Mortises and More Mortises

In the last few weeks I’ve shaped and sanded my gunwales, plus drilled a boat load of square holes.  Forty four blind mortises and twenty two standard mortises, at three holes per mortise it was a lot of drilling. 

Drilling all those mortises really wasn’t has hard as you would think.  Thankfully the book I am using lays out the steps and with a little patients, which I normally lack, I had some rather nice holes.  Laying out the mortises, I think, is the most critical step.  On the blind mortises, mortises that are ¾“ deep and you can’t see through, I laid out how long the mortises should be but not the width.  I relied on my drill press to center the holes.  The problem with this is I’m not using a mortising machine, the drill press I have is a device that turns a hand drill into a drill press.  As you can see in the photos it looks older than dirt, because it is.  It was given to me by my dad and I remember him using it with his hand drill when I was pretty young, so the thing is 35 to 40 years old.  Making an alignment jig helps but if you have all four sides laid out it would be much easier to make sure your overlapping hole used to create the final product are all in line.  I also bought a new chisel and kept it extremely sharp.  I would suggest if you are doing this project and you aren’t very good at sharpening you find someone to teach you.  A really sharp chisel makes creating the square corners an easy job.

Once the rib mortises were done it was time to shape the top of the gunwales.  The forward and aft ends get a shallow curve that extends 70” down the top.  I laid these out with a batten, also know as a tent pole, then cut and planed up to the line.  In the book I have Chris Cunningham shows’ using a block attached to the side of the plane to make sure everything is kept at a 90 degree angle.  The plane I have is pretty small and I could not clamp a block to the side so I just took it slow and checked my work often with a square and had no problems.  Once the gunwales are shaped it was time to drill the deck beam mortises which are at a 73 degree angle a very intimidating task.

Laying out the mortises for the deck beam was pretty easy with a jig I created.  As you can see in the photo that I made a square hole that was 3/8 x 1 1/2, I then drew a line 1 ¼” from the opposite side.  Since my mortise was going to be 1 1/4 “ long I could simply align the line on the jig with the line laid out for my deck beam mortise and draw the other three sides of the mortise.  This along with a jig to hold my gunwale at a 73 degree angle made drilling the holes for the mortises much less intimidating.  Cleaning out and squaring up the mortises was done pretty quickly with a four in hand wood rasp and a square cabinet maker’s file.  Good luck finding a square file if you don’t have access to one.  I was going to buy one and I checked Rockler, Woodcraft, and Lee Valley with no luck.  A quick call to my Dad and he dug through his mountain of old woodworking tools and found two of them.  I don’t think the square file is essential but does make squaring up the corners a breeze.  If you are thinking about starting your own boat I would start looking through garage and estate sales to find one or maybe you can find a better source than I could.

The final steps to the gunwales are beveling the top edge, which I screwed up, and beveling the tips.  I didn’t reread the book and beveled the wrong edge on gunwale.  I don’t think this is going to be a problem I will just have some weird angles to cut on my arched deck beam that align with the bottom of the mortise not the top like the straight ones.

Now that the gunwales are done it is time for the deck beams.  Today it is raining and cold so that means it is a perfect time to go dig through the stacks of lumber at Menards.  No one else is stupid enough to be out there.  Since I will need to rip and plane the boards outside I will have to wait until the rain stops to get everything ready.  With Christmas fast approaching the deck beams may have to wait until after the holidays.

Clik Elite Pro Express review

About 6 months ago I switched from an over the shoulder camera bag to a backpack style for my portrait and general photography.  I chose the Clik Elite Pro Express for its size and versatility and so far I’ve been pretty impressed.  While I don’t think Clik Elite designed this bag as a backcountry camera bag it is well suited for photography where you don’t have to carry non camera gear.

