BWCA how old were you when you first solo'd? Boundary Waters Group Forum: Solo Tripping

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Boundary Waters Quetico Forum

Group Forum: Solo Tripping

how old were you when you first solo'd?

Author

Text

kanoes

02/25/2012 04:45PM

47 for me.

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SunCatcher

02/25/2012 05:05PM

53
SunCatcher

"WWJD"

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rookie in 03

02/25/2012 05:06PM

55 and wondering why not sooner.

rookie in 03

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Sierra1

02/25/2012 05:13PM

quote rookie in 03: "55 and wondering why not sooner."

+1. Ain't that the truth...

Watch out for that rock!!!........ Oooo.... That's going to leave a mark...

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GraniteCliffs

02/25/2012 05:49PM

20 when I took my first solo.
I will have just turned 61 when I take my second.
Perhaps I will not pause quite so long before I take my third.....

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luft

02/25/2012 05:54PM

In my 20's for my first solo camping, still working on my first solo canoeing. Hoping it will be in the next year.

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GSP

02/25/2012 06:15PM

Canoe trip in bdub 35, first solo camping/hunting 14 yrs.

German Shorthair Pointers Rule Serenity is found in your mind, not somewhere you seek.

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AndySG

02/25/2012 06:29PM

I'm a new comer to Canoe Country. Did my 1st BW overnight with a group in 2005, age 53. First solo was last year at age 59. Hope to do many more.

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yellowcanoe

02/25/2012 07:35PM

The solo Geezer Club (for the most part)!

LOL. I am on Medicare and Social Security and NOT in a nursing home.

I have been soloing for 17 years.

My next solo starts Mar 9. I love being retired. I have 6 , each a week long, solos planned.

Not so wild about gas prices. It makes me pick and choose areas carefully . I would rather visit them all.

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JoeWilderness

02/25/2012 07:49PM

33

I was 29 when I purchased my solo canoe and was able to take a few
weekends away from the family. I would travel around Michigan day paddling and sleeping in my van at night.

"You only have one chance at life, so make it an adventure!"

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Ho Ho

02/25/2012 08:58PM

First solo overnight camping - 17 years old.

First solo canoe trip - 50 years old.

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nctry

02/25/2012 09:12PM

About 23 I think. Got the itch to try Canada and went up on the East side of Lake Winnipeg by Wallace Lake and Bissett Manitoba. I can't believe how close I was to what now is Woodland Caribou. I ended up getting a real job, getting married, kids, blah blah blah... I paddled the BW quite a bit, but now I like doing it all. And solo is a great way to go!

Nctry

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mooseplums

02/25/2012 09:22PM

first solo overnight camp ~ 15 years old
fist solo canoe trip ~39 years old

"I am haunted by waters"~Norman Maclean "A River Runs Through It"

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jpbuff

02/25/2012 10:00PM

Doing my first solo this June at the ripe age of 47.

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JJ396

02/25/2012 10:02PM

My first solo will be in May at the age of 50.

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wetcanoedog

02/25/2012 11:48PM

summer of 1965,i was out of high school and headed off to college.i worked as a canoe tripper at a American scout camp in Canada.a few times during the summer we would get 2 1/2 days off.so i could get three nights if i worked it out so i was back by noon on that third day.
i would take the camps Old Town Trapper,a 12 footer if i recall and just my sleeping bag and tarp and what canned food i could get from the cook and be off.with all those grown up things in the way i did not get out again alone until 75 and that was just weekends on the St Croix and i don't think a Taylor Falls to Marine float really counts.it was 83 before i got to the BW,and have not missed a year since...

it's just a level trail thru the woods.

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jwartman59

02/26/2012 12:22AM

eighteen. first year of college. i had a 16ft penobscot. the first portage was the SOB from hegman(tease?) lake to angleworm, i tried to single portage that one, i remember it like yesterday.

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bumabu

02/26/2012 06:34AM

Who I am precedes what I do, not the other way around.

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TomT

02/26/2012 08:22AM

edit

"Life is not about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself." --- George Bernard Shaw

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TomT

02/26/2012 08:23AM

"Life is not about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself." --- George Bernard Shaw

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JoeWilderness

02/26/2012 08:29AM

quote TomT: "24

"

Yeppers Tom, you do look pretty young there. :+]]

"You only have one chance at life, so make it an adventure!"

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eagle93

02/26/2012 10:03AM

First at 55, six short ones since then. Mostly 4-day in early May or late October. Plan on changing that is year, I will be retired as of June 7th!!

