Boundary Waters Quetico Forum :: Group Forum: Solo Tripping :: First NOT Solo Trip (in a while)
|
Author | Message Text | ||
sunnybear09 |
|
||
nctry |
|
||
wetcanoedog |
we have the team work down to the point where our camp chores come unspoken. we e-mail and have phone yaks but the only "problem" i had was watching out how much i talked,no joke.not being face to face for some years and having a back log of stuff going on in my life i had to make a point to shut up and let him enjoy the wilderness without me going on about what i fished for in that bay or what a camp was like when i was in it a few months before. |
||
Alan Gage |
While not a true camping trip I will be traveling to the pacific northwest next month solo with my dog but then I'll pick up a friend in Seattle and we'll spend a few days on the Olympic Peninsula doing some camping, hiking, and canoeing (bringing a tandem with). I haven't traveled with anyone in a long time but I'm kind of looking forward to it. I've been there before but she hasn't. It will be fun to show someone else around and to see someone else experience things. We've traveled together quite a bit in the past and I know we travel well together so while it will be different hopefully it will be a fun different. But, this will probably be a 2 week trip and I'll only have someone else along for a few days, so I still get to do whatever I want whenever I want for the most part. I can only think of a couple people I'd be willing to commit to a week or more of canoe camping with. She's one of them and the other escapes my mind at the moment. :) Alan |
||
Jaywalker |
What I sometimes wonder about is after getting used to paddling, camping, cooking, etc at my own rythem over the last couple years, what will it be like going back to paddling with a small or large group? So what experiences have you veteran solo paddlers had when rejoining groups? |
||
jdevries |
|
||
boonie |
I'm looking forward to it, to a new perspective. I think we'll be compatible tripping partners. I'll probably miss the total, pure, absolute freedom of my solo whims, but will likely enjoy the company, the camp help, and lighter portage loads. Besides being "old and set in my ways", I'm "not as young as I used to be" either ;). When my brother has come, it's been good, but there have been certain accommodations. I have also learned - and probably will again - that I know even less about tandem paddling than I do about solo paddling. And my brother knows even less than I do, but is a strong paddler. |
||
gkimball |
The main effect is being aware of the impact companions have on my inner enjoyment and state of mind. The fellows I have been canoeing with are great friends and I will always be happy for their companionship. Still, the more soloing I do the more I become aware of the need to control one's consciousness, and it becomes really obvious when your companions can't. An example would be one fellow's nearly constant worrying about mosquitoes. I try to suggest just letting them be what they are, accepting them as part of the natural environment,and not obsessing about them, but he can only go so far and thus is quite uncomfortable at times. He also worries a lot more about bears, and I sense he is less relaxed because of it. On the bright side he is generally a cheerful and fun person to be with, so I try to keep it light and he responds most of the time. He is also quite willing to pull his share of the load, which makes up for his occasional fits of pique about the bugs. When my companions are uncomfortable or unhappy about some element of the trip I am more aware now than I used to be. Not so much to spoil the trip, but I find myself needing to limit their impact on my state of mind at times. This is much more noticeable than before I started soloing. I guess the lesson is to go into a trip with companions ready to preserve your own state of mind in some way, without letting it cause conflicts or reduce the quality of the trip by focusing on the positives. |