Three months before my first QP trip of 2010, I have all my camping gear spread out on the basement floor.  I've repaired, cleaned, and repacked my fishing tackle.  I've worked to modify  a new "stove pack."  I've asked my wife to sew a sheath for my silky saw.  I'm sorting through a new backcountry cookbook to add a few recipes to my repertoire.  I've got my route traced out on maps.  I find myself wandering around my local canoe/camping store.  

Am I crazy?  Are any of you out there doing similar things?  

prouboy

Why the late start?

Jimbo   8-)

You're a little ahead of me, but not much. I've been to REI enough to make a dent in the household budget.

Tim

I’m doing all the same stuff in my head now. I’m waiting for warmer weather to spread out the gear in my garage, although I’ll probably set up my new tent in the living room soon. It looks like my trip in the 1st week of June will be a solo, so I’m trying to decide:  kayak or canoe. One day I’m sure it will be the canoe and then the next I’m thinking I should take the kayak.

The kayak is a lot faster on the water but slower on the portage due to unpacking and repacking the hatch, which BTW I do in my head every day. It is fun to paddle and will handle rough water and wind much better. The canoe will carry a lot more gear so I don’t have to make the tough decisions about what to leave behind…and it is easier to fish from.

I usually start preparing by mapping routes and campsites then making a list of food and gear. I accumulate a big pile of gear on a table in my garage. Then I cull the gear by deciding what I can do without and what gear can do double duty, and what I need to replace. Sorting and replacing fishing tackle is a whole separate task. If am going with my wife or sons then I need to add some gear I know they will forget.  I will pack it all up once I have purchased food and any new gear I think I NEED, to make sure I can still carry everything on a double portage, or to make sure it will fit in the hatch of my kayak.

For me, the preparation and planning is a large part of the enjoyment and satisfaction.

I never unpacked from last year.

I've been going through my stuff all winter. Come spring I think I'll be like a Sled Dog taking off in a race. The summer is going to be too short. I have a new grandchild coming in May so I'll have to burn up paddling time out in Montana. But I was able to get my son to put off the trip to the Phillipines til Oct... I can deal with that. Hope I come out of the woods in time!

My summer canoe plans got complicated when the family decided we were all going to Budapest Hungary to visit my son's fiance's family.  It'll be fun, and I'll squeeze that trip between trips to the  QP and a WCPP!

prouboy

Puckster wrote on Feb 15^th, 2010 at 10:06pm:

My summer canoe plans got complicated when the family decided we were all going to Budapest Hungary to visit my son's fiance's family.  It'll be fun, and I'll squeeze that trip between trips to the  QP and a WCPP! prouboy

New tent has been step in the living room (twice) and washing/cleaning stored gear, a few extra stitches to re-enforce a pack straps that are showing a little wear.  Oh ... and I've been looking at MAPS!  Soon, I'll start adding a pack to my back for my exiting walk routine (15-20 miles per week).

Looks like I'm flip-floppying your schedule ... 1st trip (mid-July solo) is slated for WCPP (going in about the time Jimbo is coming out) with a fall trip to Quetico.

dd

DD -- Let's compare WCPP notes.  I'll send you a PM soon.

prouboy

I have a Quetico map permanently mounted on the bedroom wall. Every time I go out, I pass it by and often hesitate to consider routes past and future. Maps are a constant distraction.

Tim

I used to be crazy in that way.  Not anymore.  Through the years I have accumulated a wife (who also works FT), three daughters, a dog, a cat, and a house (not necessarily all in that order).  I no longer have the time to be that far ahead of the curve.

I now specialize in an entirely different sort of madness.  It comes in the last hours before a trip when I try to do an impossibly long list of tasks in an impossibly short amount of time.

I am looking forward to the day when I will again have the free time to indulge myself more fully in spring winter fever.

I have 2 "happy places" that I touch base with just before nodding off for the night. One is located about 60 miles off Key West and I go there if I have been bad and need to be punished (yea, the fish there don't take prisoners). But it's just as likely I'll be thinking about dipping my paddle in that clear, cool water. Can't wait!

We're OK.

I used to do that BIG TIME for a lot of years starting just after new years. Loved every minute of it too but these days, like Snow_Dog, I've accumulated similar obstacles and I always think it interesting that this site is one of those obstacles yet the big advantage of planning and reworking/thinking things is it keeps those synapses open and functioning. Visiting QJ everyday is a lot neater, gear clutter wise. It serves a similar pre-visualization type purpose. It's like studying a blueprint before you build to catch all the mistakes and what-ifs you can.

