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My worst loss occurred in 2013 trying to run a flooded river after Tropical Storm Andrea. Foolish, I know. We thought we knew the river well enough to avoid trouble, but I didn't know jack. So my boat got stuffed into a mess of snags and spent a restful 2 days before I could retrieve it. The...

Thanks, all...I won't be up there until September, so by then all of this will probably be irrelevant, lol! I've driven most of the roads between Greenville, Rockwood and Chesuncook...not to Chamberlain Bridge, though, which is an option. So I know all about the arrowheads (although the only...

Would a Subaru Forester have enough clearance to get across it? It has about 8 1/2 inch clearance, a little more to the doors. -rs

The situation: It is a hot, sunny day. You're pulling your canoe on its cart along a dusty trail. The horsefly and deerfly air defense corps received orders to scramble and they are executing perfect evasive maneuvers around your head and swinging hand and occasionally scoring a hit on the back...

I wish... I have a lot of day trips on the agenda, more than usual, so that is a good thing. My wife and I will be base car camping and paddling some Adirondack trips in August, and there is a good possibility I can talk her into one or two nights of backcountry canoe camping before or after...

I have recently been doing a lot of slideshows at libraries across the state, talking about my canoe trip across Rhode Island. My audiences are largely people who enjoy the outdoors, but who do not generally engage in overnight trips of the types that most of us are familiar with. I hope to...

Oh man, my feet feel muddy and my arms are itching with bug bites and my head is pouring sweat just LOOKING at that portage through the Bogs of Discontinuity.

Great List! I will have to come back to this list for future reading suggestions. But I checked it for one of my favorite books, one that I often bring on canoe trips, and read aloud to companions, especially if they are new to canoe camping. It wasn't there! It is "A Canoeist's Sketchbook" by...

I like NOAA as well, but I find myself usually using weather underground (wunderground.com). It basically takes the National Weather Service (U.S.) forecast for the area and puts it all in a summary graph that is easy to use. I find it reasonably accurate a few days out...the extended forecast...

I have the Swiss-style cart shown in the first two links, and swear by it. It is rugged and can take a lot of punishment...although I have seen one of the spoked wheels fold like a taco under too much weight and too much lateral stress (the user was not paying attention to the orientation of the...

Great pictures, Robin, thanks for sharing! That is one of my all-time favorite poling runs.

I have that book and it is an excellent resource; probably the most useful book for through paddlers there is to date. I definitely recommend checking out the blogs available on the Northern Forest Canoe Trail web site...a lot of great info that you won't necessarily find in any guidebooks...

If it is a bend in the grain and not due to a knot, I believe it is no more or less likely to break than any wooden pole. Under normal use you should be good. Push the limits of the pole or get it caught between a couple rocks, and look out! -rs

That was the first time I've done that whole run from top to bottom...what a corker! A little too much water to be considered a poling run, but what the hell, most of us poled most of it anyways! I managed to bend a pole trying to make an eddy. I made the eddy...standing beside my boat, lol! A...

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...