Boundary Waters Quetico Forum :: Listening Point - General Discussion :: What books are feeding your spring fever?
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Alan Gage |
Need to go back and re-read Sleeping Island by PG Downes. Hands down best canoeing book ever and a darn good book even without the canoeing aspect. I believe it's out of print but you can still find used copies easily. And if that trips your trigger do some more digging for volumes one and two of Distant Summers, also by PG Downes, which are the actual journal entries from his canoe wanderings in Northern Saskatcehwan and Manitoba the mid-30's to late 40's. Alan |
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murphylakejim |
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sunnybear09 |
quote CanoeKev: "quote boonie: "I'm thinking you've probably already read those books; if not I'd recommend them, reading in order from "The Lure of the Labrador Wild" to "The Long Labrador Trail" and "A Woman's Way Through Unknown Labrador". For those who haven't read them and are interested, all are first-person accounts (all well-written) from these expeditions at the beginning of the 20th century. I downloaded this one from The Project Gutenberg site. " The two great mistakes that Hubbard made on the expedition with Wallace are to be always mindful--the first, going up a river that doesn't fit the description of the one you want, and ever thinking you can do better going cross-country in 3 feet of snow rather than staying on a river in a canoe stay with you after reading their trevails, for sure. |
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mooseplums |
Time for fishing, put the easel on my deck, play outside...spring is finally here |
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boonie |
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QueticoMike |
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Alan Gage |
quote boonie: "Why they kept going that way always mystified me too, sunnybear. Mina Hubbard has local native guides and the navigation seems mostly to fall to them, especially Job. " Doesn't seem too surprising. Women seem to be more able to admit they don't know something and leave it up to others who likely do. Men have a harder time recognizing when they don't know what they're talking about and keep pushing on. Alan |
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sunnybear09 |
quote QueticoMike: "Haven't opened it yet, but I have the BWJ sitting there waiting to be read. No books for me." I think you're feeding your fever with bass slime, Mike!! |
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boonie |
quote Alan Gage: "quote boonie: "Why they kept going that way always mystified me too, sunnybear. Mina Hubbard has local native guides and the navigation seems mostly to fall to them, especially Job. " That was basically my thought too Alan and I think it was even more true back in early 1900's. George Elson, the Indian guide who accompanied the original Hubbard Wallace expedition, may have been the only native or local on that trip. While he also accompanied Mina Hubbard on her expedition, he was joined by Job, the Cree Indian from Quebec, and a couple of half-breed trappers with knowledge of the local area. |
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WHendrix |
I agree with Alan about the P.G. Downes books. This past winter I re-read Sleeping Island and Vol. 1 of Distant Summers. Along with Sigurd Olson's The Lonely Land they are my favorite books. I've tried to find a copy of Distant Summers Vol. II, but the only one I can find is $775. That's a bit over my limit for a book. Bill |
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bobbernumber3 |
"One canoe, four desperate men, twelve hundred miles of treacherous coast..." I think this will be worth my time investment! |
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Alan Gage |
quote WHendrix: " I've tried to find a copy of Distant Summers Vol. II, but the only one I can find is $775. That's a bit over my limit for a book. I got my copies from Abe Books about a year ago for a normal price. I remember it being slightly confusing trying to figure out if it was volume I or II in the listing but I eventually figured it out. Unfortunately I just looked now and I can only find volume 1 as well. That's a shame. Hopefully it gets reprinted. Alan |
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Alan Gage |
I've tried to find a copy of Distant Summers Vol. II, but the only one I can find is $775. That's a bit over my limit for a book. Look what I found: http://www.worldofmaps.com/product/9780986860034.html Alan |
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HangLoose |
I just finished Real Mountains which is a true story about the search for Greg Seftick and Walker Kuhl, two friends missing in Grand Teton National Park. Greg was an Afton, Minnesota native and so Minnesotans will remember following the story on the local news. Just got around to reading Two Bucks and A Can Of Gas. An entertaining account of guy growing up in northern Minnesota and exploring the forests of the North Shore and the Gunflint Trail area in a Model A truck and canoe. |
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boonie |
Prose descriptions like this passage are really "feeding my fever": "There was a head wind and hard paddling for a time, but towards evening it grew calmer, and the lake became very beautiful. In the distance we saw several large masses of floating ice, and lying far away in the west were many islands. The sky above was almost covered with big, soft, silver clouds and as the sun sank gradually towards the horizon the lake was like a great field of light. Once we stopped to listen to the loons calling [Great Northern Divers]. They were somewhere out on the glittering water, and far apart. We could not see them, but there were four, and one wild call answering another rang out into the great silence. It was weird and beautiful beyond words; the big, shining lake with its distant blue islands; the sky with its wonderful clouds and colour; two little canoes so deep in the wilderness, and those wild, reverberant voices coming up from invisible beings away in the "long light" which lay across the water. We listened for a long time, then it ceased." |
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sunnybear09 |
So, what's on your lap? And why? To read is to live! And learn! |
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Whatsit |
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sunnybear09 |
quote Whatsit: "Well I just got the spring addition of the bw journal on Friday and also been reading some of cliff Jacobson's books as well as for third time "a walk in the woods"" Solid choices! I bought Cliff's books on Cooking and Solo Canoeing at Copia and read thru them, then enjoyed the pictures in "Canoeing Wild Rivers" for the rush. I haven't gotten my spring BWJ yet, but that will help, too. Bryson's book is really funny, makes a good take-along read for bad weather days in the bush. |
