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The annual Natchaug River Poling Clinic was supposed to be this past Saturday. Thursday, an e-mail went out from the coordinator cancelling it due to high water, ice shelves, and an icy road down to the parking lot. Then we got even more rain, a warm day, and a lot of ice melt, so seven fools...

I got my introduction to portages (and carries, in the Adirondacks) while doing trips on the Northern Forest Canoe Trail. Early on, I invested in a sturdy canoe cart, and to my relief have found that most of the portages and carries I have done were traversable on wheels. Including some that...

Well, we got about an inch of rain on Saturday that halved our snowpack, and warmer temperatures this week could start things flowing. Our annual club's traditional "Icebreaker" trip on the Branch River is this coming Saturday, but I bet there will still be some snow and ice to deal with. At...

I have been following them. Fascinating idea, and kudos to them for taking on the Mississippi upstream!! I wish them luck. Winter isn't over where they are headed. -rs

Only down to 5 this morning, and a high of about 23 today. Things looking better for next week. Hard to believe that in less than 2 months I'll be visiting the White River in Vermont for some fun with flowing water...assuming it is actually flowing by then. -rs

"Snow is predicted in all 50 US states for the first seven days in March, more in Texas than Winnepeg." Really? Hawaii too? Kidding aside, I'm ready for this endless winter to end. At this pint I could care less about crowds, mosquitos, highway noise, or what have you, I just want to get out...

I am sorry to hear of the passing of Jim. I am lucky to have met him down at Raystown, and as others have pointed out, he could definitely carry a campfire story circle. A great guy who lived a good life. -Chuck

Thank you, Snapper! I see yknpdlr noticed the same thing. I knew that, but I must have been on Autopilot or something. I'll edit that. And yes to yknpdlr, I was aware of the free camping, and that is usually what I do when up in the Adirondacks. In fact, the last time I was in the Saranac...

iI've been going stir crazy with this February weather, and needed to something about it. So I wrote this trip report! I intended it to be rather brief, but for me the magic is in the details, so it kinda got away from me. Hopefully you don't mind. This past fall, I was invited by a friend to...

The way the snow keeps accumulating and the Arctic blasts keep blowing through, I think that dang varmint's estimate may be optimistic. I call BS on the 6 weeks. Maybe 7?

I'm not sure I can define my experiences as either a sport or a lifestyle. Maybe an infection? Or an affliction? I'd be more inclined to consider it an infection since I was never interested in canoeing and kayaking until I was exposed to it and consequently infected. I believe I have been...

I like that idea about bringing along the 10 day forecast so it can be compared to actual experiences, Mike! I usually take just some basic notes on what the weather is like, but not too specific. More like "It rained like hell" instead of "Heavy precipitation, temperature 54 degrees". I do...

About five years ago I had never even heard of a roof rake. That year it snowed, and snowed, and snowed, and then rained, and roofs started collapsing, ice dams and roof leaks were common, and I saw the term "roof rake" somewhere on the interweb. Hmm. So I looked it up maybe about an hour after...

We ended up with about 22-24", with a lot of deeper drifts. Fortunately the snow was nice and powdery, so power outages were not widespread (although it was an entirely different story on the Cape and the Islands). A tree went down about a half mile from me and took out the electricity, but...

Ash usually holds up pretty well, but I would probably go with the 1 5/8 inch option to reduce the chance of snapping it. I think they sell pole feet too. -rs

I'd love to say that I cross-country ski or hike during the winter when the water is crunchy, but that is mostly the exception. It is not often one gets enough snow in RI to ski (and I hate travelling far to ski), but it IS often that there is enough snow to make hiking impracticable. I try to...

Yeah, those were the ones. I have a ton of them from a tent canopy, the sides of which I had to dispose of. Just lately they solved a problem on how to most easily secure (and then take down) some holiday lighting. Handy little buggers. -rs

I've learned all sorts of tricks and hacks, especially from McCrea threads, but it was an encounter with another mutual acquaintance, Tom Wilhelm, known in some circles as "canoeswithduckheads", that is my "aha" moment: bungie balls. You know those loops of thin bungy cord secured at one end by...

I see a lot of myself in many of the responses here. Except maybe for Glenn's predilection for solo tripping: I am a gregarious tripper by nature, although my trips have almost exclusively been of the group-of-solo-self-contained-boaters-paddling-the-same-route-and-sharing-campsites type...

A well-trained dog with a good disposition is the only one I'll take in a canoe with me if I'm going to be out camping with them. My usual canine companion is a German shepherd, and one disadvantage there is definitely her size. But she stays put, and won't overreact if another dog all of a...