• Happy Birthday, Jack Kerouac (1922-69)! ✍🏻📖🛣️

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  1. TrailBlaser

    Recreational Barrel Works 2-Part Canoe Pack

    Right, the shoulder straps are only on one of the sections.
  2. TrailBlaser

    Recreational Barrel Works 2-Part Canoe Pack

    I've been splitting my gear into two packs (one larger and one smaller) until I got this. Although it is designed as a two-pack system, it is easy enough to separate the two sections to go into the canoe and then taken out and re-attached for a carry. If I am just paddling to a campsite, I'll...
  3. TrailBlaser

    Recreational Barrel Works 2-Part Canoe Pack

    Agreed, they are much easier to lift when they're separated. The two packs can be separated and then be (securely) attached with the buckles/straps.
  4. TrailBlaser

    Oswegatchie River, October 10 and 11th 2024

    I used to contact the local ranger to find out when the ice was out; it was usually sometime in April. One year he told me it was MOSTLY out; it was around mid-April. I was teaching at the time and had more than a week off, so I decided to go for it. I could tell by the access road, that I was...
  5. TrailBlaser

    Recreational Barrel Works 2-Part Canoe Pack

    My daughter got me one for Christmas (I'm amazed she found it on her own). I haven't used it yet, but packed for my first solo trip (in my Sawyer Autumn Mist). It has great capacity; I easily fit all my shoulder season gear and clothing in it, including hot tent gear/stove. Inside each section...
  6. TrailBlaser

    Oswegatchie River, October 10 and 11th 2024

    I've been paddling the river since the late 80s, at times when the it's still icing out. It is the high water and the ice that takes out the dams.
  7. TrailBlaser

    E-ZPass transponders with cartopped canoes

    I've been driving with a canoe up top and E-Z pass for years and never had a problem anywhere that the pass is useable.
  8. TrailBlaser

    Single Trip Carry Portage Techniques

    Being 70 now, I'm unable (and really don't want) to carry the loads that I did years ago. For the most part, my canoe trips are in the Adirondacks. On trips that involve carries of a half mile or more, I try to minimize the gear I take. However, I do take some items that would be considered...
  9. TrailBlaser

    Your three favorite pieces of comfort or luxury canoe camping gear

    My Warbonnet Ridgerunner hammock (for sleeping), the Marchway High Back Chair and Luxe 3W Wood Stove (for cold weather camping).
  10. TrailBlaser

    Portable Water Filtration & Purification

    Depending on the trip, I use the MSR Miniworks, the Katadyn BeFree or my preferred system, the Platypus GravityWorks 4L Water Filter System (with additional reservoirs). With the Platypus system (and the extra reservoirs), I filter enough water for a few days upon arrival at the campsite.
  11. TrailBlaser

    Hatchet or Saw?

    Currently I'm taking an Agawa Canyon ADK26 and Boreal21 along with a Black River 3.75" Fixed Blade for batoning. I've found that this kit allows me to do pretty much anything I need to process wood.
  12. TrailBlaser

    Oswegatchie River, October 10 and 11th 2024

    Thanks for sharing the trip report and photos. In the late 80s and early 90s, I made that trip many times in all three seasons. Each one was memorable and special. My best time on the river was the summer I spent on it as the AFR as I really got to know the river and all the trails and sights...
  13. TrailBlaser

    Lows lake Lower Dam repair project

    I only go very early and late in the season. Forget the summer, it's a zoo from the parking lot all the way to the lake.
  14. TrailBlaser

    Show us pictures of your canoe dogs

    Thanks Bob. He's great and my only paddling partner!
  15. TrailBlaser

    Beyond phones, what photo and video equipment for canoe trips?

    I fully understand what you say about editing the footage shot on trips. I never got around to it until I retired. Now it is my winter project, but I am still not caught up with all of it and of course, I'm adding more to the backlog every year.
  16. TrailBlaser

    Show us pictures of your canoe dogs

    My canoeing partner, Russet, lives with my daughter in Washington, DC. He's now a four-year Portuguese Water Dog. We usually get together twice a year for a trip. Last year we went to Massawepie and Taylor Pond in the Adirondacks. Our trips for this year are scheduled for next month; the...
  17. TrailBlaser

    Beyond phones, what photo and video equipment for canoe trips?

    On most trips that don't involve long carries, I take quite a bit of gear. I take a phone with me, but it is only because Gaia GPS, Earthmate and GoPro software is on it. I rarely take photos or shoot videos with it, mostly because I don't like the aspect ratios on it. I have two GoPros, one...
  18. TrailBlaser

    Where do you carry your canoe trip knives and what are they?

    A Buck 442 folding knife on the PFD and a Huntsman Swiss Army Knife in the kitchen kit. A Western 9 inch Black River Fixed Blade knife to baton wood. (I apologize for the repeat)
  19. TrailBlaser

    Music for the drive to, during, or the drive back from canoe trips?

    I usually start out very early in the morning (3 to 4am) and have a 3-5 hour drive, so it is ambient music on the way up all the way to the put-in: Erik Wollo, Tom Eaton and/or David Helpling. On the way back, it's almost always the Grateful Dead (live concert soundboards). The year varies, but...
  20. TrailBlaser

    The Joy of (Self-Imposed) Canoe Trip Suffering

    I've always done mostly solo trips and never thought twice about challenging myself on trips, both in terms of the physical effort required and with the weather. Of course I was younger then, but there was no cell phone service or SOS devices back then - just a rough itinerary and a promise to...
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