Hey everyone, I joined this forum a while back and have been sifting through the archives for a couple of weeks now. Seems like a great group of people here with a lot of good info to absorb!

I thought I'd take the time to chime in with a bit of an intro.

For a great many years paddling defined who I was. I spent more than 12 years of my adult life mostly paddling solo in the far north, working crappy jobs in the winter to support my passion then spending the open water months in the bush. Many, many 1-2 month trips and a couple that spanned 4 months. Those trips took me all the way to Hudson's Bay and back again.

Quetico has a special place in my heart though and I've spent a great many nights paddling its waters. So many memories!

I vividly recall dragging my boat up the creek into Wildgoose Lake on a hot July day up to my waist in black stinky muck. When I finally reached the lake and waded into the water to wash off I was horrified to discover that the "mud" wasn't washing off because it was hundreds of leeches! I ended up scraping them off with my filet knife then used them to catch walleyes on Wildgoose. I call that poetic justice.

Another time I was camped by myself on a tiny island on Agnes Lake and when I emerged quietly from my tent early in the morning a very large wolf was standing 30 feet away. There was no malice. I froze and we locked eyes for a good 10 seconds before he turned and slowly sauntered into the bush. Still don't know how it got on that island or where it went...

Lots of big fish as well. I can remember fishing Cutty Lake with a friend when he hooked an absolutely enormous northern on a light spinning rod and jig. This fish was all of 25 pounds. After a long battle he finally drew the fish close to the boat where I prepared to grab it. Shockingly the jig popped out and we both sat there stunned - my buddy was in shock. The fish sank slowly down, disappearing into the tannin stained water. Instinctively I reached down blindly and managed to grab hold of the tired fish and managed to hoist it into the canoe.

It's worth noting that first and foremost I'm an angler. Every single one of my canoe trips has been executed in pursuit of fish. I am most definitely NOT an eco tourist.  :)

Round about the age of 34 I met my wife and she pretty much saved me from myself LOL! In very short order my life changed (marriage, kids, mortgage, real job). From that point on my focus shifted from paddling and fishing to strictly fishing. I began to write and have been very fortunate to have been able to parlay that skill into my current profession - traveling to remote lodges and outfitters across Canada and chronicling my experiences.

I'm 50 now and feel like it's time to reaquaint myself with a pack and paddle. To be quite honest it's been my 10 year old son Brendan who has reignited the spark. I feel a great need  to introduce him to the sport while I'm still able to. He's been a very fortunate young man having joined me on numerous fly in fishing trips in his young life, but it's still not the same as a canoe trip...

In any case I'm glad to be here and I hope to contribute as best as I can!

Cheers,  Mike       
   

Thanks for introducing yourself, Mike.  Welcome!

I joined this board almost 15 years ago, about a year after moving my family north from the Carolinas for the purpose of doing more paddling & fishing in Quetico (and in other parks further north).  Frankly, it has been a great way to associate myself with others who share similar passions.  I've also met some very fine folks, several of whom I have since shared some memorable wilderness campsites with.  Finally, I've picked up a lot of valuable information, many ideas and perspectives which have significantly enhanced my canoe-camping experiences. 

I hope you will come to value QuietJourney as much as I do.  I envy our benefactor, "db", for the legacy he has built here.

Welcome.

Jimbo   8-)

Welcome, Mike  :)

  Looks like we have an SP now along with me, ST. ;D ;D
Looking forward to your take on how to do things.
Too bad you can't use live bait in the Q anymore, your "tip" on how to catch leeches would have come in handy.  :o ;) ;D ;D

Welcome aboard!! Mike, we welcome you to QJ. 8-)

I hope you will share more about your experiences. We have folks here who are epic explorers. You will find them engaging. Looking forward to hearing more. 8-)

We have some other fishing first guys here, including myself. I hope you will share your experiences and learnings about fishing.
Join at the inukshuk level to get all of the perks offered here.  ;)

Jimbo wrote on Feb 11^th, 2017 at 3:13pm:

Thanks for introducing yourself, Mike.  Welcome! I joined this board almost 15 years ago, about a year after moving my family north from the Carolinas for the purpose of doing more paddling & fishing in Quetico (and in other parks further north).  Frankly, it has been a great way to associate myself with others who share similar passions.  I've also met some very fine folks, several of whom I have since shared some memorable wilderness campsites with.  Finally, I've picked up a lot of valuable information, many ideas and perspectives which have significantly enhanced my canoe-camping experiences.  I hope you will come to value QuietJourney as much as I do.  I envy our benefactor, "db", for the legacy he has built here. Welcome. Jimbo   8-)

Thanks Jimbo, anyone who moves north to be closer to canoe country is alright in my books.

