!
solo canoes and single blades...the way it should be.
Tomorrow I plan on posting a couple of pictures from below Randy's campground. But, before I do, I want to celebrate some of the fun that was had off the water.
Here is Wilderness Mama taking a picture of me taking a picture of her.
or every other week, whenever- different places, but maybe we set times and places and who ever can come does - It would sure motivate me to get out more!
Sounds like a great idea to me.
Getting a group together every week or couple of weeks would be great. Visit a lot of different metro creeks/rivers and maybe one a little further out now and then.
A group would be great for shuttling as well.
Would love to do the Minnehaha creek this spring.
If we posted a calendar I assume we would have that situation with most folks. We would end up paddling by ourselves some weeks and with a floatilla of 20 on others. As long as we all knew that going into it I am sure it would be fine.
"When a man is part of his canoe, he is part of all that canoes have ever known."
Sigurd F. Olson
Most on the board know that I paddle the cities a great deal. I love to paddle with others as long as the group does not get too big. The problem for me is time. I think that if someone posts on the board that they are going to paddle the Minneapolis chain or Minnehaha or something else, others could respond. For me, I suspect that I would have conflicts 9 out of 10 times but that tenth.....
I trying to decide between REI Voyageur yoke pad for 33$, or Sling Slide Yoke pad (44$). Any body on this forum has an openion on any of these pads. The pads will go on a kevlar madriver canoe.
I have used both. The voyagers (I have found) are not as comfortable as they might look. I found the padding insufficient and the form to be to restricted. In other words the curved pad doesn't necessarily mean it fits your shoulder nicely.
I'm not sure what you mean by "sling-slide", but if you mean the sling style by CVCA, these are the ones I put on all my canoes. Very sufficient padding, and the sling allows for custom forming to individual shoulders. The thing about this that I like is that no matter the angle the canoe upon your shoulders, the comfort is the same. Adjustality is a huge plus.
I've used the Voyageur pads and not only do they not fit as well as it would appear, they have a tendency to slip off the shoulder. I was always stopping and pushing the canoe back up.
Well, I sold off my backbacking bag that I have used for the past 5-6 years for BWCA trips and am looking to get a portage pack. I need something big as I usually carry a lot of crap. I used about a 6400 CUI backpacking bag with little to no room to spare.
So I purchased a used Granite Gear Superior One pack from an outfitter and it arrived today. Unfortunately, it is going back today as well. The bag has holes and tears all over, looks like it is about 10 years old. Kind of pissed, but anyway now I'm looking at Cabelas Boundary Waters™ II Backpack Large (7,128 cu) or a used Kondos Outfitter Expedition Canoe Pack (8200). I'm guessing the Kondos will be more comfortable than the BW pack, but not sure, anyone used either of these bags or have a different recommendation? I would like to stay around the $125-$150 range.
However, the Granite Gear packs are awesome. I have a superior and 4 queticos. 4 purchased used from an outfitter, all were like new, literally, with the exception of the outfitters logo added. If you want to try again on those e-mail me and I will give you the name of the outfitter. Don't want to offend anyone unnecessarily.
Also some good bets: I have two Mason packs as well. Really cheap brand new, and (imho) great packs. I also have a Cabelas Boundary Pack - the large one. I have had it for about 6 years and still use it every trip.
I also would look into CCS packs. That will be my next direction.
...if you watch the sales at Campmor etc., you can find good mountaineering pack on sale in that price range. Several years ago I picked up a Lowe Alpine Contour 4 on sale for $140. It’s huge – like 7000 c.i. - and has lots of places to strap stuff on the outside. It also has a GREAT suspension system and is VERY comfortable on long portages.
Nice it is a nice pack, that's what I just sold off. I used it for many trips, but it's tough to portage a canoe and that pack because it's so tall when stuffed full, which mine usually is. I'm now looking for something that's not as tall since I now have a light canoe and would like to try and single portage!
..my oldest daughter and I are planning an ultra light week in August. Two packs, 1 canoe, take our time. After looking at the route we are talking about (Sawbill, round to Louse River, back to Sawbill) we need to do some working out....
"We do not remember days, we remember moments...." Cesare Pavese
have the person with the canoe carry the light back with clothes and maybe sleeping bags, while the other carry the rest of the heavy crap. if need to, and the person doesn't mind, you can carry a pack front and back to prevent overweighing you back.
It might sound weird, but use one smaller pack that the canoe carrier wears, and the other person gets the two larger packs from and back. You can balance the weight better. It also gives both people two loads to portage.
been there done that... I took a major spill on one of my first trips carrying a Duluth pack on my back and one on my chest. It was a wild ride I wouldn't want to do again, once you get a couple packs going in a direction they pretty much just take you with them. You just cant see where you are putting your feet, and on a wet rocky portage your asking for a disaster. And being who knows how far from civilization...... I wont let anyone in our party carry a pack on the front.
I do single portages all the time solo. I have trimmed the equipment down so that it (mostly) all fits in a large mil surplus internal frame pack. In the past when I couldn't get it all in the pack I would use a couple of small duffle bags (sleeping bag and extra clothes)and at one time the tent under the seat of the canoe (solo canoe with seat near the center). If your canoe is fairly light adding up to 10 lbs of gear to it which you planned to carry anyway should not be much of a problem especially if it is the lighter, bulkier stuff. Even with a tandem canoe you should be able to distribute the wieght so it balances. Practice at home first. Personally, if was me, I would have kept the old pack and distributed some gear to the canoe to keep the height of the pack down. Currently the items I keep attached to the canoe are the fishing gear, sleeping pad, camera (if carried),plastic or aluminum pail and a small waterproof pouch tied up under the bow for my wallet, keys, extra map and first aid kit. Switching to a hammock and tarp instead of a tent and bringing no more than neccessary (wash clothes instead of carrying more) etc. helped make single portaging possible and I do not feel that I suffer from lack of gear.
I don't travel light often enough but when I do, it's always rewarding. This was BW duck camp 2005 hastily set up in the dark. Pardon the mess and yes, I left no trace.
If a 7000 cubic inch pack is huge then my homemade canoe packs at 10800 cubic inches must be huge and a half. We always single portage unless there are kids along. Search on 30x30x12 for details.
I have the Outfitter Special. Actually two of them. I love them. They hold a ton of stuff and are comfortable to use. I have packed them with 5 gallon buckets or plastic totes or just packed them loosely. The side cinch straps are great and the pack expands with the snorkel top if you need to put a few last minute things in. I use one of them for a food pack because it's easy to hang thanks to the rings on each side.
I have no interest in Kondos other than I like the packs I've now owned for 6 years and have been on 10 or 11 trips plus a few local trips and still look like new. I can't imagine ever needing a larger pack than this though, unless you are trying to get as much as you can in one pack and you are much stronger than I!
I own two used Kondos - an Outfitter Expedition (8200 ci) and a #4 Deluxe (7800 ci). I bought them used from VNO and apart from the outfitter's patch sewn on and some indelible back markings (no doubt for inventory purposes) the packs are indistinguishable from new.
I have used and rented GG and Duluth Packs too and they're fine packs. I own the Kondos and have no regrets about buying them. I anticipate they will outlast me and my children.
Try a #4 pack from the BW Journal. You'll save some money; I think they are 100 bucks. I believe they are made by Kondos. You'll have something new that will last forever minus just the bells and whistles.
how is Stu?
Got another trip planned with him? Which lakes are you going to slay the walleyes at this year?
I really enjoyed the article you were in last year.
Yes, going again. It looks like right now a Brook Trout trip out of Pickle Lake, Ont. down an unnamed river coming out at James Bay as the BW Journal explores areas beyond the BW & Quetico. There was much positive response to the idea after the Spring 2005 issue.
Business is really growing for Pickle Lake, Wabakimi, and Woodland Caribou or so I was told.
Great deal, even with the $ not quite as good as it was before. I've seen them at a number of outdoor stores. We've got 2, and I really like them. They're comfortable and well built. We got ours for ~$65-70 with shipping from Canada. Might be a bit more today, but not much.
I was telling Steve (PFP) in an email as well, I found a site that has them for $51 US. Steve, brought up a good point, depending on exchange rate purchasing from a Canadian store could be cheaper, but not right now. Here is the link if anyone is interested:
from an outfitter but was not dissapointed in the least. They were every bit as good as new. No signs they had been mistreated. I would be curious as to which outfitter sent you crap like that. I paid like $50-$75 below new price for each pack. It was a great deal for me. They were used only one season (if that). I got no preferential treatment from the outfitter. I bought them sight unseen via the web. I did call before purchase to find out what "used" meant. I too did not want holes, etc. I am supprised by what you received. I wonder if an intern grabbed them from the wrong pile or something like that. I would call and say that they are not as advertised or something like that.
Right away I sent an email to them letting them know I was unhappy with the condition. He had no problem with me sending the bag back and having my money returned....so just a little dissapointment and postage wasted.
I have the CCS #4 and it is very large for around $115. Good for lots of stuff that is not overly heavy. The Duluth style pack will not carry the same as your backpacking pack, but it will ride in a canoe better.
For a great portage pack I would recommend you spend a little more and get the CCS Guide Pack $195 if you need the largest size. I have the slightly smaller CCS Pioneer and it is the nicest pack I have carried.
That Granite Gear pack is the best made. I'd buy one new if you can afford the jack. Doesn't surprise me about an outfitter trying to sell you a piece of c r a p without disclosing it. I'd love to know the name of the outfit, but I think thats frowned upon here.
Regards,
Scooter
"I may be drunk, but you're crazy and I'll be sober tomorrow." WC Fields, Its a Gift 1934.