Now days I enter serious packing mode two days before leaving. There's a day-and-a-half eaten by seeking out and packing the exact brand and volume of whatever food items and this is another one of those things where whether it's a solo or group a solo or a group trip, it sucks the same amount of time as does leaving a marked up map for my emergency contact.

My biggest hurdle is still, as always, that I use a large portion of my trip stuff in everyday life so I'm always a highly motivated hunter gatherer before I leave.

For example, at the moment, my knee pads are currently under my elbows and the hanging ropes are in the garage loft. I wrapped and left them up there after taking the snow blower down last fall and they will find their way back into the food pack when that sucker finally goes back in the loft for paddling season.

db -- I like the blueprint analogy with this website.  I've picked up so many ideas here.  Most recently, this year I'll be packing a hard rubber ball, with a hole drilled through the middle and parachute cord tied to it, to help hang bear rope.   No more goofy rocks.  

prouboy

As for maps, I have the Fisher E-15 general overview map on the wall in my downstairs bathroom next to the throne. Every morning's constitutional includes a review of routes past and future!

And my wife gave me an REI gift card for Valentine's Day, so of course, gear had to be reviewed for necessary replacements/additions!

Puckster wrote on Feb 18^th, 2010 at 2:49am:

Most recently, this year I'll be packing a hard rubber ball, with a hole drilled through the middle and parachute cord tied to it, to help hang bear rope.  prouboy

Make it a hollow core ball (like a tennis ball) and cut a slit on the other side.  Then after you've used it to toss your bear rope, you can squeeze the ball to open the slit and put it on top of a ridge pole to keep from poking a hole in your tarp.

dd

DentonDoc wrote on Feb 18^th, 2010 at 4:45am:

Puckster wrote on Feb 18th, 2010 at 2:49am:  Most recently, this year I'll be packing a hard rubber ball, with a hole drilled through the middle and parachute cord tied to it, to help hang bear rope.  prouboy Make it a hollow core ball (like a tennis ball) and cut a slit on the other side.  Then after you've used it to toss your bear rope, you can squeeze the ball to open the slit and put it on top of a ridge pole to keep from poking a hole in your tarp. dd

I like DD's idea. I've tried many different ways to sling the line, but the way he mentions seems in my home trials to work well.
The slit for ridge pole is ingenious, but I found another use for it.
If you need a little extra heft, you can put a suitable size rock or handful of sand in hollow ball.

prouboy,
I believe Mad-Mat had a good thought regarding your throw rope ;)
I know I changed my set-up after reading about it. You mentioned parachute cord. If its military spec, your looking at about 600 lb breaking strength. Sooner or later, your ball/bag is going to wrap itself around a branch/limb, that you can' t pull loose from. You won't be able to break para-cord, so you'll have to cut it, and hope the ball/sack falls free :-[
 The solution is to use a lighter weight/shorter, piece of throw rope on ball/sack, sort of like a leader, maybe 40-50 lb breaking strength?  Strong enough to pull you primary rope thru, but if it hangs up, you should be able to break it off.
Still might lose ball/sack but at least you won't leave a long unsightly piece of synthetic rope flapping in the breeze for many seasons to come ;)

solotripper wrote on Feb 18^th, 2010 at 4:23pm:

DentonDoc wrote on Feb 18th, 2010 at 4:45am: Puckster wrote on Feb 18th, 2010 at 2:49am:  Most recently, this year I'll be packing a hard rubber ball, with a hole drilled through the middle and parachute cord tied to it, to help hang bear rope.  prouboy Make it a hollow core ball (like a tennis ball) and cut a slit on the other side.  Then after you've used it to toss your bear rope, you can squeeze the ball to open the slit and put it on top of a ridge pole to keep from poking a hole in your tarp. dd I like DD's idea. I've tried many different ways to sling the line, but the way he mentions seems in my home trials to work well. The slit for ridge pole is ingenious, but I found another use for it. If you need a little extra heft, you can put a suitable size rock or handful of sand in hollow ball. prouboy, I believe Mad-Mat had a good thought regarding your throw rope ;) I know I changed my set-up after reading about it. You mentioned parachute cord. If its military spec, your looking at about 600 lb breaking strength. Sooner or later, your ball/bag is going to wrap itself around a branch/limb, that you can' t pull loose from. You won't be able to break para-cord, so you'll have to cut it, and hope the ball/sack falls free :-[  The solution is to use a lighter weight/shorter, piece of throw rope on ball/sack, sort of like a leader, maybe 40-50 lb breaking strength?  Strong enough to pull you primary rope thru, but if it hangs up, you should be able to break it off. Still might lose ball/sack but at least you won't leave a long unsightly piece of synthetic rope flapping in the breeze for many seasons to come ;)

