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Canoe tripping

wooglin

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When I was a kid my parents sent me to Camp Keewaydin in Ontario for a summer. Even us youngest campers (I was 12) spent almost the whole summer on trips and not at the base camp, paddling wood and canvas canoes and carrying wanigans and packs with tump lines. Very intense and memorable, and they’re still at it. 105 years and counting in fact.

 

Ogg

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When I was a kid my parents sent me to Camp Keewaydin in Ontario for a summer. Even us youngest campers (I was 12) spent almost the whole summer on trips and not at the base camp, paddling wood and canvas canoes and carrying wanigans and packs with tump lines. Very intense and memorable, and they’re still at it. 105 years and counting in fact.

I did a similar thing when I was 17 with camp Darrow in Maine. We spent about a month "in the bush" of Northern Quebec. We had one food drop from a pontoon plane in the middle of the trip. Wood and canvas canoes are quite heavy to portage. I think it rained ~75% of the time but at least that kept the black flies away.
 

Scruffy

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I'm always canoe tripping in the Adirondacks. I have a 20lb 16ft kevlar canoe now, so portages are a lot easier than my old Old Town 80lber. I Use to do a week in Maine; Millinocket north to the St Johns river along the Allagash.
 

Wilhelmson

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When I was a kid like 14 my Mom would drop my friend and me off to canoe local smaller rivers ( streams by many standards). The trips were 4 to 5 hours. We never knew how far we would get if the river got choked up with brush. We didn't have phones of course so would have to knock on a door to call for our ride home.
 

Tom K.

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I grew up a stone's throw from the Boundary Waters.

As a wee lad -- before it was the BWCA -- it was small fishing boats and motors and portaging and lots of walleyes.

Then BWCA happened and it was all canoes and paddling, and more camping once we got deep in there.

Funny thing is that after it became formally protected as BWCA it slowly but surely became more crowded, not less, as it gained notoriety.

My then-fiance and I hiked the Border Route Trail around 1983. When done, we were still on speaking terms, so we went ahead and got married! :ogbiggrin:

No paddling these days. We keep talking about it, but biking, hiking and horseback riding (Mrs. K only) fill the warm weather months adequately.
 

François Pugh

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I grew up a stone's throw from the Boundary Waters.

As a wee lad -- before it was the BWCA -- it was small fishing boats and motors and portaging and lots of walleyes.

Then BWCA happened and it was all canoes and paddling, and more camping once we got deep in there.

Funny thing is that after it became formally protected as BWCA it slowly but surely became more crowded, not less, as it gained notoriety.

My then-fiance and I hiked the Border Route Trail around 1983. When done, we were still on speaking terms, so we went ahead and got married! :ogbiggrin:

No paddling these days. We keep talking about it, but biking, hiking and horseback riding (Mrs. K only) fill the warm weather months adequately.
Spent a week in Quetico a few years ago.
Here's one of my most memorable trips.
 

Tony S

I have a confusion to make ...
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I did a similar thing when I was 17 with camp Darrow in Maine. We spent about a month "in the bush" of Northern Quebec. We had one food drop from a pontoon plane in the middle of the trip. Wood and canvas canoes are quite heavy to portage. I think it rained ~75% of the time but at least that kept the black flies away.
I was down the road a ways aways at Maine Wilderness Canoe Basin.
 

martyg

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Paddling was my jam. All forms. Spanning expeditionary, competitive, and instructional careers.

Shots are from a 1,200 mile solo on the Voyageur's Route, guiding in Mongolia, training on the Potomac. Proibably the coolest thing about the solo: The generosity of others. Throughout the entire trip, people invited me into their homes, lives, shared meals with me. This is one of the greatest aspects of solo travel, IMO.

These days I playboat on benign Class III / IV rivers, on warm, sunny days: teach on the Animas and Rogue; do some occassional guest guiding on the Middle Fork of the Salmon and in Patagonia.


gb back shot.jpg

gb washing face.jpg


gb North Bay.jpg

Delgamor put-in camp (1024x681).jpg


fishing Delgamor.jpg

Potomac_004 LR (800x562).jpg
 
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DanoT

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@wooglin, great video, brought back some great canoe trip memories for me.

In my late teens I was a canoe trip guide, "Tripper Dan" at Camp Tamakwa on South Tea Lake in Ontario's Algonquin Provincial Park; 2,900 square miles in area with 2,100 lakes, all connected by streams and short portages (up to 3 miles long). Great times, best job I ever had.
 

Tony S

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You know if the the subject of canoeing comes up, it's going to attract some Canadians.
 

scott43

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You know if the the subject of canoeing comes up, it's going to attract some Canadians.
Yeah..it starts young..I had the older boy out 2 years ago. Duck to water.. Been doing kayak more just solo. But with the boys getting into that age range, will start back with the canoe next summer.
 

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