Outdoor Writer & Consultant – Wilderness Guide – Custom Canoe Expeditions into the far north
Outdoor Writer & Consultant – Wilderness Guide – Custom Canoe Expeditions into the far north
Steel River, Ontario. Wrapped Mad River Explorer Kevlar canoe.Yes! It survived the wrap and was later repaired to functional (not cosmetic) perfection. My dad was a quality control engineer. A sign in his office read, “Accidents don’t just happen; they are caused!” The villains are speed (doing a task too fast), inattention and not following […]
Ganesha stove. 700 ml pot on lower level. Top holds larger pots of any size. Note clean burn- barely any smoke. Every once in a very long while, a new camping product appears which is intelligently designed and honestly useful. The Ganesha wood burning trail stove, which will be released this fall, is one of […]
Bad stuff sometimes happens on canoe trips — and it’s not always on the river! Location: about 20 miles southeast of LaRonge Saskatchewan, enroute to the Cree River. Most mechanics rely on systematical trial and error to solve problems. They figure that if they replace enough parts, they’ll eventually find the difficulty. At the other […]
Kopka River, Ontario. Cliff prepares steam fried pizza – 10 min. prep/2 min. cook Quick! Name the most important thing on a camping trip. If you said “food,” you’re partly correct. If you said GOOD food, you are dead right! I’ve been on many canoe trips where the rapids were intimidating, the portages bad, and […]
Doug Green, Colorado River, Grand Canyon Round the bend you see the dancing horsetails of the rapid. As is the stern’s prerogative, you command the bow to “brace” so you can stand for a better look. The way ahead looks clear, so you settle to your knees and power towards the slick water vee which […]
Three map companies have long serviced the BWCA – Fisher (www.fishermaps.com), McKenzie (bwcamaps.com) and Voyageur (voyageurmaps.com). National Geographic is the new kid on the block. NGS maps are beautifully executed – complete, precise and accurate. Here’s how they differ from the competition: The entire Boundary Waters are contained on just two waterproof, folded sheets (both […]
This month, I’m breaking with “blog tradition” to share with you Chapter One of my teen book, Justin Cody’s Race to Survival! 10,000 Lakes Publishing, 2019 (10KLP.com). The hard copy is shipping now. Details are in my shop. A high-adventure novel plus a wilderness skills “how-to” book, Race to Survival teaches as it entertains. 43,000 […]
Yes, we can, Justin! Thanks to the recording talent of Saige Spinney – a professional voice-over artist – your story, Justin Cody’s Race to Survival, a high adventure tale and a wilderness skills book all in one, is now available in audio form. It’s written for teens, but adults love it too! Just click HERE […]
This is from Caitlin Looney, a wilderness therapist in Colorado. Caitlin was guiding a group of teenagers and turned a “lost experience” into a confidence-building, inspirational event. Caitlin did everything exactly right. Follow along on the map as you read her story. Note that her choices reflect an in-depth understanding of backcountry navigation. Cliff —————————————————— […]
Muskox: Hood River, Nunavut, Canada. Yes, these guys can be dangerous! In 1974, I made my first big river trip in Canada. Five friends and I canoed 200 miles down a network of connecting Ontario rivers—Groundhog, Mattagami, Moose—to James Bay. It rained every day for 10 days; the river was flooded—very flooded (!); the bugs […]