I Love Paddling

Three days into a 1979 canoe trip intended to take Dennis Weidemann and three companions from western Minnesota to York Factory on Hudson’s Bay, disaster struck. Rounding a bend on the Otter Tail River, Weidemann and his bowman were face-to-face with a fallen tree straining the cold, fast water for three-quarters of the river’s width. […]

With the summer winding down — especially in the far north — it’s the time of year when even the hardiest canoe-trippers are coming off the trail and sharing their stories of adventure. A hardy expedition that caught our attention was one made this summer by the five women known collectively as the Borealis Paddling Expedition.  […]

We were taken by Nick Halter’s Milwaukee Journal Sentinel story about 89-year-old Bernie Perszyk and 78-year-old Bob Nolan who are working hard to complete a 24-foot dugout canoe they are building for Milwaukee’s Indian Summer Festival. Nolan had designs on the tree used in the project for a few years. It had been cut down […]

Thomas Hall earned an Olympic bronze medal for Canada with his third place finish in the men’s single (C-1) flatwater 1,000 meter final. The Pointe-Claire, Quebec native paddled the distance in 3 minutes, 53.653 seconds. Attila Sandor Vajda of Hungary won the gold medal in 3:50.467; David Cal of Spain took the silver in 3:52.751. […]

The Superior National Forest has issued fire restrictions for portions of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Effective Thurday, August 21, the use of campfires and charcoal and wood burning stoves is prohibited in the blowdown area. You can download a map of the blowdown HERE. The Kekekabic Trail east of Disappointment Lake and the […]

Three young boys swimming in South Carolina’s Keowee River made a surprising discovery in July: an ancient dug out canoe. At 21 feet long, 2 feet wide and 16 inches high, the watercraft is likely half its original length. Several state agencies examined the canoe and believe it to be hundreds of years old. While […]

Members of the Hungarian Olympic canoeing and kayaking teams participated in today’s opening session of flatwater paddling competition wearing black armbands in memory of fallen countryman Gyorgy Kolonics, a canoeing gold medalist in 1996 and 2000. Kolonics died last month after collapsing in his canoe while training for the Beijing Games, which would have been […]

Doc Fletcher’s book Weekend Canoeing in Michigan: The Rivers, the Towns, the Taverns isn’t your average canoe guide. Allow us to enumerate a few reasons why: #1 — For each river described, it lists the area radio station carrying Detroit Tigers’ games. #2 — It reviews at least one local watering hole along each river. #3 — It […]