 

A while back I read an article by a famous photographer where he wrote as he got older he had to switch from an over the shoulder style camera bag to a backpack style do to back problems.  I’m pretty sure that age is 40 when you need to make the switch.  At 41 my camera bag was getting heavy and hurt my back to carry around, so I decided to make the switch to a backpack style.  I decided to try a Clik Elite Pro Express.  It seemed to have the right amount of space for what I need and I could find a last year’s model (2010) for a reasonable price at B & H photo.  I also really like Clik Elite.  I think they respond well to customer feed back and their products are innovative and well built.  With the purchase of this bag I have now officially sold all of my Lowe Pro bags and now own nothing but Clik Elite.

What I do like about this bag is the layout.  The lid flips open while the bag is laying on it’s back and makes an excellent work surface.  The small details like a lip that flips up so round things like lenses don’t roll off the open lid is great.  It does have a padded laptop compartment which is nice even though I don’t carry a laptop.  I do put my files and waivers in there so I have eliminated the attaché bag that I carried along with my camera bag.  I use Nikon’s Creative LightingSystem so I have multiple flashes and I’m adding more.  This bag carries them easily along with my spare body and a couple of lenses.  The exterior compartments easily fits all the extras that go along with shooting in the digital age.  The top compartment flips open when the bag is on its back just like the main compartment which makes finding things in the middle of a shoot go faster.  The waist belt and shoulder straps pack away so the bag is carry on compliant.  I pack the waist belt away when I am only carrying my equipment a short distance.  As with all Clik Elite bags the construction is bomb proof with nice heavy zippers.  The shoulder straps are comfortable but not overly thick to get in the way when you are trying to lay the bag on its back to get to your gear.  The interior is customizable to grow as you get more stuff, which we all like to do.

Now for what I don’t like about this bag: first is the so called tripod retention, it is a simple bungee cord and pocket that one leg fits into.  The bungee flat out sucks, it isn’t strong enough to hold an aluminum tripod in place.  Mine flops around which if you’re walking over rough terrain to get to your shot is very annoying.  On the 2011 model they have added a tripod retention system to the outside center of the bag which should prove to be much better than the system on mine.  The bag could also stand to be a bit longer so it rides better on your back.  I have an average torso length and it just seems a couple of inches to short to ride right.  Also it doesn’t have a rain cover; I think this is essential for any camera bag.  You never know when you will be caught out in a sudden cloud burst and will need to protect your equipment.  I’ve even been chased to cover while shooting senior photos by a short rain shower and having a rain cover is just good piece of mind.  I understand that Clik Elite has made the 2011 model longer and added a rain cover.  They also now sell rain covers to fit their bags that were manufactured before they listened and made rain covers standard.  While none of my Clik Elite bags have rain covers I will be buying them this year, at $25 a pop I’m in no rush to get them.  The buckles on the shoulder straps and waist belt that are made to mate with their chest rigs don’t match.  Their buckle supplier changed the design so now you have to get a retro fit kit, free of charge from Clik Elite, if you have an older chest rig.  The top compartment zipper also sucks, the way it lays it is very difficult to get zipped.  There just isn’t enough tension to for it to zip closed easily.  I’m not sure what the fix is for it, it’s a great idea that just doesn’t work in practical application.  Last but not least is those damn metal zipper pulls.  I know it is a small detail but I hate them.  They lace these great cord zipper pulls through them so why not just get rid of the metal ones?  Wire cutters and re-lacing the cords zipper pulls fixed that problem.

Overall I think this is a great bag for what it is designed for, general photography.  If you’re looking for a backcountry camera bag this isn’t it, but good thing Clik Elite makes those too.  It is nice to see there bags evolve as comments come in from the average user not just the sponsored pros.  I believe if you buy this bag for general photography you won’t be disappointed.  Will this be the last bag I ever own?  I doubt it, but that for me and a shrink to work out.

A story of Gunwales

I am off to the races in building my skin on frame Greenland kayak.  In the past two weeks I have built 3 of my forms and cut my gunwales.

