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What are you reading?

I loved The Tent Dwellers about a canoe adventure into Nova Scotia at he turn of the century. The writer, Albert Bigelow Paine, was Mark Twain's friend and biographer. He writes beautifully, is self deprecating and hilariously honest about his difficulties. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tent_Dwellers
The Tent Dwellers is a book by Albert Bigelow Paine, chronicling his travels through inland Nova Scotia on a trout fishing trip with Dr. Edward "Eddie" Breck, and ...
‎Summary - ‎Gear in The Tent Dwellers - ‎Ecology in The Tent Dwellers - ‎References

Yep, this is a funny and easy read for a book 112 years old. I laughed out loud a lot. I pictured Mark Twain and Bill Bryson taking a fishing trip together. Available at no cost on amazon for the Kindle.
 
I'm reading The survival of the bark canoe... I found it at he library... Good so far.
 
JagDaddy is now my official author recommender.

I just finished Apocalyptic Planet and have started Finders Keepers. I enjoy his writing style and appreciate his ethos, both similar to David Roberts.

In a small world of one handshake away I was stuck as soon as page 4. Childs describes his partner Devin on a Sonoran Desert hike in part with

“working for a jet boat business he owned on the Colorado River in Moab”.

Texs Riverways is owned by Darren and Devin, and anyone who has arranged a Texs shuttle from the end of the Green River or BLM permits has worked with Devin.

It is a small world.

https://www.amazon.com/Craig-Childs...1467740524&sr=1-2&keywords=Apocalyptic+Planet

https://www.amazon.com/Finders-Keep...&sr=1-2&keywords=finders+keepers+craig+childs
 
Since I'll essentially be following the route described in the book I just re-read Sleeping Island by PG Downes. For me the litmus test on whether or not it's actually a good book is if I still enjoy it the second, or third, time I read it. Sleeping Island did not disappoint. Simply a wonderful look back into the far north while there were still natives out doing what they'd been doing for hundreds of years and while there were still a few white spots on the map. Book doesn't seem to be full of romanticism or prejudices. A pretty honest look of the place and the people. I don't think it's in print any more but can be sourced a few different places and it's also available on Kindle. https://www.amazon.com/Sleeping-Isl...id=1467741768&sr=8-1&keywords=sleeping+island

I enjoyed it so much the 2nd time around I searched out Distant Summers Volumes I and II. They were harder to find, especially volume II, but found a pair of new copies through Abe Books: http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?kn=pg+downes+summers&sts=t
They're Downes' actual journal entries from his northern travels in the late 30's and early 40's. I'm half way through volume I and it's simply fantastic. He preferred to travel with indians and loved to collect their stories, folklore, and customs. I thought raw journal entries might be boring to read but not at all. They're sprinkled with old notes from Downes as well as newer ones from the publisher for clarity.

Reading of the wind and weather they're constantly fighting around Reindeer Lake and Brochet is a bit sobering as I'll be a little farther north than that as well as later in the season.

Alan
 
That book is truly a 'keeper' on my shelf and deserving of multiple readings. In a way I am almost glad he didn't have a chance to see the massive changes that must have come to that country just after WWII. Thanks for the heads up on the journals. I could go to nearby Yale U and read them in person I suppose, get a whiff of some old school...

That should be an epic trip on many levels when you undertake it and I hope you find less of the country changed than I think it surely must be. When are you going and for how long?
 
That should be an epic trip on many levels when you undertake it and I hope you find less of the country changed than I think it surely must be. When are you going and for how long?

Planning to leave here the 29th of July and hope to be putting onto Wollaston Lake the 1st of August. Down the Cochrane and over the height of land to the Thlewiaza River all the way to Nueltin Lake. Hopefully have enough time to explore Windy Lake and possibly points farther north. On the return trip I'll take the Putahow River from Nueltin to Kasmere Lake and then retrace my steps from there. I'm giving myself 45 days.

Alan
 
An epic trip...sweet deal. Are you in a group or solo and how are you/ and how often are you re-supplying? I have an old Nat Geo map I should dig out and eyeball to get a better sense, again, of his and your planned travels.

