Callan: Adventure Is Being Planned Out Of Existence

[Glenn MacGrady]

"Nothing says wilderness adventure like previewing your tent pad on a smartphone."

"These days, it’s foolish to travel without reservations. Maybe the same is true for wilderness tripping. The go-where-the-wind-takes-you mentality has faded, a relic of the past, like John Wayne and his horse."

Adventure Is Being Planned Out Of Existence

Are we taking the wild out of the wilderness by competing to book campsites five months in advance and previewing tent pads online? Kevin Callan weighs in

paddlingmag.com

 

[Gamma1214]

Hmm... my initial thought was "I wouldn't want to preview campsites" but then I remember that I spend hours reading trip reports here & other sites, pour over paddleplanner.com and eagerly look at every picture that anyone uploaded.

I guess I'll settle for not having to reserve sites but that seems to be only in the areas close to population centers. Hopefully, they won't require reservations around Geraldton anytime soon (although a concierge might be nice).

 

[Paddlinhal]

A good tip for planning is to research which sites require reservations, then go somewhere else. We planned a salt water canoe trip out of Stonington Maine last year, and thought it would be nice to spend one night on Isle Au Haut, an Acadia National Park site. Reservations open at 10 AM on April 1. In less than a minute all the sites were full. In less than 10 minutes there were only random open dates here and there for the entire summer. That was an adventure, but not a fun one.

On the other hand, there is the East Branch Penobscot, which was to a large extent taken over by the same federal reservation system. Fortunately, a little planning reveals plenty of out-of-park sites available to the public.

I'm sure it's different for Kevin, who lives in northern Ontario or wherever.

 

[NikonF5user]

I am not sure just how many times in Algonquin I made plans for specific lakes only to have those plans blow up due to weather or equipment failure; even if you do make plans and reservations, they do not always work out as intended...

 

[tketcham]

Wilderness doesn't exist anywhere in the world anymore. Eight billion people and counting but the earth isn't expanding to accommodate us. Just the opposite, we're developing (and despoiling) more and more of our finite resources each day. Remember the Zero Population Growth (ZPG) movement in the early '60s when the world population was "only" three billion? At this point we need Negative Population Growth, which advocates for a sustainable world population of... wait for it... three billion people. I bet there'd be plenty of good camp sites if that ever happens.

 

[ppine]

Not in the West.
We get on a river and camp when we feel like it.

Wilderness doesn't exist anywhere in the world anymore. Eight billion people and counting but the earth isn't expanding to accommodate us. Just the opposite, we're developing (and despoiling) more and more of our finite resources each day. Remember the Zero Population Growth (ZPG) movement in the early '60s when the world population was "only" three billion? At this point we need Negative Population Growth, which advocates for a sustainable world population of... wait for it... three billion people. I bet there'd be plenty of good camp sites if that ever happens.

Some of you people need to get out more. We have millions of acres of wilderness in the Lower 48, Canada and Alaska. Wilderness areas are actually expanding. Roads are being removed in some places. I have been in wilderness areas in Wyoming 50 miles from the nearest dirt road. Easy to do in Canada and Alaska.

First and Second World countries have falling birth rates. The US has its lowest birth rate in history. Our population would be declining if it were not for in migration.

 

[Steve in Idaho]

Yeah, if it has "Park" in the name or it's on the coast, reservations are going to be required and competition for those reservations is stiff. At least until the weather gets cold - then things generally open up.

There are places, sometimes smaller places, that are still wild and perhaps just as wonderful as the popular parks - but not nearly as traveled. We don't talk about them much anymore, but they can be explored with no reservations or strict travel plan. Most of them involve physical difficulty, lacking motorized access or developed campsites. The vast majority avoid these places and certainly don't seek them out. I don't see that changing any time soon.

 

[tketcham]

Some of you people need to get out more. We have millions of acres of wilderness in the Lower 48, Canada and Alaska.

First and Second World countries have falling birth rates. The US has its lowest birth rate in history. Our population would be declining if it were not for in migration.

I was remarking on the often heard complaint expressed in Callan's article that it's getting difficult to have a wilderness paddling experience. It's the reality of more and more people trying to escape from (sub)urbanization with finite opportunities for travel by paddle craft.