What timing, I was just about to order a used Granite Gear Superior One from an outfitter this week. Would you mind e-mailing me the outfitter that sent you a Very used one?
I have seen a lot of posts in the past where people promote very inexpensive packs/tarps/camping gear/whatever.
I was just wondering how many people actually care if the product is made in another country (cheap labor/materials)vs. American made. Or is the cheap price the bottom line for decision making?
Some of the prices I look at and think of the raw goods costs, and the time involved to manufacture/sew, and figure in mark-up by the retailer, and it seems like the labor force involved in the manufacture of that product must not be making a whole lot.
Some of the prices I look at and think of the raw goods costs, and the time involved to manufacture/sew, and figure in mark-up by the retailer, and it seems like the labor force involved in the manufacture of that product must not be making a whole lot
But a "whole lot" to you is a vastly different concept than to your standard Chinese textile worker. At a buck ninety-eight an hour he could probably feed a family of three.
Which leads to one of the great investment theses of the 21st century...invest in things the Chinese need, not what they can produce cheaper.
By the way, just because something is foreign made should not imply it is inferior.
...just kind of a stickler for human rights. If there are two similar items, similar quality, I'll usually go for the non-China made item, even if it costs a little more.
I usally post a bw trip report but last summer we went to Alaska so we didn't have enough time or money to do the canoe trip. So if anyone is planning a trip to Alaska this report should give you most of the information you need. The report can be found here
I spent a summer in Alaska way back in 1986. I loved it! Your pictures were a great retreat today. I would love to share Alaska with my family, but I'm afraid it won't happen on our income. By the way, how long did it take you to go from Sioux City, IA (or whatever your starting point was) to Fairbanks?
We took seven days to get from Rock Valley to Fairbanks. I would say for people leaving from the upper mid west that seven days should be minimum travel time. You could do it in four days but you wouldn't be able to stop at any of the neat stuff along the way. If we make the trip again I think we would even allow a few more days for the trip up.
As far as how much it cost if your a miser like we are you would be surprized by what you can get by with and still have a great time. The campgrounds along the way were really cheap. A couple times we only spent six bucks for a campsite that included electric hookup. Most of the state recreation areas charged fron ten to twelve dollars and the Canadian parks were that amount also. Our biggest expense was taking the Alaskan ferry system part way back. That was very nice and relaxing but it could be avoided and would have knocked nearly a couple thousand dollars off our trip expense.
I think most people going that far have a problem with being able to get the amount of time off to make a four to six week trip. That's why ninety percent of the travelers you see going to and from Alaska are retired senior citizens. Being I'm a farmer the time off wasen't to big a problem that time of the year.
I took a six week trip to Alaska a couple of years ago and enjoyed it very much. During lunch today I took a look at some of your photos and you took me there again. I'm pretty much shot for the rest of the day as far as working goes...grin...there's going to be a lot of daydreaming this afternoon, I'm afraid...
Will have to read your report when I've got the time.
I've got a question for you though... How do you like the popup camper? What are the pros and cons? (You can contact me off list if you wish at gdietzman@visi.com.)
We really like the popup camper. It is a little crowed inside but everything is handy and there is a lot of room for storage. We don't do much cooking inside. We prefer the camp stove and picnic table. It is nice though to have the capability to go inside if it is raining. They are very easy to set up and take down. We have a three way fridge in ours which is a must if you are thinking of buying a popup. You need the 12V fridge wwhen going down the road. Just remember to shut the 12V off if your going to be away from the camper for a couple hours. You will find the battery stone dead. We have had that experence more then once. Actually bought one of those little booster battery packs before the trip to get around that problem.
You do need to remember that you are living in close quarters. If you and your wife or traveling partner can't stand tight quarters then a popup camper might not be for you.
About the only con I can think of is that several times when we are ready for bed or in bed we think of something that we need out of the cab. That means a trip outside around to the front of the cab and back again. Also I haven't figured out an easy way to haul a canoe along.
We have been looking at some of those small class B camper vans. Some of the ten year old ones are beginning to get afforable. That is also a small camper. The advantage of these are access to the living area while on the road and I also feel they would be a little more secure. Something like this would also be great for an Alaskan trip
We spent 6 weeks in Alaska ten years ago, and it was great. Originally we wanted to drive up and take the ferry back like you did, but eventually we decided that there was so much to do IN Alaska that we just had to fly there, even with 6 weeks. I look forward to going back the slow way and visiting parts like Southeast we didn't get to.
A few years ago we almost made that trip back to Alaska with plans of backpacking etc., but pretty late in the game decided to go to Quetico instead - and that's when my obsession with Canoe Country was rekindled.
Anyway, I really enjoyed your report and especially pictures.
Two reasons for finishing the outside before doing the inside; laziness and procrastination.
With my being affected by the cedar sanding dust, and really “liking” the task of scraping glue squeeze-out off, I was just putting it off as long as I could. A very minor plus is the hull was well supported from below during the sanding. And once the resin is sanded smooth, it doesn’t take much for the varnish, about 30 minutes sand/wetsand and wipedown and another 30 minutes to roll on the varnish and tip it. (times 4)
>buckeye59 - I haven't heard of anyone finishing the entire outside of the hull before starting the interior. Is there an advantage to this method over the more common method of glassing everything then trimming then varnishing?
Yes, I put on too much resin.
I again sealed the wood but this time brushed on the resin instead of scraping it on, and this used at least twice what it took last time.
And I should have wet out the 2 layers of 2.3 oz together instead of each. I couldn’t put on little enough resin brushing it on, (when I’ve tried a roller to spread the resin with this thin glass, the glass just moved way too much.
The 2 - 2.85 layers I wet together and they came out fair, at a ratio of 1 to 1.25 glass to resin. I weighted all the glass and resin as it was mixed/put on.
Then I put on a lot of fill coats, 3 or 4, granted some/much (?) of this gets scraped/sanded off, but it’s still heavy.
And it still will be light, just maybe not at or under 50lbs, the current estimate is just under 54 lbs. Not bad for a 18'8" by 36" wide tripper that is significantly tougher then the std layup. The bottom glass has a breaking strength 3.0 and 3.1 times the "std" 6 oz glass. The sides are 1.3 and 1.9 times, "fill" and "warp" respectively.
>Hoz - I would have thought with the multiple coats of lightweight glass you would succeed in building a lightweight canoe. Any thoughts on what went wrong?
Don’t know yet. I tried to make some out of lumber yard spruce (?) but the blanks were way too heavy, 14 lbs, so I’m going to start over on the gunwales. I may use light Phil mahogany again, or maybe try the lumberyard spruce again or yes, maybe sitka too. Whatever it is, it has to be light, about 1 ½ lbs per stick.
>What are you going to use for the trim? How about sitka?
This probably would work, though my current thinking is laminated cedar/cherry for seats/thwarts/yoke.
>Littletrout/Dick - One thing that I was thinking of to save weight was to make the thwarts hollow and put a carbon fiber tube in them to carry the stress.
the obvious solution would be to put on the aluminum gunnels and then go to the local Chrysler dealership and purchase the lovely fake wood grain vinyl sheets they use on those hideous minivans and just wrap the gunnels in "faux-but-you-aren't-dumb-enough-to-believe-this-is-real-wood-anyway" Daimler-Chrysler loveliness.
Bell in Princeton would be glad to hook you up with some aluminum gunnels. I go through Princeton about 2 or 3 times a month on Saturday afternoons if you need me to pick them up for you. I live in Blaine.
what if you put on aluminum gunnels.... but.......
you had a metal shop anodize them with a bronze or brown color first....
Less, "Holy crap!!! Look how he spoiled that beautiful stripper!!!"
I thought the stock they might sell someone might be nekkid.
You could always use some glow in the dark paint on them as well. Hideous, yet if you had a pair of canoes treated as such coming toward you off a lake in the dark, you might think the maymayguish was after you.
This may be a little too late, but I was talking to BDW yesterday and we came to the conclusion that other CCBBers around the US should schedule a local float to coincide with Big Daddy UIR trip coming up this weekend.
That way we could have a nationwide CCBB event to post pics, bragging rights, etc.
We're doing it here in TN - myself, Ed/TN, Bill/TN and maybe some others are floating the Harpeth outside of Nashville this Sunday to "sister" the UIR float. Anyone I may have missed should definitely join us. (Email me for details)
So how about it, Indiana, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Florida, Oregon, DC (Ho Ho you can't be the only paddler in that outfit!) - anyone else?
I think it will be fun to post pics the weekend after our little country-wide float.
Even if it does not happen in more than a few places, it will be fun knowing that y'all (did I say that right) are on the water at the same time we are on the UIR.
Have not commited completely (or checked it out with my wife), but if I do it will be Saturday afternoon and in the northern suburbs of Minneapolis. I'll let anyone interested know if it works out and where I may go. How's the water level in Rice Lake chain right now Dan Cooke?
"When a man is part of his canoe, he is part of all that canoes have ever known."
Sigurd F. Olson
Ice was out everywhere this weekend. Rather than driving into town on 61, I went up Sawbill and came across on the Grade Road. The place looks like mid may right now. There was even a car parked in the Baker Lake entry point parking lot! I am looking forward to the UIR, but if anyone wanted to go into the BW, the lakes are ready. I will post a few pictures tonight or tomorrow.
... HP and I will be flying into Whitehorse the weekend of June 18 - probably arriving on the 18th. We plan to spend the 19th buying last minute items, meeting with the outfitter, etc. etc. Plan to launch on the river the morning of the 20th (Monday).