About two weeks ago my dad was over and helped me make my “story pole”.  I wish I had photos of that, seeing my dad who is in his 60’s and has one knee replaced crawling on a hardwood floor to mark the board was a sight.  Marking the balance board with your measurements is definitely a two person job.  It maybe takes 15min to lay out but you need another person to transfer the lines from your body to the board.  We also kept Chris Cunningham’s book close so we could check to make sure we had it right.  Once I had all the marks prescribed in the book on my board with pencil I cut the board down to make it more manageable.  My finished product is approximately 2” wide and 4’ long.  When I was all done cutting it down I went over the pencil makers with a permanent marker and wrote what each line was for, while marking the “no rib” zones in red.

Next I made 3 of the five forms.  In the book these aren’t made until later in the process but I had the ¾” plywood left over from making some cabinets so I went ahead and made them.  The end forms were a pain to make, you are dealing with a bunch 73 degree angles and I don’t like how Chris lays them out in his book.  In the book the dimension for the two sight holes are given from outside to outside.  I was once a draftsman and I’m accustomed to holes being center to center.  So I screwed up drawing the forms several times before getting them right.  Making and cutting the forms maybe took me 2 hours but most of time was in drawing the end forms that I had to do several times.

I had decided to use cedar for my gunwale, I like working with it as I’ve used it to make three Greenland paddles.  It is a nice soft wood that is rot resistant, but has lots of knots, which can bring its strength into question.  I purchased a 16’ cedar deck board from Menards for $17.  I went to Menard’s on a nice rainy day so no one else was out in the lumber yard while I picked through the stack of deck boards to find the straightest, knot free board I could find.  I did find one board that was almost knot free but it was about as crooked as a congressman so I settled on one with a few more knots but straight.

At home I planed the board down to 7/8” and ripped them to a width of 2 ½” and a length of 15’-8” (16” sorter than my overall length of 17’.  Once the gunwales were cut I laid out my ribs and deck beams.  This took me about an hour to lay out and is pretty straight forward if you follow Chris Cunningham’s directions.  The one thing I did do differently is use a framing square to mark the width of my mortises instead of a gauge as suggested in the book.  For me I could lay them out with the framing square in less time than it would take me to make the gauge.

My next step is to cut the blind mortises for the ribs, all 44 of them!  I will be doing that today so my next post should be when all mortises are done and maybe the deck beams in place.

L.L. Bean Kid's Adventure Sleeping Bag 20

A Sleeping bag is essential for any child who wants to go on overnight adventures, even if it is just camping out in the backyard.  The L.L. Bean Kid’s Adventure Sleeping Bag 20 is a great option that will last your child multiple years.  Even if you’re child is like my son and sleep in it EVERY night.

My parents have bought my two youngest children sleeping bags for Christmas.  My daughter received a Kelty bag a few years back and my son got his L.L. Bean one last year.  The Kelty bag is a nice bag and about $15 cheaper than the L.L. Bean model but is designed like a child’s bag that you can find anywhere.  The Kelty bag has a flat hood and flannel lining like any kids bag you would find at a super store just built with high quality materials unlike the ones from a super store.  On the other hand the L.L. Bean Kid’s Adventure Sleeping Bag 20 is built like an adult bag.  High quality nylon lining and shell, an actual fitted hood and a ¾ length zipper.

The sleeping bag over the past year has proved to handle the abuse that most bags would take in a life time.  My son has slept in it every night since he got it.  We have always washed it in a front loading washing machine (essential for any outdoor family) on delicate and it has handled the many cleanings well.  The sleeping bag does compress nicely for a synthetic fill bag and is manageable weight for a backpacking trip.

All in all I personally think this is a great bag for a child who’s family has an outdoor lifestyle.  L.L. Bean consistently makes solid products at a fair price and the Adventure Sleeping Bag 20 is no exception.

I’m Goin’ to Do it!

