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Spoke with my neighbor up the hill the other day and our local black bear visited their house this past Saturday night. They still had some bird food out in their feeders. That was all it took for the invitation to be accepted. Not sure about other locations but in NYS it's recommended that...

I am also a side sleeper and honestly, I'm not a fan of many of the newer sleeping pads. I originally went with the standard 20" wide pads and found they weren't wide enough for me. Even though it meant more $$$, I laid out the cash and invested in a 25" wide Nemo Tensor pad. Maybe it's just...

Looks like an interesting paddle but I'm pretty sure I couldn't convince my wife to join me on it. I paddle a lot of sections of the Erie Canal but there's nothing like this along the sections I travel. I think the closed-in feeling of this is what would get to my wife. Unlike the canal where...

The best turtle sighting I ever had was down in the Okefenokee. We came around a bend and there, sunning together on the same log, was a painted turtle and an alligator. It was early spring so I'm sure they were both just soaking up the warmth but it did seem odd to see this pair together...

I used to do the General Clinton canoe regatta for many years down here on the Susquehanna but once my partner moved, I've never been tempted to do it again. He had just the right amount of seriousness for us to practice but not so much that we couldn't have fun with it. Our goal each year was...

Didn't know him well but I still miss Harry... Until next time...be well. snapper

Years ago I taught an outdoor cooking & nutrition class for my college's outdoor leadership minor. The goal was for my students to be able to develop a week long menu of breakfasts, lunches, dinners & snacks without having to replicate the same meals over and over again. I also wanted them to...

Still looking for the Susquehanna to open up here in my part of NYS. Glad folks have been able to get out. Our snow is finally gone but there's still a lot of ice on the ponds and local waterways. Guess it's time to go for a hike instead. That's all for now. Take care and until next...

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...