So, how many balls do you recommend carrying? :D I'll look forward to seeing hanging tennis balls in camp. :-/

Prouboy,

I did a test portage 5 times around my house to determine if my single portage solo system was going to work.  I even had the food pack loaded up from oil, fish breading, frozen food, to handiwipes.  Wife thinks I'm nuts.  I think she is.

There's an old Waylon Jennings song I recall at times like this: "I've Always Been Crazy, but It Keeps Me Fron Going Insane."

Tim

My overview map is in my office and my boss wonders why I'm so unproductive.   ;)

The thing that I think is crazy is stopping actually using stuff just because the water gets hard. If you just keep using your gear all winter long you never have to look overly crazy for pulling it out in Febuary. Just take a peak at the paddle when you're grabbing the snowshoes.
Allthough I have to admit, this was a bad winter for me as far as using gear goes. I'm in the middle of moving and everything seems to have found it's way into boxes that mysteriously ended up behind the things my wife finds imprtant. Somehow she seems to think our kitchen plates and my kid's dressers are more important and thus should be more accesible than my winter sleeping bag and headlamp. Eight years and I still can't figure out her prioritys.

Griz...takes lots more than 8 years. I'm working on 45 and still puzzled.

grizzlylarso wrote on Feb 18^th, 2010 at 11:44pm:

The thing that I think is crazy is stopping actually using stuff just because the water gets hard. If you just keep using your gear all winter long you never have to look overly crazy for pulling it out in Febuary.

Sounds like a great idea but I have 4 boys; which is why it stays in a pack all winter.  Otherwise I need to buy it again in the summer.  Somewhere in my yard are several saws, flashlights, rope, etc... that I usually find after the snow melts.

prouboy[/quote]
Make it a hollow core ball (like a tennis ball) and cut a slit on the other side.  Then after you've used it to toss your bear rope, you can squeeze the ball to open the slit and put it on top of a ridge pole to keep from poking a hole in your tarp.

dd[/quote] dd -- did you ever feel the need to add weight to the tennis ball (stones/sand, for eg)?  If so, how did that work?

prouboy

Ancient_Angler wrote on Feb 16^th, 2010 at 1:12am:

I have a Quetico map permanently mounted on the bedroom wall. Every time I go out, I pass it by and often hesitate to consider routes past and future. Maps are a constant distraction.   Tim

I'm a "map guy" (GIS) at work, so I can have D-size plots of Quetico topos spread out on my table and no one seems to know the difference!     --Goose

Quote:

.....dd -- did you ever feel the need to add weight to the tennis ball (stones/sand, for eg)?  If so, how did that work?

Using cordage of a weight similar to normal tent guylines and knowing comparative sizes, a pound of lead would probably fit nicely and would provide almost enough heft to prevent too many hang ups.

I had an oh-oh moment last trip, first campsite. My right shoulder had been an issue for months and first toss made it clear that would not be repeated so I learned to toss underhand. Not nearly as accurate but you can really sling it high when needed. More weight is a good thing especially if you use a stick for placement and there's not much momentum to begin the descent.

Puckster wrote on Feb 19^th, 2010 at 9:49pm:

dd -- did you ever feel the need to add weight to the tennis ball (stones/sand, for eg)?  If so, how did that work? prouboy

I don't use a ball for getting my line over a limb since I already have caribiners in my rope bag for that purpose.  

Wow, you boys are putting me to shame!  I usually just ask my partner- want to go canoeing in Q this (usually long) weekend? And then spend a frantic Thurs evening packing!  But I'm also living < 1hr from the park  :)

Between the crummy summer last year that rained out most of my trips, and my wedding this fall, I'm pretty excited to do a week long trip this summer (who needs a honeymoon :)  and that Thurs evening can't come quick enough!

I like your style Waterlily.  You're hubby-to-be is a lucky guy!

prouboy

Framed Fisher E-15 behind the desk.