Cheers

solotripper wrote on Feb 11^th, 2017 at 3:24pm:

Welcome, Mike  :)   Looks like we have an SP now along with me, ST. ;D ;D Looking forward to your take on how to do things. Too bad you can't use live bait in the Q anymore, your "tip" on how to catch leeches would have come in handy.  :o ;) ;D ;D

Thank you sir! As far as the leeches go I've never used live bait when paddling before or since. That was a one off occurrence hopefully never to be repeated.  ;)

Old Salt wrote on Feb 11^th, 2017 at 3:24pm:

Welcome aboard!! Mike, we welcome you to QJ. 8-) I hope you will share more about your experiences. We have folks here who are epic explorers. You will find them engaging. Looking forward to hearing more. 8-) We have some other fishing first guys here, including myself. I hope you will share your experiences and learnings about fishing. Join at the inukshuk level to get all of the perks offered here.  ;)

Another kindred spirit, thanks for the welcome! I have plenty of stories old salt (my kids call me Grandpa Simpson  :) )

One time on a solo trip down the Winisk 3 polar bears wandered into my camp in the middle of the night and started rummaging through my gear. They were between me and my boat and they knew darned well I was there. I slipped my shoes on and when they seemed preoccupied I went out the back vestibule and ran upstream as fast as I could propelled by sheer terror. I had passed a native shack the day before and hoped to make it there without being pulled down.
The shack was boarded up like fort knox with heavy plywood with nails sticking out over every window and door. In a panic I jumped up, grabbed the eave and dead lifted myself up to the roof. Moments later all 3 bears strolled into camp eyeing me like their last meal. I was stuck on that roof for 21/2 days with no food or water - the bears wouldn't leave. Just as I was about to make a desperation move 2 natives in a freighter came downstream and stopped. At the time there was 2 of the bears milling around the cabin. They looked at me, looked at the bears, then burst out laughing LOL! One of them pulled a rifle out, fired a couple of shots to scare the bears away and I was saved. Amazingly nothing of note was destroyed at my camp other than my frying pan and pot which had multiple bite marks all over them. The natives gave me their frying pan, I packed up and was on my way again. Really weak, but none the worse for the wear.
After that I paddled up the Frog River (a trib of the Winisk) to its headwaters then portaged overland several miles over swampy muskeg to the Fawn River. THAT was tough in my condition! I had to camp one night before reaching the Fawn. With no place to pitch a tent I remember lying in my canoe with my fly draped overhead trying to sleep while being swarmed by 10 billion mosquitos. Good times. 

Like I said, lots of stories.  ;)      

[quote][One of them pulled a rifle out,/quote]

Considering who YOU were, it's a good thing the NATIVES didn't hold a grudge and shoot YOU and feed the NATIVE bears. ;) ;D ;D

I have to ask, did you bring a firearm or at least Bear Spray on your trips from THEN on?

solotripper wrote on Feb 11^th, 2017 at 7:34pm:

[quote][One of them pulled a rifle out,/quote] Considering who YOU were, it's a good thing the NATIVES didn't hold a grudge and shoot YOU and feed the NATIVE bears. ;) ;D ;D I have to ask, did you bring a firearm or at least Bear Spray on your trips from THEN on?

Pretty much every native I have met in my travels has been super cool actually. The only exception to that was two highly intoxicated native youths (they could barely walk and I couldn't understand them  :) ) who came into my camp twice on Miminiska Lake on the Albany River. They completely ignored me and only seemed interested in checking out my canoe. I was so unnerved I packed up and left heading downstream to Petawanga Lake a day early. I figured they would come back while I was sleeping and steal it.

To answer your question, no I have never brought a gun or even bear spray. Not that long ago on the Sutton River close to Hudson's Bay I had another encounter with a polar bear though and thankfully my canoe partner had brought a shotgun loaded with slugs. He fired above its head 3 times before it turned away.