For a long time I’ve been threatening to build a Greenland skin on frame kayak.  After reading Chris Cunningham’s Building The Greenland Kayak about four times I’ve finally gotten up the nerve to build it.  My plan is to document different stages of the construction here on my blog.  I am also going to figure out a way to post the spreadsheet I am keeping that documents my exact expenses.

Why a skin on frame kayak?  Well it boils down to a couple of reasons.  One is I just like to build things and this seems like a really cool winter project.  Two, I like traditional stuff (I shot flintlock muzzleloaders growing up) and this was the way Greenland kayaks were originally built.  Sure I’m going to use nylon instead of seal skin to cover the boat but the heart of the original boat is still there.  Finally I want a roller; this boat is going to be 17 feet long and 19 inches wide, which should make it fast and a great boat to roll.

One nice thing about this project is I’m in no hurry.  I have a fiber glass Greenland boat, a Wilderness Systems Arctic Hawk, so it’s not like I have to get it done so I can paddle.  Skin on frame boats are also cheap.  A buddy of mine built a wood boat and finished it this year.  It took him over a year to build, he used up most of his garage (that made his wife really happy) and I know the kit cost him around $1000 so his finished product was much more.  I hope to be under the $300 mark on my boat and I can build for a day then move the frame out of the way so my wife can still get her car in the garage.  An added bonus is the boat will be built to my dimensions.

So if you’re interested in Greenland kayaks, or skin on frame boats follow along on my journey and we’ll see where it goes.

Learning to Roll

Rolling a kayak has to be one of those bucket list things if you are an outdoor person, or maybe I just think that way since I’ve wanted to learn since I was a little kid.  I do blame it on my parents, of course.  If it would not have been for those Fisher Price kayaks I had as bath toy things might have been different, ok maybe not.  Getting to a point where I can roll has been an 8 year ordeal, with set backs do to not being able to get out in my boat very often do to, kids, Afghanistan, work, kids, you know life.

In 2003 I had finally saved the money to buy the kayak I fell in love with after my first test paddle of one belonging to a WildernessSystems rep, the Arctic Hawk.  This is no ordinary boat and I didn’t know the path it would lead me.  The lines of this Greenland kayak appealed to me, I could see myself paddling through ice fields on wilderness adventures in this ancient design.  The first summer I did learn my wet exit and self rescue but I wanted more, I wanted to roll the thing.  I had a former co-worker that agreed to teach me, bad idea.  His roll wasn’t bomb proof so trouble shooting mechanics he just wasn’t very good at.  He was also a white water paddler, and was trying to teach me a C to C roll, which made since I had a Euro paddle at the time.  After a summer of trying I wasn’t even close but really good at wet exits and self rescue.  Over the course of the next year I paddled every week that the water wasn’t frozen, I was planning on getting it down the next summer.  Well by the end of the next summer my wife and I had our first child and I was in Afghanistan for a year.  While I was gone I read a lot of books, mostly mountaineering and books about Greenland kayaks.  In my reading about kayak history I ran across the Greenland paddle and found videos of Greenland rolls on the internet.

When I got home life still got in the way.  For the next few years my wife and I only got to paddle a few times a year and mostly when we were gone on mommy/daddy get away weekends.  When we got out we wanted to paddle the time just never seemed right for us to spend the day in shallow water with me trying to roll.

This summer things changed, we bought my daughter her kayak.  Now we had to spend a day in shallow water get her accustomed to her boat.  Leading up to her trip I spent time studying Greenland rolls on Qajaq USA’s website and YouTube.  I had made the switch a Greenland paddle a few years earlier so the C to C roll was out and layback or Greenland roll was in.  While she played in the water my wife spotted me and I worked on my roll.  I only hit her with my paddle a few times before I started to figure out the mechanics and moved to deeper water.  Then all of a sudden it clicked and I started popping up like a cork.  After about 15-20 rolls I was ready to throw up from the spinning so I stopped and we did other things.  About three weeks later I went out for the day by myself and tried to roll again.  Not so good.  Two wet exits later I figured out what I was doing wrong and popped right up.  Now when I go out I try to throw a roll in just to make sure I don’t forget.  I am only able to roll up on one side now and the water is getting colder so expanding to the opposite side and more difficult Greenland rolls will have to wait until next summer.  I am now looking for a hood to wear so I can roll all winter, we’ll see how it goes.

