Near-Real Time Satellite Imagery

I love this site: http://earthdata.nasa.gov/data/near-real-time-data/rapid-response/modis-subsets
From there, I can keep an eye on fun things like ice-out & freeze up, monitor forest fires, check snow cover, and more. All with images that are as little as a couple of hours old.

To find the images relevant for my area (central Saskatchewan), I choose the North America subset, then roll my mouse over the images to find the ones I want, usually "Waskesiu" (covers from Lake Diefenbaker in the south to north of the Churchill River, and extending well into Manitoba to the east and Alberta to the west) or "Bratts Lake" if I'm interested in areas to the south, or "Thompson" if I'm interested in areas to the north.

From there you can choose the resolution you want, and the type of image you want. They offer several types of images which are probably very meaningful to those that know how to interpret them, but I normally stick to the True Colour images. You can also turn on layers to show fires, borders, and coasts. This is helpful to position the image with points of reference you are familiar with. You can also download the image into Google Earth which makes pinpointing less-obvious locations very easy.

Due to those pesky clouds, you may not be able to see a given area on the specific date, but you can scroll through the days to find a nice clear view.

For those who paddle the far north, this is a great way to keep an eye on whether your float plane will be able to land or not. For the rest of us, it's fun to check it out and dream of trips.

The image from yesterday, a warm day with lots of cumulonimbus, is shown below (head to the website for much better resolution, but don't expect to be able to peer into anyone's back yard).

Less than hour after I posted the above, I find another way to view the same thing, and it's pretty awesome: http://earthdata.nasa.gov/labs/worldview/

Parapalegic Kayaking

This is pretty cool in my books...

"Running" Otter Rapids

Today over on our Northstar Expeditions blog I posted a series of photos showing myself and +Jay running Otter Rapids (Churchill River, northern Saskatchewan) in 2007. It's an awesome series of photos taken from shore and really shows the fun to be had in Otter.

Go check it out. 

 

No, we haven't sunk in this photo (yet), we're merely in the trough between waves. Head to the full post to see the rest of the photos and learn the outcome of these brave adventurers.

Wildlife - For Jitka and Hanka

We recently held a large family reunion and were visited by distant relatives from the Czech Republic (Jitka & her daughter, Hanka). Afterwards, Jitka expressed disappointment that she did not encounter more wildlife while in Canada, expecting to see large animals in a more prominent fashion. Hanka even had to write a report about the plants and animals she saw in Canada, but had to leave out the animal portion. There must be a perception that if you come to Canada you will see wildlife roaming freely and abundantly when the reality is that encountering wildlife is an uncommon event that causes me to count myself lucky when it occurs. It is a special moment when I see a moose on a canoe trip.

Here is a list of some animals that are possible to see while paddling in this part of Canada (Saskatchewan). I've excluded birds, fish, rodents (except the biggest rodents) and other small critters from the list because the list would get far too long and complex. It is in approximately descending order with the animals I'm most likely to see at the top.

Moose swimming across the Montreal River. Photo by Rob Kunz.

