Recent content by PacketFiend

I'm a weekend pilot responsible for keeping my soaring club up to date with the smoke forecasts. It's entirely new to me, flying in smoke in southern Ontario. For two or three weeks there hasn't been a visible horizon (a big problem for pilots). In our case (Orangeville area), the smoke cleared...

Mine told me to do it to the sound of breaking and then squishy ribs. One of these days I'll have to ask a professional paramedic.

If you're in Ontario, I highly recommend Steve Tripp's courses. I've taken both his basic and advanced wilderness courses. He does them in person, usually at a group campsite of some kind. Frontenac Park is commonly used. They'll last over a long weekend, typically in the fall. He's very good...

I thank you for your achievements, Glenn.

This is actually a fantastic way to enter the Albany if fire or high water makes it iffy to start from the headwaters. I'm planning a resupply at Ogoki. Starting from Nakina or Aroland and then taking the North Channel I think it is, Ogoki will still be roughly halfway-ish. A bit less direct...

It's a bit far from the general area (that being the Albany) to be a backup. I did the Missinaibi twice with trains but sadly, those trains don't exist anymore. There's some talk that they may come back, but it hasn't happened yet. When we did Wabakimi in 2020, the Marshall Lake loop was our...

My plan B will likely be Wabakimi. I paddled three weeks there in 2020. Otherwise that plan B would be Woodland Caribou, or maybe Opasquia from Pickle Lake. Given the cost and time involved with running the Albany, I don't think either alternative would be insurmountable, if somewhat planned...

I'm planning on running the Albany river in 2024. The problem is that my usual companions will (I think) be unable to do it. I can't do it alone - it is for lack of a better description, above my pay grade. I intend to run the entire river, from north of Thunder Bay to the coast. I'm thinking 4...

I have a canvas sheathed steel canteen I bought at a Dutch army surplus store, 30 years ago. I sill use it - in a pinch, I can boil water in it. It fits on my belt quite well. I feel at home when I have that canteen with me.

Having tripped with a type 1 diabetic, while this is a cool story... meh, it's not that simple. Now I take both beef jerky (high salt/protein) and corner store candy (nothing but sugar), and keep it available. Energy bars are tops. Never liked Callan's stories much. He can portage like a mofo...

I'm an IT man. I sit in front of computer screens with green text on a black background, all day, every day (because that contrast is the least headache-inducing). One of my biggest strengths is network engineering. In a nutshell, I build computer networks for a living. In layman's terms...

Actually... I hadn't considered the possibility in that way... it might alleviate the thwart issue. Definitely something to think about over winter ;)

Yes that. I've had "sexy time" nude in a canoe on a few cool misty mornings, but never "sex". Thwarts get in the way. The mechanics are left as an exercise to the the reader.

They are surprisingly agile in a four foot swamp, and unbelievably fast to boot. And they're violent when they're angry. Their calves make excellent bear food at a time of year when food is otherwise very scarce, and they know it. To a moose, I look very bear-like. I am more afraid of moose...