I look at it time to time (say 100 times a day), whenever writer's block hits, in the middle of boring conference calls, when the boss is yipping, when the schedule is rearranged at the 11th hour, when an e-mail makes me tense, when ...


If ink faded from being stared at, this thing would be transluscent by now.

-- kypaddler

this summer will be my first trip up there...... been trying to plan a trip for 10 years and finally have my reservations!!! 7-day solo trip.

i'm jacked up too. can't stop looking at the maps and websites. kindof wish i were closer so i could bring more gear and food, but i'm gonna dust off the tent and fishing tackle as soon as we have some good weather.

over the next couple of months i'll be asking a few questions about the fishing up there.

july can't get here fast enough.

wrote on Mar 11^th, 2010 at 12:11am:

this summer will be my first trip up there...... been trying to plan a trip for 10 years and finally have my reservations!!! 7-day solo trip.

Welcome aboard!

Wow, solo on your first trip to canoe country?  Hopefully you have some canoe-camping experience from other places.

There are quite a few experienced solo trippers on this forum who can be of assistance if you need it.  Also, may I recommend you do a search on the forums...including the archives (though you may need to make a couple more posts to get access to them)...there's several good threads relating to solo canoe tripping.

Good luck!

Puckster wrote on Feb 15^th, 2010 at 2:21am:

Three months before my first QP trip of 2010, I have all my camping gear spread out on the basement floor.   ... Am I crazy?  Are any of you out there doing similar things?   prouboy

YES, YOU ARE & we are too.


kypaddler wrote on Mar 5^th, 2010 at 7:26pm:

Framed Fisher E-15 behind the desk. ... If ink faded from being stared at, this thing would be transluscent by now. -- kypaddler

How many of us have maps up at work?  I do too - a Q foundation full park map just above my computer monitor here.  At times I've had various topo-mosaics taped together on a whiteboard here too.  When I get more than 2 or 3 together, people start asking questions...  Then there's the 15 or so route options I've planned for this year with the Memory-Map software...
---can't wait for this years trip...  8-)

Snow_Dog wrote on Mar 11^th, 2010 at 3:32pm:

Welcome aboard! Wow, solo on your first trip to canoe country?  Hopefully you have some canoe-camping experience from other places. Good luck!

thanks. very experienced in the wilderness camping arena... but i'm sure my canoeing skills need a refresher (its only been 20 years, lol). i'll be knocking the rust off before i come up in july.

i have a feeling that this will be the first of many trips.

Where you going? Q or BW?

taking a 7d basecamp to blackstone lake through seagull oufitters

Welcome aboard bammanmr!

Crazy?

Yeah, "crazy" could be Bammanmr salivating a half year in advance at the prospect of driving all the way from Tennessee to get north. ....

Of course, that would be the judgment of outsiders who've never eaten fish from the Q's pristine waters, never heard a loon, never paddled in the utterly dead calm of a September dusk where you can hear an animal dislodge a rock on a cliff across the lake, never watched in fascination the rhythmic drip of water off the blade on the return stroke, never tasted smoke in both  the air and the cup while sipping bourbon around the fire, never felt the exhiliration and fear of battling surf with spray and sleet blown in your eyes, never seen the Northern Lights, never felt the bravado of laughing at the weight of a too-heavy pack and a too-long portage filled with mud and rock and fallen trees, never quenched a thirst by dipping straight into the middle of cold crystal waters, never sat in the middle of Agnes Lake and turned 360 degrees to be amazed at the vastness of it all. ....

... Of course, having to drive nearly 1,000 miles myself, I understand.

"B," welcome. Hope the trip lives up to the anticipation.

-- kypaddler

I was getting pretty crazy myself there for a while. Then I was doing better, but now I started reading "canoestories" on the WCPP again and I'm thinking I'm back to crazy. Thanks Jimbo for turning me on to yet another canoe story, it kept me up last night for a while. Mastertangler, is there some tripping possibilities in Florida during the winter months? I think it would help the craziness if these winters got broke up a bit. I used to do more outdoors in the winter here, but now because of a condition I can't do as much in the cold. My doctor even thinks I should concider going south in the winter.

kypaddler wrote on Mar 12^th, 2010 at 2:20pm:

...never quenched a thirst by dipping straight into the middle of cold crystal waters....

Ohhhhhh yeaaaaaah, that's what I'm talkin'bout ... can't wait to drive my own 1k miles to get that next drink!

nctry_Ben wrote on Mar 12^th, 2010 at 4:39pm:

Mastertangler, is there some tripping possibilities in Florida during the winter months.

