Solo expedition build

[Alan Gage]

I have been doing that a little but not to the extent you do to get ready. Sounds like a good regimen. I should have started a week or two earlier. I've been portaging the canoe back to the gravel pits fairly regularly and always in the clothes and footwear I'll have along for the trip. I've also carried the fully loaded barrel a couple times to see how it feels and it's a good thing I did. The first time rubbed a couple raw spots on my lower back which took a few days to heal. Last night I slipped a piece of foam under my pants belt in the rear for a little cushioning and it made a big difference.

No worries about shoulder straps and I think my feet will be ok too. Those hot spots feel fine this morning soI'll probably give them rest tonight before more workouts to hopefully toughen that area. The first few days will be pretty rough from a portage standpoint but once I reach the Bloodvein they should be less frequent and shorter so that will hopefully give any sores or blisters a chance to recover.

Alan

 

[stripperguy]

Sounds like you'll be ok
My SIL got blisters in the 1st 1/2 mile of a 5 mile carry
He kept claiming there was glass in his shoe
We all laugh now but it was a tough time for him
Luckily it was at the end of our trip

 

[Alan Gage]

I wonder how much a Gage Shop logo weighs?

Hint.

I'm going to guess about 1/2oz.:

20150811_002 by Alan, on Flickr

20150811_003 by Alan, on Flickr

Cleaned up and ready for the road. Next water it touches will be Canadian. Just a few more little tinkery things to do with the boat but lots more packing and organizing with the gear. Three more days.....

Alan

 

[Jim Dodd]

I like it !

I'll be thinking of you, maybe even check the weather up there !

Will you be able to post here during your trip ?
That would be cool !

Jim

 

[LF_tripper]

Beautiful canoe, Alan. Nice logo. All the best and have a great trip.
There is lots of water in the Bloodvein right now.

Whenever I trip it takes a little while to get a routine for portaging and making a camp. I don't bring tent pegs because they don't work so well on moss covered rocks. It is another world in that wilderness and it takes about 3 days to forget about everything left back home. I went for 17 days solo and came back a slightly different person - for the better, I think. Awesome solo experience in that boreal forest country and would like to read of your adventures when you return.

 

[Guest]

I'm going to guess about 1/2oz.:

Like all your work, wow. Clean and elegant. The Bloodvein and stripe really sets the profile.

OK, how did you do that?

 

[Alan Gage]

Beautiful canoe, Alan. Nice logo. All the best and have a great trip.
There is lots of water in the Bloodvein right now.

I hope so. Been watching the levels like a hawk the past couple months and they finally seem to have leveled out. Still lower than "normal" but hopefully all the rains in Red Lake will keep it up a ways. It will be interesting to see what the river is like in terms of flow and current speed. Low levels=low current and that can be nice for upstream travel but usually I'd rather paddle higher water with more current. Shallow water is a real drag on speed and digging hard for miles with only half your paddle in the water is no fun. I'm hoping the pool and drop type of river means I'll have relatively deep water between rapids.

Scrolling down a couple pages at this link will show the actual and average flows along with the 90th and 10th percentile flows: http://www.gov.mb.ca/mit/floodinfo/f...ows%202015.pdf

Whenever I trip it takes a little while to get a routine for portaging and making a camp. I don't bring tent pegs because they don't work so well on moss covered rocks. It is another world in that wilderness and it takes about 3 days to forget about everything left back home. I went for 17 days solo and came back a slightly different person - for the better, I think. Awesome solo experience in that boreal forest country and would like to read of your adventures when you return.

This will be by far my longest trip and I'm really interested to see how it feels to be out that long. Hoping after 10 days or so I just drop into what feels like a normal routine. I did 10 days in WCPP a few years ago and I'm curious to see what I think about it the 2nd time around. Getting pretty antsy right now.

OK, how did you do that?

I'm fortunate that my mother is a graphic design instructor with access to a vinyl printer. Getting the "Bloodvein" lettering and lines designed to fit and then placed on the curved surface was a bit stressful but it came out perfect. Very happy with it.

