Greetings one and all. I'm just curious to hear from everyone on what is the oldest age they have seen someone busting their humps up in Quetico. I remember my first trip in 1979 when I was nine years old, and we had a guy in our party that was 54, which my dad commented at the time was the oldest he's seen up there, in all of his trips dating back to the late 50's or early 60's. Now as my dad approaches 70 (about two years away), and him not having been to Quetico in the past ten years, I'm beginning to wonder if Quetico will just now become a place in his fondest memories, or if he has a few more trips left in him. I think he's certainly physically capable, as he still walks 18 holes of golf 3 or 4 times per week, although like most of us, he's put a few pounds on in the middle. I think he would admit, after about twenty, 7 to 10 day trips in Quetico over the years, almost all of them from long distance drives from St. Louis, he has a little bit of "been there, done that" kind of feeling about the place. I mean, let's face it, even for all of us with the "what's around the next bend" kind of spirit, after a few trips up there, we all know it's just more evergreen trees, water, and rocks. I guess I'm kind of feeling like I would like to have a couple more trips with my dad, since my two boys, 16 and 13, really have no interest in that kind of adventure. What say you everyone?

Seems to me that Magic Paddler's older brother was about 73 (or thereabouts) when we encountered him trying to do the first Bushwhackers Jamboree right in the middle of nowhere in Quetico.  And remember, we were talking "bushwhacking" NOT portaging!

Stay in shape, apply your smarts and you can go a long ways for a long while in the wilderness... or at least I hope to.

Jimbo   

Interesting comments so far. IC, you make a good point about how one sleeps on hard ground having such a huge effect on someone's trip. I have made about eight trips myself, averaging about a week long, and the one thing I can say about sleeping in Quetico is that I have never really been comfortable while sleeping, and I don't think my dad has either. Pillows have always been inflatable or makeshift from a clothing bag so we often wake up with stiff necks. We've run the gammet of air pads, from cheap manual pump types to quality Thermarest self-inflating mattresses, but even those don't leave us feeling restful. Those new ultralite cots that weigh only a couple pounds, sold by Piragis and Cabelas look kind of interesting, but they're over $200 a piece. What do you guys find is the best sleeping solution for a restful night sleep?

If the old man cant sleep on the ground hang him.  I hang my self and I sleep better than my bed at home.

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WR - I agree about having a pillow from home.  Two  is quite a move toward comfort.  I buy an inexpensive fiber pillow of normal size, saw it in half with a sharp kitchen knife and take a half pillow in a pillow case.  You can also find them in half-size.  I use two pads, one is a thick closed foam mat and on top I use an Insul-mat inflatable pad.  That keeps me warm, dry, smooths out the knobby bumps and makes the top layer soft for the body curves.  IC