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Tony

02/26/2012 10:43AM

40ish I think

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JoeWilderness

02/26/2012 11:18AM

quote eagle93: "First at 55, six short ones since then. Mostly 4-day in early May or late October. Plan on changing that is year, I will be retired as of June 7th!!"

Yeah for you eagle!!! I will be ending a 5 year & 2 month retirement next week when I go back to work. I hope you have lots of adventures planned.

"You only have one chance at life, so make it an adventure!"

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PineKnot

02/26/2012 05:36PM

19. Moose Lake entry. 1979.

Do what you can, with what you have, where you are -- Teddy Roosevelt

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TomT

02/26/2012 07:21PM

quote JoeWilderness: "
quote TomT: "24

"

Yeppers Tom, you do look pretty young there. :+]]"

Bad choice of footwear. I had white cotton socks on too. Can you say blisters? :) No pfd, just a boat cushion and I believe my food pack was a nylon duffle bag. Those were the days. 1984.

"Life is not about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself." --- George Bernard Shaw

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Zulu

02/26/2012 09:19PM

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billconner

02/26/2012 10:33PM

I guess tied with AndySG at 59 - last fall - a few months short of 60.

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chesapeakes

02/27/2012 10:15AM

I'm with Kanoes 47.

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BearBrown

02/27/2012 11:41AM

The first time I solo camped I was 21. 3 nights.

Planning my first canoe tripping solo for this year, wanted to go last year but I was broke.

Update: I did two solos this year. An overnight 45 mile trip down the mississippi, and an 8 day bwca trip in early october. I am 25 years old. Both trips were exciting, fun adventures.

Richard "Bear" Brown

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shsylvester

02/27/2012 12:11PM

quote GraniteCliffs: "20 when I took my first solo.
I will have just turned 61 when I take my second.
Perhaps I will not pause quite so long before I take my third....."

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shsylvester

02/27/2012 12:12PM

1st cycling solo: 23
1st backpacking solo: 24
1st paddling solo: this coming spring/summer

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IBFLY

02/27/2012 08:51PM

1st BWCA/Quetico Solo: 28
1st hitchhiking solo: (Belfast to Istanbul by way of most of Europe and a bit of the eastern bloc): 16
1st solo anywhere: 4 (wanted to see the animals in an exhibit in Dublin - walked to the station and got on the train. This, did not make my parents happy. I made it to Dublin but then didn't know what to do so I sat down and waited. Nothing happened, I got hungry and got nabbed by the train master when I tried getting on a return.

You say that like it's a bad thing.

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bwcasolo

02/28/2012 05:11AM

47, did 3 solo's that year. got right into it.

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RainGearRight

02/28/2012 10:00AM

30, last year. Wasnt sure it was for me after it but now I'm planning another.

There's always money in the banana stand.

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oldnewbie

02/28/2012 11:12AM

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fraxinus

02/28/2012 05:28PM

3

My Mother tells me on the day I turned 3, I walked into my parents bedroom and said I'm 3, look how big I am. Later on in the day I set out on a solo circumnavigation of the block. I was discovered on the other side of the block without a map or compass and was escorted safely home.

I did some solo backpacking in my 20's, didn't do a solo paddle trip until somewhere in my early 40's. I always liked the line in the song classic Jimmy Martin song "Freeborn Man".

I was born in the Southland
Some 20 odd years ago
I ran away for the first time
When I was only 4 years old
I'm a freeborn man

(sorry)

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CORIOLIS

02/28/2012 05:54PM

First one coming up in three months. I'm 60.

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Bannock

02/28/2012 10:56PM

Bannock

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TomT

02/29/2012 07:23AM

Do any of you have pics of these trips? Let's see your young selves and the gear you brought.

And Bannock, how did you talk your parents into letting you do this at 17?

"Life is not about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself." --- George Bernard Shaw

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OldGreyGoose

03/01/2012 02:22PM

I was 51 and planned to go with my daughter, but she had to back out. (Now 67 and have done 4 or 5 more.) --Goose

Soloing is sweet, but a good partner is "priceless."

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jwartman59

03/01/2012 02:57PM

quote TomT: "Do any of you have pics of these trips? Let's see your young selves and the gear you brought.

And Bannock, how did you talk your parents into letting you do this at 17?"

not a solo trip but my buddies' parents dropped us off on the snake river, pine city, when we were 14. the two off us had never whitewater canoed before. we learned as we went. we paddled to stillwater where my parents picked us up. i don't think parents were as overprotective in those days.

