Expedition of Discovery

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTJOTE6xOew

This link will take you to the video covering the 200 year anniversary re-enactment of the Lewis and Clark Expedition of Discovery.  At just a couple minutes shy of two-hours, the film takes you through all the success and heartache surrounding both the original voyage and the recreation.

Encounters from a Kayak

Credit: Nigel Foster

and http://www.nigelkayaks.com/857.html

 

Encounters From a Kayak: Native People, Sacred Places, and Hungry Polar Bears, by Nigel Foster (Pub. By Falcon Press, USA, 2012, 247pp.)

If you don’t know his history, you certainly recognize Nigel Foster’s name. Born in 1952, he started kayaking off Brighton, England, in a skin-on-frame at the age of 15. He was the first and youngest paddler to circumnavigate Iceland. While checking off one exploit after another, his paddling life has been mainly devoted to training and education through 13 books, countless articles, and a six-part DVD training program on sea kayaking.

The advantage of taking the time to enjoy this book is having the chance to recount unusual experiences with the author from spots around the world, from the Florida Keys, to Sitka and Newfoundland, France, the Faeroes, and throughout Europe. He meets an impressive range of wildlife up close and personal from polar bears and whales to peregrines and manatees. There is just too much to list them all, but with full color photographs to illustrate his stories, the experiences are what every paddler will at least enjoy if not marvel at.



This is Really Stupid

Credit: Caduceus from Google Images

 

Two days ago I titled the day’s post “Hit the Ground Running.” The problem with hitting the ground running is if you can’t keep up, you’ll end up flat on your face…..and here I lie. There were three final things I had to get done before loading the canoe in top the Ram: get lab work done, have a physical, and visit the dentist. I had a plan, a perfect plan. The lab work was to be done tomorrow morning, the physical in the afternoon, and the dental visit Wednesday morning.

Then I could feel it coming on last night. The chills were so bad by the time I got to bed, I thought I was going to freeze to death. The virus and medication I’ll be taking for it would screw up the lab work, so that and the physical are set back at least two weeks, by which time my doctor will be in Africa. The next available dental appointment isn’t until July, so unless I can get in for a cancellation, that’s out the window. So much for plans.



Proud as an Eagle

Credit: Google Images

 

I know it is supposed to be proud as a peacock, but eagles are rather proud birds as well. It’s actually my wife that I’m very proud of, and eagles are featured in this event. I’m proud of her for being recognized for her work in wildlife rehab. She was invited to be a speaker during the Kaw Lake Ultimate Eagle Watch on Sat. 17 January.

If you have a horse, you can take an eagle watch tour from horseback in the area of Sarge Creek Campground, U.S. Corps of Engineers. For those without horses, four other viewing tours are led during the day. There are presentations on the history of the eagle and its habitat, why the birds like to winter in the Kaw Nation area, which has the highest concentration of eagles in the state, and the eagle’s importance to Native Americans. For those interested in wildlife in general, there are presentations on wildlife rehabilitation, the wildlife around us, and then Jean’s presentation on getting involved in wildlife rehabilitation work.

The event is sponsored by the Kaw Nation, Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the Sutton Avian Research Foundation. Anyone in this area interested in participating can get details at (580)762-9494, (877)671-6985, or on line at www.kawlake.com.



Hitting the Ground Running

A daypaddle Past Commander Paul Higbee and I

were able to enjoy together.

 

The last few days have been really busy, and it’s good to have the holiday bustle behind us to end its distraction. Besides pushing forward with 3-P-100, I’ve started programming waypoints for the trip. Time has allowed me to enter about a hundred waypoints a day, so I’m now at about 200 waypoints, which has gotten me to page 11 of 33 pages in the route plan. That’s a pretty long route plan for a day paddle.

There are a couple pluses here. Jean has added her encouragement and support. I’m grateful to her for that. I’ve really had to wrestle with the idea of going off and leaving her. We were always accustomed to doing everything together. Physical ailments have progressed and multiplied with age, so she’s no longer able to remain as active. That’s reason 358 of 10,000 why you do what you love while you’re young rather than waiting until you’re “ready” but too old to enjoy yourself. Having always been able to share our experiences makes doing them alone very lonely indeed. However, the other plus is that with her kestrel, pheasant, dove, six tropical birds, two squirrels, two cats, a watchdog on loan and a .38 special, in addition to whatever other wildlife the game warden carries through the door, I doubt she’ll even notice I’m gone. Well, back to it.



Starting Anew--for the 72nd Time

Happy New Year to you all. As the New Year represents a new beginning, after three months of experimentation with 3-P-100, I’m committing to carrying it through the next year. October started with 102.5 miles for the month, November I didn’t even post because I fell on my face with only 54 miles for the month, but I came back in December and made 100.28 miles. Whether plodding, peddling, or paddling, I’m working on maintaining a reasonable level of fitness by doing a minimum of 100 miles a month by physical exertion only. That will be 1,200 miles for the year. I’ll be working at making more of those miles with a paddle in my hands. This past year was embarrassing, and it showed, generating only 158 posts for the year, the lowest number since starting the blog four years ago. I have no delusion that my blog is noteworthy, so I continue to be grateful to those of you that find something of interest to you and keep returning. I will try to continue making the blog more and more interesting.

Nige Ayers, a Facebook friend from North Central England, has committed to doing 1,000 miles for the year, but all on foot. If you wish to track his progress, his link is:http://www.canoeandtrail.co.uk/1000miles/ 

I had an interesting experience the day before yesterday. I was biking 13 miles through area dirt roads. Many of these roads are really soft, so I try to stay in the tracks where the soil is packed or where graders have helped to remove debris. I closely watch the mirror, but also listen for the sound of occasional approaching traffic. Suddenly I heard a deep rumbling sound. A check in my mirror showed nothing. As I looked over my left shoulder, here came a herd of 50-60 cattle running flat out and overtaking me along the fence line. A 2,000 pound bison bull can run 40 mph. These may not have reached that speed, but they were really bogeying, and had they come through the fence, my chance of escaping would have been somewhere south of zero. Cattle seem to have a short attention span though, so having won the race, they veered off to their left and dropped to a comfortable gallop.