Recent content by yknpdlr

When my wife was pit crewing my Yukon River races, shw had the opportunity to sit with First Nation residents while waiting for us to pass. Most have never learned to swim, unlesss they attended school in Whitehorse which has a large athletic complex with a pool. The silt in the river...

ten years ago. It was fun. Grand daughter is now 25, she just raced in the Adirondack 90 Mile Canoe Classic race with me two weekends ago. the last time she was in a canoe was when she was 8 and paddled a 12 mile race with me which we won. Finished the 90 second in our class :)

i wonder what brand of PFD they are wearing?

it was a quiet day,while hiking along Loch Ness in Scotland with my grandkids. And then suddenly, there it was! I see it in the distance, getting closer now. Hey kids, come here, look quick

Not a video but a couple of stills taken from a safety boat as I am in the bow of a voyageur canoe on the Yukon River race at the Five Finger Rapids. Only one "safe" line to hit with 3' hjgh standing waves have me taking a wash over the bow onto me in one shot, Then I am paddling in air in...

Certainly have that experience. During the Yukon River races, after more than 24 hours of continuous paddling through the night, pareidolia is quite common. One of my voyageur canoe paddling partners often sees plates of food rising up from the turbulent surface water. During the Yukon 1000...

Along with REI and EMS, in my early gear needy days I shopped LLBean for gear, but when each of those franchises opened stores in my state, mainly far from me, causing state sales tax to automatically be collected, I backed way off from mail order and distant store visits. My wife still shops...

That is possible. The former Hamilton County Sheriff owns the single private camp on the island peninsula and may be grandfathered in. During the more than the 35 years I have annually visited Lows as a BSA high adventure trek guide canoe and camping instructor, plus many separate personal...

it is leaf peeper season, after all. That is when those who live outside of pretty tree country will travel north to spend dolllars and time with those of us who actually live with the experience all the time. A bit early for the most color, but the peak is soon, and will severely fade by the...

Years ago, Charlie Wilson explained to me that if you heel offside, the canoe will present the shape of a banana to the water, and will tend to guide the canoe to turn away from the heel, countering the opposite side stroke torque. That works generally well on most of my canoes. Even, or...

For those of us who live an hour or more away from major retailers that handles the type of outdoor gear or other normal life supplies my wife and I might need or desire (Walmart, LLBean, Lowes, Harbor Freight et. al.), Amazon with overnight or two-day delivery on some items is a God-send in...

I have a PB Rapidfire with a custom (1.5 in) higher than highest usual available optional seat. With one notable exception, I 99.99% paddle it single blade, the only .01% exception is in some races that require double blade to be used in the canoe class (solo-recreational, equal to or less than...

Bats attacking you in the head and tangling in your hair is in the category of an "old wives’ tale". I have spent many days spelunking for sport and University research in bat populated caves of NYS and also for a couple of US national park service research weeks in the larger known and several...

My granddaughter, now 25 years old, last paddled with me on a 12 mile out and back race from Old Forge when she was just 8 years old. We won the family class and she was so excited. Living for several years overseas in the military with her family, then in TX and now in southern CA, and not...

After you have paddled in the official 90 miler a few times (this year is my 30th), you may be tempted to do the totally unofficial "Cannonball-90", as we call it. The goal is to complete the old traditional 90-mile route all within a single calendar day. I like to start in Old Forge at the...