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GraniteCliffs

03/02/2012 06:35AM

"And Bannock, how did you talk your parents into letting you do this at 17?"

Funny how times have changed. When I grew up up north when we were in Junior High we would be allowed to go to Trout Lake to camp for several days. Trout is a huge lake, full of wind and reefs. But is was just what we were allowed to do.
I suppose because we grew up on Lake Vermilion and were comfortable on the water our parents gave us the green light. The only rule was we had to load a canoe with all of our stuff for several days, paddle off around the island in front of our house and then return to camp in the woods next to our house. If you made it for a few days without talking to anyone at home then you were good to go for Trout Lake.
Rest assured, I did not let my suburban kids do this on their own.

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Bannock

03/03/2012 11:52AM

quote GraniteCliffs: ""And Bannock, how did you talk your parents into letting you do this at 17?"

This was in 1970. I dunno, I guess things were different then. They even dropped me, my gear, and 17' Alumacraft off in a little town upstream from us. They watch me launch. Late the next day I was back home, portaging the final 3 blocks from river to home.

The thing that was hard to talk them into was letting me go car camping with my buddies for a weekend.

Not a lot of stories from the solo trip. Too many stories from the buddies weekends.

Bannock

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PineKnot

03/04/2012 07:18PM

quote Bannock: "
quote GraniteCliffs: ""And Bannock, how did you talk your parents into letting you do this at 17?"

....Not a lot of stories from the solo trip. Too many stories from the buddies weekends."

:-)

Do what you can, with what you have, where you are -- Teddy Roosevelt

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Merganser

03/04/2012 09:04PM

I've soloed three times. Consecutive seasons. The first time I was 48. The second two I was 49.

"That sort of thing is my bag baby."

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OBX2Kayak

03/05/2012 07:20PM

Age 16; first backpacking solo
Age 43; first cycling solo
Age 46; first kayaking solo

"I go because it irons out the wrinkles in my soul" -- Sigurd Olson

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nctry

03/05/2012 07:49PM

quote CORIOLIS: "First one coming up in three months. I'm 60."

Congrats... Hope it goes well. Keep us informed.

Nctry

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MHS67

03/05/2012 09:41PM

Have soloed 7 times starting at age 50.

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gunny

03/07/2012 09:18PM

‘60’ canoe solo
‘61’ motorcycle solo ~ Lake Superior Circle Tour
I started my bucket list long before ‘bucket list’ was a catch phrase.
Don

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CORIOLIS

03/10/2012 02:29PM

quote nctry: "
quote CORIOLIS: "First one coming up in three months. I'm 60."

Congrats... Hope it goes well. Keep us informed."

See you all at wingnight before then.

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CORIOLIS

03/10/2012 02:52PM

quote nctry: "
quote CORIOLIS: "First one coming up in three months. I'm 60."

Congrats... Hope it goes well. Keep us informed."

I feel like a complete and total jackass. I just read the thread of your dad's struggles and recent passing, and I'm wondering how the hell I could have missed it. You show concern for my upcoming solo after that ordeal, and I wasn't there for you when you really needed it. My deepest and sincerest condolences to you Ben on the loss of your dad. I'm going to dedicate the first day of my solo to his memory.

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RaisedByBears99

03/31/2012 02:04PM

Well, you'll have to define "solo." I had a trapline as a kid, so maybe about ten. In more recent years, going alone for a long period of time, I took a month long trip when I was 25, and another when I was 40. Gets lonely after awhile. Like GC, I spent at least a part of my youth growing up on Lake Vermilion. First overnight trip in bwca I was 12. There were four of us. I was the oldest. Can't even imagine allowing my kids to do that at that age.

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georgiaphisherman

04/01/2012 04:39PM

30, last year--first BW/solo trip...loved it.

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buffalodick

04/04/2012 07:10AM

I first soloed at age 63.

Dick

"Go Green-Wear REAL FUR"

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quark2222

04/17/2012 07:07PM

Around 47-48. Not sure. I would have to check my solo canoe registration. Could have been 46. Total trips solo and with others is around 30. Definitely prefer solos now, but it will be nice to go with one of my sons this year again. I think it will be our 4th. He is now 26. I think our first trip was to Phoebe out of Sawbill when he was 13. He was so proud of his tarp setup.

On another trip, to the island site, I had a bear in my camp that was persistent. Finally drove him off before I had to use extraordinary methods, i.e. likely (hopefully) death. Big muvva. Phoebe is a really nice lake. Not too crowded. Decent fishing. The 286 rod portage keeps a lot of people out. It used to be a wonderful pretty portage prior to the 1999 blowdown. My current wife finally gave in to marrying me on the 276 rodder when I told her that I would carry her pack the rest of the way on that portage.