Hey Ben,
I have kicked around doing the wilderness waterway which winds it's way through the tangle of the ten thousand islands. They suggest 5 days to do it. Very little in the way of dry ground. They have platforms set up sporadically for you to camp on. Tides really have to be factored in. Go on a full or new moon in the winter and there might be as much as a 5 ft drop. That makes some of the "necked down areas" pretty swift. You better have it together, not much help out that way. Plus you better be good, I mean good, at route finding. It all looks the same. I have been fishing down there in a small flats type boat for over 20 years. Little by little I have gotten to know my way around and still get turned around once in a while. I like taking new people because after taking a 5 mile run you can read their mind........"are you sure you can get us back out of here?" (insert evil laugh as I feign confusion)

There is also the big bend area which is pretty remote and looks interesting to me. One would need an ocean kayak for that trip. (that's all I need is another boat....)

Where are you getting your "canoe stories" about WCPP? I am badly wanting to go there. I like to plan so whatever info I can get my hands on is helpful. I am probably a few years away as it looks like I might of gotten my grade school buddy hooked on trippin and I will need to bring him up to speed with a few trips into the "Q" before taking a bigger bite.

... can't wait to drive my own 1k miles to get that next drink!


1K!! Dude that just aint right.  >:(

kp, i'm not that hardcore just yet. i'll be flying up. gonna pack my tent, sleeping bag and fishing tackle in a checked suitcase.

i'd love to be able to bring more of my gear and food, but for the first trip, i'm gonna let seagull take care of that.

Holy buckets....why drive the 1 K, that's a portage brother. Masterfisher so when are the best times to paddle the bend and the islands and maybe have some fresh tuna steaks to go with those mangrove backed eddys...or is dolphin more your style?

Crazy- is carrying the map case/compass everywhere yah go and keeping the map "collection" under the first shelf of the bookcase....note to self need another bookcase to hold all those maps. Having more than one stove, and ordering another. Shaping three paddles back to back-and pre building the forth dreaming that your dreaming inside the seedhouse and looking forward to the rising sun and the morning brew and all that follows. WOOT!

Never met a man or woman that once under the spell of Canoe Country that didn't become a little crazy... Some how some way.  Believe there have been one or two on this site that claimed they wish to be buried in their canoe?  Now that's crazy.... Why waste a perfectly good canoe?

More of a lurker than a poster, and this may be out of line, so I will apologize in advance.....

For those of you itching to get SOME sort of camping/tripping fix, the BSA is doing a fundraiser at the end of the month at a Scout camp in WI (near Stillwater).  The weekend will consist of different hands-on training led by Cliff Jacobson.  All proceeds will benefit the Eagle Scout Scholarship program.

I am not involved in scouting, and receive NO personal gain by promoting this, so hopefully that sidesteps any rules against this type of shameless promotion.  In the interest of full disclosure, a friend of mine is organizing the weekend.  I will be attending, and would love to learn from some of you, too!

It is late in the game for this, but if you are at all interested you can find more info here:

  (You need to Login or Register

I know, like with anything, there are CJ fans and "non"-fans out there, but whatever your feelings at least it is all for a good cause......and a good excuse to get the mind thinking about being outside!

Thanks for letting me share without stoning me with rocks from your inushuk!  ;)

Some of my more unpleasant experiences in the BWCA involve boy scouts (and their leaders).

These groups seem to routinely ignore the rule about group size.  I hope you or CJ -- or both -- at some point during this session stress the importance of "solitude" as such as it is in the BWCA, and teach leaders and scouts to respect others by being quiet, keeping their distance from others, and keeping their groups small. (at least within the rules).

prouboy

I'm definitely crazy. I've been going over maps and making check lists and mental check lists, thinking about what gear I need to buy (PS, decided to buy some Quetico Trekkers this year  8-) ) replace or look for. This year got an added bonus last weekend when I found out my usual paddle partner, AKA Dad, can't come this year b/c of a new job. That just changed my plans to a solo, the first in the Q. I'm pumped.

I think the reason we have such long cold winters is to give us plenty of time to think about all the trip planning and starting it :)

OK. i have sent in my border permit request..... just got in my first order of lures (amazing how small the box with 50$ of lures inside is).... been reading 2 books on Quetico and BWCA fishing... and plan on setting the tent up this weekend.

now if July would hurry and get here.  :-?