Recent content by tketcham

As the Rock Man* said in the Pointless Forest: "We see what we want to see and we hear what we want to hear." We're constantly validating our beliefs and Mr. Callan believes his (and others) writing and speaking has been a positive influence. I hope so, with more people out there paddling we'd...

What's the threshold in acreage for the EPA to consider a waterbody a lake? Reason I ask is that there are hundreds of lakes within the lower 48 missing from that map if the lakes shown within Vermont are representative. As to the value of reservoirs, I agree, I'd hate to see every dam removed...

Yes. :) Many of those 2300 dams were smaller dams that had become liabilities for the current owners. Dams have a lifespan and when they get old they become very expensive to maintain and/or they no longer serve their purpose. A dam built for flood control for example, may no longer hold enough...

Nice get-a-way you found. Small rivers are especially fun to explore because of the fun obstacle courses they offer and those big white pine are impressive. "I made the carry from the reservoir to the bridge in about 45 minutes taking 3 breaks to rest my shoulders." - A yoke pad can help with...

That is true for areas of North America where fire suppression has been relatively effective. Between lightning strikes and indigenous burning, pre-settlement fire return intervals maintained a natural balance (and mosaic) of low severity surface fires and high severity replacement fires. For...

So much for our planned trip to Quetico in September. About half the area we were going to paddle is now burned over. Might be able to salvage a trip if the fire doesn't burn to the north or west and rain puts it out before we get there. But not sure if Ontario Parks will even allow people to...

Back to canoeing... 😜 I recently had an interesting discussion with a retailer that sells and rents canoes, kayaks, and SUPs. I asked him about canoe sales and what people were buying. He said solo canoes are his best seller, especially set up as a pack canoe. Interestingly, kayak fisher(wo)men...

I find it difficult to understand how these killing machines are allowed to remain. I know it will cost a fortune to retrofit (or remove) low head dams but Congress seems to find tens of billions in extra military spending.

I owned a Clipper Sea-1 canoe (which is much like a Kruger Sea Wind), which is designed for big, open water paddling, where the wind and waves can make paddling a real chore. I used the rudder in windy conditions quite a bit at first, but I found the rudder to be distracting and unnecessary in...

The shallow V design does work well to keep a canoe tracking, but I like the feel of a shallow arch better. The flats on either side of the V hull can feel more stable (secondary stability) when heeled but it doesn't seem as smooth and predictable as the curve and soft chines of a shallow arch...

We have Google Pixel 9 Pro (Android) phones with satellite texting. It's nice to have because cell tower coverage is spotty in many places that we visit around the country. There can be delays in sending and receiving texts but it works. I am concerned, though, about the resulting space trash...

I'd be hesitant to reach in there for a bait minnow.

Why are the oldest and tallest trees all conifers? I assume that you mean individual trees because some of the oldest tree organisms are quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) clones. But as GeoBoy posted, the oldest single trees are bristlecone pines. I think that the apical dominance of conifers...

And then there's Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) which was originally thought to be a hemlock (Tsuga), thus, the subsequent corrective addition of Pseudo. Perhaps it would be fitting to rename the mis-named cedars as Psuedocedrus. ;) One of my favorite contradictory specie names is Pinus...

The GRB Classic will definitely provide that for you. :)