Since we're flying, we'll be renting canoe and mostly likely a campstove. We will be trying to outfit ourselves as much as possible as far as other equipment goes though.
Plan is to spend 14-16 days on the river with a layover at Carmacks for resupply, recharging batteries, etc. Take out at Dawson City.
Once at Dawson City, the outfitter will pick up the rental gear. We plan to rent an SUV and head out for some sightseeing -- which will depend on how long we spent on the river. We'd like to head north, across the Artic Circle -- mostly to say we've been there. Another possibility would be to head west into Alaska -- again, to say we've been there. Oh yeah... might take one or two photos too .
Then, we'll return the rental SUV to Dawson City and take the shuttle bus back to Whitehorse. Fly home the weekend of July 9. Probably fly out on the 10th and arrive home on Monday, July 11.
We definitely have no problems with others joining our little adventure.
Larry
To really appreciate the wilderness, one must pay attention to the small things as well as the grandiose.
About 7 years ago, I had a few-day businessmeeting in Whitehorse. I brought some basic camping gear. After the meeting, no one wanted to spend a few days in the wilderness so I rented a car and drove up to Dawson City. Camped a couple of nites in the Dawson City area, took a quick tour of Dawson City a few weeks before (about June 1) the tourists arrive. Then went on across the ridge of a mountain range (pretty good road)to Alaska, and drove back into Yukon Territory and found a hotel with a decent restaurant near the Kluane Park. Then the following day, I took my time driving back to Whitehorse, spent the nite there and flew home the following day.
A local I talked with indicated that a 450 mi. canoe trip from Whitehorse to DawsonCity was sometimes done by the local scouts. I located a few outfitters before leaving town.
I've been wanting to take that trip. The outfitter says its doable in 10-14 days, but packages a canoe rental for 16 days. We'll need the extra time for pictures.
The map shows a250 mi trip from Dawson City to the Arctic Circle. I've wanted to do that trip, and the locals say it should be done with 4-wheel drive, because after a heavy rain, a few river crossings get a bit washed out.
I guess Nibi and I originally got hooked-up to do this because I put an item about the Yukon in the CCBB/Bio page, and Nibi picked up on that.
Didn't see much wild life on that trip, but did see a moose on the Yukon River at one of the points where the river is visible from the road.
Then the recent post by the people who drove up through Alaska has my mind wandering some more.
There are a few guide books that include "trip-tic"style maps, history, and points to stop to look at old relecs, etc.
HP
The drive up the Dempster is one that should be taken. I got up to Eagle Plains, but ran out of time, a couple of years ago and had to turn around.
The road was extremely muddy after a summer of unusually heavy and consistent rains. I was driving my Subaru Forester, which has all wheel drive rather than four-wheel drive, but had no problems. There were no places where water crossed the road, but that could happen in lower spots. It was exhausting driving, however, since it seemed that goodly portions of the road had turned into moose wallows; most was pretty good though. I don't recall seeing any passenger cars on the road; most were pickups or SUVs, so I suspect that there is something to not taking a standard car up that highway.
Be sure to check your rental agreement to make sure it doesn't specifically exclude the Dempster. I've been on the Dalton in Alaska, a similar type of road, and many of the car rental agreements specifically excludes use on that road.
The campground at Engineer Creek is very nice and the Ogilvie Mountains are absolutely superb scenery. I didn't see a lot of wildlife on the road. There were a few species of Arctic ducks and a black cross fox in the Blackstone Valley. Some would call the country beyond the Ogilvies "geographically redundant;" black spruce covered rolling mountains. But I never got tired of it. Just something about that country!
Jim Kurz of Ladysmith hasn't been to Glacier Park, Mont., for 50 years and decided this year was a good time to head West.
Thousands of other vacationers will be making the same decision, but it's safe to say Kurz will be the only one arriving by canoe . . . that is if he makes the 2.500 mile journey by water from Ladysmith.
Kurz, 60, who resides on the old Sisters' Farm place on the bank of the Flambeau River southwest of Ladysmith, set off on his arduous journey last Wednesday, April 13. A few close friends were present to help him carry the 17-foot Grummond aluminum canoe to the river bank and load it. And loaded it was ‹ with everything from 5 gallon pails of dried soup mix and dehydrated food to sour dough starter, cooking utensils, clothing . . . and Daisy, a 3-year-old Lab mix dog he got from the animal shelter in Ladysmith.
Kurz has named his vintage Grummond Eagle canoe "Clueless on a Lark," a takeoff on Lewis & Clark who made their historic journey west over 200 years ago. The canoe has a mast and sail, which he purchased via the Internet, and removable wheels for portages.
Kurz realizes it's an ambitious undertaking. Outside of his trip down the Flambeau and Chippewa rivers to the Mississippi, the journey to the border of Yellowstone National Park is mostly upstream. He hopes to complete the six-state trip and be back in time for deer season. The last report the News received was that he had made it as far as Eau Claire.
Once on the Mississippi, he will canoe up to Fort Snelling, then go up the Minnesota River to Redwood Falls. From there he will proceed up the Redwood River through Marshall to Russell, up Coon Creek through Dead Coon Lake to Lake Benton (lake and town). He will make it over the "hump" and down 5 miles with his canoe on a canoe cart. He will then paddle down Flandrau Creek to the Big Sioux River through Sioux Falls to Sioux City and upstream on the Missouri all the way to Three Forks, Mont. "Heck, there is no prize for thinking small," he said. A handheld GPS will pinpoint his exact position.
Kurz hopes some of his friends may be able to visit with him along the way, and plans to keep everyone updated on his progress during the journey. He is bringing a cell phone with him and will leave messages on his voice recorders that others will be able to access. Friend Tony Ziesler gave him some disposable cameras which he will send back so he can share pictures with the Ladysmith News and post them on the Internet either at sistersfarm.com or ladysmithtrails.org.
For entertainment on those long evenings he has a wind-up radio with a light.
He plans on visiting friends, his children, Polly and Nate, and his brother Jon.
"I hope to be near enough to brother Jon that he can pick me up to horse-tend again while he and friends elk hunt in Colorado and if possible have him set me down on the Yellowstone River, which I will canoe back to North Dakota and the Missouri River during October. I hope to pheasant hunt while I canoe the Missouri in South Dakota. Getting home from there is up in the air with options of canoeing all the way to St. Louis and Polly, canoeing back the way I came, and yelling help loudly, possibly while on a telephone," he said.
Christopher Columbus left Spain not knowing where he was going and reached the new world. Kurz left Ladysmith knowing where he was headed . . . but that doesn't make the journey any easier.
he gets onto the Redwood River. I've camped on this river upstream from Marshall, MN, and it is only a few feet across and flowing at a trickle most of the summer. He'll be doing alot of walking (portaging) and alot of it may be on roads, as there will be no where to portage along the river. Good luck to him! I look forward to seeing him paddle through Mankato on the Minnesota River. Rich
Jim Kurz was getting soaked in last Saturday's (april 23)rain as he made his way across Lake Wissota in his metal canoe.
With his trusty dog Daisy by his side, the Ladysmith man portaged his way around the Lake Wissota Dam, made his way down the Chippewa River, and was able to take refuge under a bridge at Chippewa Falls.
The 59-year-old Kurz left Ladysmith last Wednesday on a wild excursion he hopes will end in Montana sometime this October.
"We got our first rain on Wissota and got good and soaked," Kurz said in a phone message.
"It was nice to be able to seek refuge under that bridge. We had some hot cocoa, got a change of clothing and dried out," he said.
Lee McIlquham was at the new county conservatory below the Wissota dam when he came across Kurz.
"I looked down towards the portage and saw an aluminum canoe with a homemade sail. I thought it was a bit unusual but didn't give it a lot of thought until I saw him on the hill," McIlquham said.
"He said he came from Ladysmith and was heading to Montana -- by water," he said. "That's one worth keeping track of."
McIlquham said he'll spend the next few months keeping an eye on Kurz' website, www.sistersfarm.com, where the man is keeping an Internet-based diary of his and Daisy's journey.
Later Sunday Kurz was met by Judy Ganzer of Chippewa Falls as he portaged across Court Street to bypass the NSP dam.
Kurz had just finished portaging his gear across Court Street in four separate treks and finished reloading the canoe, when he met Ganzer.
"It was easy to determine this man is ready for the long haul," she said. "His canoe was set up with extra paddles, a rudder and sail for use in open waters, cooler, dried food, dog food and supplies under waterproof covering."
As Kurz headed off down the Chippewa River once again he looked back towards Ganzer and with one final message.
"As he paddled off toward Eau Claire, Jim shouted that he plans to be back in Wisconsin in time for hunting season," she said.
"Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and cheer and give strength to body and soul." --John Muir
Thursday 7 April 2005 – I drove to Lake Jeanette Park on the Echo Trail. The lake was totally ice covered. LIS South was mostly ice covered and not yet navigable. LIS north looked promising but I could see ice in distance.
Sunday – I woke up at Sioux Falls Portage and moved up river all day. I was glad to get away from the noise of the waterfall. I set up at a place I call 3Pass because the river is so sinuous that you pass the camp twice before arriving on the third pass. The distance is slightly over 10 river miles but the river current against me was more than 1 mph as measured with my GPS so at 3 mph water speed I was only getting 2 mph ground speed. There were clouds and thunder in the west. I rigged for rain. It rained. I retired early. I was tired.
The tent is anchored with heavy rocks inside in the corners.
First of three moose encounters. There was no opportunity for a good shot.
