Outdoor Writer & Consultant – Wilderness Guide – Custom Canoe Expeditions into the far north
Outdoor Writer & Consultant – Wilderness Guide – Custom Canoe Expeditions into the far north
Boundary Waters Canoe Area, 1972 BWCA 1972 Many years ago, I outfitted and guided three wealthy Chicago men–the least affluent of which earned a quarter million a year–on a five day canoe trip into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area of Minnesota. I was asked to provide the finest food, equipment and hospitality–whatever it took to […]
Steel River, Ontario. Mad River Explorer (Kevlar) canoe Kettle River, MN. Alumacraft aluminum canoe My first remote country canoe trip was in 1974. We began at Folliet, Ontario and cruised the Groundhog River to the Mattagami, then down the Moose and on to Moosonee on James Bay–a distance of around 200 miles/21 days. I had […]
Survival Bracelet! Compass, cord, light, kitchen sink!Photo credit: Furkan Sahin One of the joys of being a writer is that I get to try a lot of new stuff. Some products are genuinely useful; others are simply silly. Still, one man’s trash is another’s treasure, and admittedly, I judge them from the view of a […]
Bob O’Hara: One of North America’s most experienced Arctic paddlers Since 1969, Bob O’Hara has spent every summer canoeing in the Far North. A partial list of the 24 Arctic rivers he has canoed includes the Thelon, Coppermine, Back, Dubawnt, Kazan, Elk, Quoich, Ellice and Horton. Once, he paddled on the ocean from Wager Bay […]
Above: Cliff, age 39 Cliff, age 39 In October,1980 I took my family on a canoe trip into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area of Minnesota. Autumn is a wonderful time to be up north: the air is crisp and the people and bugs are gone. It was raining when we arrived in Grand Marais, Minnesota, […]
Above: Larry Rice (L), Cliff Jacobson (R). Northstar Phoenix canoes (IXP layup) Some of the “smaller” waves on the Yellowstone River Each September, friends and I do one last canoe trip before the snow flies. Our requirements for the route are simple, but at this time of year, elusive. We love rapids, so with rare […]
ABOVE: INUKSHUK Wilberforce Falls, Hood River, Nunavut, Canada My first Arctic canoe trip was on the Hood River, Nunavut (formerly, Northwest Territories), Canada, in 1982. We ended at Bathurst Inlet two days early, so to kill time, we hiked to a traditional Inuit campsite about three miles away. It was a beautiful spot, nestled in […]
A properly equipped family canoe. EVERYONE is wearing a life jacket! Hardly a year goes by when there isn’t a drowning on some lake or river, U.S.A. In nearly every case the victims were not wearing life jackets. Boats capsize and people die. Why? Because they don’t know what they don’t know! Those who have […]
Much as I love canoeing wild, fast rivers, I can’t escape the lure of the Boundary Waters. And every year, since 1971 (when I moved from Indiana to Minnesota) I’ve made at least two annual trips there. I’ve observed that two types of people generally paddle the BWCA: (1) Inquisitive souls who are always on […]
Wilderness users are an aging group. The U.S. Forest Service recently reported that the average age of those who go to the Boundary Waters is now around 50. Gray hair has replaced the darkened threads of youth. How can we attract young people to the wild outdoors? I decided to write a teen book that […]