Challenging trips are memorable ones. Whiny kids (or adults) are the worst. Overcoming physical and natural challenges make the best memories.
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The Joy of (Self-Imposed) Canoe Trip Suffering
- Thread starter Glenn MacGrady
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When I was younger I used to really like challenging trips. Now that I am older, I like trips where we sit around the campfire with our booze and tell stories about those challenging trips.
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Just finished up this video on the most difficult trip I've ever done. You can hear panic in my voice a few times because we were sideways in the current and came close to tipping. As @Black_Fly said, this made a very memorable trip for me and my daughter. She did an amazing job for only having gone on 3 or 4 trips before.
It sure will be. You'll both remember this trip fondly for your entire lives. Nice video on a challenging, muddy river with lots of woody occlusions. Your daughter was a very good-natured trooper and companion. How old is she?
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She's 17. Of my 5 girls, she is probably the only one that could have handled it.
Some people enjoy being challenged more than others.
There’s a satisfaction in learning what you’re truly capable of and what you can endure. Seen if all the time in people when I was doing marathons and triathlons.
I enjoy a good storm/rain on a trip. Although I don’t want Mother Nature to totally smite me, I’m ok with her slapping me around a bit.
There’s a satisfaction in learning what you’re truly capable of and what you can endure. Seen if all the time in people when I was doing marathons and triathlons.
I enjoy a good storm/rain on a trip. Although I don’t want Mother Nature to totally smite me, I’m ok with her slapping me around a bit.
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Storms often leave you with a great story to tell on another trip. The worst storm I ever survived came at about 2:00am. We were blasted with wind and hail. When it finally stopped one of my tent poles had snapped. We all got up to survey the damaged when I noticed my canoe was gone. I had pulled it about 50' from the water and had a stake in the ground, but it still blew into the river. Thankfully, a buddy had show up with his jon boat. after we bailed the water out and got it started we used it to search for my canoe. My brand new Wenonah Minnesota 3! We finally found it about a 1/4 mile down. The stake was hung up in some submerged branches. What a night that was!
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On a wilderness trip, my canoe comes up out of the water and gets tied securely bow and stern. Some places this isn't possible, but hearing stories like yours, TXRiverRunner, reinforces my practice.
I've been in a couple of bad storms, one in the 10,000 Islands and another in the midwest, which blew the tent down and took the tent poles away. Never did find them.
I've been in a couple of bad storms, one in the 10,000 Islands and another in the midwest, which blew the tent down and took the tent poles away. Never did find them.
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Yes, I have been much more cautious since then. I think about it every time I stop for the night.
It was amazing that you made it through all those quasi strainers upright. The thing that I kept thinking about while watching the video was snakes. When we used to visit my grandparents at their ranch near Houston the trees overhanging the lake and canals were crawling with snakes. Did you have any problems with them? This was in the 50’s and maybe the environment has changed.
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We did not see a single snake. Yes, I have heard stories like that as well. Mainly on the upper Neches. We did have a canoe full of spiders, but they were harmless.
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