What advice would you give?

[Seeker]

For anyone interested in trying out a hammock, I've never met a hammocker yet who wouldn't let a reasonably-sized person try theirs out if asked nicely... So, next time you see a campsite with one hanging, stop and ask to see it, try it out, and ask questions.

There's also an entire forum (hammockforums.net) dedicated to the issue. I like everyone on it. However, as the focus of that forum is the hammock and associated gear, and my interests lie more in the bushcraft/canoeing/outdoors direction, it gets a little too gear-oriented for me to spend a lot of time there... I go, contribute where I can, ask what I need to ask, and get off.

 

[stripperguy]

I'm a little late to the party...

My advice to the next generations has been consistent (my own kids, nephews and nieces included):

Figure out what you enjoy and find a way to cash in on it.

It may sound simple, it may sound crass, it may be materialistic, bit it can be a formula for a fairy tale life.
It's so much easier to wake up in the morning when you enjoy your work.

I also advise the next groups to not be afraid to fail...the only person I know that never fails is the one that does nothing!!
Too many folks don't even attempt a project for fear of failure. Anything can be accomplished with simple tools:
A goal, a plan, commitment. That's all that's required.

I don't like to talk too much about my personal background, but I followed my passions and have been successful beyond my wildest dreams.
My business partners share similar attitudes with me...our company is the recognized world leader in out field. How did we do it?

We followed our dreams, and formed a plan, and followed through on that plan.

 

[Guest]

"Spend as much time as possible
on mountains, in small boats,
or otherwise out in the weather;
if you never get wet, cold, exhausted or scared,
you won’t properly appreciate
being dry, warm, rested or safe.
(Peter A. Jay)"

Mike,

That sounds like Thoreauvian transcendentalism. Thoreau and his cousin climbed Katahdin during a Maine trip. Joe Polis, the guide, declined to go with them, probably liking the idea of a day off.

On the way down Thoreau got that famous case of the creeps as the awful weight of the vastness, power and utter pitilessness of the wilderness got to him.

Good student that he was of Emerson's transcendentalism, he later interpreted his reaction as a good thing: go to the bush the better to realize and to study your humanity. That is to say, "In Wildness Is The Preservation Of The World."

Many different things can be said about that moment and about the legacies of Thoreau and Emerson, but what gets to me is that the story describes an example of someone having a "wilderness moment". I think that many people do have them at one time or another. People vary in their reactions to them.

For solo paddlers the most common time for a WM seems to come when camp bound by a big wind on a lake. Can't paddle, can't view new scenery, not interested in exploring inland or wary of getting lost by trying to, can't fish, and a body can do only so many camp chores before they get boring.

There's nothing to do. Some get very bored and restless, some get the creeps. But the point is that many, kept from those activities which usually are the actual main focus of the mind on the trip, respond directly to what they know or don't know, feel or don't feel, and think or don't think about the place they have come to, wilderness. At that time nothing stands between the paddler and wilderness.

It hit Thoreau as he and his cousin hiked through a big recent burn near the top of the mountain.

 

[Guest]

" For solo paddlers the most common time for a WM seems to come when camp bound by a big wind on a lake. Can't paddle, can't view new scenery, not interested in exploring inland or wary of getting lost by trying to, can't fish, and a body can do only so many camp chores before they get boring.

There's nothing to do. Some get very bored and restless, some get the creeps.

I understand my own wilderness moments, and paddling coastal bays and Atlantic barrier islands I have my share of windbound WM moments, but I not only enjoy those nothing to do moments; I seek them out.

I could paddle, if I felt like giving battle to the wind, and sometimes I do. I could take another walk to view new scenery, but I’ve done that and will do so again. Camp chores are 100% done. And I no longer hunt or fish because it interferes with my navel gazing time.

I am rarely happier than when sitting quietly solo, doing nothing with nothing pressing to do, just looking, listening and taking in the little things – wind in the boughs, bird on a limb, bug on a leaf, shoreline changing as the tide rises.

