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How to Stay Clean While Camping
On day five, I crawled in the tent with my canoeing partner. We were halfway through our trip, and he smelled bad. I mean he smelled like a bucket of ripe clams left out in the sun on a beach in 100-degree weather for five days. I looked over at him and said, “Dude, you stink. Don’t you know how to stay clean while camping?” He shrugged his shoulders and said, “We’re in the woods, of course, I stink.” And from that moment forward, I’ve made it a point to try and stay clean while camping when on adventures, and you can too by following these easy steps. Take a…
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Slightly Off Topic: GOP Wants to Make Hikers and Bikers Pay to Hike and Bike
Recently in Minnesota members of the state’s GOP proposed that hikers and bikers pay user fees to use state trails (not to mention they already pay for a park pass). I wouldn’t be surprised to see paddlers targeted as well for using state water trails. The reason the GOP cited was because snowmobilers pay user fees, everyone else should for fairness. I wanted to see how much snowmobilers pay and where the funding for the state’s 22,000+ miles of snowmobile trails actually comes from. The biggest source of funding is the gas tax paid by all drivers. I put together this info chart from the data I was able to…
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Living in the Last Scrap of the Golden Age of Wilderness Paddling
After reading an article on the potential sale of more than 1,800 hectares and 30 kilometers of undeveloped Lake Superior shoreline potentially to developers who plan to develop the untouched bays, it occurred to me that we, as in the kayakers and canoeist alive right now, might be living in the last scrap of the golden age of wilderness paddling in the Great Lakes basin. And, I wonder if there’s any stopping the development of the remaining undeveloped areas on the Great Lakes. And, I wonder, even with the current protections, if those will remain as more people desire their own little piece of the big lakes. Wilderness paddling in…
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Howl of the Wolf
Usually, I keep PaddlingLight free of controversial issues, but occasionally when something occurs that affects an integral part of the wilderness exploration experience, such as When They Want to Take Away Wilderness (read it before you vote this year), I feel like I need to write something to send out to all the readers and visitors of PaddlingLight (over 600 via email and rss and over 20,000 unique visitors a month). Now, Minnesota’s canoe country and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, one of the premier canoeing destinations in the world, faces a threat to the wilderness experience. Today, Minnesota begins a 3,600-hunter, wolf hunt with the goal of killing 400 wolves a year. Once the DNR got…
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When They Want to Take Away Wilderness
On PaddlingLight, I try to steer clear of politics, but one of PaddlingLight’s missions is to increase wilderness protection so I have to stick my toes into it now and then. Recently, we had some alarming numbers on wilderness participation rates, and with an increasingly anti-environmental U.S. congress, which according to some numbers is the most anti-environmental congress in the existence of the United States — as of September 2011 they made 125 votes against the environment and 33 votes to undermine protection for public lands and coasts — I feel like it’s my duty as a paddler, a blogger and a lover of wilderness to speak out. Especially now with…
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Courage in Wilderness Travel
courage: mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty In February of 2011, I was thinking about courage and how technology can change the amount of courage that a wilderness trip requires (see: Modern Technology and Courage in the Wilderness). I concluded that certain types of technology can reduce the risks of wilderness travel and reduce the courage it takes to tackle the trip. In a more recent article a commenter  made a remark about how boat type can affect courage. In his example, he used an inflatable kayak in an area where the norm is hard-shelled sea kayaks. While his choice may or may not make…
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Waving Your Arms Past Your Head While Spinning in Circles
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 hurt, so he asks Raven, “Why?” Raven stops laughing and tells the man that he isn’t mocking the man, but just ‘playing’ with him to have fun. Jon interprets the story this way: …Ravens may drop walnuts on your head, storms may batter your canoe, blizzards may scatter your reindeer, but lighten up; nature is…
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Modern Technology and Courage in the Wilderness
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 a subject that causes tempers to flare. This time, I’m thinking about modern technology and how it affects our view of courage. Technology in Wilderness I place technology in a wilderness context into five categories: Technology that compliments skills. Technology that replaces skills. Technology that provides entertainment. Technology that connects to someone beyond the wilderness.…
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Simplicity in Wilderness Travel
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 observation that …flexibility is just a tool to use exceedingly sparingly, only when it substantially increases power. There’s a lot of meat in this statement, with direct relevance to trekking, and trekking gear. Now, it depends on how one might define power. Traditional definitions might equate power to speed, or distance. A more thoughtful person…
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Wilderness Survival School Presentation
Tim Smith, the owner and founder of Jack Mountain Bushcraft School, often gives a presentation about wilderness survival at Canoecopia. He also teaches bushcraft and wilderness survival at his school. I’ve attended several of his Canoecopia presentations. Basically, during the presentation, he talks about wilderness survival, discusses making fire, what to have in your survival kit, and a survival plan. These skills are essential to anyone heading into the woods (Also, check out my article: Nessmuking’s Core Philosophy). His main point is this: Survival = Maintaining body temp, getting eight hours of sleep a day, and staying hydrated. If you can carry out those three activities, there’s a good chance…
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Sulfide Mining Near America’s Most Used Canoe Wilderness Area
I live near the edge of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCA) and on the shore of Lake Superior. Both locations are among the most pristine locations in the world. When paddling on Lake Superior, I can see what seems like forever into its depths–it looks cleaner than a swimming pool. On the inland lakes, I can paddle for weeks without seeing any of the adverse effects of mankind. There is no pollution to be seen. The wildlife is abundant. Fishing is world-class. When camping in the BWCA, the only sounds heard are the natural sounds of a clean healthy wilderness: the howl of a wolf, the call of…
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Light but Strong – Building Cedar Strip Canoes for Wilderness Tripping
Take care of the ounces and the pounds will take care of themselves, is Jay Morrison's motto. Learn how Jay utilized this moto and developed new techniques to build a Wilderness-Tripping-Tough cedar strip canoe weighing 35 pounds.
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Cell Phones in the Wilderness
For several years a debate has raged between two camps of people: Those who feel cell phones should be left home, and those who feel they should come on wilderness trips. People in the anti-phone camp cite everything from distraction from the trip, to a simple annoyance, or even a lack of respect and common courtesy. They go to extremes to make any philosophical point that they can to make sure cell phones stay out of the woods. The pro-phone camp cite many reasons to carry them, but it seems the biggest justification they use for cell phones in the woods is that they add safety to the trip. They…
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Lost and Found: What to do when you find something in the Woods
When you find an expensive item in the wilderness, you may be tempted to claim salvage rights, but to learn what you really should do, read this article.