1. Beaver. I see beaver almost every time I paddle. Not only do I see them when paddling, we also hear the loud "kapuch" of their tail at night.
2. Snowshoe Hare. Rabbit stew, anyone?
3. Moose. The largest member of the deer family, I've seen these about 4 times now while paddling (twice in Prince Albert National Park, once on the Montreal River, once while paddling the South Saskatchewan River). In recent years moose have gotten much more common in the farming areas of southern Saskatchewan.
4. Garter Snake. My kids have taken to searching the forest floor for garter snakes to catch.
5. Fox.
6. White Tailed Deer. Deer (white tail, then mule deer) would be at the top of the list except that this list has a paddling focus, and most of the northern places I paddle don't have many deer. The odds of seeing them when paddling the South Saskatchewan River are fairly high.
7. River Otter. Otters are pretty cool to see. I've seen them in Prince Albert National Park and in 2010 we saw some on the Churchill River. In the winter I've seen their sliding tracks in the snow.
8. Porcupine. Porcupine are all over, and in theory I should see lots of them, but I don't unless you count the dead ones on the side of the road. I know they are up in the trees and I often look for them, but only very rarely do I see them.
9. Mink, Ermine, Weasel, Fisher. I'm lumping these members of the weasel family together, they are the smallest members of this list.
10. Coyote. We often hear these at night, especially when paddling the South or North Saskatchewan Rivers.
11. Raccoon. We have lots of them and I know they are around because I see their tracks in the mud, but I've never seen a raccoon on a paddling trip. I've seen hundreds of them dead at the side of the road.
12. Woodchuck/Groundhog. We saw one in 2010 while canoeing on the Churchill River. My friend Mark claims they are quite common and he often sees them on the drive north. I never have.
13. Black Bear. I've seen one once while paddling in BC, and many times driving. My most recdent bear encounter was a young animal that came to check out the messy smelly fish fry last month at the in-law's cabin at Candle Lake just as we were starting into supper. I chased it off making lots of noice and banging a 2x4 against the tree it scampered up into.
14. Elk. What is it about elk and national parks? In Banff, Jasper and Waskesiu you will see them wandering the town streets. My odds of seeing them when paddling are not so high, but much better than some other animals.
15. Lynx. I heard a lynx once while hiking, but have never seen one. The sound was very disturbing. More common than most people know, they are good at avoiding being seen.
16. Wolf. Again, Prince Albert National Park is the likeliest place to see these elusive creatures, perhaps while on a snowshoe trip. The only wolf I have seen in the "wild" was walking down the middle of the road in PANP and was sick and perhaps starving.
17. Cougar. There are more of these around than we would ever realise, they pass silently leaving little trace, and give a wide berth to humans.
18. Buffalo. There are some places in Prince Albert National Park (and area) where it would be possible to see free-roaming wild buffalo (bison).
19. Woodland Caribou. We have them, but the herds are small and during the paddling season tend to be farther north. They aren't coping well with human activities in the north.
20. Badger. Wide ranging with large territories and rarely seen.
21. Wolverine. Cousin to the badger and largest member of the weasel family. Wide ranging solitary animals with massive territories, these animals avoid humans and don't cope well with disturbances in their habitat.  
22. Grizzly Bear. 120 years ago there were large herds of buffalo that roamed the prairies of USA and Canada, and many animals followed these herds. The Plains Grizzly was one of the animals that lived off of the buffalo and followed the massive herds. After settlers came the buffalo were hunted and removed from the prairies, and the animals that relied on those herds disappeared. The Grizzly Bears of the Alberta foothills are the last remnants of the Plains Grizzly population. It is still possible, but quite unlikely, to see Grizzly in the northernmost regions of our province, but it is likely a stray animal that wandered south from the Tundra rather than wandering east from the foothills. (On a related note, a Polar Bear was once seen swimming in the far northeast part of Saskatchewan. It was a young male that was starving.)

It is more common to see signs (tracks, scat) of these animals than it is to see the animals themselves. There are a few reasons why it is unlikely to see any of these animals very often. First, many of them are active at dawn and dusk, a time when it's hard to see wildlife and when we are not usually paddling. Most of our paddling is through areas of bush or forest which although it provides a home for the wildlife, it also provides them with ample cover, making seeing them very difficult as they don't stand around in the open. Also, hunting by local natives keeps the populations of the large game (i.e. moose) low in the regions that are close to native communities. Further, this is often a harsh country with a hard winter which means survival is often quite low. Many of these animals also require very large ranges - dozens to hundreds of square kilometers. The populations are not dense. Finally, the reason my family doesn't see as much wildlife as we might otherwise, relates to the fact that we have 2 young kids with us, and they aren't often quiet.

Finding signs of the animals is much easier than seeing the animals themselves. These are otter tracks on MacKay Lake in the snow on a very cold day. The otter runs a couple of steps, slides on it's belly, then pushes itself with it's hind feet while sliding on it's belly. 

The more common way to see moose lately, a recent photo by my father in the fields near the family farm.

Adaptive Paddling

This summer I had the privilege of paddling with a fellow that is a c5-6 quadriplegic. It was a 2 hour parent + kid class and he was there along with his wife and daughter. I surely learned more that day from that family than they did for me. I look forward to continuing that learning for both of us and hope that we get to paddle together again.