Especially listening. I need ample quietude, and a clear (and empty) mind to actually hear that buzz of bee hive or the distinctively sound of passing air through primary feathers, where a raven sounds nothing like a swift or swallow.

For me those sensory minutia moments are the best moments of a trip, and I need to be stationary and solo to turn my undivided attention to the wee goings on around me.

 

[snapper]

While not earth shattering, my advice would be/is to get out and paddle! Pure and simple. Not each trip needs to be a major endeavor. I'm lucky enough that I can paddle a stretch of the Susquehanna at lunch time and have started to take advantage of that over the last few years. It's amazing how many bald eagles, osprey, great blue heron, snapping turtles, crayfish, etc. one can see during a short paddle. While the distant highway traffic tells me I'm not in a wilderness, the scenery sure makes me feel otherwise. I also think that by getting out locally, I really do appreciate it a bit more when I can get up to the Adirondacks (or elsewhere) for a longer trip.

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

snapper

 

[ppine]

Choose your paddling partners carefully.
Know when to go ashore and wait out the bad weather. You don't "have to" be anywhere.

 

[Potterdave]

Prior to each outing, I'd remind myself to expect nothing.

 

[daveo4]

Potterdave,
I agree. My wife is often unhappy because she has such high expectations that are seldom met. I have much lower expectations and usually enjoy myself immensely. She often opines that my trips can't be fun, as when I left for a 3 day canoe trip with a winter storm warning in the forecast. Some are , some aren't. I feel that you don't have to have fun to have a worthwhile experience. The contrast between the highs and the lows on a trip make the good parts stand out that much more.
Cheers,
Dave

 

[Guest]

I used to be an agenda hiker and paddler. Miles on a map seemed to mean more.

I now wish I would have lifted my head up from those maps more and slowed down a little.

So for me it's , Slow down and enjoy it a little more. Take in the views for a little longer before moving on. Enjoy a few more full breaths and scents from those vistas, take more delight in that paddle moving through the water with each perfect silky stroke. You'll be better for it.

 

[Rippy]

I used to be an agenda hiker and paddler. Miles on a map seemed to mean more.

I now wish I would have lifted my head up from those maps more and slowed down a little.

So for me it's , Slow down and enjoy it a little more. Take in the views for a little longer before moving on. Enjoy a few more full breaths and scents from those vistas, take more delight in that paddle moving through the water with each perfect silky stroke. You'll be better for it.

This is where I'm headed also.

 

[Guest]

Mike,

".....the wee things......". I like that(!!). I've been using the phrase like my own around here.

"The wee things" are why I'm out there. I've never found but a limited amount of entertainment in just paddling and camping.

Judging by some buzz I've been reading on the site this past year, I say that there's a growing appreciation off wee things.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

Spend less time on canoe trips and more with my family.

 

[Guest]

Best single piece of advice

Best single piece of advice

Before I read Path of the Paddle by Bill Mason, I used only forward strokes when paddling downstream. This caused closure rates with obstructions that were frequently less than manageable. Mason's book included the admonishment to "descend rapids slowly". I took that thought with me on the river and had my greatest "Aha Moment" so far in my paddling experience. This is the advice I would give to myself if I could start all over.

Peter

 

[Mowgli]

I once knew a gentleman who was an in-demand commercial artist for the advertizing industry. He did package design and advert layouts for many products that we are all familiar with, including the Marlboro Cowboy and the Coors Silver Bullet. His studio was in his home, and one day, one of his sons came in and started asking questions. 'Daddy, are cigarettes bad for people?' He answered that they are, and that he hoped that his children never take up smoking. His son's next question was, "If cigarettes are bad for people, then why are you trying to people buy cigarettes?' I don't know what his answer was at that moment, but he gave the issue a great deal of thought. Not much later, he announced to his family that he would no longer accept jobs for tobacco or alcohol products. His wife, who had a better idea than he of where the bulk of his income came from, thought he was crazy and that household financial disaster would be the result. He stood by his announcement and never took a job for tobacco or alcohol.
The next year, his income doubled.
It is not always easy, but it is always possible, to do the right thing.