Sixty Strokes

[TrailBlaser]

I turned 65 in January. I have been pretty fortunate health-wise, although I could be in better shape. I get in better shape each year when I start spending time outdoors. I do day hikes in areas near me, including some sections of the AT, but they seem all second-rate to me compared to the places I go in the Adirondacks. Last year I started hammock camping and that solved all the problems I had with sleeping in the woods. All the soreness and stiffness is gone and I sleep better in my hammock than I do at home in my bed. Because of a situation with the cars in our family and who uses them, my opportunities to go canoe camping have become really limited. This has been frustrating and moved me to start backpacking again. I am fine with it, I have good equipment and have been able to get into and enjoy areas I couldnt get to with a canoe, but I do wish I could do more canoe camping. I am hoping to retire in a couple of years and my dream is to get a place closer to the Adirondacks so I can spend more time there. I don't know if this will happen, as my wife seems more inclined to stay around the area where we live or move south. Time will tell...

 

[recped]

I'll be 65 this Summer.

When I turned 60 in 2014 I decided to set a target of paddling at least 1 day for each year every year. Yes, I fully understood that this might get harder as the years go.

2014 - 62 days (7 days solo)
2015 - 46 days (23 days solo) FAIL!
2016 - 48 days (30 days solo) Another FAIL!
2017 - 66 days (46 solo)
2018 - 64 days (52 solo) (just made it but had to include 1 short day paddle)
2019 - 0 days so far!

Most years I do a Spring (late May) trip of 7 - 14 days, then a major solo trip in Summer and then another 7 - 14 day trip in the Fall.

 

[Gerald]

I turned 80 this past January and plan a couple of short trips this coming season either solo or with one of my granddaughters. I try to do flat water only now and cut my mileage down as to spend more time just enjoying being in the wilderness these last few years I have left.

Reminds me, I must ask Recped the model of mattress he uses. The ultra light sleeping pads just don't cut it for me anymore.

Gerald

 

[sweeper]

Fifteen years ago I climbed Mt Washington, in 2 days, stayed at Lakes of the Clouds Hut and rode the train down. An otherwise unimpressive hike except, I did it with my then 80 year old mother. At 90 she climbed Mt Cardigan (3,156'). I'm hoping I have all her genes.

 

[yknpdlr]

This is what I wanted to hear, YC. We plan on just hanging out a lot, and enjoying the “place.” Still a little worried about Five Finger Rapids. But then, I am a worrier. Kathleen just laughs at me.

Five Fingers deserves a little worry, but only a little. Follow the recommended route, enter straight, keep your paddles in the water and enjoy the ride. It goes quick. In 15 seconds you will say to yourself "wow, can I go back to do it again?".

Later, be sure to take the right bank after leaving Fort Selkirk. Pass through in the channel near the rocky cliffs. The famous "faces of the Yukon". You will perceive many odd cartoon like faces looking at you in the natural jagged formations of the broken rock cliffs, especially if you do it on little sleep like I did during the races. I saw an entire profile of Albert Einstein, complete with characteristic wild hair and wing tip shoes. Otherwise there are formations all along the river where you will see faces and animal shapes in riverbanks and talus slopes. If I were to do the river again in slow tourist mode ( I should), photography of the natural landscape formations and animals ( the many real ones) looking at me would be my goal.

 

[PaddlingPitt]

Thanks for the advice, yknpdlr. We have seen several YouTube videos of people going through Five Finger Rapids. In general, the canoes are loaded with gear high above the gunwales. No spray covers. Paddlers are sitting up - not kneeling. Weak forward strokes that contain components of sweep strokes. They all make it. Kathleen and I have paddled substantially more difficult rapids on wilderness canoe trips, and have never capsized. Canoeing friends of ours who have paddled FFR say that it’s not much. We will have no trouble. There. I have done it. I have invited bad Karma that will surely strike me down. I’ll probably fall out of the boat, to be rescued by Kathleen at the end of the run.

Sorry to sidetrack this topic, BF. It’s been very interesting to see how many on this site just keep on keeping on. Gotta go as far and as long as we can. It’s the fight well fought. It’s all we can do.

Can’t think of any more platitudes right now. Gotta re-fill my teacup.

