I just completed my 40th solo canoe trip: 38 in Quetico and 2 in Woodland Caribou.
I have done 18 - 3 week trips and 22- two week trips. Since I didn't discover Quetico until I was 30 I am quite pleased with this accomplishment.

Over the years I have had nearly everything happen at least once including getting lost, going the wrong way, seeing moose & bear, being landlocked, flooded or frozen, mosquitoed, blacked flied and ticked to distraction, squirrelled or moused to death, beaver scares, weird noises at night, no stove or toilet paper, wrong equipment, dumping the canoe, crashing into rocks by wind, failing to stay afloat when running beaver dams, running out of water in creeks, head first falls into muskeg, getting stuck in bogs, broken fishing equipment, and finally cuts, bruises and more serious injuries (but nothing to stop me).

But more than offsetting these difficulties are seeing the most beautiful unspoiled wilderness in North America, exploring new lakes and portages, fishing for great game fish, observing nature at its best, watching spectacular sun rises and sunsets, enjoying your accomplishments of moving through water, over portages & setting up a good camp, capturing the delight of a crackling campfire at dusk & learning new skills and problem solving.

I guess what I have learned over the years is to know exactly where all your equipment is packed, have a plan but be flexible, roll with the punches and laugh at your miscues, incorporate technology for work and pleasure and
finally when in doubt be safe and have a safety net.

I have included links to photos from my past five trips:

2116 August https://photos.google.com/album/AF1QipNLOJivWZaPelEXLW-OkP1NMSrFE-0-la92mH0F

2115 August https://photos.google.com/album/AF1QipNwNBcdvrMKixbtP4ObdT63it0d9xbpQljmKEoG

2115 Spring https://plus.google.com/photos/103224665049989177159/album/6160282141623689649?authkey=CITrrfm03o3AlwE

2114 August https://plus.google.com/photos/103224665049989177159/album/6064296587564256497/6064297614989099234

2114 Spring https://plus.google.com/photos/103224665049989177159/album/6027524533347251457/6027525784480767618

Links :). Thanks for sharing.

August 2016

August 2015

Spring 2015

August 2014

Spring 2014

That's quite an accomplishment. All long trips too. Good for you. Congratulations and let us know when you hit 60.

Alan

Thanks, John. I really enjoyed the photo albums I could access and I hope the other links can be fixed without difficulty - I'd love to see them all. I'm sure I've seen one of them before - probably the one linked to your only trip report.

With all those trips and experiences, there's got to be at least one more good story in there . . . :). If you get any more reports posted, I'll be sure to read them.

Nice! That's a lot of experience of going solo. And yes, knowing where everything is packed is always an issue for me the first few days. I guess less is better.

Seems like a good group here. We should do a group solo.........we can be "independent together" ;-)

An Old Favorite

Sorry about the links, I think these work. I added another year and my Woodland Trips.

Google Photo Links

Quetico:

2116 August https://goo.gl/photos/nz1s2aPmesxbRFrH8

2115 August https://goo.gl/photos/gx7LxgSUt32WyXk9A

2115 Spring https://goo.gl/photos/7SQDCo6KQkSQymzXA

2114 August https://goo.gl/photos/tFnvfrXsj8CoTjBu5

2114 Spring https://goo.gl/photos/z5tt6htWWLKdWvif6

2113 Summer https://goo.gl/photos/SAp5RmPKQtzviNa46

2113 Spring https://goo.gl/photos/AYwNRmQCHSYsjAoq6

Woodland:

2112 Spring https://goo.gl/photos/pcydwJCY8ZdkwdqbA

2111 Spring https://goo.gl/photos/QPBszDHPQRNrbUq37

I think you mean 70 and that would be next year!

One of the best posts I've ever read. 70, huh? You are one wicked cool cat!

From 1 JD to another, that is a pretty cool photo gallery ! Wish I could hit that much water !
Thanks for sharing !

Jim

Quite the accomplishment! Congrats. I just completed my first solo after 20 years of canoeing in the wilderness with my husband, family and friends. It was fantastic.

Glad to see others have stuff happen to them too. :) Mine was a canoe dump in a bog, but I blame the dog who got spooked.

Nice photos John. I was out for a 2 week+ solo this year at the same time and it appears, the same place. It looks like we somehow paddled by each other on Russell Lake on 9/3. I don't know if you saw anybody else on Russell, but I was in a solo cedar strip boat. I camped that night in your same campsite on McDougall Lake, the night after you were there. The smallmouth fishing was great over there. How about the wind on those days? Didn't let up at all.

You didn't happen to run into Mike K. from Idaho did you? He's turning 70 this year and was out on a 3 week solo trip. I ran into him 2 days later on Baird Lake after he had been out 11 days already.

Mark

I'm on number 24. I hope I can make it to 40+. Congrats!

My hat is off to you! My solo trips have been fewer in number and shorter in duration. That's some serious solo tripping you've done. Congrats!

Forty! Well done