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Manido Gizhigans, Spirit Little Cedar Tree, the Witch Tree
Manido Gizhigans, which is translated into English as Spirit Little Cedar Tree or commonly known as the Witch Tree, is a white cedar tree seemly growing out of a rock. It’s located on Lake Superior near Grand Portage. It is over 300 years old. Paddlers should leave a pinch of tobacco as an offering to help protect them on long journeys on Lake Superior. One of the stories of the Witch Tree that I’ve read suggests the tree was a woman who had a vision and found her way to Hat Point to serve as a lookout for a change (white man) that was coming via Superior. That story struck…
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Sea Gull Lake Loop Trip Report
Since I moved near to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, I’ve spent less time exploring it on extended trips than before I moved here. At first, I tried to continue doing one-week solo Fall trips, a few long distance longer trips, like when I paddled theVoyager’s Route, but most my Boundary Waters trips since moving here have been overnights or day trips. It’s likely my love of Lake Superior and being able to kayak on an ocean-like body of water (or the warm bed nearby) that keeps me away. This year, I wanted to end the summer with a Boundary Water’s trip and Ilena’s vacation matched up with the…
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Lightweight Canister Stoves
Recently, I’ve been preparing for a seven-day two-person canoe trip by reorganizing my cooking gear. I’ve settled on taking a Penny Stove, made from beer cans, but what if I wanted to use a canister stove? There are lots of reasons to bring a canister stove, but I find the most compelling reason is its ability to easily control the flame. Least compelling for me is having to use a non-renewable energy source. Still, from a weight perspective a canister stove makes good sense. My favorite lightweight canister stove is MSR’s Pocket Rocket Backpacking Stove. Its simply and light design has few moving parts to break, and it packs up…
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Lightweight Cooking Gear
A great lightweight cooking system should quickly and efficiently boil water, set up easily, and pack up into the system’s largest pot. Lately, because I’m preparing for a seven-day two-person canoe trip, I’ve been looking for cooking gear that meets this criteria. I’ve looked into lightweight commercial cooking gear, like the Caldera Cone and the Jetboil (which I love for solo travel), but everything I’ve looked at seems lacking in some aspect. For example, the Cone doesn’t pack into a pot, and once you add all the accessories to make a Jetboil convenient for two, it ends up weighing significantly more than other options. I also wanted something that used…
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Paddling Weather Lore and Prediction
Paddlers live at the mercy of the weather. On a calm day, we can paddle miles. On a stormy day, a strong headwind makes progress a crawl, and nothing is worse than lightning striking during a long crossing. Having simple tools to help predict the weather during a paddling trip helps with the decision making process. It can help answer the question, “To go or not to go?” In the backcountry, one type of weather prediction available is weather lore, which is a collection of folk sayings that help predict the weather. These sayings can be helpful for paddlers wishing to predict the weather. Here are a few favorite weather…
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Free Canoe Plan: 1898 Passamaquoddy Ocean Canoe
The 1898 Passamaquoody Decorated Ocean Canoe comes from page 82, Figure 74 of Edwin Adney and Howard Chapelle’s The Bark Canoes and Skin Boats of North America. The text notes that this is the last known canoe of this style built. Tomah Joseph of Princeton, Maine built the canoe based on a cedar and canvas porpoise-hunting canoe. It has similar pinched ends and rounded tumblehome as the Modern Malecite St. John River Canoe. Length over all: 17ft 4inDesign beam: 36inDesign draft: 0.436inDisplacement: 510lbLength of waterline: 15.8ftWetted surface area: 29.5ft^2Optimum capacity: 300-800lbPounds to immerse an inch: 145lb The linesplans show the profile, plans and station view of this canoe. Free Canoe…
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New 2011 Wenonah Canoes
At the summer Outdoor Retailer show, Wenonah introduced two new canoes. The first is called the 17 Wenonah. The company founder, Mike Cichanowski, originally built this model in his parent’s garage when he was 16. The boat sat on display at the company headquarters until they decided to dust it off and build a mold. It’s now available in all Wenonah’s layups. The second boat is a canoe/kayak hybrid called the Canak. The boat is a decked Prism solo canoe with a kayak seat and a built-in holder for a portage yoke. The large hatches are covered by fabric hatch covers. It’s definately geared towards canoe destinations like the Boundary…
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New 2011 Mad River Canoe Models