He had a kayak that was adapted with a seat and outriggers much like the one that is shown in this video. In addition, he had special connectors that connected his hands (wrists, actually) to the paddle. He mentioned that the new connectors he was using were a great improvement over what he used to do, which was to duct tape his hands to the paddle.

The video, featuring a paraplegic paddler and his adapted cedar-strip kayak is very inspiring.

Enjoy!

From Kodiak to Homer Alaska by Kayak

Thanks to Philip.AK who posted on the westcoastpaddler.com forum a link to the stunning video he made from his recent paddle from Kodiak to Homer in Alaska this past July. It looks like it was a stunning trip, and he put together a brilliant video that I wanted to share with you here.

The video is 21.5 minutes long and worth every second. Watch it in HD and full screen if you can.


Sea Kayaking from Kodiak to Homer from Philip Tschersich on Vimeo.

For some reason I suddenly have a strong desire to head to south central Alaska to paddle!

The List

Like practically every other paddler out there, I have a bucket list of places or routes that I really want to paddle. I figured I'd start to write some of them down here. They are in no particular order and I'll add to it over time. Some are kayaking destinations, some more suited to canoe. This list could really be much longer, but it's a start.

1. Circumnavigate Lac La Ronge (Sask). I blogged about the idea of kayaking the approximately 290 km of Lac LaRonge last year and it's likely to remain on the "to do list" for another year or two. 
2. Clearwater River (Sask). Recently, there has been talk about mining the bitumen (tar) sands to the north of the Clearwater, a Canadian Heritage River, and we really should paddle this one while it's still pristine, and to show that there is value in pristine wilderness. 
3. Broughton Archipelago (BC). A recent post on WestCoastPaddler.com has my interest piqued to visit this area in the northern portion of Johnstone Strait, NE of Vancouver Island. (Update: Here's another report on the Broughton Archipelago that I enjoyed: http://allisonoutside.net/2012/09/the-broughton-archipelago/.)
4. Mackay Lake, Bartlett Lake (Sask). I was there a couple of years ago by snowshoe (see Mark's blog post). I'd like to go back by canoe. Not as grand as most other destinations in this list, but the chance of me getting there in the next year or so is rather a lot higher. 
5. Coulonge River (Que). My Great Great Great Grandfather was George Bryson, Sr. who was a lumber baron in the Ottawa River Valley. He logged the Coulonge and built the timber slide past the Grand Chutes. 
6. Haida Gwaii (BC). The Queen Charlotte Islands and Gwaii Hannas National Park is a place my wife and I would love to paddle. 
7. Bonnet Plume &/or Peel Rivers (Yuk). The awesome mountain rivers of northern Yukon are places I'd like to see first hand. The Bonnet Plume River is part of the Canadian Heritage River System. (I have at least seen the Yukon River in person.)  
8. Cree River (Sask). We were hours away from starting this trip when my Grandma died and we pulled out. So, it remains on the list and we are just as eager to paddle it. 
9. Belize. A fellow I know has been spending his winters teaching kayaking in Belize. Seeing his pictures has caused me to have Belize on my list as a paddling destination. 
10. Nahanni River (NWT).  Another Canadian Heritage River System river. The Nahanni has been on my list for as long as I've been dreaming about paddling. 
11. Lower Sturgeon-Weir (Sask). In 2005 we paddled a section of the upper Sturgeon-Weir from the Hanson Lake Road to Amisk Lake at Denare Beach. We were on Amisk Lake a couple weeks ago (photos and report coming soon?) and visited the river where it leaves the lake in a C2 rapid that looks like a lot of fun. 
12. Lake Superior (north shore) (Ont). Bill Mason's films have tempted me to that largest of lakes for 20 years or so. Reading reports by the likes of Bryan Hansel (http://www.paddlinglight.com/) have only added to that desire. 
13. South Saskatchewan River (Sask). We've paddled sections of it close to Saskatoon (as recently as last week), but I'd like to paddle the rest of the way to The Forks. Given how close it is to home and how often I paddle it, you'd think I'd write about it more, but here is one post from a night paddle in '02, snowshoeing on the river in '09, kayaking on the river this January, and again in March. On Sunday I'll be paddling a Lake Diefenbaker section of the river (or rather, what was the river before the building of the Gardiner Dam and creation of the lake). At the end of August I should be on the river again with my kids for a few days. 
14. Newfoundland. Beautiful, scary, rugged, cold, awesome. I don't even know it well enough to say what part I most want to paddle or where to start. But the awe-inspiring coasts of Newfoundland definitely beckon. Lee's writing helps to fuel the awe. 
15. Broken Group Islands (BC). We were there in 2010 and I want to go back, explore more and get to the outer islands more. 
16. Kazan River (NWT). Another Canadian Heritage River System river. Back in the summer of 1992 I worked at a fishing camp near the headwaters of the Kazan (located on Obre Lake, we worked upriver to Snowbird Lake and downriver to Atzinging Lake). A group of European paddlers came through the fishing camp one day. I've wanted to go back to the Kazan by canoe ever since. 

