Recent content by Mason

I got the satellite available notice on my Android Pixel 9 (didn't need to use it). I think it matters more on the phone than the operating system. You might look into it.

Well, it's pointy on both ends, and open.....Thomas Cole’s “The Voyage of Life: Youth” (1840)

I paddled it in August 26 years ago (w/ my 9yo daughter, her mother and a friend solo). The paddling was trivial then, needing to look out for sandbars occasionally. I don't know what higher levels are like, but I suspect just faster flat water and fewer sandbars. There's lots of info out there...

What skills are you looking for? Paddling or camping, or the combination? A wonderful trip not far from Denver is the Green River in Utah. Put in at Green River, and get a boat shuttle out at the confluence to Moab. You can also do shorter trips with other landing sites. We spent a very...

I want to see them do that in a 17' Grumman or a Blue Hole OCA!

If the tent is separate from the fly, I pack the fly separately (under a pack flap, outside of liner, etc.). Packing it in a separate dry bag makes sense only if it's going in with your dry stuff. Packing everything together will soak the inner tent a lot worse than taking it down in the rain...

Exactly. I don't have mesh tents, so a release is helpful. I always zip up the mesh door, but maybe half of the fabric door.

Zip them up (at least half way). Facilitates pitching, particularly with stakes, as you can't make things too tight for zipping them up after you pitch. Half of the tent door (through the widest part) and the full fly. Edit: Zip everything in bug country!

I have a Phoenix pop-up camper on my truck. I added some struts (a la Four Wheel Campers) which allow me to raise the top with two boats on top. Something to consider if you're interested.

That explains a lot. I used to go to Polecat Creek in the 90s. It was probably worth it though: she was cute. But alas, I have neither her nor probably a lot of brain cells now.

Don't worry about the crossbars. I have Yakimas, and I've been doing the slide over for many years, mostly with solo boats with aluminum gunnels.. Haven't worn them out, or put divots in them yet. Beats falling.

Can you place one end on the bars behind your car? I'd so, do that and just slide the rear end forward. I even do that on my truck pop up camper.

I thought it was impressive. I put in two of my most recent trips (Horton in NWT, and Dubawnt in Nunavut) and it showed the routes we took complete with mileage. I just have my phone now, but will further investigate in a week or so when I'm home with my desktop. It looks like a really neat tool...

The old man way:

One thing also to consider is competing interests for their time/money. Yes, decent new canoes are expensive. Yet mountain bikes start at $3000, and go up quickly to over $10,000. $5000 mountain bikes are probably most common. Road bikes now start at $5000. I haven't checked on new prices...