Sorry, Jim. No updates from the trail. No cell service or wi-fi. Only connection to the outside world will be the little buttons on my SPOT.

Alan

 

[Rippy]

Good luck Alan.

 

[Bothwell Voyageur]

You could create a share page on your SPOT account and post the link on here (or send it to a privileged few by PM). That really does look like a fine canoe.

 

[Alan Gage]

You could create a share page on your SPOT account and post the link on here (or send it to a privileged few by PM). That really does look like a fine canoe.

Good idea. It's not my SPOT account, I'm borrowing it from someone, but they did send me a link to the share page. Said it will only show the most recent 7 days.

https://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=1r8fxfksxnRfli652a0qnnoomtrqq9Pdj

Password is: AlanGage (note the caps).

I don't plan on checking in every day so don't expect a ton of activity but I will be sending "ok" messages now and again.

Alan

 

[latremorej]

Enjoy your trip Alan, that canoe came out great. I am looking forward to the pictures and report

 

[Alan Gage]

Good idea. It's not my SPOT account, I'm borrowing it from someone, but they did send me a link to the share page. Said it will only show the most recent 7 days.

https://share.findmespot.com/shared/...qnnoomtrqq9Pdj

Password is: AlanGage (note the caps).

I don't plan on checking in every day so don't expect a ton of activity but I will be sending "ok" messages now and again.

Alan

Planning to leave tomorrow evening or early Saturday morning and still no SPOT when I checked the mail today. Got an e-mail late this afternoon from the guy saying he hasn't shipped it yet and how do I want to arrange picking it up in Minneapolis now that it's too late. Oh, and he'll be gone this weekend so he'd have to leave it somewhere. Ugh.

I have no other reason to detour to Minneapolis and if I stuck to my departure time everyone would be asleep when I got there. So after some thinking and online stock checking it looks like I'll be buying my own SPOT in either Brainerd or Bemidji on my way north.

All this to say the above link and password will now be null and void. Looks like I'll have to drag along my laptop and find wi-fi to get it set up once purchased and if I have time I'll give an updated link and edit the above post.

EDIT: Sounds like I'm complaining, which I guess I am, but still in great spirits and stoked about the trip!

Alan

 

[Bothwell Voyageur]

If you are buying your own they have a rebate coupon for new accounts right now. I was hoping to upgrade to a mark 3 model but I can't justify the extra cost when the old one is still working so well.

 

[Guest]

Bon voyage and safe journeys

I already await Future Alan’s trip report.

 

[Alan Gage]

Link to the correct share page. No password necessary:

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0VqFL4roClzIXrYHNGMJ9BtmK120oE3Jn

Will not be updated on a regular basis.

Leaving Brainerd and next stop is Red Lake

Alan

 

[Mihun09]

Too late and we may have passed on the highway at some point today, but good luck!

 

[LF_tripper]

Whoever is following Allan Gage, he is at Stonehouse lake on the Bloodvein right now. Pretty cool that he put his "spot" link on here so we could follow his progress. It is interesting to me because I did this part of his trip back in June of this year. Artery to Stonehouse is an amazing part of the Manitoba boreal forest. He is making good progress, and I wonder how much of the storm he got up there. We had a major rainstorm in the Winnipeg area with a north wind that brought in cool temperatures last night.

 

[Mihun09]

It very likely did effect him since last night there was a rainfall warning for Atikaki and the Bloodvein area. All the water will help with going downhill but won't help much when he makes the turn upstream. Good pace though, a week to this point and if he can cover 30 miles a day he should have plenty of time for the uphill slog back to Red Lake.

 

[LF_tripper]

He might have time to go upstream, but will he want to? As I said to him, there is a reason that the natives took the Leond route in the spring and in high water. Hopefully he will get dry weather from here on and the journey back will be possible.

 

[Mihun09]

He may have to since his car is in Red Lake.