Upcoming Paddlesport Events

I was remiss in not promulgating Canoecopia in Madison last March, and Midwest Mountaineering’s Adventure Expo, last April. I presented my “Tips from a Thousand Trips” and “Planning A Far North Canoe Trip” at both those shows. Many of my blog readers and past crew on my expeditions came down front and said hello. It’s always good to connect and reconnect, and the shows are fun, but if I have my druthers, I would rather be in the stern of a canoe than behind a podium. That said, I will be presenting at two upcoming shows and these shows are a little different in both size and location than the big city expos. Both are in the heart of canoe country and combine some possible paddling time with presentations. Being smaller creates easier space and extra time for more focused dialog and storytelling: The Great American Canoe Festival June 10-11 in Ely, and the Grand Marais Boundary Waters Expo the following weekend at the end of the Gunflint Trail. Hope to see some of you at one or both shows.

As for trips this season I have a full docket with little room for more. The Bird Ecology trip is next week — a full ten days later than past years. I don’t know what to expect. It’s been a weird year weather-wise with warm even hot weather early in the spring and then cool, wet days ever since. I think we will be late for many of the warblers, but we shall see. It’s always a fun trip and we always have memorable bird sightings. After the Ely show I am going back into the BWCA for five days in the Pagami Creek fire area. I paddled through that area with my niece, Karen, just a few days before the fire and then with my youngest daughter a year later. It will be interesting to observe the succession vegetation. After the Grand Marais show and a week to catch up with paperwork, I will be off to Woodland Caribou Park in Ontario for my first paddling trip in that wilderness. Then it’s Alaska and the arctic Kelly River with a strong crew and high hopes of getting some close-up grizzly bear photos. I have total of eight and I am happy with that, but if you desperately want to do an arctic canoe trip with me, I could be convinced to bring two more. Time waits for no man (or woman) and I likely will be taking a sabbatical from guiding in 2018 to focus on a book tour. The next day back it’s an Ontario Lake Superior kayaking trip organized by my good friend Andy Jenks. Kayaking? Yup…going to take a chance on the dark side of paddling; it should be fun.

The Boundary Waters Wilderness, a great place to be in July and especially August

Rob Kesselring
Guide Service Anywhere
rob@robkesselring.com

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