Friday – I woke up at Lake Jeanette and put in for a day trip downstream north to practice ice paddling. The ice was 3”- 6" thick and well candled. Large sheets of ice, typically half as wide as the channel, were wedged together from shore to shore with open water reaches in between. I was able to run up on them with the canoe where the joined and sometimes skootch along to the other side or allow the edges to gradually sag and break under me. It would have been helpful to have a paddle with a couple of sturdy spikes attached to the blade. I was always able to get through but all those huge sheets of ice that I liberated would begin to move and pick up speed in the powerful current, collide with other sheets, become wedged from shore to shore, and effectively slam the doors shut behind me as I moved downstream. I traveled as far as the portage and then worked my way back up to the EP.
Saturday – I woke up at Lake Jeanette. I knew that I would be moving up river today but decided to allow another half day of melting. I took a 4 hour hike on the Sioux Hustler Trail. After noon I began moving up river breaking through or skootching over ice several times during the first two miles. Then it was all clear. I set up camp at Sioux Falls Portage. I cut fire wood but then decided against lighting it because of dry conditions and lack of fire grate or fire ring.
Beaver Dam on Sioux Hustler Trail
Beaver Dam on Sioux Hustler Trail
Little Indian Sioux River at Entry Point 9 (South)
Sioux Falls – Portage is on the right. There’s a place to pitch a tent on the left, a very noisy place. This picture is borrowed from my April 04 trip with nibi mocs.
Tuesday – I woke up at 3Pass. My original ambition was to try to make it up to the headwaters but the wind was still up and I had bothersome shoulder and neck pain. I decided it was not worth the effort to move further up river, especially today. I made a day trip to the Bootleg Lake (toe) portage to check out the ice. It appeared to be about 90% covered but was receding from the shore. Depending on the wind it may be navigable tomorrow.
View From Camp 3Pass
Floating down river in calm weather is ideal for wildlife spotting.
Same Deer
During the trip I made numerous forays ashore to hunt moose with camera preset for 300 MM, high ISO, and low F-stop to maximize shutter speed. In this case, seduced by a landscape situation, I changed lenses and settings just before this one suddenly stood up. My first shot automatically focused on brush in the foreground. By the time I switched to manual focus and tuned in he/she (I’ll call her she) was much alarmed by the thing with the one big eye. She moved off only a short distance and began communicating with the really big guy who suddenly stood up a stone’s throw to my right [Clever fellow!]. I missed him too. I learned that when you hunt with a camera you need to maintain strict hunting discipline at all times. Next time …
Wednesday – I woke up at 3Pass. Clear sky. I packed up camp and moved down to Bootleg Lake. From what I could see from the toe the lake was still mostly ice covered but proved to be workable as it had been on the river. I set up camp at the north end campsite. It was nice to have access to a latrine again. The sandy beach would be nice too if not for all that crushed ice floating on it.
My Stunt Double – I said, “Don’t forget me and the camera!” [I better get the camera.]
The ice near shore here was crushed old ice frozen in with new ice (overnight temperatures were below freezing) … very noisy to paddle through.
Around the bend I had to push through and skootch over old thicker ice.
A spider and an AFB in the base of my camp stove case, surely a rare occurrence.
Thursday – I woke up at Bootleg. It was windy and cold with some rain. I adjusted the wind/rain shelter and mostly took the day off. Finished the book… Pompeii by Robert Harris, and started again.
Sometimes the ice was so pretty it seemed a shame to break it up.
Friday – I woke up at Bootleg and packed for a day trip after breakfast. I spent the day doing a lazy float down the Little Pony River and part of the way back down the LIS where I left a note for nibi mocs and Pierre in case they wanted find me. I warned that one of the portages on Little Pony had been reclaimed by beaver. I found some stuff on the portages.
Saturday – I woke up at Bootleg. A beautiful day. The lake was completely open. I spent the morning and half the afternoon touring the lake shore and taking a slow walk on the toe portage. I returned to camp at 2:30 and began to pack up camp. If my expected company didn't arrive by 4:00 I would start moving down river. I moved down river. After three difficult portages including two bushwhacks, necessary due to beaver activity, I did another slow lazy float down the Little Pony arriving on the LIS at sunset. At about 9:00, finding my way with a flashlight, I finally arrived at the Sioux Falls platyfest where nibi, Pierre, and Joe (portagekeeper) had made themselves comfortable. Found stuff along the way.
My third moose encounter. I had time to get sort of ready for this one but it was too far off and we were both low in the sedges.
Sunday - Woke up on the Sioux Falls Portage. After a late night of sharing stories and other talk and dawdling in camp until noon I paddled for the car and went home.
Pierre Girard
Joe (portagekeeper) Knutson. Actually I took this picture last April when I was equally surprised to find him on this river.
I find some strange things in the wilderness and it seems that the longer I stay out there the less I expect just normal things to happen. Sometimes, while reviewing pictures from various trips … I mean pictures of normal things like a bird or a squirrel or a black ping pong ball .. I’ll get sort of a flashback to the moment and recall a gut feeling that maybe there was something out there ... something unexpected … and I’ll go back and photoshop the heck out of the shadows and backgrounds to see if maybe there was … something ….else…
I’m not sure where to go with the above picture. If I didn’t know nibi mocs, and if I weren’t troubled by the striking resemblance, I would rush this picture of a yeti to the National Enquirer.
..and good to hear no mention of wood ticks. The kids stopped counting the first day at over 50 ticks pulled from their clothes, bodies, etc last June on that trip!
At the north site on bootleg, there was a nice tent pad...with a widowmaker hanging right over it. Did that tree ever fall or get taken down? We told the SNF office about that tree.
"We do not remember days, we remember moments...." Cesare Pavese
I didn't notice a "widowmaker". Maybe it's gone but I'm like Mr. McGoo. It could have fallen next to my tent and I might only trip over it on the way to the latrine.
the later one of the moose was really neat - I thought the out-of-focus quality amd soft colors made it dreamlike. What shape was your canoe in after doing the icebreaker thing for days?
The canoe held up ok. The ends are well protected with kevlar skid guards. Sliding over the ice only made light scratches in the paint, of less concern than the usual nicks and scrapes from hitting rocks. She gets a new coat of paint in the fall. The hull flexed a couple of times just under the seat in a way that made me cringe. There are some stress lines but no breach. I have an idea for reinforcing it before the next ice trip.
The beauty of those pictures is truly stunning, and your close-ups are always my favorites. What kind of lens etc do you use for those (like the one of the bug standing on the water - amazing!)?
The shot of the ducks flying is also fantastic. Look like Scaup to me - but the ducks on the water toward the end of the trip look like Ring-Necks. Do you ID them? Also, in the picture with the ducks flying, is that a cherry tree blossoming?
HoHo - I agree with your ID on the ducks. The tree below the flying ducks appears, to my eye, to be a jack pine. The cones have a high reflectivity, and so may fool you into thinking they are white blossoms.
ExitB - I really enjoyed the vicarious adventure. I hope you continue to take us along via your stories and photos!
The bug on the water was taken from about 6' away using the Nikon D70 with the 70-300 MM zoomed all the way out. It allows getting up close without chasing off the subject. For more cooperative close-up subjects I like to use the Olympus 4040 in macro mode with lens on full wide. I can set that one up on a mini tripod and shoot using the timer or IR remote.
Thanks for the report and photos. By the way I really like the painted stripper. Usually people don't paint them. Is that a extra layer of royalex or fiberglass?
is Valspar Marine Topside Polyurethane Enamel applied over a primer. You know, a sudden change in the weather can get you into trouble with these canoes out in the garage as well as on the water. It happened to me while applying the filler coat of epoxy. I like the blue too, and I never have to admit that it covers cosmetic flaws.
This is one of our favorites. A 29" giant from Jesse Lake caught in August of 2003.
I highly recommend Jesse Lake for an execellent base camp lake. The surrounding little lakes are very nice for day trips especially Oriana, Walter, and Draper.
It was our first time on the lake and after a day of some struggles to find fish we stumbled across one of those midlake humps about the size of a house under about 12 feet of water and surrounded by deeper water. Unless you drift across it with a depth finder it would be difficult to find. I'd guess we were the first to ever fish the spot. Lots of 15" to 20" walleye. Despite our other efforts, we kept returning to the spot and were rewarded on the last morning of our trip at, you guessed it if you have followed the list, about 8:30 am. The fish simply shut off after we landed this fish. I should say Mrs. TL. Its her biggest walleye and what a morning that was. Pretty good to care for a 2 yr old, trick that fish, and reel it in.
The pic does not do it justice. It had an exceptional girth and huge tail - as wide as out 8.5" bentshaft paddle's blade. I got the feeling that it was a very old fish from a lake not known for big fish but rather plenty of numbers. Not a bass in Jesse Lake to my knowledge, may it stay that way. The odds are against it. I think we were out of crawlers and this fish was caught on an overcast day using a leech and our standard floating jig / 17lb homemade leader rig. It was a very calm day and the fish was in about 20' of water well away from the top of the reef. Also another example of persistance paying off: being the last day of a very nice trip it would have been easy to be lazy and slept in. If I remember correctly, we had a small human alarm clock along who rang at 6 am every morning.
How many of the top 10 were returned for anglers to come?
I assume these large fish go back and you keep the mid-sized ones for breakfast, dinner etc. I do not recall you saying what happened to each fish in your reports, and as an angler who practices CPR (catch-photo-release) when I do fish I was curious.
I would love for you to add to each story what happened with the fish-kept for dinner or returned.
Thanks for letting me know.
"When a man is part of his canoe, he is part of all that canoes have ever known."
