Boundary Waters Quetico Forum :: Trip Reports :: Trip Report - First kayak first solo
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Boppa |
Enjoyed your report, especially the manner in which you show the way we can add an introspective dimension to decision making when soloing. Your pictures are great and thanks for sharing. Boppa |
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TomT |
Looks like a lotta fun though. Thanks for posting! |
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Winemaker |
I find it interesting the large number of solo trip reports where the person decides to come out earlier then planned. I understand this because I have experienced it myself, although I think a shrink could spend hours talking about why we do this so often. I was on a planned seven day BW trip trip I cut to five and in retrospect, it made no real sense. I drove 16 hours one-way to enjoy seven days in the BW and talked myself into leaving after five without a real problem, crisis, or incident. I had a great time, but now feel i should have stayed the last two days and made even more memories. On a solo Isle Royal trip, I argued with myself about pulling out early and I am glad I stayed, I had numerous wonderful experiences I would have missed had I left early. I appreciate the candor the many solo writers have expressed here about their emotions, and thought processes as they worked through decisions to go here or leave there. I for one, will add to the planning process the idea I may have to grapple with a tendency to bail out somewhere in the trip and be sure I recognize that, and make allowance for it. humm?? |
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bradcrc |
Trip Name: First kayak first solo. Entry Point: 38 Click Here to View Trip Report wc-20091001-1700 |
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Amok |
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dogwoodgirl |
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Mongo65 |
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Ho Ho |
Question: Why did you decide to take a kayak instead of solo canoe? Just wondering because I infer that you are not a died-in-the-wool "kayak guy" and it seems like portaging the kayak would be a lot harder. Though maybe that wasn't a big deal given the base camping plan. Thanks again for the great report! |
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bradcrc |
I've been canoeing pretty much all my life, but I only started kayaking 2 years ago. I like them both, but I have to say I have a preference for kayaking. Not really sure why, but I just enjoy it more for some reason... closer to the water, more control, easier? I really don't know. I kayak 2-3 times every week spring-fall, it's like a drug to me. I still love canoeing of course. Plus, my canoe is heavy and isn't a solo canoe, by taking my kayak I didn't have to rent anything. :) Portaging the kayak wasn't a problem. I ran up and down the hill in my back yard with it a bunch of times before the trip to make sure it would be ok. The kayak I took is 50 pounds ...which seems to be pretty comparable to many canoes. The gear is definitely packed differently than a canoe, but I had practiced, and can pack and unpack the boat in probably 10-15 seconds. I think it would've been nice to have some kind of a yoke for it, but with the padded seat resting on my head, it seemed to work fine. I'll have to try some longer portages next time to see how they go... not that I particularly enjoy those even with a canoe. hehe. :) |
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bradcrc |
Wasn't really much of a trip, but I had a ton of fun. Beats a weekend in a state park, or just about anywhere else for that matter. Can't wait for next year! I probably wouldn't have bothered posting it, but I wanted one of those little icons by my name here. :) Didn't get one tho. hehe. oh well. :) |
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bradcrc |
I achieved what I came for by lunch on the second day, the rest was gravy. :) I have no regrets about the duration, especially after driving through that very nasty storm that I just barely missed being caught out in. I've camped in storms before, and certainly am equipped and able to deal with them, but I gotta say it's not my favorite thing to do. Course, maybe now that I'm getting old, I'm just getting soft. :) We're planning a canoe trip on the river here this weekend, and I can't help thinking that the projected high of 50 is just too darn cold. lol. I'll have to make a point not to bail out on it just to prove to myself that I'm not a total marshmallow now. :D My only real regret is that I didn't get to try out the dehydrated pizza I was so excited about. :D And I forgot to list the worst thing that happened to me during the trip in the report. I missed *EVERY SINGLE TRAFFIC LIGHT* on the entire 330 mile drive home. Every one. Now, I'm not sure what the chances of that are, but I sure managed. hehe. |
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bradcrc |
hehe, it's the little joys in life, isn't it? :D |
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rlhedlund |
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macsvens |
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Koda |
-- What's the real fear? -- What memories do I want, and will I want the memories if I bail? -- Am I more than halfway to my planned destination? The first question is the hardest. But when answered honestly, it yields the best answers. I've been amazed at what I've learned from facing it down. |
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Koda |
My trip last May was to have included several days in northern Wisconsin doing some whitewater paddling. I bailed because of the forecast and went back to the river a few weeks later. There's just no one right answer. I hope your future trips - solo and otherwise - are at least as good as your last one. |
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Bearfoot |
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sotaman |
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bradcrc |
it was actually very easy to pack the kayak. I brought it into my living room the week before and practiced packing and unpacking it as quickly as possible. I tried a bunch of configurations and got it down to a super efficient config which only took a few seconds, very easy. 2 long chair bags slid in front (tent and sleeping pad), pack bungeed on top. sleeping bag and crazy creek chair slipped behind seat, food pack in back hatch. Zip, boom, bang, super easy, super quick. I'd happily compete for time against anyone in a canoe with 2 duluth packs. (they would win, but not by much!) Along with ease and speed of loading/unloading, my biggest concern was center of gravity, I didn't want the bow flying through the air, so I wanted most of the weight in the front to level things out, which worked out well. I weighed all my gear many times, but this was the first time I'd ever paddled this kayak loaded with gear (I've camped in my 10' before, but not the 12'), I didn't have time to try a test paddle fully loaded, so even though I was more than 100 pounds under spec, I honestly didn't know if it'd sink. :D I was VERY happy when I got it in the water and started paddling... All the gear except for the pack are below the water line, so it's even more stable than empty, and it flew through the water like it wasn't loaded at all. Overall, Especially considering I threw the trip together in a few days and hadn't solo'd or kayaked in BWCA before, I'm as pleased as I could be with how the kayak performed... like a champ the whole trip. Another thread about yokes for kayaks makes me think I want to experiment with one of those next time, but for this trip, *everything* went perfectly. |
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bradcrc |
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Bannock |
I did the 3:00 am/pm alarm thing once. It was a group trip. I was an hour late to our rendezvous place. I was the trip leader and the day before emphasising to everyone the importance of being on time. You don't get the razzing on a solo trip. :) |