Review of DiCAPac WP-S10

I have been looking for a way to carry my camera on the deck of my kayak that won’t cost me thousands of dollars for awhile now.  I thought the DiCAPac WP-S10 waterproof camera bag would be my salvation.  It has worked well for a bag that cost under $100 but getting there was a less than a confidence boosting experience.

I like to take photos and lots of them, I also enjoy kayaking, but getting the two together can be very costly.  I tried using a waterproof pouch from SeaLine for my phone, thinking I would use the camera on it.  The pouch worked great, the problem is the phone, and no matter what you do you are still using a very small sensor and getting only jpeg images.  Not the type of photography I enjoy.  A dive housing is another option, if you’re made out of money.  I don’t need to be able to take my camera to 100ft below the water and I don’t have the three grand it cost to buy one either.  I only want to be able to take photos in shallow water and it stay dry while I'm paddling.  The DiCAPac seemed like a great option, it is $85 from B & H Photo and guarantied to 16 ft .

This summer we bought my daughter a kayak for her birthday and we took her on a trip for her to try it out.  This isn’t the wilderness adventure of a lifetime but it was my daughter’s first trip so it was one that will never happen again and I wanted lots of photos.  My kids surprised me by getting me a DiCAPac for my birthday and giving it to me a little early, like the day before we left on my daughter’s trip.  After opening it I did read the instructions (that usually doesn’t happen) and tested it as per the instructions before putting my camera in it.  To my surprise it failed!  One of the welded seams was not welded properly and water poured in.  The good people at B & H Photo took care of me and replaced it but there was no way I was going to have it for my trip.  There is the major issue I have with this camera bag; I didn’t get a dime for being their quality control.  If you make a product that is going to protect thousands of dollars of equipment from water test it before putting your name on it.  It would be well worth paying $100 to $120 if I knew it had been factory tested before I bought it.

The second bag I got passed its test fine and a field test where I did two wet exits/self rescues and 15-20 rolls in my kayak.  My camera stayed perfectly dry which I am happy with.  I did install Velcro into the inside of the barrel then put the other side of the Velcro on my lens hood, putting the hood on backwards while in the bag.  This keeps the outer lens cover close to my lens for sharper images.  You must have an internally focusing lens for this to work.  I didn’t come up with this idea but read it on the reviews of the bag on B & H Photo’s web site.  I use my D300 with a battery grip in the bag and it is a tight fit.  I must take the lens off and put it on the camera through the lens barrel of the bag to get it on.  Thank god I have small hands.  I don’t find this a problem since I want the thing to fit tight.  If it just dropped in manipulating the camera would be impossible.  The bag did come with three micro-cell foam spacers to shim up your camera but I don’t need them for my setup.

As for manipulating the camera you must think out your settings before hand.  The controls are not easily accessible through the built in finger pockets so some ‘fore thought is required.  I put my camera on aperture priority and all is good.  The quality of the shots through the outer lens cover, a hard plastic, was very good.  They are not as good as through a dive housing, of course, but they meet my expectations and I think I will get outstanding adventure photos from it.  I also put a couple of silica packs in the bag to keep any moisture down and I carry a small piece of Pack Towel to wipe off the lens before shooting.  One thing I am working on is a bungee or retractable leash to attach it to my kayak.  I have been using the neck strap that comes with it but it is a pain as it is always in the way.

All in all I do think this is a good cost effective way to keep your camera dry while in the water, just test it first.  As with any product it works much better when you know its limitation and you don’t expect it to perform beyond what it is designed to do.  I will always test the bag before using it, but other than my bad experience with the first bag I am happy with the product, I wish I could be excited about it but I’m not.