 

[Odyssey]

I joined the 60+ club three years ago and am also a card carrying member of the Carpe Diem club. I spend measured time looking back, and lots of looking forward too of course, but I try to make the most of where I am and what I have at the present. As per applying this to canoe tripping, fair weather or foul I try to appreciate every moment regardless of circumstance. I do b*tch and moan at times, but then get on with dealing with it and moving on. I never want a negative thought to linger. And there are no feats of strength, tests of endurance, records to be beaten, mine is a canoe trip for the body and soul. Others might not like the canoe trips I and my wife undertake, they're contemplative, not competitive. We've been tripping through canoe country and life this way, and it has suited our ages regardless of the passage of time, no matter which ageism club we've belonged to. But there are physical limits to our lives, so the gear has been getting lighter and so too the loads. However the goals have never changed, to soak up and embrace whatever life experiences we face.
I realize and accept we all live different lives and so take different trips in and out of our chosen canoes. Mine needn't be yours.
The great thing about canoe tripping, like some other recreational pursuits, is that you can make of it what you want.

 

[TrailBlaser]

Wow, that's impressive!

Sent from my SM-N920T using Tapatalk

 

[Black_Fly]

Well this is my last year of work. I don't intend to work past June, but I keep buying stuff so as long as I can get that taken care of, I'm ready to quit and devote my time making the most out of my current situation. You guys are an inspiration, but I need you to talk to my wife, who is 9 years younger and thinks people should work until they drop.

 

[Iskweo]

I hit 60 last fall and retired shortly after that. I have had a very active healthy life up until recently. I was a professional soldier for the first dozen years of my adult life which gave me a lot of skills and the determination to use them. Growing up rural added to that. Karin and I spent a decade exploring the water around Manitoba and Northern Ontario until my genetics caught up with me and a heart attack laid me up for a while.
The past five years I had found that I only had enough in me to go to work and back, not really a lot left over for tripping. Since retiring I have had a resurgence of ability. More rest time, exercise program, and the proximity to good areas to paddle and hike have made life much better. I may have another old lady to paddle with now. We are hoping for our first day out on Good Friday.

While I love my traditional gear and wc canoes it looks like I need to go lighter for those solo efforts. Base camping with day trips and lounging or hiking is taking the place of putting on miles every day. I solo out of necessity but prefer company. I also do day hikes more often now and was just out hiking the shoreline at Lake Manitoba.

Sixty is not the end of the world but it sure is the end of doing things the hard way.

Christy

 

[TrailBlaser]

Well this is my last year of work. I don't intend to work past June, but I keep buying stuff so as long as I can get that taken care of, I'm ready to quit and devote my time making the most out of my current situation. You guys are an inspiration, but I need you to talk to my wife, who is 9 years younger and thinks people should work until they drop.

I am jealous. I am still at least 6 semesters (if my son graduates college on-time) from possible retirement. It all seemed to hit me when I turned 65 and had to sign-up for Medicare, now the clock is ticking, I figure mostly in terms of my physical ability to do the things I want to do outdoors. I am encouraged by what I have read here though. My wife doesn't share my passion for it, so sometimes it is a problem for me to get away. As an educator, I do get quite a bit of time off, but something always seems to prevent my being able to get away. This week is a perfect example, one week off and I'll be lucky to get a day hike in.

 

[Steve in Idaho]

I'm 62. The vast majority of my paddling and poling is day trips - but I do quite a lot of it. The last several years, I've managed only to do a couple two and three day trips per year. Starting this year, I intend to do more. Longer trips are still a dream, since that requires traveling far out of my area. Age isn't the problem there yet - just priorities. The boats are getting heavier, but that is a problem I can afford to fix when it becomes necessary. Paddling is still getting easier for me with time.....so far.

 

[recped]

Reminds me, I must ask Recped the model of mattress he uses. The ultra light sleeping pads just don't cut it for me anymore.

