Insight 

Canoeing is a way to sit still and pay attention.

Canoe Trips

Boundary Waters:

• Aug. 2008 (tandem)
  Lake Agnes-LLC
• May 2009 (solo)
  Numbered Lakes
• Sept. 2009 (solo)
  Lake One-Snowbank
• June 2010 (solo)
  Lac La Croix Loop
• Sept. 2010 (tandem)
  Snowbank-Lake One
• June 2011 (tandem)
  Mudro-Crooked Loop
• Sept. 2011 (solo)
  Isabella R.-Lake One
• Sept. 2011 (tandem)
  Fall-Basswood Lakes
• May 2012 (tandem)
  Moose Lake Loop
• Sept. 2012 (solo)
  SeaGull Lake Loop 1
• May 2013 (solo)
  SeaGull Lake Loop 2
• Sept. 2013 (solo)
  Moose R.-Tiger Bay
• June 2014 (groupsolo)
  Lake One-Moose Lake
• Sept. 2014 (solo)
  SeaGull-Alpine Lakes
• May 2016 (tandem)
  SeaGull-Gull Lakes
• Sept. 2024 (solo) Fall-Basswood Lakes

Boundary Waters Campsites

Bois Brule River

Flambeau River

Kickapoo and Mecan Rivers

Menonomee River

Sylvania Wilderness

Wisconsin's Flowages

Wolf and Peshtigo Rivers

Boats & Gear

Bell Wildfire (Royalex)

Blackhawk Ariel

Mad River Independence (sold)

Wenonah Prism (sold)
-cane seat installation
-thwart replacement

Custom portage pads

Seat-mounted portage yoke

Outside canoe shelter

Inside canoe storage

Knots

BWCA - June 2011

Page 6: Lessons Learned, aka Surveying the Wreckage

Leftovers:

• One freeze-dried dinner
• The remains of the second pizza dinner's ingredients
• Some Red River cereal
• Some instant milk
• Four ounces of beef jerky (good for the ride home)
• Three packages of bannock mix
• Three packages of pudding mix
• An ounce or so of blueberry jam
• Two ounces of Chambord
• Several granola bars
• A few ounces of stove fuel left in the stove itself (we used both pints)

Things I brought but didn’t use:

• First aid kit
• One long sleeve t-shirt
• Spare glasses
• Cold and blister treatments from my toiletry kit
• Extra batteries
• Fire starters

I would bring all of these items on any trip regardless of whether I used them or not.

Things I wished I’d brought:

• Lighter weight sleeping bag
• A tripod chair (the Alite Monarch didn't quite cut it)
• Pita bread
• Easy-on/off leather work gloves
• Sheet for air mattress (instead of the nylon Exped cover)
• Hairbrush
• Ankle brace

Things that could have been left behind or didn't work well:

• Bear Vault (the food didn't need that level of protection)
• The second straight-blade paddle
• Extra 32-ounce Nalgene bottle
• Nalgene jars (they leak)

Things I'm glad we had:

• Trail mix (this is the first trip I've taken it and enjoyed it greatly)
• Second pair of pants and long sleeve shirt
• Neck gaiter (didn't have to pull the sleeping bag up so high)
• 16-ounce Nalgene bottle (good for mixing milk and a lifesaver on long portages)
• Pack liner (a big, breathable dry bag for inside the large pack)
• Hot water on demand (despite the pot getting sooty)
• Littlbug stove
• Windscreens for Coleman stove (but the large one needs vents at the top so the frying pan heats more completely)

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