Recent content by jdeerfoot

Just finished The Wager by David Grann (author of Killers of the Flower Moon). The Wager (publ 4/2023) is the story of the shipwreck of the HMS Wager in the 1740’s near bottom of South America. Very readable and a riveting story. It is coming out as a movie soon.

Bent, I envy you and your trip. Spring and fall, my favorite tripping time. Me, I am currently on medical hold for a month so no spring trip this year.

I think this is kind of an old guy problem. In my case it seems the padding I used to sit on now obstructs the view of my navel. And I am still trying reconcile my apparent need for suspenders.

Speaking of finds, this is my most interesting and treasured find.Found in the Sylvania Wilderness/Ottawa NF western UP Michigan. Sylvania was designated a wilderness in the late 1980s as I recall. The USFS staff pulled the portage markers and discarded them in the woods. My buddy walked into...

On a trip in NW Ontario we stopped for lunch at the end of a portage. I foolishly hung my favorite tripping hat on a tree. Of course, after lunch we shoved off and it wasn’t until several more portages passed that I realized where my hat was. We were not going back for the hat even though it...

I buddy and I just attempted to do what Chip and his friend did. We were trying to clear a large pile of floating debris from our local river prior to an annual paddling event. All the floating stuff was jammed in a large tree that was undercut and fell blocking the entire river. It didn’t help...

I kind of know what you mean - I missed out on 2 years of trips in Canada (pandemic) where I started paddling annually in 2007. And at age 76, I can’t afford to miss any more. I was just talking to my main tripping partner yesterday and we both agreed we need to get in all the trips we can. He...

If you are working with an outfitter check with them on fishing regs. You will need to get an Outdoors Card as well as a license (they are available from all outfitters and many businesses). Or you could call the local NMR office in Thunder Bay during normal business hours and they can answer...

This item is no longer produced by Eureka Canada. The fly was made to attach to a bug net which I have.

Sanitary disposal of biohazard cotton underwear.

I have old REI water shorts that I really like - they look like hiking shorts with the usual pockets, are loose fitting and made of nylon. Comfortable and fast drying. My wife has repaired them several times, so I really hope they last for the remainder of my tripping days. Perfect summer trip...

One more reason why I went into the navy.

When I think about the topic what comes back to me is the times we have had 8 or 9 guys in a 2 queen bed hotel room while the high end canoes are out there on the vehicles which are packed with really nice gear.

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.

Like the psychologists say, the 3 greatest motivators for humans are food, sex and money. For bears and other mammals it would be the first 2.