One destination that made the list even though I already paddled it, the Broken Group. 

Cold Water Boot Camp

This evening I read the updated story about a paddler that died on April 1st in a lake in Washington state. In the article, one of the people interviewed mentioned a "Cold Water Boot Camp" video that they make their paddling students watch. A little googling brought me to http://www.coldwaterbootcamp.com. Wow, what a great website. Watch the video contained in the download section (for me, it worked best to download a high quality version and watch it offline), it's a 10 minute program that delivers the message. There is also a 30 minute version on DVD which I am considering ordering.

The video program features Winnipeg professor, Dr. Gordon Giesbrecht, aka "Dr. Popsicle." Dr. Giesbrecht has been informing outdoors people like me on the dangers of cold water for quite a number of years. I've seen several of his videos on YouTube and even on the Rick Mercer Report (this video is hilarious). However, this is the first time I've seen his Cold Water Boot Camp program.

Be sure to also watch some of the individual videos under the Boot Campers section. They are very informative. There are a number of things I took away from those individual videos and interviews - for one thing, the messages coming directly from the individuals really hits home. Another thing I noticed, is just how much effort it takes the rescuers to get the swimmers out of the water. Watch as they pull the swimmers in and imagine how it would be for another boater (canoe, kayak, motorboat - take your pick) to assist you if you were in the water. And in this case it was trained rescuers pulling a swimmer up onto a very stable boat with a low, smooth rounded gunwale. Doing the same thing into a canoe, or a fishing boat - good luck. Also, when the swimmers are pulled from the water and interviewed on the boat, note how bloody cold they are, and how they actually get colder than they were in the water.

There are a couple of important take home messages that I'll be better incorporating into my own paddling lessons after watching this video, some of it I knew already and all of it has been reinforced:

1. It's not hypothermia you need to worry about, it's cold shock, then incapacitation.
2. You will never live long enough for hypothermia to be a concern without a life jacket or PFD on.
3. It's ALWAYS cold water season in this part of the world.
4. Swimming in cold water is very, very hard.

To summarise the effects of cold water and the time you have to deal with the situation, Geisbrecht coined the phrase "1-10-1"

1 - 10 - 1

1-10-1 is a simple way to remember the first three phases of cold water immersion and the approximate time each phase takes.

1 - Cold Shock. An initial deep and sudden Gasp followed by hyperventilation that can be as much as 600-1000% greater than normal breathing. You must keep your airway clear or run the risk of drowning. Cold Shock will pass in about 1 minute. During that time concentrate on avoiding panic and getting control of your breathing. Wearing a lifejacket during this phase is critically important to keep you afloat and breathing. 

10 - Cold Incapacitation. Over approximately the next 10 minutes you will lose the effective use of your fingers, arms and legs for any meaningful movement. Concentrate on self rescue initially, and if that isn’t possible, prepare to have a way to keep your airway clear to wait for rescue. Swim failure will occur within these critical minutes and if you are in the water without a lifejacket, drowning will likely occur. 

1 - HYPOTHERMIA. Even in ice water it could take approximately 1 hour before becoming unconscious due to hypothermia. If you understand the aspects of hypothermia, techniques of how to delay it, self rescue and calling for help, your chances of survival and rescue will be dramatically increased. 