Mile Stones

Most trips you will never forget but some will be ingrained into your memory as something special.  Taking my daughter to Chain-o-Lakes State Park this summer was that sort of trip, mile stones and memories were made.

When I was around 10 my dad started a tradition with me of doing something special for my birthday, just the two of us.  For several years we took a canoe trip, we would leave in the morning on the canoe trip and then camp that night.  The trip was through a local outfitter and we camped at the outfitters campground; that was my introduction to wilderness travel, which has become a life long love and passion.  This wasn’t a trip to the Boundary Waters but it was special to me all the same.  It has become important for my wife and me to start this tradition with our children.  Since my wife and I both love to do things outside we decided that it would be a trip with just that child and the other child would stay with grandma and grandpa.

Our daughter has been saving any money for about a year and a half to buy a kayak. So my wife and I decided it was time to “recycle” the birthday trip my dad had started 30 years ago.  She had saved about half of what she needed for a kayak and met our requirement that she start to learn how to swim so we paid for the rest of the boat and planed our trip.  I also made her a Greenland paddle in just her size.  I’d like to think that she wanted the paddle because dad uses a Greenland paddle or the since of tradition and history it represents but no she wanted it because I could stain it purple.  I’ll take what I can get and teach her about the rich history of traditional paddling later in life.

After making multiple trips to Nurpu River and Mountain supply and discussion with the Kevin, and Garry about what kayak was right for her she had her boat, PFD and a custom purple Greenland paddle.  I also bought a tow rope so when she got tried we could get her back safely and she would still enjoy the trip.

We packed our camper and headed to Chain-o-Lakes.  Our first day out we told her after we paddled a little we would go to the beach and she could play around.  That was all that was on her mind so not much paddling happened.  At the beach we let her play and swim; also we worked in a few wet exits.  I think this a skill that is essential for kayaking, knowing how far your boat will go before it goes over and having the confidence that you can remain calm and get out are as important as knowing which end of the paddle goes in the water.  We started by holding the boat and letting her jump out, by the end of the two days we were there she was flipping the boat completely over and swimming out.  We also attached both of our paddle floats to her paddle and let her play around with them.  She started to learn what it takes to climb over the paddle which will translate into self rescue later.

Over the coarse of a couple of days of paddling she got to see a muskrat swim by her boat, a beaver lodge, and slides created by river otters.  Knowing the kind of kid she is this just translates into a deeper love and appreciation of the outdoor world.  It also meant she wanted a kayak themed birthday party complete with a kayak themed cake but that is a whole other story in what a parent will do for their children.

While at camp she reached another mile stone.  She decided she wanted to ride her bike without training wheels.  We had attempted this several times before with disastrous results.  So after a long day of paddling she decided to try.  The training wheels came off and we started our first attempt.  Within three steps she was out of my hands and flying through the grass around the campground on two wheels!  I think it was an hour later before we actually got her to stop riding and take a break.  It all just came together.  I guess this trip was one of those times that you see your child grow up right before your eyes.  Since I was in Afghanistan the first year of her life I missed all of the first year mile stones.  I’m glad I’m able to reach these mile stones with her and I won’t forget them.

Now my youngest son’s birthday is in February and we are trying to figure out what special trip we should do for him, maybe climb Mt. Washington?  Ok maybe I’ll wait a few years for that since he’s only 4.

My Old Trusty Stove

Sometimes you have a piece of gear that you know should be replaced but despite all practical reasoning you just can’t do it.  My MSR XGK II stove is that way.  It’s not that I even need to replace it since I have a Whisper Lite and a MSR Pocket Rocket.  I know I should be carrying the lighter Pocket Rocket but I don’t.

