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For what it's worth, I've found the overall length of my paddle is based on the canoe I'm in. Years ago I used to be part of a group that paddled a 24' long Voyageur canoe. We sat pretty high above the water so needed a longer paddle to reach it. When I moved back into my solo boat, I was a...

@lowangle al - I've paddled both the traditional Oswegatchie route (Inlet to High Falls) and the stretches of the Raquette River that run from Long Lake down to Tupper as early as the third week in May. For years I would do end-of-the-year canoe trips with my students and these were the two...

@clemency beat me to it! I used to show "Nanook of the North" to the students in my outdoor adventure group. I was able to get it via the library's inter-campus loan service. It came on multiple reels. Thank goodness I was a bit of a tech geek in my younger years as I remembered how to run...

Glad to see you got out and were able to enjoy the day. My part of NYS is still all hard water; inhabited more by ice fishermen than paddlers. The only running water I've seen is falling over a dam but 20'upstream of that it's still all ice. That's all for now. Take care and until next...

Where there's a will, there's a way! Not sure many folks would spend the time doing that but it's certainly interesting to see the canoe take shape and then hit the water. My guess is that canoe would be a big hit with the bushcrafting crowd. That's all for now. Take care and until next...

Always enjoy watching one of Ray Mear's videos. There is much to learn and he's rather matter-of-fact about it all. I love his style and the fact that he's pushing knowledge and not products. Thanks for posting this video. Time to watch it again! That's all for now. Take care and until...

@Punkinhead - Years ago my in-laws wintered in Arcadia. Every other year we'd travel down to stay with them for a week in February when the kids had off from school. One year my wife & I were able to get away to paddle a stretch of the Peace River and really enjoyed ourselves. We were alerted...

Congratulations to Glenn, Alan and all the previous folks who have kept this operation going. It's the one forum I check every day I'm near a computer and that's all because of the great people who contribute here. While I try to do my part when I can, I know I've got little to offer in many...

Will be spending this coming weekend re-enacting an 18th century winter at Fort #4 in Charlestown, NH. Looking forward to gathering with like-minded folks and spending the weekend in the trading post. We'll be cooking over the open hearth and gathering around it for whatever warmth it will...

@jdeerfoot - You are correct! It was Valerie Fons. I remember her as being very quiet and soft spoken as well. I recall reading in an issue of "Canoe" magazine about how they two got together after Kruger's divorce. Didn't know she opened a restaurant after their travels and subsequent...

My first "real" PFD (not the old style, orange horse collar style) was from LL Bean and was made by Stearns. This was back in the mid to late 1970s. By the time I opened by my small guiding service in 1990, I purchased all Extrasport PFDs. They still had the tubular designed but the lower...

Somewhere in the back of my hazy memory, I recall meeting Verlen Kruger at the Eureka Camping Store in Binghamton, NY many years ago. He did a presentation on his long distance trips. By that time he was on his second canoeing partner, eventually his wife, talking about their trip down the...

My first "back country" saw was a Sven Saw. I used it doing a lot of trail work over the years. My only complaint with it was the triangular design made it difficult to cut through large diameter branches. Nonetheless, it was a great tool and I still have mine. That's all for now. Take care...

Just adding on to what's already been said...I've never had an issue with my EZ-Pass when a canoe is overhead. That said, I do need to position the canoe properly if I'm going to receive satellite radio reception while traveling. Just my 2 cents on the topic. That's all for now. Take care...

Look forward to your trip reports and photos. Enjoy; and watch that black ice!!! Until next time...be well. snapper

I'll be turning 72 in April and am retired from leading an outdoor program. I learned a long time ago that if I was going to keep up with college students, I needed to do some sort of "training" all year. For me it would change as the seasons did but I was always adding extra walking to my...

What a sad ending to an impressive effort to keep tradition alive. I'm sure his Facebook group will live on; and might get a few new members. That's all for now. Take care and until next time...be well. snapper

I still don't have any sort of emergency radio/beacon/phone, etc. so when I leave on a trip, I leave a detailed itinerary for my wife. She also knows not to call anyone until I'm overdue by half a day. This gives her some comfort as to my whereabouts and still gives me some time to make it...

The folks at Kenco helped me get a set of gunwales for an old Mad River "Explorer" I was given by a friend who had never taken care of it. The gunwales were shot and they said they'd have them delivered to the store so I wouldn't have to pay the exorbitant shipping costs. A friend of mine was...

While not really sure if this is helpful, the selection of when you go can drastically reduce the number of people you may run into. Even in the Adirondacks of NYS, if you go to the St. Regis Wilderness Canoe area in the middle of the week during the shoulder seasons, you're not as likely to...