For more on my own experimentation with cold water, see my post from last month.

Out Practising What I Preach

Last Saturday we had gorgeous weather for the last day of March. Sunny, calm and warm with a high of 14°C. It was a great day for a paddle and with the kids at the grandparents my wife & I donned our paddling gear and got out in the kayaks for a couple of hours on the South Saskatchewan River. The river is still mostly frozen, but through the city it is open and most of it is available to paddlers.

I mention that we donned our paddling gear and that is a large aspect of what I wanted to write about. We dressed not just for the weather conditions, but for the water conditions. We dressed for immersion.

I was wearing my dry suit (Barrier suit from Level 6) with long underwear (wool top, polypro bottoms) and a fleece vest underneath. On my hands I wore neoprene gloves (2mm), and on my head I wore a thin neoprene (1mm?) cap. On my feet I wore my new (used) Chota mukluks for the second time but the first time where I was in the water.

K wore a wetsuit with long underwear underneath, and a fleece sweater and softshell jacket over top. Although K declined to test her immersion gear, if she had ended up in the water she would absolutely have been cold, but likely would have been able to function well for a period of time. She had neoprene paddling gloves at hand, but chose not to wear them.

I'll add my observations and lessons learned at the end. In the meantime here are some pictures from the outing, and a couple of videos of me in action (and getting rather wet).

Us.

Me.

K paddling the cedarstrip guillemot I built for her (and documented in detail in this blog).

Heading south, away from the boathouse and downtown Saskatoon.

The west side of the river was clear of ice but a strip ranging from a few feet wide to half the width of the river was present on the east side. 

Some of the marathon paddlers from the Saskatoon Canoe Club were also out taking advantage of the fine weather. 

We saw their sterns mostly. 

They are building a new freeway bridge south of the city. 

The geese don't mind the ice. 

Heading back toward the boathouse. 

Paddling among the drifting ice.

With the neoprene cap on, I'm ready to practice my rolls and rescues. 

A video of one of my rolls in this ccccooooolllllddd water. I only did a few! (Note that at 5 seconds in my head is high, my head reaching away from the water. That is why I needed to finish the roll with a forward scull to get a little extra lift.)


A short segment of me practising my scramble rescue in conditions that were less ideal than the pool I had practised in a few weeks earlier. Things were much harder this time.


So, after getting into that cold water and practising, I can say I learned a few things (good, because that was the whole point).

• Things are harder in cold water.
• Things are harder when you are wearing a bunch of stuff.
• Water that is at or just above freezing is really, really cold. (Shocking news, I know.)
• The dry suit works well. I was mostly comfortable in the water except for those parts not inside the suit (hands and head). 
• There was a cold spot at my lower back and that would quickly sap heat if you were in the water for a prolonged period. Perhaps my vest & long underwear top rode up?
• A one-piece insulation suit (such as this or this) would prevent that from happening. 
• 2mm neoprene gloves make it very difficult to grab deck lines even if they are not overly tight. The bulk of the neoprene made grabbing a 4mm rope from the smooth surface of the hull very difficult.
• My fingertips quickly became numb when I was in the water.This made the dexterity issue mentioned above worse and it happened in only a couple of minutes. Had I been in the water for more than a few minutes, my hands would have been like using 2x4s.
• The thin neoprene cap did not help much. Rather, it seemed to trap and hold the cold water against my skull and after rolling I had to loosen the strap to drain the water away. I think in a real world situation where the head is mostly out of the water (though with waves crashing over) it would be a net benefit.
• Holy hell that water was cold.
• The bulk of the suit and what I was wearing under it made the scramble rescue much more difficult. 
• I need to calm down and slow down my roll. Also need to calm down and think about what I am doing for the rescues. This may have been the real reason my scramble rescue failed, it wasn't only the bulk of the suit. 
• My new Chota Mukluks do not stay on when swimming. Anyone want to buy a pair of gently used paddling muks? I think they are a little large for me, which can't help. 
• The filtrate discharged from the water treatment plant just upriver of the boathouse is a muck that looks like and has the consistency of baby sh!t. 