Oddly enough I've never even bothered to hang my food pack either and if I total up every night spent in the bush it's years. I've never understood the logic and can honestly say I've never had a problem. I place my pack a good distance away from my tent and usually put a pot or two on top to alert me if something tips it over. To date nothing ever has. I've tripped with others who do insist on hanging their food pack and the irony is it was on one of those trips where we did have issues with a bear. It climbed a tree then chewed through the rope holding the pack before batting it around like a pinata first.  :) It took off like a scalded cat when we emerged from the tent.      

Thanks for the info.
I was a hanger for years, now I'm a hider.  ;D
I do the same as you but I'm packing food in my DIY food pails. I have NEVER had a bear in my solo camp, and I don't WANT to either.

I started carrying Bear Spray the year I went to Algonquin Park which was the year after that bear attacked had killed those 3 kids.

I decided that especially solo it was worth carrying just in case. I've only used the spray one time and that was in the BWCA. I think that was because previous campers had dumped uneaten food in woods to close to camp?

solotripper wrote on Feb 11^th, 2017 at 8:35pm:

Thanks for the info. I was a hanger for years, now I'm a hider.  ;D I do the same as you but I'm packing food in my DIY food pails. I have NEVER had a bear in my solo camp, and I don't WANT to either. I started carrying Bear Spray the year I went to Algonquin Park which was the year after that bear attacked had killed those 3 kids. I decided that especially solo it was worth carrying just in case. I've only used the spray one time and that was in the BWCA. I think that was because previous campers had dumped uneaten food in woods to close to camp?

Algonquin seems to have more nuisance bears than anywhere I trip, I think they've lost their fear of humans.

Years back I brought my then girlfriend deep into the interior of Pukaskwa Park. It's a full long day of paddling and bush bashing to get to this sweet little brook trout lake I used to fish. We had cleaned and eaten a couple of trout and I laid the carcasses on a rock for the gulls to get. We were lying on the sand to the right of the rock and my boat was pulled up to our left blocking our view in that direction. Things were starting to get "interesting" when she sat up and said that she heard something. All I could hear was wind and waves. "No you didn't" says I and tried to pull her back down. At that point she stood up and said "there's a bear standing right there!!" "No there isn't" I said kind of laughing at her.
At that point she kicked me hard in the ribs and said "YES there is a bear!!"
Okay. I stand up and sure enough there's a small male black bear standing frozen about 30 feet away. Cool! I begin to edge to my left to find my camera over near the fire pit. "What are you doing?!" she says. I explained my intentions whereupon she immediately began rummaging frantically in her jacket pocket for the bear spray she had brought. Just as I was about to snap a picture she sprayed it directly (by accident) right into my face LOL! I dropped in agony writhing on the ground and through my blurred vision saw the bear jump 3 feet in the air when she finally grabbed a paddle and banged down on the side of the canoe.
I flushed my eyes out in the lake then we had to pack up and leave. After busting our humps to get all the way back in there she refused to stay.

Wimmen  ::)

Quote:

she sprayed it directly (by accident) right into my face

That was HER story and she was sticking with it ;)

solopaddler wrote on Feb 11^th, 2017 at 6:24pm:

I have plenty of stories old salt (my kids call me Grandpa Simpson  :) )

That's hilarious. I can't stop laughing. My (now 17) son and I have spent years quoting Homer (all of them, but Homer especially) back and forth to each other.

- kypaddler

Oh, and I'll join in offering a formal welcome aboard. Can't say I'm a "fishing first" guy, but I have certainly eaten my share of Quetico fish over the years. I mean, 30 minutes from lake to stomach? Who wouldn't?

- kypaddler

Wow Solopaddler,
I am glad I do not have stories like that to tell :o
I have not had a persistent bear in camp since around 1978, and definitely will not be camping around Polar Bears...ever.  About 4-5 years ago I finally purchased a can of bear spray but so far it is still in its original, unopened package.  I often wonder why I am dragging it around on every trip.
Welcome to QJ,
IC

Quote:

I often wonder why I am dragging it around on every trip.

Like a lot of things, better to HAVE it and NOT need it, than NEED it and NOT have it.  ;) ;D

That's my game plan.  ;D ;D

Hi