PaddlingLight.com » Personal Essays

In the spring of 2021, I followed the 1879 canoe route of Minnesota State Geologist Newton Horace Winchell. Winchell was surveying the north shore of Lake Superior and inland waterways near Grand...

https://www.paddlinglight.com/articles/following-winchell-expedition-trailer/

If you have been a long time reader of the website, you know that I’m officially out of the kayaking business. After years in the canoe and kayak retail business, years of guiding and then year...

https://www.paddlinglight.com/articles/audacity-winning-bold-kayaking-arguments-internet/

After reading an article on the potential sale of more than 1,800 hectares and 30 kilometers of undeveloped Lake Superior shoreline potentially to developers who plan to develop the untouched bay...

https://www.paddlinglight.com/articles/living-in-the-last-scrap-of-the-golden-age-of-wilderness-paddling/

Usually, I keep PaddlingLight free of controversial issues, but occasionally when something occurs that affects an integral part of the wilderness exploration experience, such as When They W...

https://www.paddlinglight.com/articles/howl-of-the-wolf/

The ripples slap against the sea green hull of my canoe and the light wind rumbles in my ears as I paddle towards the clam, leeside of Devil Track Lake. Kneeling in the center of the canoe, leani...

https://www.paddlinglight.com/articles/the-joy-of-canoe/

The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCA) is one of only two federally designation canoe wilderness areas in the United States of America. It’s also America’s most used federally desig...

https://www.paddlinglight.com/articles/save-the-boundary-waters-from-cell-towers-letter-writing-campaign/

I had an interesting experience yesterday afternoon. I went out paddling on Lake Superior in 1- to 3-foot waves, sub-40 degree Fahrenheit water temps and air temps in the 50s. There’s a reall...

https://www.paddlinglight.com/articles/whats-our-burden-as-more-experienced-kayakers/

It’s wintertime again, which means that I start to get all philosophical again. It’s probably from the lack of paddling. The only water time I’ve been getting lately is second rate, because...

https://www.paddlinglight.com/articles/whats-the-difference-between-a-kayak-or-canoe-expedition-trip-or-adventure/

Jon Turk begins Part 4 of The Raven’s Gift: A Scientist, a Shaman, and Their Remarkable Journey Through the Siberian Wilderness with a discussion about the mythology surrounding the raven in ab...

https://www.paddlinglight.com/articles/waving-your-arms-past-your-head-while-spinning-in-circles/

Adding a ritual to the beginning of a paddling trip helps create a break from our normal life, which helps to enrich both our experience of the trip and our “real” lives after. After months o...

https://www.paddlinglight.com/articles/adding-ritual-to-paddling-trips/