Tomster

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amhacker22

04/17/2012 08:15PM

It will happen this spring. I'll be 37.

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housty9

08/24/2012 01:33PM

51 first solo trip in Oct. I have done several day trips solo around southern Mn. hunting and fishing. This trip will be 4 or 5 nights, can't wait always wanted to do this.

Out of control, extreme team.

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Ragged

08/25/2012 01:12AM

He leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. Psalm 23:2/3

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TomT

08/25/2012 10:33AM

I'm about to tell/ask my wife what she thinks of me going solo the last week of Sept. This could get dicey. Wasn't supposed to go this year for various reasons. I need courage now... not for the trip but to ask my wife! :) It will be solo #6.

"Life is not about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself." --- George Bernard Shaw

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Dennisal

08/25/2012 11:36AM

Working on this for my first one next year. Will be 63. Had a total hip replacement 6 weeks ago and sort of canceled my vacation time for this year.

Never lost. All portages and roads go somewhere or they would not be there.

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TomT

08/25/2012 05:25PM

I ran into some tough opposition but persistence and breaking out a couple of wild cards got me the ok. I will now be a model husband and tread very lightly around here for awhile. Permoit secured for LIS. Time to start working out!

"Life is not about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself." --- George Bernard Shaw

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yellowcanoe

08/25/2012 07:08PM

50 for first solo which was a week in Algonquin.

15 years later and I am in withdrawal as I have not had a solo in four months. Only 30 days solo this year.

Beware..You too could get addicted. Don't do it!

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boonie

08/25/2012 07:59PM

I was 55 for my first BWCA solo in 2006, but had done some solo backpacking and canoeing in WV, PA, MD, VA, and the ADKs for years before that.

I'll be doing my 5th BWCA solo the last week of Sept like Tom T, but on the Gunflint side.

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butthead

08/25/2012 09:50PM

46 for my first solo canoe trip, several years of solo hunting, fishing, camping, and backpack trips before that.

butthead

"never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups" George Carlin

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lazypaw

08/27/2012 03:37PM

29. Going on my sixth solo next week. I'm forty now.

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KarlBAndersen1

10/29/2012 09:10PM

My first solo will be in the Spring - '13.
I'll be 59.
For my 60th birthday, I'm going to canoe the Big Fork from inception to termination - 166 miles.

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kanoes

10/29/2012 09:57PM

thats a great bday present!

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dentondoc

10/30/2012 12:32AM

First canoe trip: 56
First solo canoe trip: 59

Told myself that I probably need to find something other than backpacking to do by age 60.

dd

"If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs" chances are you missed something. (Inspired by Rudyard Kipling.)

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GraniteCliffs

10/30/2012 06:49AM

First solo canoe trip at age 18.
And then I paused.
Last solo trip at age 61. Hooked, completely hooked.
Next solo trip at age 62. Counting the months until I go again.

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ZaraSp00k

10/30/2012 09:30AM

I think I was around 37 or so
could carry a lot more stuff then
but more experienced now, so I know what to bring and what to leave behind

let science, not politics decide, ... but whose science?

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Mort

10/30/2012 04:19PM

I had to wait until I was 65 and retired. Better late than never, as they say. I'll probably do one every year now until I'm no longer able to. Psych!

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mobass

11/01/2012 06:57PM

56 in 2003. Yeah, yeah, geezer club, medicare and all that crap. This year would have been my 12th trip but had to cancel to get a quad bypass. Very inconvenient, but am up to walking 4 miles everyday and have plans for 2013. Being on Medicare is not so bad when your medical bills are close to 100k.

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Chief Bob

12/02/2012 03:56PM

68, and I regret my late start! Planning my next one for 2013. Had to
miss 2010 and 2011 because of retiring and moving. In 2012 my friend and I went up to the Arrowhead region, but I really want another solo trip -(haven't told my wife, yet).

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ducks

12/04/2012 06:00PM

Hopefully first one will be this summer at 41/42. My birthday is the end of June.

Ride EZ

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tkaser3210

12/05/2012 11:06AM

70 - this Sept - did 6 days, 5 nights on Clearwater and West Pike.
Had a pretty good time, decent weather, but believe it or not, I got bored! Not enough travel and portaging.

Aircanoe

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Chief Bob

12/05/2012 01:58PM

tkaser,
I was on Pine the same time. I found the eastern end to be boring, also.

