Folding PakCanoes (or Ally, another brand) have come to be pretty much the standard northern expedition canoe. They allow you to fly commercially with the canoe, and you can also fly charter with the canoes as baggage. With hardshells, you'll need to charter a bigger plane (e.g. an Otter rather than a Beaver) which costs lots more money, per flight. Also, the boats are surprisingly durable and field repairable, and handle large lakes and waves better than a hardshell, as the canoe flexes a bit, keeping you drier. They are reasonable to portage, even fully kitted out with a spray deck, painters, etc. (maybe 70#. 17 PakBoat is under 60 itself--Ally is less). They perform well in whitewater, and hold lots of gear (I've done 6 week unsupported trips in them, and have another planned this summer). I was impressed with them on my first trip. Now I have one of my own.
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Happy Caesar Crosses the Rubicon (49 BC)! "alea iacta est" 🎲
You want to take that tub.....where?
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Just to be clear, if you offered me a Back river trip, I'd say yes.
If you said, "oh and you have to paddle a Coleman" I'd start researching how to repair one.
If you said, "oh and you have to paddle a Coleman" I'd start researching how to repair one.
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It's definitely possible to take a Coleman plastic canoe on a backcountry trip in the north, assuming that the waterways you plan to paddle are suitable for canoeing and you have the appropriate skills and equipment. These types of canoes can be quite durable and can handle moderate whitewater and rough conditions, although they may not be as fast or maneuverable as some other types of canoes.
That being said, it's important to note that not all plastic canoes are created equal, and some may be better suited for backcountry tripping than others. Coleman canoes, for example, are generally considered to be more of a recreational canoe, and may not be as well-suited for extended trips as some other models.
I have paddled crappy canoes and excellent canoes. I enjoyed the location and experience as much as the next guy regardless of the craft I paddled.
For thousands of years the North country was navigated by open birch bark canoes. The native folks circumnavigated Lake Superior crossed over to Isle Royal and paddle to Hudson bay in birch bark canoes and crappy paddles. The canoe is not the limiting factor.
For thousands of years the North country was navigated by open birch bark canoes. The native folks circumnavigated Lake Superior crossed over to Isle Royal and paddle to Hudson bay in birch bark canoes and crappy paddles. The canoe is not the limiting factor.
Birch bark canoes could be carried, but unfortunately that isn't part of the Colemans design.
.......For thousands of years the North country was navigated by open birch bark canoes. The native folks circumnavigated Lake Superior crossed over to Isle Royal and paddle to Hudson bay in birch bark canoes and crappy paddles. The canoe is not the limiting factor....
True, but our discussion is about the taking one north on a trip. Native folks had no options. Given your description above, I would have to ask the native folks, "would you rather take the birch bark canoe, or the Coleman". Based on what I'm reading here, it might be the birchbark.
True, but our discussion is about the taking one north on a trip. Native folks had no options. Given your description above, I would have to ask the native folks, "would you rather take the birch bark canoe, or the Coleman". Based on what I'm reading here, it might be the birchbark.
I recently read a comment that people are taking inexpensive canoes into the back country via float plane and then leaving the canoe(s) as trash out there in the wild lands to avoid the cost of flying it back out. I hope that isn't happening, or if it is, they get caught and have to pay to retrieve their garbage.
The beautiful thing about a birch bark canoe is it becomes compost once it's no longer usable.
The beautiful thing about a birch bark canoe is it becomes compost once it's no longer usable.
Or a hell of a fire starter.
I agree tk - if people are leaving them in the backcountry that is truly disgusting.
I agree tk - if people are leaving them in the backcountry that is truly disgusting.
If I had a little bear fat I would rather take a birch bark canoe then a colemen. My repair kit is under and in the spruce tree and some ash from the fire. Colemen canoes are about the lowest level canoe I can imagine. Aluminum canoes and any number of old town or other polyethylene canoes would be quite capable of North country trip. They are not ideal canoes but no one makes the one pound indestructible shape changing canoe yet. Take what ya have and know your limitations.
Have you been to the Arctic? It's interesting our urban viewpoints.. Canoes can be repurposed for other things like sleds to haul caribou or moose or seal. Nothing up there is ever wasted if it can be used for either its original purpose or something else.
To our eyes some outpost villages look unkempt. Going down the Yukon and stopping at some camps where the structures were made out of available material including license plates beer cans etc was instructive.
No crime has been committed by leaving a canoe even if we regard it as visual pollution.
Composting is a good idea but way too slow and doesn't work well when the average yearly temp is just above freezing from what I have read. Birch Bark is ideal when there are spruce trees.. North of sixty ..no trees save willows.
Who said I was urban? Who said I was offended by someone's storage yard? You may be reading more into this than was inferred.
The comments I read weren't about canoes left in places where they could be repurposed, they were apparently being left out in the far reaches only accessible by float plane. Places where it would be impractical to retrieve otherwise. Besides, I like repurposing stuff; do it all the time. But if there are plastic canoes being left out in the in far reaches, unable to be repurposed, that is a crime in my opinion. It's not visual pollution, it's just plain pollution.
I think a birch bark canoe, made from natural materials, would be reclaimed by the earth even in the tundra. Decomposing fungi and bacteria that work on willow cellulose would probably find birch bark and spruce root cellulose to be almost as tasty.
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Something got cut off.. Maybe you are talking about people caching boats in the woods for fishing or whatever and leaving them for years..egad Wabakimi is rife with them. Sometimes you find them at a trash filled campsite. Locals in the Wabakimi case liked to use one campsite every year for a harvest and leave their trash.. We were lucky to get the trash out as it is a ProvincialPark..they sent in an airplane.
Yes that is disgusting.
No, I'm aware of cached boats; not unusual to see them at relatively inaccessible ponds around here. Unfortunately I'm not able to easily re-find those comments I'd read so cannot provide the context you need. That will teach me to reference something I can't retrieve later.
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looking at Goonstrokes TR that amount of cached boats would bother me. Maybe he is easy going
No worries..This isn't a test.. There is no homework..
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