I agree that you can still find it if you look, but I hope for your sake that they don't "discover' your favorite places. I've seen it happen with some of mine, both in the northeast and the northwest.

And sure, birth rates are falling, but the population of eight billion isn't static, let alone declining.

 

[Marten]

Still plenty of places you can throw the sticks aside and set up your tent. No, they are not on Paddle Planner.

 

[gumpus]

Seems like clickbait journalism

 

[Alan Gage]

Seems like clickbait journalism

Is there any other kind these days?

FWIW, I didn't take the bait.

Alan

 

[Odyssey]

It's not a bad opinion piece despite complaining about the obvious; recreationalists have grown in number while spaces for them have not.
Many moons ago I became frustrated with a favourite park because it's lake specific (not site specific) policy was inadequately ensuring reservations were being made and respected. It had become a race to an "already reserved lake" by early afternoon. More than once we were bumped from our reserved lake, only to have to move on to bump someone else somewhere else. Stress became part of my tripping experience, absurdly enough.
And cutting our distances-experiences in half just to find a site was likewise halving our enjoyment.
We've since moved on to paddling outside park systems and have enjoyed the benefits. But I still love parks.
Parks are versions of protected wild, if not strictly wilderness, and we need to find ways to reduce our loving them to death.

 

[Steve in Idaho]

I agree that you can still find it if you look, but I hope for your sake that they don't "discover' your favorite places.

This is exactly why I stopped giving out much location info on the Internet. There are places now I won't even discuss with more than a handful of close friends. I'm encouraging others to do the same.

Too many places that used to be known only to the locals and semi-locals have been turned into hugely popular destinations by social media and advertising (by locals profiteering). It was bad enough when it was just periodical writers supporting their income. I'm accompanying a group to one such place tomorrow. Just since covid, it's been advertised heavily. And now it's showing signs of overuse. They wouldn't have known about it otherwise, and I'm only going with them at their request - hoping to inspire some of them to use it with care and advocate for its protection.

 

[memaquay]

I feel for you guys, I really do. I couldn't live in an urban cancerous sore of a city, I get the heebeegeebees in Thunder Bay. I can drive for 15 minutes and not see another human for months.

 

[gumpus]

I feel for you guys, I really do. I couldn't live in an urban cancerous sore of a city, I get the heebeegeebees in Thunder Bay. I can drive for 15 minutes and not see another human for months.

Dude, even if you live in downtown Chicago you can get to beautiful places within an hour. There is nearly infinite opportunity for those that care enough to take action. I feel sorry for those that sit on the sidelines and whine and feel such an overwhelming need to act like victims. It's like saying the good old days are gone forever because I can't get a machine gun mail ordered from Sears any more. Give me an effin break. On another forum people are actually working to own and manage the future knowing that things change and adjustments must be made.

 

[ppine]

Just when I start to like this group and respect the opinions of the participants, we get a lame thread like this one.

 

[memaquay]

Let's not be so quick to rush to judgement about whiners and lame threads.

Callan's article does more than register grief at not being able to book campsites in provincial parks. It is also leaning toward blaming the social media-ization of wilderness canoe tripping, which is ironic, since Kevin was one of the first guys to do it. A real industry has sprung up around wilderness canoe tripping, with major stars who have a multitude of fanboys clambering to be recognized by their media Gods. These youtube sensations have created a huge interest in wilderness canoeing, so much so that park sites are getting harder to book. Along with that comes the multitude of wannabees, all posting their own videos of routes, to the point that there is overkill and saturation of information, hence "Nothing says wilderness adventure like previewing your tent pad on a smartphone."

The solution is to not canoe in parks. There are millions of hectares of Crown Land around me, with many places that might not have had human foot prints on them in decades. I have no doubt that there are beautiful places within an hour of Chicago, but at they people free? Doubtful. For people in Southern Ontario, it is around a 12 to 13 hour drive to get up here, not bad if you are planning on going for an extended trip. I enjoy living in the middle of it, and could not live in a city again. Perhaps I am becoming misanthropic, or maybe I always have been. When I applied for a job here many years ago, the Principal told me that many people from Southern Ontario who had been hired over the phone would drive into town, look around and then resign and leave. It's not for everyone, but it is for me.