So, in conclusion I need to:

• Keep practising.
• Consider a different neoprene cap (like this or these).
• Get pogies.
• Calm down in the water.
• Add beads to the deck lines to make them easier to grab. 
• Sell the Chota Mukluks and go back to something that I'm sure will stay on when swimming.
• Ask my wife to stop laughing at me on video.

The take home lesson of the day: Find a safe way to practice your rescues in less optimal conditions because that's where you'll need them. 

A Legend Passes On

One of Canada's most famous, most determined, and possibly most crazy, paddlers died of cancer this weekend. Don Starkell of Winnipeg was famous for several paddling achievements in his lifetime.  He was a marathon paddler at a time when racing canoes was a big deal and you could even make a living at it.  He paddled across Canada in 1967 as a member of Manitoba's team in the Centennial Canoe Pageant and features prominently in the book Journals of the New Voyageurs.  In 1980-82 he paddled with his son Dana (initially paddling with both sons in their custom-made canoe) from Winnipeg to the mouth of the Amazon, an incredible journey documented in his captivating book, Paddle to the Amazon.  A decade later he undertook another mammoth expedition, this time sea kayaking the Northwest Passage.  Again the journey was documented in his book Paddle to the Arctic, as well as in the book Kabloona in a Yellow Kayak written by the late Victoria Jason who joined him for much of the journey.

Each of the books mentioned are among the most interesting and captivating paddling-related books that I own.  If you read Paddle to the Arctic, you really need to read Jason's account (a rebuttal of sorts) as well.

Had I ever met Don in person, I am not sure that we would have gotten along.  However, despite his quirks and foibles (or more likely, because of them), it cannot be denied that Don was an amazing man.  His determination and ambition meant that he accomplished in his lifetime what very few would ever be able to undertake let alone complete.  He made the paddling world a more interesting and exciting place, and I thank him for allowing me to experience his adventures vicariously through his books.

Here is the link to the Winnipeg Free Press article about Don's death.

Edit: Here is a link to an article from Canoe & Kayak Magazine, it's a good one. 

Winter Paddling on a Un-Winter-Like Day

Mark & I went out for a paddle last Sunday, taking advantage of some weather that is very unusual for January. Mark posted some photos and you can find them here.

Since I rarely paddle in the winter, and since this type of prairie paddling is so different from what the folks on the West Coast experience, I decided to post an account of our paddle on WestCoastPaddler.com. You can find the post at the link here. Here is what I posted for those folks:

I was out for a paddle on Sunday on the South Saskatchewan River here in Saskatoon. My friend Mark (http://www.wildpaddler.ca) & I, he in his solo canoe (which he built himself) and me in my kayak, launched from downstream of the weir and paddled downstream for a little more than 4 kilometers. The upstream and upwind paddle was much slower. We were on the water for a total of an hour and a half and during that time the temperature rose from about 0°C to +4° according to Environment Canada. Winds according to EC were from the wsw 22km/hr. It was a beautiful sunny day and extremely unusual for January being that it was so warm.
The river was mostly open with just some shore ice on the far shore and on sandbars, though the amount increased the farther we went from the weir. Likewise, the amount of floating ice increased the farther we were from the weir, though most of the pieces were quite small and of no consequence.
I was dressed for immersion wearing a drysuit with multiple insulating layers of long underwear and fleece. My feet had thick wool socks, the drysuit booties, and Chota mukluks. I was too warm in the body while paddling, but tolerably so. I had a neoprene cap on my head that I wore under a brimmed hat. That brim was very helpful to reduce the blinding of the low sun which at it's peak would only have reached 15.7° above the horizon. My neoprene paddling gloves were a tad cool and one finger on each hand quickly became cold so I think I should add some pogies to the system. The activity helped keep my hands from getting overly cold and they never got any colder than they were in that first few minutes.
Toward the end of the paddle with Mark close at hand I decided to try rolling, my first rolls in these conditions. I started by lowering myself into the water using the bow of his canoe. If I was going to have a cold shock response or have an unexpected reaction, I wanted to be able to pull myself up quickly. That went well and I committed to the full roll. With blocks of ice floating overhead, I didn't spend a lot of time hanging around under the boat relaxing (as I usually try to do). The rolls went very well, and the cold was tolerable. These might have been my fastest rolls ever (the buoyancy of the dry suit over the insulating layers no doubt helped). My head was certainly cold, but my upper body did not even feel the cold. Once up, my head quickly warmed. Three rolls seemed to be enough to prove the point that I could do it in these icy conditions and we finished our paddle shortly thereafter. I wish I had taken the opportunity to go for a swim. With help at hand it would have been a good opportunity to really test my system of dressing for cold water immersion.
Unfortunately, I left my camera in the car. Mark did take a few pictures so I'll post a link if he gets them up. 

