FYI - a history lesson and a renewed invitation
Friday, May 25, 2007 at 10:13AM 
The wife's delight
The wife making delights
Hugo's (at 11 months) first overnighter
Quite early morning on Franklin Falls Pond
An early Adirondack guide with his 'sport' (client) in an Adirondack Guideboat
Nearly 30,000 miles of streams and brooks that emerge from the Adirondack mountains and forests form the network from which 1,000 miles of powerful Adirondack rivers gather their volume and strength. Add to that over 3,000 lakes and ponds and it's no mystery why waterways were the early 'highways' of the Adirondacks.
In keeping with the earlier topic of the environment driving human history, two wonderful inventions of humankind came about as a result of the influence on man of this natural waterway phenomena - the Adirondack guideboat and the Adirondack 'pack' canoe. Both are marvels of human ingenuity and they are things of beauty as well.
click to embiggenThe Adirondack guideboat was first created as an early 'pickup truck'. It's primary use was to move large volumes of stuff around the landscape. Eventually, as the tourist trade took hold, they were used to haul tourists (aka, 'sports') and their stuff around the landscape. The boats were/are light, fast, stable and carry a lot of stuff. As seen in the photo, guides often allowed their 'sport' to use a steering paddle when they were rowing from the bow position.
The Adirondack 'pack' canoe is epitomised by the Rushton 'Sairy Gamp' which was built for George Washington Sears, nom de plume - 'Nessmuk'. Nessmuk (a small man) was a nationally syndicated sportswriter who traversed the Adirondacks - 266 miles - in his 9ft, 10lb canoe. The year was 1883.
Rushton did not promise that the laden Sairy Gamp would float or survive. That did not discourage Nessmuk, whose motto was "Go light; the lighter the better, so that you have the simplest material for health, comfort and enjoyment." You can read Nessmuk's writing about his Adirondack traverse here. Look under Letters to Forest and Stream, