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Books that made a profound impact

Not a book, but Bill Mason related....if you want to see one of the best abuses of a w/c canoe, watch The Rise and Fall of the Great Lakes.


I routinely showed this video to my grade nine Canadian Geography classes, and although somewhat outdated in appearance, it still got their attention. The part where the canoe falls three miles off an ice sheet is around 4:57, makes me laugh every time.
 
My list of books includes many of the ones listed above, however one of the driving forces for me, not just canoeing but all of my early activities was National Geographic.

While many informative topics were covered I was always drawn to the articles about the outdoors. According to my mother I was making gear lists in the '60's. My grandfather had subscribed to NG forever and he had a huge collection. On rainy days in the UP I would go through them one at a time.
 
Books that profoundly effected my life ?
The Boy Scout Handbook, got me started in a Life long love of the outdoors.
Had our troop been big enough to have canoes ? It would have been even more profound !
Canoecraft, The MCA canoe building book, and Gilpatricks Canoe building book. Oh ! Throw David Hazen's canoe building book in also.

Jim
 
I still have David Hazen’s book with all the plans from my first build in 1975. I built the Micmac model, don’t build that boat the stations are drawn incorrectly, if that book is still available hopefully they corrected the station form drawings. That boat was bad but it sent me in a lifelong quest to build a better boat and not rely on information I can’t confirm.
Jim
 
For me it was Into the Wild by John Krakauer. For a very long time I have thought and pondered about how the human civilization became to be this complicated and class/status oriented. By renouncing all that he had, the protagonist gave me hopes that an alternate way to life was possible. At some point, I'd want to live without money, phones, and identity cards and see life that way.
 
Paddling North by Audrey Sutherland is excellent, though she's a kayaker (sorry!). Her mantra: "Go simple, go solo, go now."
 
Paddling North by Audrey Sutherland is excellent, though she's a kayaker (sorry!). Her mantra: "Go simple, go solo, go now."
The bus has been hauled out of the bush and will be on display in Fairbanks. Several readers hiked to the bus and created excessive rescue situations.
 
Paddling North by Audrey Sutherland is excellent, though she's a kayaker (sorry!). Her mantra: "Go simple, go solo, go now."

The bus has been hauled out of the bush and will be on display in Fairbanks. Several readers hiked to the bus and created excessive rescue situations.

Vern, could you explain this reference. Sounds interesting.
 
Vern, could you explain this reference. Sounds interesting.
I think he was replying to Pseudonym's other post regarding Into the Wild. The bus that McCandless used (and died in) was flown out of the Alaskan backcountry because a lot of people got in trouble trying to get to it.
 
I think he was replying to Pseudonym's other post regarding Into the Wild. The bus that McCandless used (and died in) was flown out of the Alaskan backcountry because a lot of people got in trouble trying to get to it.
Thank you Mason,

I must have blinked and referenced the wrong thread.......I was replying to TameVolger's thread
 
We have listed some great canoeing classics.
The authors that shaped my career path were Rachael Carson, Thoreau, Muir, Emerson, Leopold, Roosevelt, Pinchot, Nessmuk, Kephart, Whelen, Rutstrum, Olsen, and many others. Becoming a forester became irresistable. Giving a one hour lecture and slide show in two weeks at The Nature Conservancy.
 
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