Sigurd F. Olson
Of course all of these big ones were released with care. The camera is ready when they come into the canoe or they stay in the net in the water. As the fish is held out of the water, a couple photos are taken and a quick measurement for length - never one of those bogus scales that hooks a gill plate to weigh a fish. I personally have kept two or three 20" walleyes in 50 trips otherwise every walleye is in the 13 to 17 inch range and we limit ourselves to one meal on a short trip and two for a week. Being a small group we know we need three fish and fish are never eaten alone; there are side dishes to make it a complete meal. So we are not "pigging" out only on fish. This is how our tripping has evolved. I'm sorry to say it was not like that the first couple times.
I would never keep one of those big ones for a whole host of reasons.
While looking at my Topo USA screens, I see Silver Creek running into the UIR just south of Kendallville, and a small tributary called Black Falls- anyone have any idea what these are? Is there actually a falls? I am tempted to paddle up there on Saturday- anyone else interested?
There is a forum there (under the Community tab). I'm sure someone on that site will know the details.
BTW: It's a great forum, though a bit too much white-water kayaking for my personal tastes. Lots of very knowledgeable people there including our own Brian Stoner and Nate Hoovegenen (sp?) who wrote the book "Paddling Iowa".
Just got the call a bit ago, Cherry's has a baby girl!!! Talked to Vale for a few minutes, everybody is fine. I will let Vale post the particulars, but she says the baby is between 6& 7 lbs and is crying healthily. Congrats!
"Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and cheer and give strength to body and soul." --John Muir
Has anyone tried to go from the Mississippi, to the Rainy River or the Winnepeg River, via the Big Fork River? Like what some of the Fur traders or the American Indians used to do prehistorically? If so, how was it? What were the portages like?
"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one corner of the Earth all one's lifetime." Mark Twain
.... does anyone have any experience with these or pointers? I've been using Peak 1s for 25 years, and I wore one of my two out. I thought it was time for a change. Any words o'wisdom would be greatly appreciated.
but would get the repair kit, just in case. That is one thing I like about MSR stoves- you can field clean and repair almost anything that can go wrong with them with the repair kit.
I got a dragonfly a couple years ago and like it a lot. When you bring up old stoves you've had for years it makes me smile.
I have an old whisperlite, I would guess I have had it roughly 20 years. No shaker jet. I keep a maintenance kit with it and replace the o-rings once every couple of years. I don't see not using it or replacing it for at least another 20.
But I might buy an isobutane crux or something like that because they're so damn cute. And a guy likes to have toys to play with.
This post may or may not be an opinion of Mr. Semisolo, may not be taken as gospel or as an invitation to controversy, divisiveness or ridicule. These postings may or may not be politically correct, and the author reserves the right to refer to those who subscribe to such blather as blithering idiots. Such postings are the sole property of the writer and are subject to no interpretation other than by the author of this post and serve the sole purpose of being for his own amusement.
Nibi, always love your pics. What kind of battery
life do you get out of your Olympus Stylus?? Do you
take a means of recharging your batt on your longer trips?
I typically get 4-5 days (200-250 pictures) of shooting off one charge. I bought a spare battery and make sure that both are charged up just before I go on a trip. So far, I've never run out of battery power (for my Olympus) although I've run out of memory a couple of times.
Now, Olympus has a new battery which is supposed to have about 33% more life per charge. I got 2 of them with my new Stylus 500 but haven't had a chance to test battery life yet. One battery was more than enough for my recent, 4 day, Little Indian Sioux trip.
So far, I haven't had a need to look for a means of recharging during a trip. Although, I am thinking along those lines for my upcoming trip on the Yukon River.
Larry
To really appreciate the wilderness, one must pay attention to the small things as well as the grandiose.
This fish ranks as the estimated sixth biggest walleye to enter our canoe. Caught last summer in late June. It always amazes me how these big walleyes have a different appearance. Minutes earlier # 10 ten was caught and was heavy through the body and very golden. This fish was long and lean and milky white with grayish coloration. Same spot, same depth, same day and time. Why the difference in color? Genetics? Anyone have an answer? Male and Female? Some big fish often have a distinct hump just beyond the head that gives extra girth around the main body (not this one too much in the pic). I suspect this is for the female fish that allow more eggs to be carried? Just a guess.
Anyway, caught on a nightcrawler and floating jig at about 8 pm. in about 15 feet of water. Sometimes the fishing Gods smile upon you and sometimes they ________ on you. The Gods were having one heck of a party that night in Quetico.
I fish for walleye quite frequently in Washington state. From my experience, the lighter color fish are typically residing in deeper water. Early spring fish are always lighter in color than fall fish. Less light penetration and thus the lighter color. I've caught yellow perch (same family) that are extremely light in color and when we put them in a bucket of water in the sunlight, they turn much darker. Whereas they might both have been caught in the same depth, more than likely the lighter colored walleye had been spending more time in deeper water. Light penetration, due to such factors as water clarity, color, etc., will vary greatly. I once caught a largemouth bass that was so dark green he/she appeared to be black. Caught the fish in shallow water also. Just my .02.
I was able to get together with about 70 other paddlers from the SD, MN, IA area and float 11 miles of the Big Sioux River. This group consisted of Sierra Club folks, a group known as the "Prairie Paddlers" or our original name, "South Dakota Canoe Association", and several guests. The event was advertized in our local paper ahead of time which helped the turn out. Two journalists from the paper joined. One was strictly there to report and did not paddle. The other was along to paddle, and perhaps present a story from another perspective.
... I worked. Penance for taking a 4 day weekend a week before. I guess I can take a little satisfaction in that part of my job these days is to make sure our future products meet European standards designed to make sure that future electronic gear is a bit more earth friendly.
In the evening, I got more pdj's ready to go... ensuring a steady supply of pictures of a special corner of earth through May 19.
Larry
To really appreciate the wilderness, one must pay attention to the small things as well as the grandiose.
segment on how much cleaner the air is since the first Earth Day in the 70's. I cant remember exact percentages but they were impressive. Personally I just forgot what day it was.
And let me guess, industry has voluntarily done it and Pres. Bush is responsible for much of the cleaner air so there is no need for this Liberal, politically motivated holiday? Was that the message from that fat, lard -bottomed know-it-all?
What did I do? I have a wonderful lesson for my students about Earth Day (lots of fun) and I wore my "celebrate Earth Day " T-shirt to school. On the shirt is a quote from Thoreau, "In wildness there is preservation of the World." with a mountain scene. Too bad we had spaghetti for lunch and as usual I got spots on it.
I better add the disclaimer before someone gets bent out of shape and sicks the PC police on me.
This post may or may not be an opinion of Mr. Semisolo, may not be taken as gospel or as an invitation to controversy, divisiveness or ridicule. These postings may or may not be politically correct, and the author reserves the right to refer to those who subscribe to such blather as blithering idiots. Such postings are the sole property of the writer and are subject to no interpretation other than by the author of this post and serve the sole purpose of being for his own amusement.
and picks up trash. It has been our Earth Day tradition since before kids. When the kids were little, we'd push them in their stroller. We probably do about a mile of road, both sides. This year we picked up 3 garbage bags of trash and three more of aluminum cans (to be recycled). This year 2 friends of my son helped out.
Throughout the year (before the snow flies), my wife and I will take a stroll about once a week with a trash bag just to keep up. But Earth Day is our big push and the first trip of the season.
BTW -- the two most common items picked up are Busch Light cans and Marlboro hard packs.
is a real job down here....cultural differences i reckon....one of the joys of visiting the cc.com and bw/q area is that it's so clean compared to down south....your efforts are appreciated!...lm
rural north fla...but we are becoming more like all the rest of it each year. progress. we have been discovered!
on our treks we notice the trash anywhere south of illinois. better (cleaner) as you go north and west...worse (trashier) as you go south...just one of the many interesting differences you see while traveling this beautiful country of ours.
i can pick up a garbage bag full on the road in front of my house in a week or less...ooh i hate those disposable diapers! ...lm
don't tweak anyones nostrils over it but.....
I read the article and posts, and it looks like 30 people or so were out for a paddle and no one actually <did> anything other than observe for "erosion or cleanup" or something like that. I would have thought before reading the article that it would describe a concerted effort on the event of "earth day" to actually physically DO something.
I'm trying not to be a thorn in the side of anyone here, but where does the significance come in if everyone involved was essentially just out for an early spring joyride on the river?
And by the way, before anyone asks, I spent a few hours cleaning up my own little part of the earth I live on, and around. I collected construction debris and litter around the entire pond I live on. Not a group of people, not a publicized effort, not really anything to do with "earth day".
Just a common sense spring cleanup that needed to be done because it's in my nature.
This post may or may not be an opinion of Mr. Semisolo, may not be taken as gospel or as an invitation to controversy, divisiveness or ridicule. These postings may or may not be politically correct, and the author reserves the right to refer to those who subscribe to such blather as blithering idiots. Such postings are the sole property of the writer and are subject to no interpretation other than by the author of this post and serve the sole purpose of being for his own amusement.
Twas a joy ride..it was...and then I forgot to mention as well as the paper, that there was a meeting and pork roast picnic inside a large gazibo after the float, discussing a river clean up day that it annualy held in our area..a bit latter in the spring ..so that more will attend and not whimp out... yeah, when it is warmer, we get a better turn out.
Also topics were reviewed as to what "Large trash" were spotted along the way, such as "CARS" "TRUCKS" "MACHINERY" FENCE GATES" lol...it's the upper great plains after all. Also it was reviewed as how to approach farmers that still like to fence the river completely..which is illegal, but at times..these things..well, get over looked.
This was our first annual event and the event was aimed at getting others to realize and enjoy the beauty of our local river in order to promote interest in paddle sports in our area to encourage others and give others one more reason to protect it. We had a good turn out.
