Photo of the day

[Guest]

I will answer Canube’s deleted question. I met Topher on the 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] ever Raystown Gathering (2003?) and instantly knew he was Duckhead material. He was a frequent companion for years afterward on trips and increasingly proved a born Duckhead. He set the bar high (bar and high both puns)

Speaking of Topher, who says you can’t carve turns in a Sea Wind?

EK_0022 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

That same trip Topher paddled the Sea Wind backwards; Kruger fanboy McWood nearly had a cow.

Or pole a triple-stack?

EK_0021 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

I remember the late great NT once taking me aside on a trip to caution “Be careful around him”, and NT was no saint himself.

I wasn’t careful, but have no lasting regrets. Topher was crazy fun to be around, and also crazy skilled; when the crap hit the fan, and a capsized paddler rescue was needed, I’d as soon have Topher along as anyone I know.

 

[dougd]

I remember handing Topher a pole for the first time. dang, he was a natural at it and fun to watch trying to figure it out! Those were some fun days!

 

[memaquay]

First paddle of the year....lakes still covered, but rivers open!

 

[lowangle al]

Way to get out there Mem, that looks like it was a great day for a paddle.

 

[Canotrouge]

-28c here this morning so paddling will have to wait a little!

 

[frozentripper]

For those who hate seeing cell phones, laptops, tablets, calculators, e-readers, and any and all hi-tech devices polluting the natural beauty of pristine environments (sorry not a photo but serves the purpose)...

https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/677439968941639858/

 

[Guest]

For those who hate seeing cell phones, laptops, tablets, calculators, e-readers, and any and all hi-tech devices polluting the natural beauty of pristine environments

I will put my grumpy old man hat on and say that I hate seeing them even in their more natural environment, people walking down the sidewalk, glued to their screen. People talking on their phone every waking minute – what could they possibly have left to say?

Years ago I was driving a van load of people to a canoe race, including my niece and her college roommate, both novice racers. The veteran racers were having a lively and informative discussion about the course, tactics and strategies. Her roommate paid no attention and stayed glued to her phone for the entirety of the two hour drive.

I have been on a couple trips where someone discovered that they had a cell phone connection, and suddenly phones were whipped out left and right. I did get an extended weather forecast on one trip, so I guess I shouldn’t complain.

Worst ever was a guy who brought some music playing device, and small speakers. There is a God; he left them out and it rained that night.

 

[frozentripper]

Digital photography... gone are the days when you had to conserve film waiting for the best shots. Now it's... "we were on vacation and we brought back 20,000 photographs"... you can't have a moment anywhere without someone recording it.

 

[sweeper]

NOT having a phone with the Covid restrictions was my biggest problem and at the same time most amusing.
Call the doctor's office when you get there, "I don't have a phone".
"You WHAT!?!"
But it looks like the end is near, broadband is coming and the Verizon landline is going, I may bit the bullet and get a mobile leash.

 

[Mason]

Now back to photos..... Bowron Lakes (BC) sunset, 2012

 

[Guest]

Digital photography... gone are the days when you had to conserve film waiting for the best shots.

I, and I’m sure others, remember shooting 35mm slide film, and having post-trip slide shows. It was maybe worth trying two different focal lengths or framing. I know that, with those consequences of carrying rolls of film and developing expenses, I was overly frugal judicious in what I photographed.

you can't have a moment anywhere without someone recording it.

Well, I can try, albeit not always successfully.

Some years ago we were taking a group leg stretcher and piss break on a small island. Only when we were finished did we discover the game camera. DNR stationed camera. “Hmmm, what all did we do back there in addition to taking a leak?”

A few years later, during a solo trip I discovered, already base camped for a few days, game cameras adjacent to my tent site, labeled with a University researcher’s contact info. I’d already been prancing about that site for several days, and thought about the poor grad students forced to look through thousands of photos of me pissing in the greenbriar, or scratching my arse as I walked past to harvest firewood.

At that point what else could I do? I put on a little show for them. It wasn’t the backcountry version of the “Dance of the Seven Veils”, but I did shake that money maker for their amusement. I could only hope that the researcher’s free labor, bored photo-scanning students and Post-docs had a laugh.

NOT having a phone with the Covid restrictions was my biggest problem and at the same time most amusing.
Call the doctor's office when you get there, "I don't have a phone".
"You WHAT!?!"

I stumbled onto one Covid-era advantage to not having a cell phone. Library books are only available with “contact-less delivery”; park in a numbered space, call when you arrive, have the trunk or hatchback open, wait. And wait, and wait.

But as a non-cell-phonian I can call from home, give the library an arrival time and the books are waiting outside on a table for me.

Back to photos. Ghost paddlers.

EK_0004 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

 

[kona]

Montreal Canyon, the border between Wisconsin and the UP, near the big lake. Incredibly beautiful stretch of river.

 

[alsg]

Two views of Allagash Lake last week.

 

[lowangle al]

[No message]

 

[Cheeseandbeans]

 

[frozentripper]

How to ensure a campsite remains unoccupied.

 

[DaveO]

I've been giving our 5 month old puppy Cookie as much canoe time as possible. She has already learned she should not bark at, or get agitated by, geese, ducks, cormorants, herons, people in boats, people on docks, etc.



My (woefully misnamed) Canak has proved to be a perfect training canoe, but she will be outgrowing it soon.

 

[Guest]

My (woefully misnamed) Canak has proved to be a perfect training canoe, but she will be outgrowing it soon.

Any chance she would fit in the front hatch when fully grown, or would that put the Canak bow heavy?

 

[DaveO]

I will start a new thread: "Cookie Training in Canoe"

 

[PaddlingPitt]

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I uploaded these photos from my iPad, but was not given a choice of what size image to insert. I also could not enter any text. I am now editing on my iPad. Some people recommend that one should not mow all of one's dandelions, saving some for the swallowtails.


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Kathleen actually took these pictures. I nearly stepped on this fawn as it lay completely still, waiting patiently for its mother to return.