Solo, Vancouver to Alaska and Part Way Back

This is the video diary of a novice paddler that kayaked from Vancouver heading for Alaska. It's about 2 1/4 hours longer than I knew a youtube video could be, but it's well worth it if, like me, you enjoy living vicariously through the grand adventures of others. It's an epic video to document an epic trip. I really enjoyed listening to his reflections and tales of his journey.



Watch it in HD if you can.

p.s. You don't have to watch it all at once!

Soggy Bottom Boys And Their Constant Sorrows

(I posted this also over on the NSE blog, but it's so good I thought it deserved the re-posting.)

Great idea for a video, but their execution could use some work. ;)



What a great finish!

Thanks to Paddling.net for bringing this video to my attention.

Photos From The Broken Islands Group

Last summer our family canoed on the west coast, paddling in to the Broken Islands Group, part of Pacific Rim National Park. It occurred to me this evening that I never wrote up a trip report or posted the photos from that trip. Here, at least, are some photos from this fantastic 5-day canoe trip in BC. The captions should help to explain some details.
 

Paddling in Lightning?

Here is a great article that was published today on Paddling.net by Tamia Nelson: Lessons Learned. Thunder? I Wonder… More Thoughts on Seeking Shelter From the Storm

The article discusses the danger of lightning storms in a very practical way.  It considers the actions of some paddlers who reacted to the storm in a way that is familiar to many of us that have been in a similar situation, and provides thoughtful analysis.  It also provides some sound advice which should be heeded by paddlers. Here's a brief excerpt as an example.

If you're paddling on inland waters, however, you should begin casting about for a refuge ASAP. Since buildings and vehicles are likely to be in short supply, you'll have to make the most of whatever the country affords. Give tall, solitary trees a wide berth. Avoid clearings, hilltops, and ridgelines, too. You don't want a room with a view, after all. You'll get the best odds when you hunker down among a uniform stand of not‑too‑tall trees. Are there no such trees to be seen? Then look for a sheltering valley.

In the excerpt above they mention finding shelter amongst trees that are not among the taller trees.  At a SCC talk I once attended, the Environment Canada fellow that was talking to us mentioned that willows might be a good bet for waiting out a storm.  They are low so as not to attract lightning, have many branches to protect you from being blown away, are well rooted, are not large enough to blow down and hurt you in a wind, and have no large branches to fall off.  However, the willows aren't going to do much to improve your comfort level.

I would add a piece of my own advice to the article that was not mentioned.  That would be to prepare for the storm before you ever head out for a paddle and bring with you day tripping gear. Day tripping gear should include a tarp and a number of other amenities that will make pulling to shore away from camp and waiting out a storm much more comfortable.  By having a bit of gear with you (for example a day pack, tarp, rain gear, survival kit, food, small stove, fire kit) it releases you of the pressure to push to get back to camp.  If you have left other people behind at a camp, they should know that you are going to seek refuge under the threat of a storm and they'll know you are OK and that they not need to worry while you are out in it and have not returned right away. With a few supplies with you, you can even spend a safe (but perhaps uncomfortable) night away from camp while you await safe conditions.

Here is a video from NOLS about lighting for those active in the outdoors.

Dreaming of a Trip

Bryan Hansel's recent solo kayak expedition from Port Huron Grand Marais, MN, in 45 days has me dreaming of paddling trips. Bryan's trip was nearly 1300 km and traversed the length of Lakes Huron & Superior. Now, that sort of thing is more than a little out of my league, and I don't envision myself taking off from my family for a month and a half, but, an adventure on a more reasonable scale is worth dreaming about.