... On April 15, Pierre Girard, Portage Keeper, and I headed upstream (south) on the Little Indian Sioux River on the west side of the Boundary Waters. Most, but not all, the lakes were still ice locked when we went in but, the river was flowing well. Here are a few pictures to "wet" your appetite while waiting for me to prepare more for posting...
A couple of hours of paddling brings you to Sioux Falls. The falls are especially breathtaking this time of year. The following is at the top of the falls, just as the water starts breaking up. I took a similar picture last year but, like this one a lot better.
Nikon D70 SLR, Nikkor 18-70mm zoom, ISO 200, Polarizer
At the bottom of the falls, I found a relatively calm side chute that was lit in the sun and took this "self portrait". If you haven't noticed by now, I love waterfalls... it seemed right to have my shadow superimposed on the waterfall in this way -- in effect, I became one with it!
Nikon D70 SLR, Nikkor 18-70mm zoom, ISO 200, Polarizer
Further upstream from the waterfall, I was on the lookout for pussy willows since I'd seen some last year. I was amazed to find some that weren't fluffed out yet. Although spring, in general, seems to be ahead of last year, the willows were a bit behind.
Olympus Stylus 500, 5MP P&S, in macro mode.
Sunrise on the last day was fantastic at the top of the falls. The temperatures would soar up to 85°.
Olympus Stylus 500, 5MP P&S, in macro mode.
Larry
To really appreciate the wilderness, one must pay attention to the small things as well as the grandiose.
so I can be there nice and early for the Quetico meeting.
After we take this class and pay a fee, we will be able to reserve Quetico permits 9 months in advance next year. The meeting/class is from 10 am to 4 pm. I'll post anything else that may be new for next year after I get back.
I'm going to keep my eye out for how the lake conditions are up there, as different to here in the Ely area.
Not to commercialize, but just to let you know I am one of those "outfitter types"
Take the insulin, put it in a good ziplock, and put it in a strong sack.
Tie a 50' rope to it, with about 2' left over.
Tie a mesh bag, suitable for holding a small rock to the end.
Take it with you.
Once up there, grab a rock or two, go out into the water and "sound" (check water depth) until you find a spot at least 20', but less than 50'deep. (rope length could vary).
Tie a PFD to the free end, and let it go.
The rock should hit bottom first, suspending the insulin 2' above the bottom.
Once beneath the thermocline layer, it should stay about 60 degrees, or even less, even during the hottest days.
Beware of diabetic northerns.
If travelling, haul it out in the morning, wrap (insulate) well, and place in a pack that will not be baking in the sun.
Supposedly works just fine, no matter how hot it gets in the summer- just make sure it is at least 20' down- others might be able to give more info on temps and depths.
Above from Jim at Canoe Canada Outfitters, Atikokan, when we had a chat about keeping beer in plastic bottles cold!
someone should have the extras with them, not with the diabetic. And a couple of people should be well-versed in administering the insulin if it's needed.
pen you are using. It may or not be recommended. I double checked the instructions for some of the most common insulins and they all say that the insulin vial or pen in use should be kept below 86 degrees and away from heat and direct sunlight. Some can be refrigerated, some not, once opened. Unopened insulin should be stored in the refrigerator but not frozen. Some insulin comes in pre filled pens and the instructions in fact say don't refrigerate once used, but keep cool, for several of the common ones. The bottom line is they need to talk with their doctor or at least their pharmacist about the insulins they are using and get detailed handling directions. They also need to be ready to deal with insulin reactions or low blood sugar. Most people are instructed in what to do for low blood sugar and there are shots for that. They also need to allow for the effect of activity on the child's diabetes- it will likely lower the blood sugar or reduce the need for insulin. They should have extra vials in case of breakage and should leave some with you in your refrigerator for their return.
It would make it easier if they don't go during a heat wave. Certainly using some sort of cooler, etc for the first day or two of the trip that ice would last would decrease the odds of problems. I think I have seen Stu in the BWJ promote fresh food with an insulated pack and claims the ice lasts several days? That set up might add some peace of mind.
Hope this helps.
I am an insulin-dependant diabetic and have had to deal with this problem for many years. I place the insulin pen and any extra insulin in a sealed plastic bag. Then wrap the bag in a damp white t-shirt or towell. Have to be diligent about keeping the the damp t-shirt in the shade and have found that laying it on the bottom of the canoe also helps because the lake water is fairly cool even in mid-summer. When the t-shirt doesn't feel cool, then dunk it back in the water, wring it out and re-wrap the bag. I have found that the insulin stays cool even on the hottest days in July due to the cool water in Quetico-BWCA lakes. I use the same technique overnight and the insulin is still cool in the morning. Have to be very diligent about not leaving it in the sun and checking to make sure it doesn't dry out. Please e-mail me if you have any questions.
He kept his vials in the cooler on the way up (careful not to freeze) and then stashed them in a special "vial kit" he had. During the day, he'd use one of those instant cold compresses (where you have to break an inner bag and shake it, the reaction inside produces cold), and stash it in his vial kit, which then went in his pack.
Since we went in May, the nights weren't as big an issue and he didn't have to use a compress.
The only problem was packing the spent packs out.
But I think he only used like four on the whole trip, and they were the smaller bags, so it wasn't a huge issue.
I have pasted all the links from your answers/comments and sent them to him so he can read them over.
So many good ideas and I can't believe I didn't think of any of them except a possible battery operated cooler! I researched that and only found some that plugged into a car sized batter. Wouldn't want to have to portage that baby around!
Not to commercialize, but just to let you know I am one of those "outfitter types"
Just a precaution (I'm an MD): kids with diabetes are usually different than our adult friends with diabetes. Kids usually have Juvenile Onset Diabetes; they have virtually no insulin of their own and are totally dependant on the insulin they inject.
Most adults with diabetes have Adult Onset Diabetes; although they have high blood sugars they also make quite a bit of insulin (they are resistant to their own insulin); they can usually go days or weeks without insulin before they get into trouble.
So, don't take it lightly if by chance the insulin is lost or gets ruined. You'll be ok, but you'll need to get your young man back to civilization within a day or so. Be sure that either you or another adult knows how to run his glucometer and how to treat his low or high blood sugars. You might want to have him bring along some "glucagon" which is an injection for low blood sugars.
I don't mean to discourage this trip at all - it is great that he wants to go and you want to take him - just need to be prepared. I've been with kids with diabetes and seizures in somewhat remote areas and they really enjoyed being able to go.
especially about being prepared for high/low blood sugar reactions. Have not one but two glucagon injectors along and make sure more than one person knows how to identify symptoms and respond appropriately.
We trek with a diabetic and he's had some hairy episodes in the woods. They get used to a regimen at home and then throw it all out of whack with different activity levels and eating schedules in the woods. In those situations the diabetic needs to test frequently.
He never had problems with insulin degrading in the heat (mid-late June trips.) He kept it shaded but never went to extraodinary means to chill it. He made sure to take along fresh vials so he knew the potency of his insulin was at it's max when he started out. He also brought along extra vials in case he dropped one and broke it.
One final thing: since it is dangerous to keep candy (lifesavers) in the tent we attach the candy to some cord and hang it from the food pack. In an emergency all we need to do is loosen the cord and the candy is there vs. letting down the whole food pack.
...have the group run the menu by a Registered Dietician, and it would be best if the RD was a Certified Diabetic Educator. As sr trout said, his pancreas probably doesn't make a lick of insulin and he has to "count carbs" for real, not like dieters do with the low carb diets. Along with counting of carbs, his physical output will need to be taken into account. His counting of carbs and exercise relates directly to the dose of insulin he will need to take.
Good meal planning, not skipping meals, travel within the limits of the young man's abilities can maintain good control of sugar and give him a good trip.
The pharmacist has nothing more to add regarding storage of the insulin. Keep it out of the sun as much as possible (hard to find a shade tree in the middle of a lake you're travelling through!), in the middle of a pack and you should be just fine. I did like the tip about the instant cold packs, especially if it looks to be a warm trip. I don't think it would be necessary to dunk the vials in the lake. Glucagon (with someone who knows how and when to use it) should be a real consideration. Life Savers candy is a must, and don't let the other kids chomp it all down!!!
Be very careful with supplies. Separate a couple of sets of vials, strips, and needles would be the right thing to do.
Don't forget about the sharps container. Maybe one of the new plastic Folgers coffee containers would work to doubly contain the sharps container proper, and prevent accidental exposure to used needles/lancets.
was a plastic Diet Coke bottle, from one of the drinks consumed on the drive up.
Weighs virtually nothing, the plastic is stout enough to avoid puncture and the screw top cap kept everything where it was supposed to be, inside the bottle and not poking a pack.
especially once it's opened. It shouldn't be kept in the sun, or allowed to get really warm, but it's fine buried in the middle of a pack, or kept in the shade somewhere. Unopened insulin is kept refrigerated til it's opened, then kept out of the frig til it's used up for longevity, but it would be ok out of the frig before opening for a trip. It needs to be used within 30 days of opening. I would recommend they bring more than one vial of each type used since you never know when there's a problem with one getting broken, etc.
Paradise: caught between the fire and the ice
no need to think twice,
it's where I want to be...........
America (the group)
I just bought two Bending Branches beavertail paddles for my new stripper and I noticed that one of them has significant grain run-out in the shaft. I have to assume that they go through a Q C inspection but it looks like trouble to me and I'm thinking of sending it back. Has anyone else ever had a paddle with grain like that and how did it work out.
