I would love to fish in a lake like that. I have seen places like that on TV. They must have made an exception to the float plane rule to allow the film crew to fly in their people and equipment. The way you did it sounds pretty grueling. If I couldn't have beer for weeks in an environment like that I would need more than two bottles of scotch and one bag of weed. You didn't say if your companions were male or female but I'm guessing not many women would even think about going. After a few days the girl grizzly bears probably started to look pretty good.
Go to Atikokan, Ontario with your checkbook. Outfitters will handle the rest. Most of Canada is unrestricted, Quetico Park is a vast area reserved for canoeists. It wasn't easy but I was young and in top shape with a lot of experience and good gear. Its the only way to see a true wilderness anymore. There are none left in the States. You don't have to go as far out and cover as much territory as we did, moving every day. You can just paddle in to a lake you like and putter around for a week fishing. Male. The kind of expeditions we did took a dedication, endurance, and skill level that none of our girlfriends possessed. They were good short-float trippers, though.
Speaking as a female, there is no amount of money that would have me on the trip you just described. I like to be clean and to smell good and have a comfortable bed at night with a bathroom. The canoe trip in Arkansas last month damn-near led to a divorce, not because I hated canoeing (that was okay), but because my husband thought he knew wtf he was doing (he's been canoeing exactly one time more than me, which is code for twice). After about half an hour, I could tell what direction to row because I was sitting in the front and could steer the canoe, which worked fine except when my husband would tell me I was wrong and would start vigorously rowing opposite of me--every time he did that, we'd either 1) run up on a bank, 2) do a 180 turn and be going backwards, or 3) run into the trees on the bank. The ONE thing the woman at the canoe rental advised was, "Stay out of the trees; that's where the snakes are..." Holy shit! The family we were with said, "We'd never heard such language coming out of Stacey's mouth the last time you ran her into the trees."
There is no substitute for knowing what you are doing in a canoe. I've taken many people out who have canoed before and thought they could paddle. They are amazed at the control that one expert in the boat can provide. My old wilderness canoeing partner and I could make a canoe dance! In whitewater streams, on big lakes with 4-foot waves and whitecaps, . . . anywhere. But you are not alone in your abhorrence of roughing it. I've known a lot of women and exactly two had the adventurousness and tenacity for a wilderness expedition . . . but even they had their limits. Testing your physical and mental capacity, conquering fear and adversity while overcoming harsh natural conditions with little more than ancient man had is a basic confidence and power experience that women just don't have the adrenaline and testosterone to understand. Men are equally ill-equipped to understand female joy. Faced with catching a fly ball or picking up a crying baby, women will pick up the baby every time, without even considering whether there are men on base.
Give the guy a break. He probably couldn't understand a word you said. I used to go on short overnight canoe trips with a girlfriend. She was always sitting in the front with her back to me. She was always trying to tell me how to paddle and bitching if I splashed a little water on her when I changed sides with the paddle. What with her facing away from me and the sounds of the water and whatnot I could rarely understand a word she said. I would just say "Yes, Dear" and keep on doing what I was doing. Unlike Red and his hardy backwoods companions we didn't travel lightly. A canoe full of gear (ice chests full of beer and food, cooking utensils, coleman lanterns with extra fuel, a jam box and CDs, fishing gear, a tent, a tarp to put on the sandy ground, yada yada yada) and two people can ride pretty low in the water and be harder to maneuver than a nearly empty one. If I could have figured out a way to make it work I probably would have brought a small air conditioning unit and a generator. I hope you at least gave your hubby the same reward I got for all that effort: Some hot, sweaty sex in the sand while being eaten alive by mosquitoes the size of small fighter planes.
No hot, sweaty sex. For one thing, we were staying in a very nice cabin that my younger child's best friend's parents own near Eureka Springs, not camping. For another thing, we were sharing a bedroom with a nine-year-old and thirteen-year-old, and there was no telling when anyone might have walked in at any hour of the day. He was the one bitching for the splashing water, like a little girl--except that our nine-year-old little girl also liked the cold river water splashes. It made him cold. Wtf?
Since this one looks to be heading in on the water sports......We do a few Kayaking trips each year. These are Upper Amite River trips. The short trip: Put in off of Hwy. 16 in St Helena Parish, behind Oakleigh House and Tranqulity Subdivision. Made about a two and a half to 3 hr. trip. The Long Trip Upper Amite River: Same put-in point, we get out at the Amite River Bridge Truck Stop. Takes around 5-6 hrs. As with all, depends on the current. Lower Amite River: We put in at Lake at White Oak Subdivision. Was gonna get out at Freds in Port Vincent. Lower has some nice camps and more people, boats, people camping out. We got a little passed Manchac and met up with some folks on a Party Barge (Tied the Kayaks and cruised the river down to Freds. Beer and Food at Freds. Loaded up the Kayaks and headed home. We may put in at Manchac next time and go to Freds. I have a friend that has a camp at the corner of Amite River and Bayou Manchac. Ok, due to the almost no current, we would have made it to Freds late in the night.
For some reason, some of the threads I post in give me alerts but not others so I just caught up on the transition from condiments to water sports. I take the kids kayaking near my house every couple of months via a rental place. Nothing special but we paddle around for a couple of hours (big lake), feed the ducks, cool off in one of those giant fountains, and then head back. Going to the Hot Springs, Ark area in August. I think my dad is planning to take his little 19" Boston Whaler so hopefully we get to do some fun things with the kids. I've heard Lake Ouachita is nice.
Most stay on track, like the bashing of DJ Welter. I've camped on Lake Ouachita, Lake Hamilton, Catherine, DeGray, Petit Jean, and Lake Greeson, all a very good places. A few months back a bunch of my friends took a Kayaking trip on the Buffalo River, they all enjoyed.
I didn't expect a thread about condiments to last this long. What else is there to say about condiments unless this was a chef's forum. Your mention of the Buffalo River reminds me that I took a canoe trip of several days on the Buffalo with some buddies a few years back. The first couple of days was fun but after that its: Paddle down the river, set up camp, eat, drink and smoke some weed and then try go to sleep and then do it all over again. I was thinking "Hey, anybody got a TV hidden away? I want to watch Sports Center!" I don't know about you but when I do any kind of repetitive task or exercise I usually have some song running through my head. Whether its riding a bicycle or paddling a canoe a song is better than "Peddle Peddle Peddle" or even worse like a galley slave "Stroke, Stroke, Stroke, Stroke." After the first couple of days the song running through my head on the canoe trip was Glenn Frey's "You Belong to the City." 'Cause you belong to the city You belong to the night living in a river of darkness, beneath the neon light You were born in the city Concrete under your feet It's in your blood, its in your moves You're a man of the street
