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  1. W

    Installed the Rack

    Consider the type of roof rails on your new vehicle. I have a Subaru Crosstrek with raised roof rails. I got a rack set - mounts, bars, and locks - by Malone for $219 (Cdn). That's about what Thule or Yakima would charge you for a plastic knob. Roof racks and roof boxes (i.e. large...
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    Best Navigation Apps for 2026

    In many areas, "Logan Earth" - a northern developed program - also provides superior imagery to Google Earth. It might be worth a look. One issue I have found in using satellite imagery to evaluate rapids is trying to extrapolate from the water level visible in the sat image to the water level...
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    Kayak paddle width question - gunwale / water level / max width

    I agree with Tryin that gunwale width is probably the most important - unless you plan on a really, really high angle stroke. As he mentioned, seat height and your torso length will also affect your choice. At 5'8" and 170, I find my Bending Branches 260 cm paddle just right when paddling my...
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    Pack canoeists, do you use portage thwarts or yokes?

    I agree with Mason (I'm also a PakCanoe owner). Having the boat's weight sitting on the yoke, rather than hanging from it, makes a great deal of sense to me. Many decades ago, at summer camp, the yokes on tandem tripping canoes were mounted on top of the gunnels. I wonder why I don't see this...
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    Trouble Closing a Seal Line Map Case

    I found silicone helped. In the field, so does spit - just lick your finger and run it along the seal.
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    Hugh Stewart passes

    That is sad to hear. "Canoe Trails and Shop Tales" was a great read. And everyone with an interest in northern Canadian travel writing is indebted to him, and the McGaherns, for the re-publishing of P.G. Downes "Sleeping Island": and even more so for the publishing of Downes' diaries of his...
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    So, what old item do you still use?

    After a couple of successful trips to the tundra, it suffered a broken pole when my spouse and her friend tried to set it up in a campground. (Pole not completely inserted before flexion.) replaced by a Moss Stardome 2, since I couldn't get a replacement pole from Eureka.
  8. W

    Candle Lantern: Safely use in a tent? How to clean?

    I had a small Camping Gaz butane lantern which was an important part of my fall tripping outfit. It was useful for area lighting around camp, but its principal function was to get me out of bed on cold, damp, gloomy September mornings in northern Saskatchewan. Wake, reach into the vestibule...
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    So, what old item do you still use?

    I believe that "Expedition" was not the name of an individual Eureka tent, but of a "line" of tents. I think that tent is a Eureka "Sentinel" 2 person. I had one years ago, purchased to replace my Timberline 2 after I took the Timberline beyond the "timber line" once and realized it wasn't the...
  10. W

    Need a Bigger Shaft

    Outside the box - How about some gymnastics high bar / rings grips? The roll in them forms a pocket so the fingers bear almost no weight - you could paddle without much, if any, finger flexion or grip force required.
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    Canoeing Plans for 2026?

    Hoping to continue with the "same old, same old" - 3 weeks in the NWT in late June/July, and a week in northern Saskatchewan in September. With the same caveat as last year - enough connective tissue surviving ski season. This will be a bit of a milestone for me, if it works out. If I am...
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    The Man Who Has Been Mapping Manitoba's Canoe Routes Since 1962

    I was drawn back to this old post by a news story: the Manitoba government is closing its "paper map" store this coming spring. A sign of the times, perhaps, now that many seem to prefer looking at their routes on tiny screens rather than real maps...
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    RABC program to end in 2026

    Thought this might be of interest to Quetico/BWCAW paddlers. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/cbsa-reporting-9.7026474
  14. W

    ACR Resqlink+ PLB

    Perhaps not of interest to the OP, but Rogers satellite text coverage in Canada is only south of the 58th parallel - of no use in the Territories.
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    Winter storage prep.

    From Swift, long ago when I bought my Raven. No cracks in 26 years. "Cold Weather Care for Royalex Canoes with Wood Gunnels Both Royalex and wood will shrink as the temperature cools, however Royalex contracts at a much higher rate than wood. As the temperature reaches extreme cold (-20...
  16. W

    What is your best combo? canoe + plane

    Goldseekers outfitters in Red Lake quotes $460 US for a pick up or drop off at Donald Lake - flight described as less than 50 miles. https://www.goldseekers.net/boat-shuttle-aircraft/ So yes, if you did a fly in and paddled back to Red Lake, or to a road access point, you could still have a...
  17. W

    What is your best combo? canoe + plane

    If anything, I think Recped has been a bit conservative with his cost estimates for the Beaver. In 2004, Ahmic in Yellowknife quoted me $11.25/mile + GST for the Beaver - this was lower than some quotes I had seen for northern Saskatchewan. Ahmic published their sightseeing rates for 2005...
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    Route to Erickson Lake, SK

    I haven't been to Erickson Lake. But, I think a more direct approach would be to begin at Davin Lake (there is a small lodge there) and go via Peters Lake to Pasterfield Lake, then upstream to Erickson. A YouTube video of this route is available. Look for "Puddle Jumper's " channel. The...
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    Fears while paddling or on canoe trips

    In Sigurd Olson's classic, "The Lonely Land," he quotes the Canadian geologist and explorer, Charles Camsell: "Of course I've known fear," he said, "but always fear laced with exhilaration." Could that be the quote you're looking for?
  20. W

    Namekagon Encounter

    Nicely written and photographed - thanks for posting.
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