Our E.P.is lake one planning on canoeing down the SO. Kawishiwi river to Gabbro lake .. The reason I am writeing this note is I would like to know what portages you have to cross to get to Gabbro lake. I have a fisher map on the map it shows a 30 rod portage and a 120 rod portage route The map also shows a 10 rod and 8 rod portage trip a little south of the 120 r. trip .the map also shows a small stream,looks like you can by pass these two paths and canoeing straight thought a small stream into little Gabbro lake. What is the best route to take,or is there only one way?
The only portage I have taken is the 120 rod. The cool thing about that portage is there is an old logging dam along the portage trail. It looks like it may have been some sort of flume because the middle is open. Anyway it is interesting to think how much manual labor went into building it
I had 4 customers (only rented one canoe, one couple had their own) who came on this idea a few years ago.
The couple who rented my canoe did the 120, the couple who had their own decided to try the stream.
Well, when they came back they told me they almost lost the canoe and hurt themselves! There are a couple rapids there and one of them is pretty hairy. They, sheepishly, said, "now we know why you said don't go there!. We'll listen next time!"
Not to commercialize, but just to let you know I am one of those "outfitter types"
Separating the Subject from the Background: Part I
Making the subject stand out from the background is one of the great challenges in photographing wildlife. Animals, for the most part, are designed to blend into their environment, not stand out. There are some exceptions, of course, such as some butterflies that advertise their noxious taste by their brilliant color. Usually animals that blend into their environment live longer or are better hunters, but it can be tough to make them obvious in photos.
There are several ways of separating the subject from the background. In this session, we’ll look at three of the easiest ways of doing this; finding a simple background, getting down to the subject’s eye level, and looking for contrasting backgrounds.
This photo of trumperter swans I took last winter illustrates all of these three ways, plus a variation.
This photo was shot very early one morning just as the sun was rising. Notice the background.
1) Smooth water simplifies the background and fog obscures the far brushy bank. There are really no distractions in the simplified background. What background detail is available only gives hints at what else there is out there. There is no question about what the subject is, since really the only thing in the photo is just the subject.
2) Getting down on the same level as the subject (I was laying on an ice sheet that extended out from shore—yes, it was safe since the ice was in contact with the bottom of the river) helps to move the immediate background further away and forcing it out of focus. Think of what this photo would look like if I had been standing up. The background would no longer be the obscured shoreline, but the in-focus water immediately behind the birds, since I would have been shooting at a downward angle and the background would be the water within a few inches of the birds. (We'll discuss those blurred out-of-focus backgrounds in the next session, but for now moving the background further away has a tendency to blur background details.)
3) In addition, the swans themselves contrast from the background; a rich white against a bluish background. It would be much harder to separate a blue subject from a blue background or a white subject from a white background. (Think of the proverbial polar bear in a snowstorm or a black bear in the dark!)
3a) There is also a bonus in this shot. Just as I was about to shoot, a ray of light penetrated the fog and spotlit the bird. So not only does color separate a subject from the background, but also the way it is lit. For instance, if you want to improve a shot of a northern orchid, you could move around the orchid so that the orchid is highlighted by a ray of light penetrating the forest canopy, but the background is in shade.
posting! Got to enjoy some wildlife and I learned something. I feel like such a hack with my good camera. Its like I dont deserve to be behind it. Thanks for the lessons and its free. Oh, well, half of my trip photos are slimy fish.
.... I plan to be there. There's a very slight, outside chance Mrs. Mocs and/or Frodo will be with me. Planning to arrive late afternoon/early evening on Friday. Planning to leave sometime on Sunday.
P.S. If anyone wants me to deliver any prints, books, calendars, mousepads, etc. at UIR ... now's the time to let me know! Save yourself shipping and taxes.
Larry
To really appreciate the wilderness, one must pay attention to the small things as well as the grandiose.
I MIGHT be able to make an early Saturday paddle if there is one. We have plans in Minneapolis Saturday night, so I'd need to be off the river by noon or so.
CanoePam, husband Kevin, son Joe, daughter Cheyenne, daughter's friend Chelsea will be there. Cheyenne and Chelsea are going to babysit Troutbreath's children instead of canoeing.
In addition, Daniel (my canoe partner last year) and his new wife are coming.
For Cossack & wife. Boss says "no can take Friday off" Long drive from St. Louis area means we'll be rolling in around midnight. Looking forward to seeing all.
i figure on making some scrambled eggs and such as my contribution since there is always too much food for supper.
i'm leaning towards saturday morning...
karl says we will want to get on the river as soon as possible saturday and should wait until sunday morning...
i think eating b'fast is a good way to start a paddle day nomatter how long it takes... not like it's a race.
CCBB Gathering? Hmmmn, and Kawishiway attending? I must admit my first appearance at copia was due to association with the QJ and a friend named QP. My second appearance was due to many members associated with QP's board, but this gig belongs to memories of a grand night singing along happily with the ccbb band, and some arm bending by Wildernessmama... man if we could only get J Stroke to attend. What songs might be sung then?
I'm bringing a good load of wood. Some NEEDS SPLITTING! It is all dry, but I only have a "short axe". A real axe is requested to be brought along by some-one attending. This would be appreciated, but not to much labor will be required.
Is anyone else coming that early? We may do some paddling on Fridy but will let the girls play around camp and probably go to an Omish lady's store we know. Leaving sometime on Sunday.
I'll be there friday around 5:00 with my 6 year old son. Glad to see there may be some other kids for him to hang around with.
I haven't paddled this river before, so I have 1 more question: At the water level posted above, is this high enough to bring my kevlar boat without having heart failure, or shoudl I rent one? Thanks
last fall, woodsy and i floated the stretch from chimney rock to just below blufton in my lowe line battle cruiser at about 4' and had a couple of small scrapes...
your results may vary
...many times and in all depths, and it has survived. After canoeing the BWCA, a few more scratches won't hurt.
"Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and cheer and give strength to body and soul." --John Muir
Well, I was over at Midwest Mountaineering today and bought myself a pair of Chota Quetico Trekkers and pair of their Brookie neoprene socks.
I hope this may be my answer to wet footing in the BWCA. I have been using a regular hiking boot and gortex oversocks for a few years now and like the way the feel, but the boots didn't dry well. I'm thinking the Trekkers and Brookie socks for spring and fall canoeing and the Trekkers and gortex oversocks
for summer.
and while talking with the Chota rep, they suggested not using the Brookie socks unless it was cold, as they thought during the summer months your feet would get too hot. They suggested wool socks with the Trekkers, which I had been doing in the past with my old water shoes.
I've also been wearing them a lot recently to get my feet accustomed to wearing the Trekkers. So far, so good. I have heard others say that once the insoles got wet, they pulled them out as they became a nuisance. Let me know what you think.
Sorry I missed you at MW today, as I was there too. Saw Brad from the board and he said he saw you. I'll be back for more tomorrow but had to get home to watch the kids while Momof6 was out. I did get a copy of "The Happy Camper" and got Kevin to autograph it. There were so few people around at 9 AM, I spent about 20 minutes talking with him. Super nice guy.
I also bought a couple other books, one being 60 hikes in 60 miles about hiking trails near the Twin Cities.
"We do not remember days, we remember moments...." Cesare Pavese
and I glued the top insole to the bottom and then take both out to "dry" overnight. I told the Chota rep at 'Copia of the problem of the top insole being too thin and bunching up and he said he would have Chota investigate this.
I have used the Quetico trekkers with the Brookie socks for 3 years now and I really like them. I use the combination durring the whole canoe season.In the summer, I find that my feet are moist from sweat when I take the brookies off but for me that beats soaked feet at a portage. Wet feet and blisters go hand in hand with my tender feet. In 2003 my son Zach and I paddled a 275 mile loop through the Bwca using the Quetico and Brookie combination. We never had any foot problems, even on the Long Portage. My recomendations would be to pull the Brookies off as soon as you make camp. Turn them inside out and let them dry. On a nice day they will dry completely and on a wet day they will mostly dry out. We found that it was a good idea to seal the seams of the Brookie. All we had along to do it was shoe goo. It worked well but you don't want to seal the seam on the inside as it tended to chafe my shins. I sealed my son's outside seams only and it worked just fine.
Woodtick405
This will be my third season with Trekkers and I like them a lot. Like you I previously used hiking boots, but these were never designed for constant immersion.
A note of caution - my brother bought a pair like mine and had a problem with the insoles bunching up. Unlike him, make sure you break 'em in before you find yourself on a 240 rod portage. Factory stands behind the product well.
I have yet to treat them with anything. The leather is supposed to be originally treated with something that allows it to get wet and not degrade. All I do is fully dry them and they are ok after 3 years. No checks or cracks.
A question........The Mad River Instructions for the plate has you install the plates while the canoe is upside down.........and then, after getting all the bubbles out of the plate and resin, the directions tell you to right the canoe so the resin can cure........
After you wet out the kevlar, place the skip plates in place on the canoe, then cover them with a piece of Saran Wrap and use masking tape to pull the Saran Wrap tight over the skid plates, you can now use your fingers to smooth the the skid plates and you will get a nice smooth finish. After an hour or so remove the Saran Wrap.
And I remember we talked of friends, family and even the board a little as we sipped our hot cocoa and our hot cider with a touch of kahlua or brandy. Thanks go out to Beaglefur for bringing the beverages to the 4 solos trip October 2003. It now is one tradition I see going on every 4 solos trip.
"When a man is part of his canoe, he is part of all that canoes have ever known."
Sigurd F. Olson
I like the lighting on top of the coffee can and the fire's redness. How did you get the glow of the can's top? Was it from someone holding the flashlight on top?