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WhiteWolf

12/05/2012 03:06PM

24yrs old -- I went in 3 days before the main group. Was a challenge at the time. Now at age 39,, I love solo's and have for some time and miss the days when I "was free". I have found that as I age, it's much easier to keep company alone in the woods.

The two loudest sounds known to man: a gun that goes bang when it is supposed to go click and a gun that goes click when it is supposed to go bang.

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tkaser3210

12/05/2012 03:06PM

Chief Bob

I enjoyed the lakes - scenery, camp sites, fishing, etc, but I had planned a base camping trip with limited portages, due to some back problems. After a couple of days, I realized that getting going in the morning, paddling, portaging, and setting up camp were things that filled a lot of time on my past trips. I wanted to relax and fish on my first solo and not overdo it, but I overdid the not overdoing. LOL!

Aircanoe

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boonie

12/05/2012 03:22PM

quote ducks: "Hopefully first one will be this summer at 41/42. My birthday is the end of June."

So, ducks, 2013 looks like it could be the year...?

Still the same plan?

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ducks

12/06/2012 09:29AM

quote boonie: "
quote ducks: "Hopefully first one will be this summer at 41/42. My birthday is the end of June."

So, ducks, 2013 looks like it could be the year...?

Still the same plan?"

It's looking like a strong possibility. Hopefully a family trip, daddy/daughter trip w/ younger daughter, and SOLO #1.

Yep, still the same plan, BUT I'm at the mercy of what EP's are available. I'll have to be flexible. I won't be able to plan it until 2-5 weeks before it happens because of my wife's work schedule. It will most likely be a Friday to Monday. I lucked out on my daddy/daughter trip last summer and was able to book a Lizz permit for the end of July 3 weeks before the trip.

Some trips I'm looking at for the solo are

Cross Bay to Poplar
Morgan to Poplar
East Bearskin and the Johnson Falls loop
Kawishiwi Lake to Malberg and back
Sawbill to Phoebe
Sawbill and the Cherokee loop
LIS North to the Shell area and back.

I usually basecamp but for a solo I think I'll want to be on the move

Ride EZ

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boonie

12/06/2012 10:12AM

I wouldn't want to basecamp since I'm not a big fisherman, but I don't travel hard every day either and occasionally lay over to explore an area. It saves putting up and taking down camp all alone, but I imagine you're used to doing the bulk of camp chores on daddy/daughter trips even though she seems a very capable 7-year-old.

You have some nice options there. You can't do too big a trip in 4 days. I'd add Mudro, but you'd probably be lucky to score a last-minute permit. You might want to keep it in mind just in case you can.

I was going to go in Morgan in 2011, but had to change to East Bearskin due to the Pagami Creek wildfire. If you go in East Bearskin, don't take the north portage to Alder.

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ozarkpaddler

12/06/2012 11:10AM

Solo PADDLED, actually the first few times I paddled. 14 or 15 I think.

Solo Backpacking trips 16-17, solo canoeing overnighters in my early 20's. Solo in the BWCAW probably 30 or 31. Early '90's.

"Let us live so that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry." Mark Twain

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twston

12/06/2012 05:35PM

Should be 41 for my 1st solo next May. Trying to talk the wife into a new rapidfire. Maybe santa will bring it for me.

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Chief Bob

12/07/2012 01:45PM

tkaser,
I agree about base camping - we base camped mainly because my partner needed to just get away from his job and decompress. My solo trip was a bit over ambitious and I was exhausted by the time I was done - but I loved it and plan to do another one this coming year.

By the way, what canoe were you paddling? We met a fella' paddling solo and fishing. I ask him about his canoe (a Bell Magic?) and how he liked it. Was that you?

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Alan Gage

12/22/2012 12:55PM

First solo paddle must have been around 12 or 13.

First solo overnight camping trip (actually my first time camping, period) was around age 13 on a local lake.

First real solo canoe camping trip was paddling the length of the Big Fork River at age 31 in mid-April. It was a great trip, my first real canoeing trip. From planning phase to execution couldn't have been more than a few days. It was an incredibly mild and early spring (2010) and there had been little snow that winter so the water levels were quite low. After seeing the weather forecast I knew I had to take off on a trip so away I went. Never thought I'd take a trip to northern MN in April and get sunburned. Highs in the upper 60's/low 70's with lows around freezing. Nothing but sun. No wind and no other people. Beautiful.

