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Passing the time of day .. conversations with other paddlers

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We're running around Florida doing a sampler paddling /biking / car camping trip.. So far I have met up with a BWCA ,com member.. ( thank goodness for those bwca.comstickers He had the misfortune to having to rent a plastic kayak as he didn't want to drag his canoe from iowa. ( maybe a possible fundraising suggestion?) Had a nice long breakfast and a lovely ambling paddle around an offshore island..

Felt bad for Ben His kayak was terribly outfitted and wretchedly painful.. He was so polite.. we offered him to trade for a while ( we had a Rapid Fire and a Nomad) and he demurred stating something about that was a risk of going home with one of our boats....LOL

Loading up at Turner River yesterday Joel David Beckwith happened to stop by.. between guiding trips.. We spent three hours just yakking.. No beverages involved either! I learned a little more about Mr. Mike Mc Crea... ( nothing bad mind you). Sharing memories of trips.. How time flies

I sometimes get to talking to total strangers on portages too . No wonder they take a little longer.. But are quite rewarding because of the conversation sometimes

Joel is one of those guys who really found the right career for him. He loves what he does.

But tourism is down in Florida and so are clients to guide.. Theories I have but politics here are a no no.

And you? Do you meet old and new friends on trips?
 
And you? Do you meet old and new friends on trips?

Rarely. I like people just fine and mostly enjoy being in their company but conversing with strangers (heck, even friends) is not my strong suit. I often say stupid things and 30 minutes after we parted suddenly realize the questions I should have asked or the answers I should have given. So most of my trips are spent in my own little bubble trying to avoid personal contact. I'm sure to some that sounds terrible but for me it's a relief from everyday life.

An exception was my recent trip to Arizona where I met up with myccr.com member David Demello who traveled extensively though arctic and subarctic Canada in the 70's, 80's, and 90's. As always I was apprehensive before the meeting and wished I hadn't suggested it in the first place but it turned out to be a very pleasurable couple hours spent in his living room talking with him and his wife about their trips from the past.

Alan
 
I love meeting people around the water. Without any effort on my part I don't think theres been a time where I haven't talked at length or been offered a beer at a takeout. Who cares if you said something or didn't ask the question. Odds are you'll never see them again, but if you do, correct yourself the next time. When I'm out by myself I love when folks stop at my campsite to shoot the crap/chew the cud. I don't do that much in regular life, so I see where you guys are coming from. heck there's people I've worked with for a year and I know less about them than random people I met one time around the water. Travelers/riverfolk are predominantly an agreeable bunch. Campfires have been the gathering place for all of time. Some of my best memories from living in my truck around the country were meeting locals that took us under their wing for the day.
 
I've been guilty of holding up a few parties from their travel schedule! I have my father's gift of gab. There isn't a store that he can walk into locally that he doesn't run into someone. A 10 minute trip to the store sometimes ends up being close to an hour!
 
I've been known to chat at length...MDB (My Darling Bride) has a running joke about it--"Don't let him prop a leg up, he'll be there for hours!"
In my own defense, many folks are attracted and intrigued by the boats. As long as they're asking questions, I'll keep answering. I do enjoy a wide range of topics, with paddling and boat building among my favorites.

My favorite interaction was a few years ago, first week of May, a Lila to Bog River through trip. A guy and his wife from Kentucky paddle up to us and ask which one of us is stripperguy...he recognized the boats from his internet cruising. He whispered to his wife "honey, get the camera, I want a picture of this".
When meeting folks out on the water or on the trail, I try to work it into the conversation about these forums, casually asking if they frequent these sites. Surprising the connections that are made from happenstance, I enjoy every minute of it!
 
My kids are still amazed at the number of people we've bumped into over the years. Pretty much regardless of where we travel, I find someone I know. You know it's "bad" when you find a friend on a pay phone (remember them?) in a four corners town in Utah where there's nothing on the fourth corner. Besides those encounters I also tend to have the gift of gab (which is why I declined kissing the Blarney Stone...). Usually I'll give a brief "hello" to folks passing by and then take it from there based on their response. It's fairly easy to figure out if someone wants to talk or not. That being said, if I know of some interesting feature or safety issue ahead, I'll be sure to let them know even if they're not looking for a long conversation. I just think of that as being polite.

That's all for now. Take care and until next time...be well.

snapper
 
On local waters, it is pretty common for me to run into someone I know, or for a stranger to know of me (and as is often the case with paddlers, we become fast friends). I've occasionally run into paddling friends and acquaintances on trips out of state...and even if I don't know them, we very often have friends or acquaintances in common. It's always nice to chat with people on a paddle or on a portage. And if you ever want to start a conversation with a stranger, I have not found any way better than to portage a canoe full of camping gear down a city street. Or to encounter folks in the middle of the woods, far from any waterbody.