...yeah, I had one of my assitants shine a flashlight on the top of the coffee pot. I tried some shots w/o a light on the top of the pot and they just didn't look right.
Larry
To really appreciate the wilderness, one must pay attention to the small things as well as the grandiose.
Most of you have a lot more time behind a paddle than I do and I’m wondering how you set up your “work area” so as to be comfy yet productive. Anything from where and how you store your gear to any creative improvements you’ve added to your canoe.
For instance, I don’t like digging for lures or having them all over the bottom of the boat so I used some Velcro to stick a ½” x ½” x 6” piece pine length-wise a few inches under the gunwhale so when I’m done with a lure, I just stab it into the pine strip where it stays (ready and out of the way) until it’s time to pack up or use it again. How about you?
when paddling we like to hydrate directly from the lake. But keeping a loose cup means losing it or having to stow it at every portage.
Attach a loop of cord to the cup handle - a large enough loop that allows you to loop it over a thwart or seat support, pass the cup through the loop and secure it. Quick, no knots to tie, and out of the way.
BTW, cool trick with the lure strip. How would cork (like a piece of self-adhesive cork) or balsa do instead of pine? +/-?
years ago (before I worried about purifying lake water), it was common practice to use the canoe paddle as a means of drinking water out of the lake, a skill I had perfected at one time. You would plunge the paddle straight down in to the lake vertically (the paddle is released breifly as you thrust it in the water ), let it pop up and with a quick yet gracefull motion grab the paddle and lift it up over your mouth with the water dripping off the end of the blade landing in your open mouth. I guess I haven't seen this done lately and perhaps this technique is not used much anymore. But if you don't have any problems drinking out of the lake, it is a useful skill to learn, and your friends will be amused.
On my first BWCA trip in 1966 we used collapsible cups to drink directly from the lake. When finished drinking, it collapses and stores in your pocket, etc. Still have mine and it still works great!!
I stumbled onto a website called outdoorfoam.com. They have some of the neatest products for us fisherpersons. I bought a set of rod holders and a couple of lure blocks for use in my canoe. Both were self adhesive and almost weightless, would highly recommend these products as I have used them for several years without issue and they are relatively inexpensive.
Standard disclaimers, not affiliated, just a satisfied customer who would buy their stuff again.
goose
You can find anything on the internet - but only if you know how to spell it.
I was just sharing this thread with him and love the idea of a "lure keeper". Seems I always have loose jig heads and such. He suggests a length of foam pipe insulation over the thwart or gunwale. That way when you get back to camp you can just pull it off and put your tackle away dry. If it's small enough you can put it in your tackle box, then if you are switching canoes or seats it goes where you go!
Gus just added that I would need about 10 feet of this and that the canoe would list to one side thanks to all the lures I'd have stuck in it! Geesh! Some guys just can't appreciate my seriousness. LOL
I have a custom BDB that is stretched over the thwart in front of the back seat to hold a map. I also have a compass strapped to that thwart that stays there all the time so I can just glance down and keep track of where I am.
This 28.5 inch walleye comes in at #7 and was caught during another 4th of July trip to Insula Lake in 2003. For some reason the fish were not at our reef that year in the kind of numbers that we had come to expect but it could have just been the weather on this short, stormy, rainy trip. I was sure happy to have tangled with this fish being one of only two nice ones from that trip. Caught again on a floating jig and about a 3 inch minnow.
It was a case of fishing a spot within a spot. You have a large reef in the middle of the big water and within that reef there are humps and dips and many times big fish are consistently found within these living room size spots within spots. This fish was caught in about 15 feet of water on a 200 yd log reef that tops out in single digits over much of its length. It was quite windy by 8:30 am (there is that magic time again) when I hooked it and we ended up drifting into a nearby island by the time I landed it - a terrific fight with the wind on her side of the battle. Barely hooked in the lip, I was fortunate to even see her let alone land her.
I would also like to point out the Patagonia silk weight shirt that has come to be my favorite all-around canoe shirt. A little expensive but it provides everything you would want in summer time weather.
We're doing a 7 day loop starting at Lake One in late-September. We'll look for the pictos on Jordan and Fishdance and the Ice Cave on Alice. We've got a few nice sites picked out on Alice, but we're still looking for some good advice for sites on Hudson and Ima. We're going to lay over for a couple of days on either Adams or Boulder and also looking for some feedback on fishing in either of those lakes and sites. Trying to decide which lake to lay-over on?
Thanks in advance for your collective wisdom. Oh..... and we're looking to rent a couple of canoes and crash in someone's bunkhouse for one or two nights, so any recommendations regarding outfitters would be appreciated (Yeh...I know no commercial posts....just recommendations).
"One final paragraph of advice: Do not burn yourselves out. Be as I am - a reluctant enthusiast.....a part-time crusader, a half-hearted fanatic. Save the other half of yourselves and your lives for pleasure and adventure. It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can. While it's still here. So get out there and hunt and fish and mess around with your friends, ramble out yonder and explore the forests, encounter the grizz, climb the mountains, bag the peaks, run the rivers, breathe deep of that yet sweet lucid air, sit quietly for awhile and contemplate the precious stillness, that lovely, mysterious and awesome space. Enjoy yourselves, keep your brain in your head and your head firmly attached to your body, the body active and alive, and I promise you this much: I promise you this one sweet victory over our enemies, over those desk-bound people with their hearts in a sfe deposit box and their eyes hypnotized by desk calculators. I promise you this: You will outlive the bastards." - Edward Abbey
there is a large peninsula with 3 campsites. the one furthest west we stayed at.
One cool thing about that site is that there is a steep rock ledge right at the site. About 2 feet under water there is a shelf to stand on about 18 inches out. If you step off, I beleive it is about 30 feet to the bottom of the lake. We liked it.
"We do not remember days, we remember moments...." Cesare Pavese
Ima Lake: We stayed at the same site that Dadof6 memtioned. It's the last site on the NNW shore before heading to the bay that leads to Jordan Lake. We thought this was a great site. Big rock wall along the front of it so you really can't see much of the site from the lake. A little landing area just at the north end of this rock wall. Once you get out of the canoe and see that site it's very nice. Very level and large area. The rocks are great for sitting on to watch the lake. One evening as we were sitting there we watched an otter float by on its back as it chewed on a sunfish. After dark we also saw an owl move from tree to tree.
Hudson Lake: About half way up the north arm is a little bay on the east side of the lake. The site on the north shore at the entance to this bay is a nice one. You didn't mention how many people were going on this trip. As I recall this site is somewhat small so if you have a larger group (more than 4) it may be a little cramped. Another option here would be Fire Lake. The eastern most site on that lake is nice.
Adams Lake: We haven't stayed on Boulder so can't compare but the island site on adams is a decent one. Has a nice level rock shelf for landing the canoes and a great "dutch oven" type fire grate.
This may not fit your itinerary but also in this area there's a great site on Beaver Lake (Elbow Lake on some maps). The site on the point right where you would turn east to head for the 90 rod portage to Adams. We stopped for lunch at this site and are now trying to plan a trip so we can spend a couple nights here.
This is the fire grate at the island site on Adams. About the only time I've taken a pic just to show the fire grate.
This is the canoes at the island site landing. Nice level and it continues out into the lake for a ways. If you look close at the shore line in the background; towards the left side of the pic you can kind of makeout where the site is that's due west of the island site. This also looked like a nice site the one day we paddled past it.
for all of the site info! There will only be four of us and our schedule is flexible but we are planning to take a couple of days off in the Beaver, Adams, Boulder area to fish and explore! My only concern is that the fishing is probably better on Insula, Alice, Thomas, etc. As long as we can catch some Northerns for dinner that will suffice.
"One final paragraph of advice: Do not burn yourselves out. Be as I am - a reluctant enthusiast.....a part-time crusader, a half-hearted fanatic. Save the other half of yourselves and your lives for pleasure and adventure. It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can. While it's still here. So get out there and hunt and fish and mess around with your friends, ramble out yonder and explore the forests, encounter the grizz, climb the mountains, bag the peaks, run the rivers, breathe deep of that yet sweet lucid air, sit quietly for awhile and contemplate the precious stillness, that lovely, mysterious and awesome space. Enjoy yourselves, keep your brain in your head and your head firmly attached to your body, the body active and alive, and I promise you this much: I promise you this one sweet victory over our enemies, over those desk-bound people with their hearts in a sfe deposit box and their eyes hypnotized by desk calculators. I promise you this: You will outlive the bastards." - Edward Abbey
I would love any info you find on the ice cave when your there. Are you going threw beaver? Because if you are we found a cave off the beaver portage to Adams. Email me if you want more info
......planning to go through Beaver and into Adams. Any info. on this cave would be appreciated and I'll be certain to share any info on the Ice Cave if we find it! I'll try to GPS the location!
"One final paragraph of advice: Do not burn yourselves out. Be as I am - a reluctant enthusiast.....a part-time crusader, a half-hearted fanatic. Save the other half of yourselves and your lives for pleasure and adventure. It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can. While it's still here. So get out there and hunt and fish and mess around with your friends, ramble out yonder and explore the forests, encounter the grizz, climb the mountains, bag the peaks, run the rivers, breathe deep of that yet sweet lucid air, sit quietly for awhile and contemplate the precious stillness, that lovely, mysterious and awesome space. Enjoy yourselves, keep your brain in your head and your head firmly attached to your body, the body active and alive, and I promise you this much: I promise you this one sweet victory over our enemies, over those desk-bound people with their hearts in a sfe deposit box and their eyes hypnotized by desk calculators. I promise you this: You will outlive the bastards." - Edward Abbey
Larry 
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