Change of plans for my sixtieth year. I’ll still steal away for one or two short solo trips this next year, but I decided that I’d finally do what I’ve been wanting to do for years. I’ve signed up for a week long rowing clinic on the Rogue River. It’ll be an early birthday present for my 60th.
Okefenokee is one of my favorite places to paddle, but I don’t think you could do more than a week there without seeing the same scenery twice (not that I minded there - it’s gorgeous and a fascinating place).
Adirondacks have tons of miles (incl NFCT), but many parts certainly don’t feel anything like getting lost these days. The more popular canoe routes are swarmed in the summer and early fall. There are more remote routes, but I imagine a longer trip would force you thru busier sections as well.
I’ve paddled the Okefenokee, and I did the longest route which is five days. Additionally, you’re limited what time of year you’re allowed to do the 5 day route.
If you are paddling wilderness consider some sort of satellite communication device and the means to keep it charged. Cell and VHF might not work in many areas. Consider resupply options and maybe water filtration. First aid supplies? Ways to keep food safe from varmints and clear from your camp site if larger carnivores are present. Topo maps/charts and maybe a backup GPS.
Wilderness camping requires a lot of planning to be done safely, especially if done solo.
Canada is open. You have to deal with COVID requirements and Arrive CAN. Navigating Arrive CAN was harder than meeting the COVID requirements, they should call it Arrive CAN’t.
Its would be easy to get lost in the Thirty Thousand Islands area of Georgian Bay for a couple of weeks, especially if like me you can’t get your phone to work there and have no GPS. Two hours north of Toronto.
It’s easy to get lost…
We have a little over 2 acres of heavy woods behind the acre where our house sits. Our neighbors on both side of us have about the same setup. I have the right to wander around there any time I choose. I provide payback by picking up any trash I find, and doing other little good deeds on occasion. Half a watermellon is a good deed. So is a 6 pack of tasty brews. It’s worth it!
Have done it in rain, snow, heat and cold; sometimes I build a litter shelter. A surplus Army poncho, and a small thermos of coffee laced with some “tasty beverage” are the only other things I ever carry. Toulamore Dew is great with coffee.
Get lost!!!
BOB
Most oftern I go back to the house in a better frame of mind…
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Getting lost is great therapy.
People seem to believe that getting lost can have positive benefits. Talk comes cheap from a padded bar stool. Southern swamps make it a real possibility. So do old portage trails, and large lakes with hundreds of islands.
I hate the concept of getting lost, especially in remote country on a solo trip. This thread is a lot of grand standing by people that have not been out there in the big wide open much. If they have, that makes this thread even more confusing. I suggest people stop talking about getting lost like it is some new concept, or a goal on a trip. Great therapy? I know people that have needed therapy after bad experiences in the outdoors.
You maybe taking “getting lost” too literally. I have no intention of getting lost in the sense of not knowing where I am and creating an emergency situation, but of unplugging and getting away from the noise of the day to day.
I can say from personal experience that my “getting lost” can be good therapy.
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I actually think the reverse is true. If you have been “bewildered” a number of times then chances are you get out a good bit. If it involves “bushwacking” there is a good chance you won’t know exactly where you are at all times. There is big difference between someone who gets confused and waits around to be rescued and someone who is proactive and gets themselves out of the bush.
I say that I always know where I am but it’s my relationship to where I want to be that gets a bit fuzzy at times.
I’m standing on this hummock in the bog. I know that. The is exactly where I am. Ah, but which direction is the portage trail, where is the canoe I was going back for, and where are the packs that I left 15 minutes ago. I’m not sure because I forgot to mark the next tree about 10 hummock jumps ago.<<
If you just want to unplug and get away from the noise then say that.
“Getting lost” for people that have live, work and explore really remote country carries some strong negative connotations. Life threatening implications. I never joke about it.
Anyone that expects to be rescued if they make a mistake is a fool.
Oh brother, will it ever stop? What other words, phrases or idioms would you like added to the prohibited list?
I think if you read the thread you’d see that neither I nor any other respondent made the inference you did. I am not responsible for inferences made that I did not say nor imply.
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Wabakimi is a place to get lost or in pc parlance immersed in silence. Woodland Caribou got toasted by forest fires this summer.
I really haven’t found a place in the lower 48 with similar “lostness”. In Wabakimi I find myself talking to the animals.
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I’m not lost…im exploring.
“there’s no where to go that’s not here”
You will ‘find’ yourself lost out there somewhere. Send photos!
Peace J
Is everything a joke now?
No one is joking. Again, your inferences are not what others are implying. Let it go, you said your piece, no one is buying, just move on.
Foe anyone interested in remote paddling to James or Hudson bay, this was an interesting (long online) read:
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I’ve never gotten completely lost on a river. Swamps and Mangrove Islands can do it for me. Specifically, the Okefenokee and the Everglades.
To me the west end of the Glades is worse than the middle or East end. The mangroves cut the line of sight. Then, of course, is the occasional Machineel tree that is always right in your way.