Jimbo wrote on Dec 10^th, 2006 at 6:12pm:

Stick to the portage trail.

wrote on Dec 10^th, 2006 at 5:19pm:

if you dont already wear glasses, bring along a pair of safety glasses and wear them when collecting and processing firewood.(

Since these two posts are back to back, I'll just add that wearing safety glasses on portages is not a bad idea either.  You never know when portaging a canoe whether or not one of those alder limbs might decide to work its way under and smack you in the face.

I DO wear glasses, but I switch to my "owl" lenses when I go into the backcountry.  The large lenses cover more of my face (not very fashionable, but then that's not the point), are shatter resistant and the frames you can almost tie in a knot.  In addition, since I need help near AND far, I specifically had the lenses made as bi-focal but with only about the last 1/4 inch taken up with the bi-focal lense.  This means, I can still see the ground effectively when portaging, but still have enough lense left to tie knots in flshing line and read maps, compass, etc.  (And yes, getting lenses ground this way always produces an argument with the lab folks.)

BTW:  If you NEED lenses, I'd recommend taking a backup pair.