Alan

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jeepgirl

12/28/2012 06:07PM

I'm going to be 47 when I do my first solo this summer. I think I will base camp on Lake 1 and explore the area. My real goal is to just to relax, take lots of photo's and maybe do some day trips to Insula or Hudson Lake.

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HansSolo

01/10/2013 12:05AM

I purchased my first "true" solo canoe in 1981; a "Golden Glass" Sawyer DY Special from Rutabaga. Seemed to be the answer to the problem of always having an odd number for our planned canoe trips or having one of the group drop out at the last minute. Didn't realize at the time it was the start of something special.

A few years later I started doing a few over-night or multi-night trips on the Lower Wisconsin River. But it was 1986 when I did my first extended solo trip in the BWCAW at the ripe old age of 30.

Although I continued doing group canoe trips, especially with my wife and kids after we started our family in 1987, solo tripping seems to be an itch I need to scratch at least once or twice a year.

Water reflects not only clouds and trees and cliffs, but all the infinite variations of mind and spirit we bring to it. – Sigurd Olson

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TomT

01/10/2013 06:50AM

Hey Hans, I also had a Sawyer goldenglass solo. I bought an Autumn mist in 1988. To bad I totalled it on my first quetico solo that year.

What took so long for you to find this site if you don't mind me asking?

"Life is not about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself." --- George Bernard Shaw

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HansSolo

01/10/2013 11:03AM

quote TomT: "Hey Hans, I also had a Sawyer goldenglass solo. I bought an Autumn mist in 1988. To bad I totalled it on my first quetico solo that year.

What took so long for you to find this site if you don't mind me asking?

"

I think the primary reason I didn't connect with this site earlier is I was holding out for solotripping.com to come back online.

I was aware of the bwca.com website for awhile, but I really never delved that deep into it. At first, I thought the bwca.com site was similar to the canoecountry.com Website. That is, I thought it was just general information for BWCAW related information and Links to Outfitters, businesses, etc. that catered to BWCAW users.

After spending some time looking around the bwca.com Website one day, I realized there was more of an interactive and human element to the site. I also noticed some familiar screen names that I recognized from Harlan's solotripping.com Website.

After realizing the full potential of the bwca.com Website, I jumped on board, and I glad that I did. Seems like a really good group of people here that share the same passion for the Superior-Quetico country and canoe camping that I do.

Sorry to hear about the demise of our Autumn Mist. I really loved many of the old Sawyer canoes, especially the Dave Yost designs. I consider myself fortunate that I have retained several of the original Sawyers in my personal canoe livery.

It's unfortunate that Sawyer Canoe of Oscoda, Michigan is no more, although I know Superior canoes of Michigan is carrying on with many of the original designs.

If I may ask, what happened to your Sawyer Autumn Mist on your Quetico solo trip?

Water reflects not only clouds and trees and cliffs, but all the infinite variations of mind and spirit we bring to it. – Sigurd Olson

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TomT

01/10/2013 07:07PM

quote HansSolo: "If I may ask, what happened to your Sawyer Autumn Mist on your Quetico solo trip?
"

Well I was young in experience to start with. It was my 2nd solo but first time to Quetico. I did a loop from Prairie portage that went up to Brent then west and down Elk, Hurn, and Sarah.

My last night I was camped on Isabella with a couple who I shared my site with. They were headed out too so we canoed together the next day.

During the week it rained A LOT. There is a portage that runs along a creek between Isabella and North Bay and I noticed the creek was now doable so I decided to float my canoe empty of gear. The water was moving fairly fast and near the end I hear a falls. I grabbed onto a tree and decided that I would get out and slide the canoe over the 2-3 foot drop and catch it later in the shallows.

All went fine until after the drop there was a large boulder that caught the canoe and it wrapped around the rock. I waded out to it and with a lot of force pried it off the rock. It was really mangled with the worst being an "L" shaped 2 foot gash in the stern.

Luckily I was still with the couple and we decided to tape it up best we could then load everything in their boat and tow it out. I ended up selling it to a guy who worked at the Chicagoland Canoe Base for $50.

It's been a long time now but for a while I didn't even like thinking about what happened. I definitely have a different respect for moving water these days.

"Life is not about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself." --- George Bernard Shaw

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Longpaddler

01/10/2013 07:31PM

quote yellowcanoe: "The solo Geezer Club (for the most part)!

LOL. I am on Medicare and Social Security and NOT in a nursing home.

I have been soloing for 17 years.

My next solo starts Mar 9. I love being retired. I have 6 , each a week long, solos planned.

Not so wild about gas prices. It makes me pick and choose areas carefully . I would rather visit them all."