As a product of working in the outdoor industry for 11 years I have a stove for all reasons and seasons.  The XGK II was bought when I was doing a lot of winter camping and mountaineering.  It was also my ultimate safety net; as a long range surveillance team leader I carried the stove during the winter.  There were many times we couldn’t take the driest route to an objective.  If any of my Soldiers started to go down on a training mission do to cold, wet weather I knew I could fire up the stove and get warm fluids into them.  The stove shows the wear from being in my rucksack for at least 25 to 30 parachute jumps and as many if not more training missions.  I also carried the stove in my bail out bag while I was in Afghanistan.  It’s robust build and ability to burn anything remotely flammable was my safety net if I ever found myself on the “run”.  I knew I could count on it to boil water quickly if need so I could survive.  Do to the parachute jumps, training mission and time in Afghanistan the stove is no longer round and the burner doesn’t sit straight but it still burns like hell.

My XGK II has also never failed to work no matter how crappy the fuel.  The only problem I’ve ever encountered was do to operator error (me being the operator) not the stove.  I cracked the pump housing while in Afghanistan.  So when I got home and before heading to Mt. Washington for a winter climbing trip I rebuilt the pump using the housing from my Whisper Lite.  Ready to go on the trip I made a huge mistake and didn’t do any pre trip inspection and test of the stove.  If I did I would have figured out that the fuel tube fit really tight into the pump and might need a little bit of chap stick to lube it up.  So while in sub zero temps I thought the tube and housing didn’t fit.  Everything worked out as the nice folks at the Harvard cabin let us use the stove in the cabin.  I still felt like a tool for not checking everything first, like I know I should have.

So while I know I should carry my lighter stove I can’t give up the old trusty XGK II.  It is like an old friend that you meet every year for a backpacking trip.  You spend more time sitting around camp passing the flask recounting past adventures and planning for new ones than actually hiking.  It is that old friend that I know I can count on.

Last Run for Winter

I knew this was going to be one of the last days of dog sledding for the year.  Other than a warm spell around New Years we’ve had snow on the ground since the first of December so I really couldn’t complain.  It was late February in central Indiana and much more snow just wasn’t going to happen.  I was going to enjoy the day and savor being out with my two dogs and my 3 year old son who was fast asleep inside the sled bag, his sleeping bag keeping him warm.

This day had started out like many others I’ve had since late September when the temperatures started to drop; after dropping my 6 year old daughter off at Kindergarten we would head to the trail and train.  Our trail is a local park that has two main loops of 2 and 3 miles respectively and several connector trails.  At first training was with my mountain bike and kid trailer, the dogs pulling us up to 15 miles then when the snow started to fly it was the dog sled for a 5 mile run.

This day was above freezing so with our dogs being accustom to the cold I had to be careful that they didn’t get over heated.  I would stop at several points along the trail for the dogs to eat some snow and take a few minutes to cool down.  Part of the trail goes through an Indiana prairie so it is pretty wide open and not very interesting for the dogs.  Right before we head back into the squirrel heavy, winding wooded section of the trail that my dogs love I stopped them to cool down.  I walked up and just sat down in the snow with my dogs and I remembered why I love being out in the woods during winter.  The silence was only broken by the gentle pant of the dogs.  After a few minutes I gave both dogs a good rub, walked back to the sled, and told the dogs “Let’s go”.  With the sound of runners cutting through the soft snow, collars jingling, and dogs panting we were off.

The run through the woods was kept lively due to a couple of squirrels running across the trail and safely up a tree.  Near the end of our run is a section of trail the dogs don’t like or at least they don’t like to pull through there.  I’m not sure what it is but no matter what direction we run on that section of trail they just shut down.  By now I know this and I’m ready to walk.  As we enter this slow section Ozzy our lazy but alert dog perks up so I know there’s something out there.  To my surprise a deer jumps up from bedding in the tall weeds and runs parallel to the trail, just the motivation my little teams needs to make quick work of their least favorite section of trail.  As we round a left hand sweeper to the section I call the drag strip we are keeping up a good pace.  The drag strip is a nice long straight section before our last right hand turn and back to the trail head.  The dogs know that frozen hot dogs and lots of water are just around the next bend so they always pull hard hence the drag strip.

