It’s wintertime again, which means that I start to get all philosophical again. It’s probably from the lack of paddling. The only water time I’ve been getting lately is second rate, because it’s on the solid kind with cross country skis instead of the liquid kind with a kayak. Over the years, one topic that [...]
The Great Lakes are five vast inland seas. Lake Superior, the largest, is approximately the same size as Iceland. Taken together, almost two Englands could fit inside the total surface area of the lakes. They’re big. Because they’re contained within smaller basins they don’t have tides like you’d see on the oceans, although the Great [...]
Every now and then I read an article on the Internet that makes me go, “Oh, that’s an interesting approach to sea kayaking.” One such article is by travel writer Bruce Kirkby. It’s called In a kayak, there are some danger signs you can’t ignore. In it he describes how he sets out on a [...]
We paddle because it’s fun and relaxing and sometimes challenging and risky. When it isn’t fun, it’s usually because our skills aren’t up to the challenge. In those circumstances, we can either grit our teeth and deal with it, or we can try to improve our skills so that next time we can smile and [...]
Jon Turk begins Part 4 of The Raven’s Gift: A Scientist, a Shaman, and Their Remarkable Journey Through the Siberian Wilderness with a discussion about the mythology surrounding the raven in aboriginal cultures. He relates a myth about Raven dropping a walnut on a man’s head and then laughing about it. The man’s feelings are [...]
Spring is almost here in the northland and on the shore of Lake Superior. Robins flew back into town the other day. I saw a raven carrying sticks for nests. The gulls are back and loud and dive-bombingly protective of the shoreline and their islands. Tons of eagles soar along the shore. And the deer, [...]
I did it! On Saturday, I closed the circle and paddled year round for the third or fourth year in a row. I set a goal for the last few years to paddle at least once a month, even in winter when it’s cold. Most years in my area, Lake Superior remains completely open, but [...]
The last time I dipped into a modern technology in the wilderness discussion, I inspired an almost book-length response — both public and private — from one blogger, so I’ve stayed out of the issue since. Lately, cabin fever has moved me into a more philosophical mood, so I’ve decided to stray once again into [...]
Mindfulness, mindlessness, practice makes permanent and practice makes automatic are four topics that I’ve pondered lately. I think how they relate impacts directly on how much enjoyment a paddler experiences. In my experience, I enjoy experiences when I’m feeling the flow versus when my actions become automatic to the point that I don’t realize what [...]
A trend in ultralight-speak is defining “simplicity” and its meaning within the context of personal relationships with wilderness travel. A couple of examples: Ryan Jordan writes on his blog about Wilderness Simplicity, Flexibility, and Power: I love Brent Simmon’s recent post about flexibility and power in the context of iOS Apps, and especially, his brilliant [...]
![ss-06112009-022150pm[1]](http://www.paddlinglight.com/pl/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/ss-06112009-022150pm1-150x150.jpg "Permalink to Watch Free Classic Paddling Films Online")
Injured? Is the water frozen? Or is there some reason that you can’t get out on the water? If you have a high speed Internet connection, there are dozens of online classic paddling film to help you pass the time. It isn’t a complete substitute for the joy of being on the water, but, at [...]
The Adventure Matrix: Ranking Trips on a Graph
Last week, I wrote about the difference between an expedition, adventure and a trip. After many comments, I still don’t know if I have the perfect criteria for determining if a trip is an expedition, but I do think that we figured out that expeditions don’t necessarily need to be adventurous. In the comments of that thread, Roman [...]