It’s a common phrase, for those who want to give a quick, flippant response to anyone asking them how they’re doing, when they say, “I’m living the dream!” In reality they may or may not be living their actual dream. Perhaps they are, or maybe the dream is closer to stating, “It is what it is” and they’re life at this point simply amounts to trying to survive and make it from one day to the next. Regardless, it’s our dreams, linked to our hopes, passions, and interests that provide the fuel that drives us as much as anything will; perhaps even motivating us to try and live out the pictures in our mind’s eye.
I suppose I come by the ability to visualize things into fruition as naturally as anybody. As a young boy, my Dad drew a picture that eventually became what our farm looked like as my sisters and I were growing up; complete with goats and a family sketched around a barnyard. I remember seeing that picture once and felt an immediate connection to it. Similarly, as a young girl my Mom drew a picture of a cabin type house that had a gambrel pitched (barn-style) roof, a picket fence, and several trees of different sizes. She still has it somewhere, and although we didn’t have a picket fence, my Dad and I did erect a rail fence that bordered the east and south sides of the front yard of the home my parents had built within the pines and hardwoods above Sparr valley. Our family often joked that we had a barn with a house shaped roof, and a house with a barn shaped roof.
It’s no secret that I love the outdoors; having grown up on that small farm in the Northwoods. I love the diversity of trees in the forest, the mossy swamps where headwater streams bubble forth, and rolling hills that help give depth and perspective to the layers of land and water begging to be explored. Getting out to hike, fish, and camp in such environments binds my love of such places with the mental image I have of myself.
While I have made fires countless times using flint and steel with a small scrap of char cloth, it was shortly after the beginning of the pandemic in 2020 that I started collecting information from various websites and videos so I could learn how to make fire from a bow and drill. I have several journal pages of notes; complete with sketches and lists of necessary materials. It was through that process that I would later stumble upon Joe Robinet. In fact, according to one of my journals, it was on Saturday, November 28th, 2020 after typing up “solo adventures” in the search bar on YouTube, that I watched my first video of his entitled, "Alone in the Wild - A 5 Day Solo Excursion.” Since then I’ve watched every single adventure and bushcraft video Joe has ever posted. Once I exhausted his library of available content, I moved over to Xander Budnick. He too has subject matter linked to adventure trips, and you can follow the learning process he goes through as he connects with his new found passion of hiking and paddling the North. While I have slowly and surely watched all of Xander’s videos, I’m not one to quickly jump from one video personality to another. Once the algorithm picks up your interests, however, they throw every possible post in your direction, hoping you’ll get hooked to a common theme. There's a lot of garbage out there under the guise of outdoor adventure; people trying to make a fast buck (I guess) by pushing products, poor quality videos and content, or individuals selling their souls as scantily dressed people out in the wilderness. The Northland I know, while beautiful, would chew those people up and spit them out. And although I’ll admit I have stumbled down a rabbit hole or two, I backed out of those “nature videos” as quickly as I could to save myself. Besides, there’s that balance between watching someone else doing something you’re interested in and then pulling the trigger to live that dream yourself!
This spring, as I was finishing the last of Budnick’s past videos, one did pop up from someone who was just getting started with YouTube and adventure paddling. Robinet and Budnick’s videos are cool to be sure, and I’d love to try some of their paddle and camping trips, but at least for right now, the locations for those adventures are beyond my means and grasp. Both young men live in Canada and have access to vast acres in provincial parks and what’s referred to as “crown land.” The new adventurer I’ve enjoyed watching is a woman that goes by the name of Woodsy. Although she is apparently fairly new to camping and heading out solo into the wilds, she is humble and gives you honest dialogue of what she’s learning. What I like most, however, is the fact that (at least so far), she’s headed out to various places within my home state of Michigan where I grew up. While I am familiar with some of the wild areas she’s gone to, and have even gone to a few of those locations in the past, she has introduced some settings I never even knew existed. That helped open up some attainable possibilities for me.
Enter this spring, summer, and fall. I retired from teaching, spent a lot of time going through and cleaning out my classroom, and then researching outdoor gear. Research can be both exciting and exhausting. After a while, and upon reading a freight train load of descriptions, reviews, and comparisons for the different brands that are available for each individual piece of equipment, it leans closer to just plain exhaustion. In short order you simply want to have the decision made. For me personally, it’s difficult to pull the trigger and make a decision to purchase something, especially when items can be expensive. Sometimes a review says it’s a great product, and you like it, but then several people will comment that they've had issues with the zippers or something along those lines. In the end you just want to get your money’s worth and purchase something of quality.
Fortunately for me, I did have some gift certificates to use, and found other items on sale. I also asked questions to obtain feedback that would help with my decision making. Of course I already had camping gear that I use when I head out to the river or woods for several days at a time. It’s gear I can haul in my old Silver Jeep or load into my barge of an aluminum canoe. It all works great, and I’ve refined it into simplicity as our family got older and branched out on their own. However, for me to pursue the dream of going out solo on a trip where I would need to paddle and portage from one water source to another, it was going to require a somewhat different array of ingredients other than what I had; gear that was lighter in weight, smaller, and able to keep me warm in colder temperatures.
