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I almost forgot to include that I was invited by the team coach to paddle during one evening training session with the Austtralian National Dragon Boat team on Lake Burley Griffin in Canberra during a business trip there.

New York State (Adirondacks, Catskills, St Lawrence River, Lake Ontario, and elsewhere), Ontario (Smiths Falls demo festival event), PA (race training), Ohio (when stuck there in the AF), Yukon Territory (racing), Alaska (second half of 1000 mile Yukon River race)

Emergency rescue service aside, I can't help but to mourn in a big way for wilderness lost. I spent many years enjoying and refining my precise and advanced backcountry land navigation skills in my more rewarding wilderness challenging travel days with map, compass, and my wits. I feel much the...

I have written before about the annual BSA high adventure wilderness trek leader/guide program. It is training at BSA National Camping School, Adirondack version, initially physically based at one of the local resident camps to train wilderness guides before scout season opens. I was a permanent...

I did try the 16.8 Cruiser that same demo day that I met with Bill and Charlie in Saranac Lake. Is there a 17.8 version? Being accustomed for years to paddling a 15.8 Rapidfire, it seemed there was just too much boat in front of me in the 16.8, and it did not want to perform as well for me as I...

i will admit that I may have paddled a kayak just once in my life to nowhere in particular, just to try it for a few minutes. Enough to know that I did not like it, as it does not fit my on water travel paddling likes in any way. I even dislike paddling my Hornbeck canoes, as due to seating...

Yes, I do have a 15-8 Cruiser. I bought it while waiting for Joe to take a year to complete my PB Shadow that my wife ordered as a surprise gift, since I had spoken of it for years to compliment my more stable Gen1 RapidFire. I finally did get the Shadow, with a custom higher than standard...

Normally you need to visit the local BSA council office to get a trip plan form. You then fill it out, indicating where you will go and that you will follow all state legal and BSA regulations and safety guidelines, and that everyone (adults included) will wear a PFD at all times. A council...

My first canoe was a lighweight hull Grumman that I bough in Columbus OH when I was in th AF there many years ago. After moving to NY (no stickers required), I carefully scraped the registration numbers off. But the awdul outline still remains visible. I don't use that canoe enough to worry...

While there certainly are a goodly number of younger folk, from their teens to the 30's, I have long noted that canoe races draw more than the expected fair share of older paddlers for an athletic event. One often seen older gentleman, Glenn, just retired in his mid 80's, due to a bum leg and...

I spent 30 years as a permanent staff instructor for the Adirondack Region BSA High Adventure guide training program, one segment of annual BSA National Camping School (NCS), so called the “Adirondack Voyageur guide program”. Eight days of training, about half in classroom, half in the field...

Correct, Alan. it can beccome very scary in a heartbeat on that downward heal slope.

I almost forgot Logan bread, originally developed to assist the first climb of Mt Logan, AK, Canada's highest peak. i make my own high density version, bake thinly, and a good while longer than most recipes call for at a lower temperature to make it a bit dryer so it keeps a long time. Find...

If you live any where neare a usuable airfield and runway, civilian or (especially) military, it and its environs are a target for a capable enemy. Particulary including several miles off the end of the standard use takeoff runway in the miitary nuke weapon carrying case. Same for government...

Reminds me of a famous Mark Twain quote: "A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way...

I have paddled various "war canoes" (nowadays called "voyageur canoes") outfitted with 6 or 7 paddler seats while racing in the Adirondack 90 miler, the Gerneral Clinton, and the Yukon 440 and 1000 milers beginning in the 1990's. It did not take long to realize we had to install roller side...

There are tons of recipes for jerky, depending on what flavor enhancer you may like. Watch out for salt content if that is important to you (I use low sodium soy sauce if soy is in the recipe). I also have made a lot of fruit rolls using various kinds of pureed fruit. l ike to soak banana slices...

Try a couple of quality different dealer paddles if possible (could lead to an additional sale). Don't just go straight and do turns, but also sideslip and draw. Vary your speed to see how comfortable it is. Simulate a strong headwind by sprinting for a fair distance, then relax with easy...

Tell me about it. Did some XC skiing and time on my Paddlesports Paddler, here in easternLake Ontario Lake Effect country. Oh, yeah, not to forget multiple times of above the waist deep roof shoveling. Montague, NY, experienced extreme snowfall during the 2025-2026 winter season, with an...

Since the beginning of the Adirondack 90-mile canoe race, for the first 35 years (before the Northern Forest Canoe Trail acquired the race), PFDs had to be carried, and encouraged to be worn, but were not required to be worn unless weather and race officials so dictated. With up to 275 boats in...