DeanoD,

It's funny you mentioned working in Lumber Yard and lifting heavy things on a regular basis.
I worked commercial construction for 15 years, and even though I worked hard everyday ( we specialized in cement construction), I had ALL my back issues during that time!
Unlike a gym, often in the real world work environment, you can't always practice safe lifting/pulling practices. Your working on ladders/slopes/mud/ in confined areas. Sooner or later you hurt yourself, and often it stays with you for life.
 Mid 30's I got lucky and fell into a healthier lifestyle, which included daily exercise of some kind. My sore back eventually went away and I make sure it's not coming back.
 I'm a firm believer in being  PROACTIVE with my health and fitness, rather than RE-ACTIVE. It is a lot easier to stay in shape, than get in shape.  Couples that take care of themselves are much better at taking care of each other.
 There are "benefits" to being fit and healthy that have nothing to do with paddling  
 Good Luck with your Health/Fitness plan. We'll EXPECT a trip report

Well. . . .some of us wives have been going and loving it for decades, K!      (and yes, at first I had my doubts.   But they didn't last long.) 

Yes, DeanoD, MSU fans, both Spartan1 and me.  Alums.  We met on the student Rose Bowl tour in '65-66 on a Greyhound Bus headed for Pasadena.  Where are you from in Michigan?

Spartan2 wrote on Oct 21^st, 2009 at 1:15am:


S2, You got me.... oops.  Truth is an ex girl friend introduced me to paddling the North.    She presented a whole new standard for the girls in my life to live up to.  Boy, did this revelation just sneak up on me... You Ladies of the North and those that love to paddle, Rock!

Thx for telling it like it is.

k

I find that really interesting, db.  The longer I know Spartan1 the more I realize that he is atypical in a lot of ways.  He was so much the opposite.  He took his first trip with a group of friends and IMMEDIATELY he was after me to make a trip!  I had no interest in canoe-camping, had never spent a night in a tent, was terrified of bugs, and thought he was crazy!  But he kept at it for four years 'til I finally decided it might be fun.

And we didn't start out with a wimpy trip either--no base-camping, no layover day, no tow.  The same Namakan loop trip he took with the guys (except that I said I would NOT do the four-mile Dawson portage so we paddled the Loon River instead.  We walked all portages, though--he thought putting a canoe on that railroad thing was silly.)

I cut my teeth in canoe country the hard way, with traveling every day, trips that ventured into Quetico, trips with old Duluth packs, trips before Therma-rest pads.  And always just the two of us.  

Now. . . .a different story.  I will confess that I was the one who began suggesting taking folding stools when my arthritic knees made squatting at the campfire difficult.  I was the one who suggested that I enjoyed an occasional layover day, primarily because it gave me more time for photography.  I was the one who ended up with back problems so I now have the Big Agnes sleeping bag and the better backpack with hip straps.  But I am still the one who begins planning the next trip on the portages of the current one!  

I guess I am atypical, too.  I like to go in mid-June when the bugs are out in full force.  Fewer people, more flowers.  Campsites are cleaner, less trampled.  The green of the woods is that wonderful spring green. Loons are beginning to take their chicks on the lakes.  Snuggling in my wool shirt with a cup of hot chocolate and watching a misty sunrise.  A twelve-day trip that spans the end of June to the beginning of July is Heaven for me.  I even like to swim in the cold water.  Haven't graduated to a solar shower yet, although I do think that sounds like a great idea if you went in the summer.

Taking your wife can be a real boost to your marriage.    Alone time under the blue sky (I always try to think positive about the weather when I am planning) is the best bonding time.  We were blessed to have fabulous kid-sitters in Minneapolis, and now have lifelong friends to visit on every trip to canoe country.  Our granddaughter plays with their grandchildren.  

It's been such a great trip for me.  I am so glad I didn't let a few fears keep me away.  38 years later I realize how much my husband changed my life because he didn't decide that canoe tripping was something for "the guys".

Because of his health issues he shouldn't go solo.  (I know he wants to the very worst way.)  I hope I give him alone time enough that sometimes it is the next best thing.  We've become a pretty good team.

Just two cents from one of the few wives on this board.