by Cliff Jacobson Canoeing big lakes can be challenging to navigate, and when the wind is up, dangerous. You're canoeing a big lake and come to a large bay. it's a mile, or about 20 minutes, if you head straight across, or 10 miles if you follow the shore. There are some breaking waves out on the lake, but they look manageable. Should you chance it and paddle the breezy bay, or take the slow safe route near shore? The answer is easy if you're ahead of schedu

This guest blog, by, Tony Heck, is a great read. It's long, but worth your time. About Tony: Tony is a jack-of-all trades outdoorsman, paddler and master sausage maker. He travels with his little Beagle dog, Tu. Tu has grown quite comfortable sitting atop Tony's specially outfitted Old Town Tripper canoe. Tu never complains. Tony's home-smoked sausage is my go-to lunch meat on canoe trips. It keeps fine for the longest trip and is much tastier than what I've found in s

Canoe camp in the Werneke mountains, along the Snake River, Yukon, Canada Some years ago, after a dangerous storm with winds to 50 miles an hour, a teenager and I went out to fetch water on a popular lake in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. Everywhere, wind and rain had wreaked havoc upon the land. Clumps of uprooted vegetation floated aimlessly about, and waist-thick trees were downed and scattered all around. From our vantage point we could see three camps and

The following life-threatening experience took place on the Turtle River in northern Ontario.* The Turtle is not a particularly difficult canoe route. The rapids are short and well-defined, and the portages are generally good. The major obstacle is a number of large sprawling lakes which you must navigate and which demand attention if the wind is up. Experienced Boundary Waters and Quetico Park canoeists--who have good judgment and basic whitewater skills--would find them