-rs
 
I haven't bumped into anyone I know or anyone famous but I do enjoy meeting and talking with people while on a trip. If nothing else it's good to know where somebody else might be camped in case there is an emergency. I have noticed that sometimes people aren't as friendly, and I feel as if to them bumping into another person takes away from the wilderness experience.


A few memorable encounters


On a solo trip I was paddling standing and came upon a group with a father and his son of maybe 8 or 9 years old. The son says " don't you know you're not supposed to stand in a canoe? I said "Yes, that's what I told my wife two lakes back." The father got a kick out of that one.


On that same trip about 5 days in I started thinking about an air taxi service that had a facility on a lake just outside of the wilderness area. I imagined that there was a lodge there and maybe I could get a cheese burger and a gin and tonic. I packed my stuff and left the campsite around 10 AM. I made it to the lake with the "lodge" but it turned out there was no lodge. There were a few wall tents that came with a boat that you could rent and they would fly you in. Anyway there was a couple staying there, an older guy with a younger gal. I was very happy to have someone to talk to but after I bummed a second cigarette I began to realize they weren't as happy as I was with the meeting. I took off and never found a suitable campsite and ended up at the same site I had left earlier that day about 10 PM after completeing a big loop.


Another time I was at a campsite near a portage trail and shortly after dark I heard singing comeing down the trail. It was a young Swiss couple and they told me their outfitter said they should camp at my campsite. They were afraid of bears and I welcomed them to stay. When I got to this campsite I found the bladder from a box of wine that was full. It was the last night of my trip so I didn't have to conserve the wine. I don't remember all of the details , but around two in the morning the guy comes over to my tent and tells me his wife can't sleep with me there. I packed up and left for another site.
 
Alan ! You are a Pleasure to talk to ! Don't discount yourself ! I've truely enjoyed our conversations, and I'm certain others do too !

I once met a builder from Oklahoma at a Fast food stop, off the Interstate. He had a stripper, and a rowing shell, he had made, and was delivering to Minnesota.
He had an interesting building method that has Haunted me for years. He used Masonite for his forms, and rubber bands to hold strips in place. He also used a polyester cloth. that had more stretch, and better wear resistance.
I gave him a HUT magazine, published by the Minnesota Canoe Assc. One of my best ever Fast Food stops !!!

Jim
 
So far we've only encountered friends we knew once on a trip, but find it reasonably easy to make new ones.
Paddling through a sunny stretch of lily pads we saw a canoe brigade from a girls' summer camp approaching. Before they drew up alongside we heard "Heeey Mr. L!! Huulooooo Mrs. L!! It's me, Marcy!!" "And me too, Becky!!" Two preteen neighbours from a family of all girls just down the street were at camp and loving every minute of it. We were on our last day of a one week canoe trip while they were starting theirs. I suppose it wasn't that much of a coincidence meeting kids we knew given the number of kids camps in Ontario, but for a few minutes on a pretty little lake in Algonquin Park the world sure got smaller. And funner.
It takes two to tango, so being open and friendly will be met with either sunny dispositions or sour ones. It's always worth a try though. There might be any number of reasons why some people are cool and unresponsive, inner turmoils of personal problems and drama, but there's no excuse for rudeness. But you never know when a kind smile and a nod of the head might lift their dark clouds, even if you don't stop to speak. Everyone needs some privacy sometimes. I too go to get away from it all, and prefer not to meet other humans if possible, but when I do I make an effort to keep things friendly; it's not that hard.
There have been too many sunny encounters to mention them all, and sour ones extremely rare. Whole armies of youth groups, both boys and girls, Canadian and American; couples, families, brothers, grandparents and grandchildren...a steady trickle of trippers all looking for something out there.
I've parted with things that were needed by others; flashlight, water and bottle, matches, rope, spare paddle, food...but the easiest has always been a friendly smile and a few words as we go our separate ways.
 
I too go to get away from it all, and prefer not to meet other humans if possible, but when I do I make an effort to keep things friendly; it's not that hard.

I hope I didn't make it sound like I was one of the scrooges who walks with his head down and won't even grunt a greeting or lift a hand. I'm always friendly to people I meet. I wave to other boats/canoes and make a little small talk with people I meet along the portage trail or that pass close on the river. If they're the chatty type I might even sit there for 20 minutes and listen to them talk, nodding my head now and again, and be content to do so, as long as they're bearing the brunt of the conversation.

But I'm not likely to strike up a conversation on my own, invite someone into my camp, or invite myself into theirs. That doesn't mean I don't wish at times that I could; but I don't.

Alan
 
Serendipitous experience: I'm at a gas pump somewhere in central Missouri, with two canoes on my Jeep. Fella walks out of the convenience store, saunters over and looks at the boats, turns to me and says, "I'm headed to the Spring Ozark Canoe Rendezvous - join us!" And i did! I'm going back for my fourth year this spring to paddle with the folks I met that year - some of whom are even regulars on this forum. Its a bit of a journey from Alaska, but always worth the trip.

