Recent content by Sturgeon

Are the American department stores dying, too? I remember as a kid Carson Pirie Scott in Minneapolis...still there? JC Penny, Montgomery Ward? When I was a kid, S.S. Kresge's and Eaton's anchored the downtown in Port Arthur, and Chapple's anchored downtown Fort William, both now parts of...

Here's my canoeing tent. It's a Taiji 2 from 3F UL Gear, a Chinese company. Here it is on an island in Crooked Lake in Quetico in 2022. It's an exoskeleton tent, which means the fly is under the poles, so you can leave the inner tent attached to the fly, and put it up in the rain ; i.e...

Just a thought...depending on where you live in Wisconsin, you could drive to Sudbury and get on the train there. It might be shorter than driving to Armstrong.

Trowbridge Falls campground (city-run) is on Hodder Avenue just north of the trans-Canada highway. A lot closer than Kakabeka or the KOA. Check out the Thunder Bay subReddit as they have good recommendations for cool restaurants. At the moment, downtown north side (Port Arthur) seems to have the...

I had planned to drive 2 hours from Toronto to watch totality from Fort Erie, on the Canadian side of the Niagara River as it exits Lake Erie near Buffalo. but the forecast was not looking favourable. So, on Sunday, I drove 7 hours to the south shore of Montreal, and on Monday i chose a random...

Tried a lot of things: GSI drip coffee thingie that sits above your cup. it used to be 5 bucks. but they added a matching plastic cup and increased the price to $13. https://www.mec.ca/en/product/5018-696/ultralight-java-drip?colour=NO_COLOUR It's just a melitta style drip cone, but even...

I like Algonquin Outfitters--have used them exclusively to rent canoes, and have never had a bad interaction with them--but this is getting a bit monopolistic. They operate the Opeongo store and the store at Brent as well. I wonder why the family that ran the Portage Store for 47 years lost the...

"this is what it typically looks like when a canoeist goes on group paddling trip in most of the USA: a solitary canoe surrounded by a swarm of kayaks." I guess it makes sense. Most of the the US is a territory full of rivers, where portages are few. A heavy kayak is not a big issue. Canada (at...

I'm going to try out this hat on an upcoming trip. It's pre-teated with permethrin. Great sun coverage and the front brim does not seem floppy (my pet peeve in the wind). I'll let you know how it goes. Mark's Outback Hat with Flap

I'm seriously considering a Draumr just because the tree-to-tree distance looks so small. It can be tough finding a nice clear 15-20 foot space between two trees for my bridge hammock, and it looks like the Draumr needs much less space, although it would require more lateral space. I too have...

Like Scratchypants, I bought a Snowgoose parka by Metro Sportswear many years ago (early 1990s) before they changed the brand to Canada Goose . I paid $200 tax included. and wore it until it fell apart. Turned around and bought a Canada Goose in 2007 but it was three times what I spent for that...

total speculation here, but I get the feeling that the Canada/US border will be closed to non-essential even after the restrictions have been loosened within the provinces / country. So for a park like Quetico, where the majority users are American, this would a be a good year for Canadians to...

On the water, the pfd stays on. But the rain jacket will be put on or taken off according to conditions. So rain jacket goes over the pfd. This also helps things breathe, and keeps the pfd dry. I also don't want to take off my pfd while on the water to take off the rain jacket. Pfd is always on...

When I really think about it... 1970 more crap from Japan! ......1990 Look at my new Accord! 1990 more crap from Korea!....... 2010 Look at my Samsung S3! 1995 more crap from Taiwan!...... 2015 Look at my Asus monitor! 2020 more crap from China! ...... 2030 Look at my ___________ ! Hey...

Just sent a payment by PayPal. thanks for your work keeping the site going. Sturgeon aka Ralph