hairymick said:
Been paddlin all my life. started out on surfboards, progressed to skis, then to canoes then to yaks & pirogues, heading back to canoes.
No idea of mileage
Mileage does not matter to me if it was just a paddle till you get there or for the long run , Not for me , I want to enjoy life , smell the flowers , and move on. Anyway this is my way of doing it for all of my life. I could really care less about the distance .
I enjoyed the trip , the friendship of anyone along on the trip and if doing it solo then it is just as much fun for me , sometimes even more fun doing it solo , have always been that way and will stay that way.
The water under the boat is a pleasant memory and looking forward to new water makes it even more fun. If I want to count miles then it will be the disgusting ones to get there and back home.
The river or water miles are the fun ones to enjoy and not count unless they are for reaching your campsite so you have an idea of where it is , then something to be forgotten. The companionship of fellow paddlers and the good times out weight the miles you have paddled to have that fun , be they a mile or 80.
Start putting limations on things and the fun goes down the drain.... I can see it now ...... Ya Bum's , we were suppose to paddle 20 miles today not 12...... That creates some bad feelings , paddle till everyone wants to camp , or camp sooner and have a good supper to have a happy crew.
Forget the miles ... Look at the fun side of paddling , that is why we do it......... Ya want stress then stay at work.
Short distances and easy times are a lot more fun and sure gets rid of any stress.
Want to pile up miles then enter a race and run yourself into denile of personal pleasures and create personal exhaustion. Anyone can do it but for the love of God I don't see why.
All I can say is I have a lot of miles under the boat or boats and I have no idea what the total of them are but it would be a damn good amount from the last 60 or so years.
By the way .... All of them have been some good fun , never had a bad one , even the worse ones were good times.
Now remember this , I grew up in a canoe , paddled one all of my life , then when working with the Sheriffs Office for 27 years , 8 of them were on the Range and Water unit and I was in boats or a Jeep , everything from a 21 foot inboard on the large lakes and rivers to a canoe or kayak in the side streams and a 500 H.P. air boat on the really skinny waters that would do over 130MPH ,that was 6 days a week. , every week for 8 years.
For recreation (vacation or a few days off ) I was in either a canoe or kayak out camping on my own....... The only place to get away from everything and really enjoy life.
There is nothing better then sitting on a river bank , supper cooking , camp set up and then hitting the sack and enjoying the night life as you relax in a dream world of Owls and all the critters under the stars. Well I take that back , a nice rain on the hammock or tent sure does put you into dreamland and that fresh cool air from the rain .........
Chuck.