Brad
 
I hope I didn't make it sound like I was one of the scrooges who walks with his head down and won't even grunt a greeting or lift a hand. I'm always friendly to people I meet. I wave to other boats/canoes and make a little small talk with people I meet along the portage trail or that pass close on the river. If they're the chatty type I might even sit there for 20 minutes and listen to them talk, nodding my head now and again, and be content to do so, as long as they're bearing the brunt of the conversation.

But I'm not likely to strike up a conversation on my own, invite someone into my camp, or invite myself into theirs. That doesn't mean I don't wish at times that I could; but I don't.

Alan


Alan, you were never on my radar of the sour faced few. On the contrary, I have no doubt you'd be a modest and welcoming character. I was remembering-referring to the few who've actually muttered expletives as I smiled and "invaded" (passed through) their jaded little bubble-world of self-entitlement. Whatever, we'll both get over it. Folks who just are pensive and quiet I leave alone and respect their silence. That's cool. Anyone standing stock still with binoculars raised I keep quiet for. We saw once a small gathering at a tranquil spot, and gave them a wide berth, tip toeing with our gear and canoe. It appeared to me they were scattering ashes from an urn. Sunbathers, especially the unclad ones, we treat likewise, detouring across the lake and averting our eyes pretending not to notice. Serenity now is perfectly understandable. We all need it, and canoe tripping is a great way to find it.
 
Serendipitous experience: I'm at a gas pump somewhere in central Missouri, with two canoes on my Jeep. Fella walks out of the convenience store, saunters over and looks at the boats, turns to me and says, "I'm headed to the Spring Ozark Canoe Rendezvous - join us!" And i did! I'm going back for my fourth year this spring to paddle with the folks I met that year - some of whom are even regulars on this forum. Its a bit of a journey from Alaska, but always worth the trip.

Brad

Brad or Pblanc, would you keep me/this forum up to date on the rendezvous? I'd like to join up this year, but I rarely go over to paddling.net so I'm usually out of the loop. Also anyone coming through Kansas City on the way is welcome to use my facilities.
 
karin once ran into a myccr member ( wapoose) on a weekday morning, in the rain, standing on PR 304 near Bisset. She bummed a smoke off him when he stopped. She is hit and miss with talking to people whereas I have no problem there. I have had 15 minute conversations with a wrong number on the phone.
I know karin gets a little annoyed with me if I am evening out my tan ( the girls like to get some sun on occasion) and not paying a lot of attention to our surroundings. I can have a pleasant chat with my hat where my shirt should be when necessary.

I remember telling a guy and his two young sons about myccr trip reports once and mentioning my handle there...segosih...I told them it means weasel in Cree. They laughed and asked how I got it...I said my ex tagged me with that. They laughed more.

Then there were the two guys with a tin boat on the Rice River that were stuck on the edge of the falls and I helped pull them to shore with a rope tied to the back of the truck. They were plenty talkative too.

Christy
 
I met Harlan Schwartz on the portage into Leano Lake, I was coming back for my canoe and he was unloading for a day trip with a client. Nice guy, we had a great conversation.

I met a group of people on the portage into Lake Lila (NY Adk's) one fall weekday, it had snowed an inch the night before and this group was all wearing new high top sneakers and new jeans, the women had dress shoes and new jeans too. A couple had shiny black jackets on, all new. The looked to be of Asian decent and didn't speak English.
The person who turned out to be their chaperone asked me if they could see my gear and fishing equipment. Turns out they were professionals here in U.S. from Siberia. They wanted to learn about our parks and outdoor recreation for back home. She claimed that they were the first folks from Siberia since the land bridge...tongue in cheek:rolleyes:
The new clothes were from a stop at Walmart in Glens Falls.
 
Last fall I conceded defeat and cancelled a poorly planned trip to Wabakimi after I couldn't get the logistics worked out. I had just finished a 2+ week trip in the BWCA. A big part of the logistics problem was related to my cell phone not being able to call Canada and the fact that there are NO public phones left anywhere on earth. As a consolation, I decided to do a route in Quetico that I had been looking at for a few years. After about 10 days out on that trip, and after having not seen anybody for the previous 5 days I see a lone figure in a solo canoe at the other end of a long thin lake, quite off the beaten path. We are paddling towards each other, obviously travelling in opposite directions, so avoidance is impossible. We met and got to talking about where we'd been on this trip, which turned into where we had been on other trips and where we were from. I almost an hour of just drifting and talking I finally put 2 and 2 together. It turn sout I was talking to Mike Kinziger from Idaho, who has posted a number of trip reports on canoestories.com. The strangest coincidence is that I had used his route through Wabakimi as one of the sources for the aborted trip I should have been on at that very moment.
 
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