You are my hero!!!

..there is nothing- absolute nothing- half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats - Wind in the Willows

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Buck47

01/15/2013 07:39PM

38 and 40 in BWCA.
Time for another this year age 44.
Don't know where or when but that is nice thing about going solo. I can make it work, when and where I want.
The 50-60 year old solos inspire me.
Paddle on...

"Do Not Let What You Cannot Do Interfere With What You Can Do..." -John Wooden

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Jeriatric

01/16/2013 12:01AM

On my first solo, I entered the BW at 60 and exited at 61. The previous year was my first trip to the BW, also at age 60. I doubled down on my bucket list once I hit 60.

The business of life is the acquisition of memories. In the end that's all there is. ___Mr Carson (Downton Abby)

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Brent

01/29/2013 11:19PM

28 years old. Have done 1 or 2 every year since then.

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mobass

01/30/2013 08:52PM

56 and trying to make up for a late start.

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ducks

11/05/2015 09:31PM

1st solo ended up being at age 43 doing the Kawishiwi Triangle from EP 32 South Kawishiwi River. 2nd solo was at 44 from EP 37 Kawishiwi Lake to Malberg and back. Can't wait for solo 3.

Ride EZ

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hooky

11/05/2015 09:50PM

quote kanoes: "47 for me."

First BW solo for me was this year at 47 too.

First overnight solo was 10. I took a can of pork and beans for supper and had a hershey bar for breakfast the next day before heading home. I split the beans with my dog.

“It is clearly absurd to limit the term 'education' to a person's formal schooling.” - Murray Rothbard

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mr.barley

11/05/2015 09:53PM

serenity now

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BlueSkiesWI

11/05/2015 10:30PM

Last year when I was 19! Plan to do many more!

Of all the roads you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt.

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crumpman

11/05/2015 10:43PM

"Fine figure of a man, yes?" Jeremiah Johnson

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AmarilloJim

11/06/2015 08:49AM

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gkimball

11/06/2015 09:07AM

Age 20 - weekend solos summer of 1971 in when working for the USFS. Then a 75 day 'solo' the next summer when I manned a fire lookout.

Want to make God laugh? Tell him your plans...

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Kiporby

11/06/2015 10:22AM

There is a light and it never goes out. Morrissey

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landoftheskytintedwater

11/06/2015 12:01PM

25, but didn't get the second in until this year at 31.

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bhouse46

11/06/2015 12:40PM

As a member of the old geezers group my first solo was at 55. Still going at 68 and hope to for years to come so I can keep watching the changes from fires, blow-downs, etc and then the regrowth.

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nctry

11/06/2015 01:20PM

I was 22 I think. Back then I didn't even think of it as a big deal. I just did it.

Nctry

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GraniteCliffs

11/06/2015 03:50PM

quote GraniteCliffs: "20 when I took my first solo.
I will have just turned 61 when I take my second.
Perhaps I will not pause quite so long before I take my third....."

Good news for me. After taking a 40 year pause as noted above I have managed to take solos 2,3,4 and 5 since then! Looking to 2016 for an even half dozen.

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Jaywalker

11/06/2015 06:43PM

35 or so.

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mjmkjun

11/09/2015 08:49AM

59. first solo/first trip.

“If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” Sir Isaac Newton

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housty9

11/09/2015 02:40PM

50 or 51, but I've done lots of other solo stuff for years.

Out of control, extreme team.

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jcavenagh

11/10/2015 06:07PM

1st solo backpacking trip=23
1st solo canoe trip=57

LNT - The road to success is always under construction. http://hikingillinois.blogspot.com/

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hobbydog

11/10/2015 10:10PM

First canoe solo at 54 but lots of hunting and fishing solo trips before that.

The best thing one can do when it's raining is to let it rain. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

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ZaraSp00k

11/11/2015 07:58PM

first true solo, never shared a campsite with anyone, wasn't paddling or meeting up with anyone, to Quetico at 46, in fact didn't see anyone after the first portage the rest of the trip, it was a week before the park opened

let science, not politics decide, ... but whose science?

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luft

11/12/2015 09:25PM

quote luft: "In my 20's for my first solo camping, still working on my first solo canoeing. Hoping it will be in the next year.
"

Revised to include canoe data!

First canoe solo was a ten day loop at the ripe old age of 52. Not bad for an old lady I like to think. I love it and can't get enough solo time now.

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egknuti

11/13/2015 12:49PM

First solo was in 1994. I think I was 25. Still going strong.