MondoKing (Thermarest), not the 3D version which is the one currently available (it's slightly MORE plush than the one I have)

 

[Boreal Birch]

Keep busy, walk every day, get a dog that needs to be taken for a couple of walks each day. Every active old timer I have ever met told me to keep busy, walk down to get the mail, paper etc. take a walk instead of the car, if you have to drive to the Post Office to get your mail, park down the street a bit and walk. Same thing at the super market park as far away from the door as you can. I live in a very rural area, I take my Border Collie for his daily walk off leash, if I walk 2-3 miles he maybe gets in ten or more. He gets to check all the squirrel trees, I get to see and hear things that I enjoy and we both get to check out the beaver activity down at the creek. Spring and summer I bring along a fly rod to see if my Arctic Grayling friends want to be fooled by my feathered creations.
I was blessed to get good genes from my parents, I was active in sports as a young man (my father would not let me play football, so I still have good knees. I never thanked him for that when he was alive, but I do now). I was lucky to have a job that I did not get all trashed up every day from hard labor, but was active enough that I stayed in pretty fair condition.
There are many little out of the way lakes that you can drive to, set up a comfortable base camp without the rigor of portages. The canoe trip can be a slow paddle along the shore each day, at night you can paddle with Simpson, Mackenzie, Franklin, Back and others from the comfort of your chair and a Coleman lantern in a warmly heated wall tent. Later trundle yourself off to your oversized cot with the really thick and comfortable mattress. I do that most every September-October, I hardly see anyone except on week-ends, so I have Mother Nature all to myself.
I also have a younger wife, I'm looking forward to the days when she will still be able to find my glasses and teeth, when I forget where I left them.

 

[Gerald]

Thanks recped for the heads up.
G.

 

[Paddlinhal]

It's a great life if we don't weaken! I'm 62, planning on retiring in 2.5 years. And yes, I am slowing down as well. But then I compare myself to my paddling partners that are about 20 years younger than me, so if I'm comparatively a little sluggish at the end of three mile portage, I'm OK with that. I'm upping my game this summer, gonna paddle the Porcupine (that's a river, Doug D. I know your mind). This will be my first time paddling Northern Canada & Alaska and north of 60 to boot!

 

[Robin]

"There are many little out of the way lakes that you can drive to, set up a comfortable base camp without the rigor of portages. The canoe trip can be a slow paddle along the shore each day, at night you can paddle with Simpson, Mackenzie, Franklin, Back and others from the comfort of your chair and a Coleman lantern in a warmly heated wall tent. Later trundle yourself off to your oversized cot with the really thick and comfortable mattress. I do that most every September-October""

I agree, a heated wall tent base camp during the shoulder season along the shore of some pretty lake is the way to go when the legs just can't get those portages done anymore. I skipped last fall and this spring too, but getting back out there like the above post is on my must do list. Nice thoughts, Thanks

 

[lowangle al]

I also turned 60 last fall, like others have said staying active is very important. I think mixing hiking and day paddles and throw in a few hours of yard work or the like go a long way in preparing for a trip. I think it is better than an hour at the gym every other day. My goal for tripping will be the same as it is for my work as a commercial cement mason. That is " to get broke in, before I get broke down."

My other age related revelation is my "rule of 100." You subtract your weight from 100 and that's how much your boat should weigh.

I'm not as concerned about becoming too old to trip as I used to be. Canoeing used to be a minimum 3 day event for me. Since I have gotten w/c canoes and have more time for day paddling I have become as much of a paddler as I was a tripper and I'm OK with that. What used to take three days for satisfying adventure I can now have a great experience in 20 minutes.

 

[lowangle al]

I have some more age related advise for those who will be retiring soon. If the expense of that ultimate boat is something you are having a hard time justifying while you are still working how will you feel about it when your income goes down. Buy the boat of your dreams now if you think you may not be able to swing it later.

 

[TrailBlaser]

I agree with all that you say lowangle al. I can't bring myself to exercise in the gym, so like you, I currently view the yard work as my exercise and conditioning. However, lately, as I am doing it, I can't help but thinking I would rather be hiking, backpacking or canoeing, especially if I am doing the yard work on a weekend or vacation. I am hoping that in retirement, I can change my living arrangements so less time has to be spent on yard work so there's more time for those other outdoor pursuits. I have also been procuring the equipment I need/want for these activities now, while I am working, figuring it won't be possible when I am retired.