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There are lots of porcupines out there and they’ll reportedly chew their way into food sources.

We hang everywhere we camp; mostly against mini bears. Actual bears are probably the least of your worries.

If water levels are above 3 on the cooksburg gauge for your trip, you will not have to worry about out interacting with the river bottom. You will be paddling (not hard) rather than poling.

Right on. That is our philosophy. We tend to move every day and enjoy covering ground. Camping is certainly, for us, secondary to the travel. We travel fast, far and light. We’re entering our 50’s, so this may change. But we’re going to keep it going for as long as we’re able:

We are avid backpackers spending many more nights on trail than we do in our canoes. Therefore, we tend to treat our extended paddling trips very much like backpacking trips. We pack light and use much of the same gear. We portage with the same expedition size backpacks we use for our long...

That sounds like an adventure! Memories made and lessons learned. Rest assured, the clarion was not flat last weekend. The standing haystacks don’t lend themselves to action photography. Photos were taken where phones could safely come out of their stashes and all hands weren’t required to be...

This river has been discussed a bit here lately, so I decided to post a brief trip report. This is a trip I’ve done a few times previously, but it’s a good one! This trip was rather unique in a number of ways. My wife, father in law, good friend and I dropped a shuttle vehicle at mill creek...

I am certainly interested in what you learn of the little Muskie. I thought I’d exhausted my overnight Ohio paddling possibilities. I’ve mostly stealth camped on Ohio trips; my taste for stealth camping is waning as I age.

Pennsylvania participates in reciprocal boat registration. If your boats are registered in your home state, be sure to display or have proof.

Both rivers will be busy. Water levels on the clarion will be totally dependent on rainfall in the week leading up. That time of year, as a result of all the foliage added to the surrounds forest, less water gets to the river and it arrives more slowly. That time of year, people start tubing the...

Depends when you paddle the Allegheny. If you’re willing to deal with a little weather, you will find sections of the Allegheny to be very quiet. We stay off the Allegheny completely between Memorial Day and Labor Day and actually prefer April and October- November. The clarion is difficult to...

If I’m out more than three. Nights, I have to clean up somehow. This includes winter trips. Some strategies I use on paddling and backpacking trips include the bucket bath. I have one of those sea to summit “kitchen sinks.” I will add hot water to it, go off in the woods and have a sponge...

Also a slide sleeper. I also do quite a bit of winter time wilderness traveling and my wife and I often sleep on the snow. Over the years, we’ve found a system that works well for us. We us the therma rest neo air on top of a cheap foam pad. The foam pad provides a bunch more insulation for its...

Backpacking, particularly winter backpacking, is a wonderful way to train. It has other benefits that apply very nicely to warmer weather paddling. It hones your camping skills, helps you to really learn about quality gear and dressing appropriately and makes you appreciate the longer daylight...

My wife finishing setting up our sleeping area on last weekend’s backpacking trip.

This is beautiful, man. I love to see people enjoying winter time. It will be hot soon enough. Let’s not rush things.

Late to this, but for my money, the Whitney wilderness loop in New York’s Adirondacks can fill many of these requirements IF you gain the chops and gear to go in the shoulder seasons. We’ve twice paddled the loop the last week of September and then first week of October. On both trips, we saw...

Here in the Cleveland area, we definitely had more snow in the past. Temps seem similar. When I first moved to the area 25 years ago, we consistently had a foot of snow on the ground. We’d ski for weeks straight. Now, we’re so excited to have 3-4” stick around a few days to bang our skis...

I think they’re ice dunes! I’ve seen them up there a few times. So cool! Worth a trip.

Just wrapped a snowshoe backpack with my wife in the Allegheny national forest. Gorgeous conditions.