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gymcoachdon

11/14/2015 10:04AM

First solo was also my first wilderness, and canoe camping trip. 49 years old.

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gymcoachdon

11/23/2015 08:35AM

49 for me, was also my first canoe trip. I could have had others go, but I was excited to do it by myself. I'm not sure if I will go solo again next season, but I am definitely going again. The freedom of being alone weighed against doing all the work yourself.

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Buster

11/23/2015 07:34PM

28 yrs. here, lost my food day -1 on ensign,,by bear

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tuscarorasurvivor

12/05/2015 06:31PM

53. My two sons did solo trips when they were each 17, so I got the itch and did one myself this year. Looking forward to more trips with them, and solos also.

I went into the woods because I wanted to live deliberately, . . , and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. Thoreau

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nctry

12/06/2015 07:08PM

quote CORIOLIS: "
quote nctry: "
quote CORIOLIS: "First one coming up in three months. I'm 60."

Congrats... Hope it goes well. Keep us informed."

I feel like a complete and total jackass. I just read the thread of your dad's struggles and recent passing, and I'm wondering how the hell I could have missed it. You show concern for my upcoming solo after that ordeal, and I wasn't there for you when you really needed it. My deepest and sincerest condolences to you Ben on the loss of your dad. I'm going to dedicate the first day of my solo to his memory."

Wow, I never read this response. Kind of brings tears to the eyes. Big John was one of the nicest, most thoughtful people. I sure miss him at wing nights. He came a long ways to hang out with us.

Nctry

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Haze311

12/21/2015 09:34PM

I'm 32 and just had my first solo canoe trip this past May (I really need to post my trip report) and will be doing another one hopefully next June. Went on my first solo backpacking trip when I was 27 and been hooked on it since.

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LindenTree3

12/24/2015 07:13PM

I was 10ish years old when I did my first solo. It was in a motor boat not a canoe. I motored out to an Island in Northern MN, and camped out by myself (Only one nite).

Soloing is so much a part of my life (Canoeing or Backpacking) that I never thought about camping any other way till I saw this thread and BWCA.com.

In the summers I live 6 miles from my nearest neighbor in Alaska, and when I get laid off I spend my winters in Northern MN. (Both places are off the electrical grid) There I am the only one who lives on a 12 mile long logging road. (Height of Land Road) in Clearwater County.
It is just foreign to think of doing a camping trip with others.
That's just the way I roll. I do take a dog with me on almost all trips, and as these photo's suggest, I am not always alone. I got married when I was 40, and my wife goes with me sometimes, but she stays in MN and can't go to AK with me in the firefighting season.

May the rivers be crooked and winding, and your portages lonesome, leading to the most amazing view.

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tuscarorasurvivor

12/24/2015 09:06PM

53 for me. My two boys have take 3 solos, their first at age 17. They are 17 and 19 now. We are all planning on many more solo and group trips. Here's a pic from mine.

I went into the woods because I wanted to live deliberately, . . , and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. Thoreau

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mjax127

01/02/2016 02:07PM

Ya, we will just canoe in Lake Superior.

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tom14

01/02/2016 05:38PM

44 can't wait to go back.

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Canoe42

01/02/2016 09:10PM

51. Do not know why I waited so long.

"Half the things you read on the internet are false"-Abraham Lincoln

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LittoralZone

01/03/2016 11:46AM

32, back in '98. Maybe doing my second this year.

“A republic, madam – if you can keep it.” - Benjamin Franklin

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hiawatha

01/25/2016 05:13PM

58, I'm lucky enough to get 5 or 6 in every year now.

The man who goes alone can start today; but he who travels with another must wait till that other is ready. --- Henry David Thoreau

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LindenTree3

01/26/2016 10:35AM

quote hiawatha: "58, I'm lucky enough to get 5 or 6 in every year now."

I'm Jealous

May the rivers be crooked and winding, and your portages lonesome, leading to the most amazing view.

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Duckman

02/17/2016 07:32PM

I made sure I turned 30 where nobody could find me.

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brux

02/27/2016 12:06AM

I believe I was 19. Spent two nights in the Upland Island Wilderness Area in Texas. It was a life altering trip. I wound up contracting Rockey Mountain Spotted Feaver from a tick on that trip and lost all the hearing in my left ear!

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Sandman2009

06/13/2016 10:06PM

38 years old. Just got back from a solo trip that took me to Zenith lake and then a route back to Phoebe Lake backtracking over the Zenith to Lujineda portage. I was solo for the first five days and then met up with my brother and his friends for 3.5 days.

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GoSpursGo