At the 2010 Summer Outdoor Retailer show, the yearly pilgrimage for gear obsessed outdoor store owners and buyers, Mad River announced the release of five new canoes. The first two ultralites weigh in at 45 lbs and 43lbs for the Explorer 16 KX Ultralite and the Malecite KX Ultralite, respectively. They range in price from $2,749 to $3,089 depending on the options, like wood gunwales. Both feature resin-infusion w/ something called custom MRC core system. If the MRC core system features a molded-in bunny, like shown in the picture, we hope it doesn’t make it into production boats. Resin-infusion results in a layup with a high fiber/resin ration, which means…
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How to Take Advantage of Gear Warranties
When an expensive piece of equipment breaks during an expedition, you fix it, swallow your losses and then get home. Once home, it sucks having to buy a new piece of gear, especially if you loved the broken one, and it was expensive. Luckily, most outdoor equipment offers some type of warranty and many brands offer lifetime warranties. Before you buy a new piece of gear to replace your old make sure you try and take advantage of the warranty. Recently, I had a small problem. The feathering sticker on my Werner Cyprus’s adjustable ferrule came off. The first solution that popped into my head was to paint dots corresponding…
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Public Domain Canoe and Kayak Images
I always enjoy looking through old canoeing and kayaking images. They remind me that people have been paddling for a long time–what we do isn’t new, because it’s been around for thousands of years. It reminds me that our recreational activity links us to all those back through time that have enjoyed it. They enjoyed adventure as much as we do. It also reminds me how much better we look doing it now; look at some of the goofy outfits worn by paddlers of the past. My two favorite locations are on Flickr’s The Commons, which has a small but interesting collection, and Minnesota Historical Society’s Visual Resource Database. Every…
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Taking Great Canoe and Sunset Pictures
A canoe, glassy water, and a sunset go together like bananas, ice cream, and whipped cream. But unlike the quickly fading delight of savoring a banana split, capturing a sunset in a picture allows for sharing and enjoyment for years. Sunset pictures are tricky. Typically, like in the pictures below, you can capture either the detail and color in the sky and have the canoe go dark and black or your can make the canoe light and visible, but lose the color in the sky. Using a Graduated Neutral Density filter, you can capture both a colorful sky and a detailed foreground and end up with a picture like the…
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How to Replace Your Kayak’s End Toggle
A couple of years ago, I watched a friend of mine carrying his wife’s boat down to the shore. A new kayaker taking a lesson from us carried the bow. Unfortunately, the worn-out rope attaching the kayak’s end toggle to the boat broke sending the bow of the $3200 fiberglass Valley Pintail to the asphalt. It hit with a crunch. He’s divorced now. I don’t know if it had anything to do with the kayak. Kayakers use end toggles (handles) for lots of things, but, arguably, the most important function is as a handle that allows the boat to spin freely if you have to swim your boat through the…
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How to Recognize Drowning
gCaptian published two articles that every paddler should read: Drowning Doesn’t Look Like Drowning and The Truth About Cold Water. Below is an excerpt from the Drowning article. The Instinctive Drowning Response – so named by Francesco A. Pia, Ph.D., is what people do to avoid actual or perceived suffocation in the water. And it does not look like most people expect. There is very little splashing, no waving, and no yelling or calls for help of any kind. To get an idea of just how quiet and undramatic from the surface drowning can be, consider this: It is the number two cause of accidental death in children, age 15…
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The Eight Rules of Paddle Club
Paddler: Why? I don’t know why; I don’t know. Never been in a kayak. You?Narrator: No, but that’s a good thing.Paddler: No, it is not. How much can you know about yourself, you’ve never been in a kayak? I don’t wanna die without any swims. The eight rules of paddle club1: This spring our local paddle club debated rules, insurance and liability. In the end, we decided that we’re just a group of friends who paddle together and that each paddler is responsible for himself. We also decided that we’d only paddle with people who know how to perform self and assisted reentries. And paddlers must have the right gear…
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GearPods Health Kit Review
This second review of components in the GearPods Wilderness system looks at the included GearPods Health kit. GearPods offer “modular, lightweight adventure and survival gear to help the outdoor enthusiast to prepare for the unexpected.” In all their systems, they combine interconnecting, “waterproof” containers with survival kits. Because the system is modular, I’m reviewing each component separately. I’ll wrap-up the reviews in a final overview and opinion of the products with a separate post. Because a first aid kit is only used when an injury occurs, I’m looking at the parts of this kit without having to use them. The kit is contained in a small nylon pouch inside of…