 

[Keeled Over]

"Even the open road—that last bastion of freedom—now demands a reservation. Gone are the days when you could set off on a whim."

Love Kevin's stuff but will take a different path here. While researching the long trip a couple of years back my plan had been to drive up to Yellow Knife and then drive back to Rochester. My grandfather drove the Alcan in the 50's so I naturally wanted to do the same. Since I was "thisclose" to the Alcan, and I always wanted to go to AK I combined the trip. Only reason I did was I was told many times that a bit of shoulder season things thin out, which we all know. But, I was going in August/Sept and I was afraid I would be lost without reservations. But, I found out way up north my fall is their August. Up for 6 weeks - 12 days on a a canoe trip - without a single reservation and never at a loss for a hotel, campground, or one of the myriad pull over spots that LITTER the north. Never opened Milepost once. No reservations needed. Thing is, it's really easy to get to. Like the Alcan the scale seems epic. Nope, just the views are. I rented an AWD but I could have driven every one of those, 13,7xx miles in a Corolla. I can get to Sudbury in 6 hours and things fan out real fast once you are there. Want solace? It's there - just drive a bit further. I'm planning to drive up and do the Fon du Lac next summer - new tires and 2 spares for that one though - and I just get in the truck, skirt Chicago, and drive north till I smell maple syrup. Literally nothing to it. Just watch out for bison.

Wabakimi provided 14 days free of people, and you can just drive right up there too. Paved road the entire way. This was roughly the 50th parallel. I grew up in Michigan right on the 45th. Finding solace in TC became nearly impossible, but cross that bridge, enjoy US 2 and the road to nirvana will soon appear. Just go. Now, you will need permits but these are easily obtainable. Point is, you won't see a soul unless you want to.

Warning - I've mentioned this previously, and everybody has a different reaction. For me, heading north killed the ADK's/BWCA/Quietico. They are all so "park like" now they provide little interest anymore, which is sad, but that's what happened. I'll still take people out in the ADK's from time to time, and I'll take a trip at the end of October/early November (c'mon, brookies) but I no longer use my canoes locally any more. Actually been pricing used CheckMates lately.

Whatever you want, it's available, it's right there. Just go.

 

[Gamma1214]

It's probably important to remember that media needs viewership and Kevin, therefore, has to write articles in a way that people will read, comment on them & share with others. Mission accomplished &, may I add; extremely well done.

It's certainly possible to just take off without a plan and much more so if you're headed into crown land or the western 1/2 of the US and, especially, if you are willing to forego hot showers & indoor plumbing. It's also possible that Kevin's success or aging bones make this less appealing than it once was and he would not be alone in that camp.

I can also attest to the fact that "adventure" is available in spades in memaquay country. Having done 2 routes that he's recommended, I am planning on doing at least 2 more in the next 3 years and only the limits on my vacation time prevent me from doing more. A (moderate) increase in traffic on those routes is probably a good thing as the ports will be maintained by someone other than mem & his buddies and continued use of the routes may lead to greater leverage when fighting to preserve the riparian buffers around the waterways (speculation on that last bit).

If there were more horses in his area or I thought I could teach anything to teenagers I might be temped to spend a winter there as well. (I'd probably resign & drive South sometime in February though when Spring seemed nowhere in sight)

I am also guilty of fueling the fire when it comes to YouTuber popularity. I follow many of the more prolific Canadian creators although it sometimes distresses me when they go overboard on the "ALONE in the WILDERNESS" shtick. I mean, I'm nothin' special. If your girlfriend or this 61 year old guy can do the same route that you're posting, you should probably tone it down a bit.

Lastly, I'll agree with KO that NW Ontario has spoiled me. I may return to the BWCA someday or head for the Daks if one of the kids or grandkids want to try it out but, as long as I'm able, I'll be solo and tripping in crown land.

The exception will be next year's trip where I'll pass thru Wabakimi to get from one patch or crown land to another. I haven't found many pictures of those campsites though... might have to post some for the next guy (or girl) who desires to preview from their smartphone while planning to be ALONE in the (scary?) BOREAL FOREST.