ABE books just sold more one set of those journals..., looking forward to that.
 
An epic trip...sweet deal. Are you in a group or solo and how are you/ and how often are you re-supplying? I have an old Nat Geo map I should dig out and eyeball to get a better sense, again, of his and your planned travels.

ABE books just sold more one set of those journals..., looking forward to that.

Solo with dog. No resupplies. Enjoy the new books!

Alan
 
Good deal. Solo is good but I have always felt being able to share the experiences, good and bad with another traveler is best, and then safety issues, variety, etc. 45 days is a lot of time to be lucky enough to share a journey like this with someone else.
Some sort of Spot device and a good camera I hope will be packed along, perhaps with some new jokes to share with the dog around the nightly fire!
 
perhaps with some new jokes to share with the dog around the nightly fire!

The only bad part about traveling with a dog is that my jokes and witty banter are lost on her.

Alan
 
The only bad part about traveling with a dog is that my jokes and witty banter are lost on her.

Alan



Count yourself lucky, I think my dog used to regularly 'sneer' at me..."poor b*st*rd", he would be saying under his breath, "he thinks he is smarter than me...!"

I showed him that wasn't necessarily the case, at least once or twice...:confused:
 
Very much enjoying "The Lost Fleet" by Marc Songini. Tells the story of the Yankee whaling fleet during the Civil War and related events. I have long enjoyed this time in history, having worked in New London CT for 11 years at One Whale Oil Row, former wealthy ship captains homes. What I truly enjoy about reading good histories is that it sparks off new or somewhat forgotten tangents of interest... To wit, I had read about some of this fight between the whalers and the southern raiders, knew of the decline in general of whaling prior to the war but remembered I had a book that I had never finished reading (which really took off on a distant tangent), "Boreal Ties" by Gillis and Ayer that is a neat recount, w lots of photos of a 1901 Arctic relief expedition. I also have another book just on Arctic whaling, so when I find that, I will be rewarded with further rereadings and interesting tie-ins.
 
I have an old Nat Geo map I should dig out and eyeball to get a better sense, again, of his and your planned travels.

ABE books just sold more one set of those journals..., looking forward to that.

For three bucks and 1-click I couldn’t resist a used copy of that book either. I’m hoping to again SPOT follow Alan’s travels and having the book to read will only enhance that vicarious travellong.
 
This Old Canoe by Mike Eliot. How to restore your wood canvas canoe
We need all the help we can get. And I forgot how to cane seats. It's got pix!
 
I just read 2 books recently. The boys in the boat about the 1936 USA crew team from Washington winning the gold in Germany. Loved the historical facts.
Then just read In the wake of the Yomon. Not to sure if I spelled that correctly. About an adventurer that paddle and sailed from Japan to Alaska over 2 years. Think this was in 1999. Amazing how my safety zone is 1% of his. Very informative about life along the Russian coast.
 
Born Naked, An autobiography of Farley Mowat's childhood years. It's clear to see that spending one's formative years in the company of an eccentric father living a wild and unconventional life left a huge and enduring mark on the future author.
 
Finished all the ERB books. Fantasy overload. Back to reality. Currently reading "Endurance", about the ill-fated Shackelton expedition of 1914 to Antarctica. Fascinating stuff.
 
Apparently my ongoing fascination w the opening up of Canada and the northern USA continues... just finishing up, "Ancient Mariner" (as in the Rime of the Ancient Mariner poem) by Ken MCgoogan...a well written immersive story of original Arctic explorer and iron man Samuel Hearne, said to be the first European to reach (and document anyway) the shores of the Arctic Ocean.

An employee of Hudson Bay Company, he set off in search of fame, fortune and the fabled Northwest passage - he explored, surveyed, documented native life, endured countless privations, learned the native ways of living off the land and survived all his journeys and ultimately published a journal of his time in Canada.

Like some of my other literary exploration of this time period, I have already earmarked several additional must reads on my book list and hopefully places to one day travel to.
 
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