Category Archives: Blog

I passed the Wilderness Medicine Institutes’s 10-day, 80-hour, Wilderness First Responder Course. I am now a certified WFR (pronounced whiff’er). I confess that  I ostensibly took this class to meet the requirements for a Commercial Use Authorization to guide paddlers on the National Park Service controlled, Rio Grande River’s Lower Canyons. But, I am so happy to have taken the course for many other reasons. The truism, it’s not what you know that is important; it’s not what you don’t know that is important; what is truly important is, discovering what you don’t know you don’t know. I discovered on this course so many useful responses to injury and illness that I am sheepish that I didn’t take this class a decade ago. In any case, I feel ready and I almost hope someone gets sick or hurt on my upcoming trips so I can practice what I learned.

One … Continue reading →

I want to thank those of you that attended my Rio Grande presentation at the Expo yesterday. I thought it went okay.  I felt a little sheepish, like a huckster selling “my trips”. I just hope I conveyed the magic of the Rio Grande. A trip there is really a leap back in time. I cannot wait to return. The health of that river keeps changing. Its future is uncertain. Whether or not you decide to go with me, put in on your “to do” list and don’t let any cactus grow under your feet before you make the leap. For those of you that were introduced to my blog at the Expo, I want to give a few more details and flesh out a bit more of my philosophy about “guided” trips. A trip with me is not a typical “guided trip”. I expect during many twists and turns … Continue reading →

I will be presenting this Saturday at the Midwest Adventure Expo on the West Bank (lower Cedar in Minneapolis). The Rio Grande By Canoe 11:45 Saturday U of M Hanson Hall, room 103. Hope to see you there or at the CCS booth the rest of the day, Saturday. A bunch of paddlers are getting together Saturday night for Contra Dancing at Tapestry Folkdance Center 3748 Minnehaha Ave S Minneapolis, MN  55406 Time: 7:30 – 11:00 pm  7:30 – 8:00 Dance Basics Lesson  8:00 -11:00 Live Music Cost: $10 general admission. Readers of my blog are invited too!

I sold all my canvas packs. People really still go for the traditional styles. I am happy to think they will be out on the trail again, and for … Continue reading →

Okay, there is a rim of ice on my lake this morning. The canoes are safely stashed in the garage, I flossed my sandals last night and hope to varnish paddle blade tips this weekend, (unless we get a last gasp of warm air and then one more river run). Greg Seitz kindly fixed my blog.

BUT 2014 is coming and I  am offering a great line-up of trips. My USFS 2014 guide license renewal application is in, and my National Park Commercial Use Permit has been approved for 2014. Who knows how much longer I am going to do this? If you have always wanted to go on a wilderness trip with me, there is no better time. I can guarantee that if I lead trips in 2015 my fares will go up. To secure this year’s permits I needed to take an 80-hour Emergency Wilderness First Responder class … Continue reading →

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It is customary to think of the changes wrought on the landscape by wildlife as gradual impacts. For example, the browse line deer make on trees rimming a lake or game trails beaten into the soil and vegetation over decades of travel by hooved and pawed creatures. But sometimes wildlife induced changes can be immediate and dramatic. Such was the case August 11th on the Moose River in the BWCA when a beaver dam on a small tributary burst, releasing thousands of cubic feet of water into the Moose River and creating a flash flood of destructive proportions. The Google satellite photo taken before the dam burst shows the enormity of the beaver pond that drained into the Moose River. I came down the river the following day with a group of nine. Large trees were toppled a big cedar was split. A pile of sandy silt burying debris to … Continue reading →

Just completed an outstanding “Return to the Place of Fire” Boundary Waters canoe trip with six participants and two co-guides, Sue Plankis and Zoe Kesselring. I believe Pam, Beth, Brian, Valerie, Nell, and Lara had a great trip. We went down the Moose River camping the first night on Nina Moose Lake. The second day we went further down the Moose River including running the rapids instead of the 96 rod portage. This is usually possible only in the spring but because a huge beaver dam had burst, the flow on the Moose River was dramatically enhanced. From Agnes we portaged to the Boulder River and then over to the Dahlgren River and up that, past an exquisite grove of red pine and 2 falls, eventually to Stuart Lake which had only one available campsite. The next morning a 320-rod portage to a string of lakes and up to Iron … Continue reading →