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sunnybear09 |
quote boonie: "Currently reading "A Woman's Way Through Unknown Labrador", which is the story of Mina Hubbard's journey through Labrador, following her husband's failed expedition, which is detailed in Dillon Wallace's "The Lure of the Labrador Wild". Wallace also made a second journey written up in "The Long Labrador Trail". If that quote doesn't make you want to go out and pet your canoe you're on the wrong site! Thanks, Boonie! |
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jamotrade |
Ran into Stu Osthoff at the NW Sports Show on Saturday and spent a few minutes talking. Always interesting to read his views in BWJ but that was the first time I had ever met him. I was happy to be able to put a face with the name... |
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boonie |
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BearBurrito |
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BasecampMom |
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mjmkjun |
My next is James A. Michener's ALASKA. |
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Whatsit |
That will be my next book this spring |
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Alan Gage |
Also found a used copy of Bark canoes and skin boats of North America. I see a lot of reviews of the newest versions from Amazon have complaints about the images, which are a very important part of the book, not being produced well. I found a copy from the 80's and they're great. Have just gotten started on it but so far it looks very interesting. Alan |
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sunnybear09 |
quote Whatsit: "I just bought a book about the civil war pow camp "Andersonville"e" Is it the novel titled, "Andersonville" by I think Mackinley Cantor (that could be a brain f**t). Or the documentary account of the same name. I have read the novel, it was excellent. |
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DaveOR |
"I hope this book serves as a kind of walking tour through some of the good things and simple pleasures of the outdoor life. Call me old-fashioned, but I'd like the pace to slow down a bit. I'd like to see people take some time to appreciate what matters. Maybe this is pigheadedness on my part, but I'm convinced that the world looks better from a wooden canoe." |
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CanoeKev |
quote boonie: "I'm thinking you've probably already read those books; if not I'd recommend them, reading in order from "The Lure of the Labrador Wild" to "The Long Labrador Trail" and "A Woman's Way Through Unknown Labrador". For those who haven't read them and are interested, all are first-person accounts (all well-written) from these expeditions at the beginning of the 20th century. I downloaded this one from The Project Gutenberg site. " To that list you should add: Great Heart: The History of a Labrador Adventure by James Davidson -- another recap of the Mina Hubbard journey. All of these books should be required reading for wilderness canoeing enthusiasts. |
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Mocha |
read all C.J. Box Joe Pickett series, 16 books in that series with the 17th just released. if you like the Wyoming wilderness you'll enjoy these murder mysteries. read all the Nevada Barr Anna Pigeon series, 19 total so far. more murder mysteries that take place in National Parks. haven't found my maps yet, they are somewhere, and all my books are in storage. the local library has some that are interesting. oh, and i have really taken a liking to the Large Print books! LOL |
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nctry |
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anthonyp007 |
quote BearBurrito: "I'm currently reading The Singing Wilderness for the umpteenth time. I am also working through the Cork O'Connor novels by William Kent Kruger. I am thoroughly enjoying them." I second that! I'm plowin through Manitou Canyon at the moment. Ran into WKK once at a coffee shop in St. Paul and he was in the middle of writing one of his latest in the O'Connor series. |
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OgimaaBines |
I have been referring to "Tom Brown's Field Guide To Wilderness Survival" quite a bit lately since I've been binge watching "Alone" on the History Channel lately and want to see how they compare. I also just purchased the Singing Wilderness which rounded out my Sig O. collection that I got mostly from my Grandfather. I'm looking forward to reading that one on a rainy day in late May while on my first trip of the year. |
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BlueSkiesWI |
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pilot |
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overthehill |
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scat |
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MikeinMpls |
Mike |
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boonie |
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WHendrix |
Bill |
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Mocha |
quote bobbernumber3: "I just read the first chapter last night and I'm hooked on The Sea Runners by Ivan Doig. this is an excellent book!!! actually, any Ivan Doig book is great. |
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Hoaf |
quote BearBurrito: "I'm currently reading The Singing Wilderness for the umpteenth time" +1 great read! Also, my BWJ back issues. |
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wetcanoedog |
a few years ago he made a solo canoe and hiking trip to Hubbards Rock where a large marker has been set up to mark the site of Hubbards death. there is too much to go thru but Mr Schubert is an outstanding outdoorsman with lots of good advice on rough camping and a clever bow rudder device using the spare paddle. hubbard rock |
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Frenchy |
Canoeing With The Cree by Eric Sevareid. |
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sunnybear09 |
quote WHendrix: "Thank you Alan. As soon as I saw your message I left the BWCA site and went to the URL you provided and ordered the book. If I ever run in to you someplace I owe you a beer. If you have any doubts that this is a great site, forget them! So much help, so much generosity!! |
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WHendrix |
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starwatcher |
The book is about his adventures with Inuit, Indians and fur traders living up in Northern Manitoba and taking a canoe trip down an unexplored river to Hudson Bay. Great Book, I highly recommend it, especially to this group. starwatcher |