As we near the end of the drag strip I start to set up the sled to make the last tight right hand turn and a squirrel leaps out and runs straight down the trail.  There is no stopping these two dogs.  The squirrel isn’t smart enough to make a 90 degree turn off the trail and after a winter of pulling the brake has little effect in stopping the dogs.  I hang on and try to get them to stop.  They do stop right before the squirrel hits the safety of the tree line Kenai our little 2 year old pulling machine (little as in 50lbs malamute) nails him.  She may be a puller but she’s no killer, Ozzy who we rescued after his stupid owner let him run free and didn’t understand why he was killing the neighbor’s chickens, is our highly efficient killer.  Kenai got the squirrel to low on the back and the squirrel got her.  Her inefficient strike allowed the squirrel enough room to swing around and grab a hold of her muzzle.  She lets go of the squirrel but he doesn’t let go of her!  At least it gave Ozzy enough room to go in and break its back.  This all happened in the time I could leave the sled and run up to the dogs.  I kicked the squirrel free from the dogs and pulled them from the kill zone.  Not knowing if all the blood on the snow was from Kenai or the squirrel.  The squirrel crawled off with only the use of his front legs, I don’t like leaving an animal to die a slow death so the thought of giving him the death blow with boot ran through my mind.  The worry about the condition of my dog and not wanting my 3 year old, that was now awake, see me stomp a squirrel to death over powered how I felt about the squirrel’s slow death.  I wheeled the dogs around and headed for the truck which was only about 200m away.

Once at the truck I cleaned up Kenai with some snow and found there were only 3 or 4 small bites on her muzzle so I felt much better.  After cleaning her up, getting the dogs a snack and water we loaded up for the drive home I called the vet and arranged to get a round of antibiotics for Kenai.  The vet also briefed me on what to watch for to make sure is was ok.

Once back home and everything was settled down and cleaned up I realized even though the end hadn’t been what I would have wanted it was a darn good year of dog sledding.

Kayaking in Indiana

For years when I worked in the outdoor industry customers would see the "sea kayaks" up on the wall and ask "where can you use that?"  It was always a tough sell to people that thought kayaks are cool but thought where would I use one in Indiana?  My first question would always be how many rivers did you drive over to get here?  Indiana may not be Alaska or Washington but we do have plenty of paddling and Lake Michigan does touch Northern Indiana.  What we do have is tons of reservoirs that are a pleasure to paddle even though you aren't in the wilds of Alaska.  Most of our reservoirs offer great day paddling and Lake Monroe is big enough to do over night camping trips to get that much needed experience for bigger and better water.  Winter paddling with wind and high water can be quite sporting and build your experience base of foul weather paddling with out taking your life in your own hands.  Our rivers are easy and access to the White River in central Indiana has increased greatly in the past 10 years.  A great day of paddling can be had on many of our rivers with any size boat and most don't require that much experience.  I think one of the jems  of our state is Chain-o-Lakes State Park (CLSP).  This small park near Ft. Wayne is truly a paddlers paradise, that is for Indiana.  The multiply small lake are linked together by canals left by the last ice age that create about 6 miles of water ways from one end to the other.  Starting at one end and paddling to the other and back is a nice way to spend the day.  Only one or two of the lakes allow motorized water craft and then only trolley motors so you won't be buzzed by a speed boat or mad fisherman.  There is even a canoe camp so you can make it a night if you would like.  One of the great things about this park is the wildlife.  On multiple trips we've seen most of what Indiana has to offer.  Of course dear are there but you will also see beaver and river otters, you might even see an osprey if your lucky.  My wife and I spent one afternoon watching a family of otters after one almost hit my boat.
While we don't have the great expanse of water our coastal or Great Lake states have Indiana can offer fun for the day trip paddler.  Experience gained on these more mild water ways can launch you to that big trip you've been dreaming about.  Remember to keep your mind open to what we have around us because as our life gets busy close to home is still getting out!