I think it's time to say hello, finally

[Aslowhand]

Welcome Andre. My mother was an English teacher and she was always correcting my grammar (both verbal and written). She would have been happy if I wrote as well as you. Gorgeous photos BTW.

Jon

Thank you Jon.
Well, I don't know your age, I guess there was no 'google' when your mother did that.

 

[Aslowhand]

Hello Andre,
Welcome from upstate NY. Absolutely stunning scenery in your photos.
Looking at your pics, I have too many questions:

Is that public land where you made your camp?
Here in NY, we have the Adirondack Park, a combination of private and public lands, roughly 3 million acres each. Lots of wilderness areas and many, many paddling opportunities.

I see you have just a tarp/rain fly...Do you have biting insects? If so, I imagine there is a season for them?
How about nuisance pests like bears or coyotes? Any concerns?

And yes, that is a pretty canoe. How fortunate that you have a friend that lets you borrow it!

Hello stripperguy,
Interesting questions!

Public land? Oh this is very complex; there's a law that says that all wooded areas in Switzerland are accessible to everyone regardless of who owns them. I made my camp on land that's owned by a company (gravel plant), it's a wooded area, but it's also protected because of it's inhabitants (birds, reptiles, amphibians, insects). It's kind of a grey zone, staying there overnight is tolerated. Following leave no trace principles helps.

Biting insects? Yes we have them but not that bad. Same season as in North America.

Nuisance pests? Not really where I live. No bears. There are two established wolf packs in the Southeastern part of Switzerland. Sometimes their offspring shows up over here, just passing by, looking for new territory, usually no problem. Most nuisance pests are human beings trashing sites like the one I used last week.

Yes I'm very fortunate to have a friend that lets me borrow that beauty!

Greetings from Switzerland
André

 

[Grandpa Paddler]

Thank you Jon.
Well, I don't know your age, I guess there was no 'google' when your mother did that.

No Google. My mother would have been 99 this month.