Specifically, I've been thinking a lot lately about a circumnavigation of Lac La Ronge. Lac La Ronge is a large lake about 380 km north of Saskatoon, straddles the edge of the Canadian Shield and is surrounded by boreal forest. The southern portion of the lake is sandy and wide open, while the northern portion is rocky and full of granite islands. It may not be "Great Lake" big, but it's still pretty darned big at approximately 35 km across from the town of La Ronge on the western shore to the eastern side, and about 65 km from a bay in the southwest to the exit of the Rapid (Montreal) River in the northwest corner. It's large enough that standing on the shore in the town of La Ronge and looking ESE to the open lake, you see nothing but horizon.

View Lac La Ronge Circumnavigation in a larger map

A circumnavigation that generally follows the shoreline but is not strict about following the bays and completely skips Hunter Bay would be over 220 km. One could cut this down somewhat with a few more shortcuts in the northern portion of the lake, but at some point you would jeopardize being able to call it a "circumnavigation". Hunter Bay is a large lake unto itself (~18km x 19km) and adding a circumnavigation of the bay adds another 68 km to the trip.

Because of the large open nature of the lake, especially in the south end, I think this trip is best suited for sea kayaks rather than canoe. If you can figure on 25km per paddling day, the trip would take about 9 days. Add on some days for rest and being windbound, and we're at about 12 days even without Hunter Bay. It seems possible to do it in less time (30 km days, for instance), but that allows less time for fishing, repairs, rest & recovery, etc. and I would be reluctant to count on it. I should be able to carry 12 days of the food in the kayak, though I will probably need to pack more lightly than I am accustomed to. There are a few points where road access is nearby and so egress in case of trouble or re-supply are both possible. Overall, much of the lake should have a fairly remote feel to it, but there may be the occasional motor boat around, especially in the northern end of the lake. Lac La Ronge is a popular fishing destination so it would have that safety net of not being completely isolated.

I don't know if a trip of this scope would ever be in the cards, but it can be fun to plan regardless. In the meantime, I will keep working on my paddling skills in order that when the opportunity to take on a challenge like this, I have the skills to allow me to do it, and to do it safely. Perhaps I should start off with a mini-expedition, such as the circumnavigation of Candle Lake.

Note: All of the above is pure speculation. I have not gone over the topographic maps in detail and have not engaged in figuring out the logistics of such a trip. Do not use the above information to plan your own trip other than as inspiration!

Kayak Roll Practice in Pike Lake

This is my first ever edited video where I spliced together a few videos and a handful of photos, then added a title page and credits pages. The videos and photos are of me practicing rolling my kayak at Pike Lake this past weekend. It was rather breezy as can be seen and heard in the videos.

To learn to paddle a kayak from a guy that can get back upright in his kayak most of the time, visit ColdspringPaddling.com.

Update: I've been getting some great feedback on my mashed up technique from the folks over on WestCoastPadller.com. Click here to see the discussion.  An important point is that the above is NOT a how-to video. This is just me practising, and apparently my technique is a bit mixed up. 

National Lifejacket Day, 2011

National Lifejacket Day came and went & I missed it again (it was on May 19th). This is something I would help to promote if only I was reminded about it beforehand. To see my comments from last year's day, which I missed then too, see my post from almost exactly 1 year ago: http://pawistik.blogspot.com/2010/05/national-life-jacket-day.html. You can also see the CBC interview I did on the subject of PFDs (I checked and the link to the video still works).

I've entered the date into my calendar for next year, maybe I'll remember?

Playing At The Pool

I was out last night with the Kelsey Kayak Club and decided to finish off my evening in the pool by going off of the 4' high diving board.

PC Level 2 Course in BC

A few weeks ago I was in BC for a Paddle Canada Level 2 kayaking course. The course was run by Viki and Doug, who instruct with Kingston Sea Kayak Instruction and Comox Valley Kayaks, respectively. Viki and Doug work very well together and they put on a fantastic course, I can highly recommend them if you get the chance. It was tonnes of fun and I feel like I learned a lot. Rolling a loaded kayak in the current of Surge Narrows by the end of the course felt like a fantastic achievement!

Here is a slideshow of some of my photos and a couple of videos taken during the course. Enjoy!



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