so i am embarking on my 18th solo oct. 1st. out of sawbill. i am 61, in great shape, and as of lately i have enjoyed the comforts of the campgrounds close to the bwca.
i am ready again to take a pure solo trip into the bwca, away from the campgrounds and comforts of car camping.
it is a real trip getting older and changing your travel routines in canoe country.
i know, i can canoe and portage with no problem and be alone for a week and just check out from world events and be one with nature again. i have missed that.
for all of you 60 +solo paddlers, do you know what i am talking about?
a couple years ago i met a solo guy, 10 years older than me, ending a trip at sawbill, that got me thinking, i better live life now!
keep on living! getting older does slow you down and you enjoy the travel much more, i do believe.

I know what you are talking about with respect to "checking out" for awhile. I usually go for 9-10 days trips. The reality of coming back to "the world" often sucks when you finally come out of the woods. As a small business owner, I always have to put out fires when I get back. Accounts payable, customers who needed something a week ago, delayed shipments, "where is my stuff" calls from customers, personnel issues, "the internet was out for 2 days and so were the phones", i.e. we did not book any orders or have customer contact for two days, etc. Just about anything you can think of. Good things happen too when I'm not there.

Sometimes, I think it would be great just to head to town and get a room, restock and wash clothes the next day, and then head out again for two weeks. That would be awesome! If someone knows how to ditch reality when you get back to the world, please let me know!

I've been on 14 solos, and a whole lot more with one or more tripping partners. First trip was in 1976 from Lizz to Winchell.

Tomster

Yeah, I know what you are talking about. Enjoy your trip. I'm really looking forward to mine too and just getting away from it all for a while. I'm getting older and going through a lot of changes - personal changes, family changes, health changes, more family and friends dying. Realizing time's a lot shorter now and the ability to do it the way I want to is fading faster. I've gradually extended my trips to 10-12 days, which is really nice. I'd like to do a longer one - 3 weeks or so in the next couple of years, while I still can.

Do it while you can - it could all disappear suddenly. Hope you have a good trip.

I'm 57 and definitely getting the "live now!" feeling. I've really done well working out before my solo for 10 nights in Sept.

It's usually strange coming back out to find what happened in the world. Especially these days. 911 happened the day after I came out of a 10 day solo to Quetico. I was taking that day off to decompress and got to witness all the TV coverage of it. I remember hearing stories of people being in the bush coming out to find the world upside down.

With all the research showing spending time in the wilderness benefits human living, not to mention the ton of antidotal wisdom shared on this board, it seems to me getting away is a part of the plan to thwart the reaper. Work, family and all that can interfere, but not going is not an option.
I can miss about 4-5 days work without the interference with the new business flow costing me dearly so I have been doing lots of short trips. At first I was finding I hit that short adjustment wall where I felt lonely and wanted to leave. That negative almost got me into not tripping and then reality set in again. Now as I get that feeling I tell myself one of these days I will be able to stay long enough for that to pass and the routine of wilderness life will take over. I focus on enjoying what I can and look forward to that longer trip.
I also agree as we age we slow down. But not just because of body changes, but because we begin to realize the finish line is getting closer and what's the rush. Stop and really smell the absence of petroleum and other stink humans seem to create and then get used to. And with conditioning and a healthy life style we can still go pretty fast on portages and water, if we would want to.
Enjoy your trip, nice area and great time of year.

I can relate... My trip is usually 8 nights with my son, and this year I'm doing close to what was alluded to earlier in the thread by quark. We are going in on a 60 mile loop from Nym on the 16th for 8 nights and then I'm taking my son to Thunder Bay airport to fly home and going back in solo (first time!) for 12 nights out of Stanton Bay the next morning. I will be 62 in a couple weeks and am psyched! Will have the same stuff waiting for me when I get back as I also have a business and will be putting out fires etc. for sure.