I started looking more seriously in August when I invited my Dad to travel up to Madison, Wisconsin with me to Rutabaga Paddlesports. After taking a screenshot of Woodsy’s canoe and asking her a few questions about it, Rutabaga staff member Connie set me up to test paddle that brand and a couple others by that same manufacturer. At the end of that day, I still wanted to do some more thinking before pulling the trigger, for although I loved the material it was made of for durability, I was worried about which length to go with and the overall weight of the canoe. It was nowhere near the crazy weight of my aluminum canoe that I’ve soloed with on multiple river trips, but I still wasn’t sure I’d be able to adequately lift this newer one, with gear, and carry it over land as I portaged into nearby bodies of water.
Over Labor Day weekend I ordered a lightweight solo tent on sale from REI. Following that purchase I put things on the back burner for a while as I instead invested time alongside my wife and family, during the decline and passing of my beloved mother-in-law. Those were important times to stay in a holding pattern, and simply be present in the moment. Life can be an adventure, but life can also be difficult in all its various facets. Throughout her life my mother-in-law was vibrant, positive, and loved to gather people. She took a vested interest in others while inquiring how a person was doing. Her visitation was a reflection of those traits as people came together to celebrate her around an outdoor pavilion; flowers and her photo albums on display. She would have absolutely loved that beautiful fall morning and you could almost imagine her going from one group of people to another, making sure that everyone was enjoying themselves.
Once the first week of October came along, I went up to Cabela’s in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin to use the gift cards given to me upon my retirement. I spent a lot of time in a very small section of that store; literally only 4 or 5 aisles. While there, I used my phone to research brands before putting several items into my cart…and then proceeded to take several items out of my cart; once again proving that it’s hard to pull the trigger on a purchase, even when it’s considered “free”. I didn’t know 100% if these were going to be the best options, but it’s what was available at the store where I could use those cards. Oh the frugality of a bargain shopper! During that visit I purchased a foam pad, water filtration system, a couple of dry bags (one to use as a backpack), and then threw in a few variations of my favorite pike lure. Online I purchased a Big Agnes sleeping mat, a MEC sleeping bag (the Canadian Version of REI), and the Boundary Waters Journal aluminum fry pan.
On Friday, October 11th I fittingly went back to Rutabaga in Madison to try to make a decision on a canoe. I had a trip planned in less than a week, so I hooked up with staff member Brandon who spent the better part of the day with me. We narrowed the search to the Nova Craft Prospector. While I liked the one that was a blue steel color as it was made from a mixture of carbon and lightweight synthetic fiber, the one they had in stock lacked a good yoke that you use to carry the canoe on your shoulders. In addition, it weighed a bit more, had wooden gunwales, and still had to come from their warehouse an hour away. None of those were deal breakers. It simply helped me make a decision according to what I was looking for. Instead I chose the Prospector 14 aramid lite clear. It was lightweight, had the yoke that you could attach, and was plenty long enough at 14 feet to haul me and my gear. My days of wrestling heavy canoes onto my vehicle were over. I’ll save my aluminum canoe for trips with (strong) friends!
Brandon was patient with my questions and decision making, and after getting some Thule pads for my roof rack, helped me set it up and load the new canoe onto my Silver Jeep. At first I told him that I had some old straps and loops up under the engine I could use to attach the canoe, but after I explained this to him, and pulled on them to show their durability, we literally watched them explode into a cloud of dust. I suddenly thought better of the situation and purchased the Thule system. Especially as I eyed the brand new canoe sitting off to the side. I didn’t need anything going haywire on my way home. I’ve seen old hay bales that had been bound with wire and know what the wires look like after they’ve been cut! The term "kattywompus" comes to mind!
Me And Brandon - At Rutabaga Later I Noticed That I Was Wearing Robinet's "Exploring" T-shirt And Had Budnick's Brand Of Canoe On My Jeep. Coincidence? |
Over the weekend I typed up a packing list and went over it multiple times. Within it I included brand names of various equipment items because I ended up sharing it with some family members. With the brand labels typed out they would at least have a starting point in case they had a desire to begin researching gear on their own. With the trigger pulled, and my major purchases taken care of, I decided that I would simply fill the gaps with what I already had and make do. I knew that some things would probably be scratched off the list or switched out after this first trip. It would be a reasonable response when a particular piece of equipment doesn’t get used, doesn’t do what it’s supposed to do, or is too heavy.
Unfortunately the day before my inaugural excursion I called and learned that my cold weather sleeping bag that hadn’t shown up, had been shipped from British Columbia to Los Angeles, and then from L.A. to Chicago, but according to the tracking information, was being shipped back to MEC for some unknown reason. I was assured that I would be refunded with a credit to my charge card. So on a day that I needed to organize my gear and begin packing, I had to run back to Madison to find a lightweight, cold weather, sleeping bag. Fortunately I found one that would work, that I was happy with, and that I could test out in the REI store.
Whew! That was close. The nights were predicted to be on the chilly side, and I needed something to keep me warm. I spent the rest of that night going through my packing list and preparing for the trip that was to begin the following morning. I was on the eve of living the dream and breathing life into that picture of adventure that had been floating around inside my head; in my mind’s eye. It’s the dream where I would begin by setting the alarm to get up early (as if I’d need it), throw any remaining gear in my Jeep, and head for the wilds of the North before the sun peeked over the horizon. What would come next? Big Island Lake Wilderness Area!
See you along The Way…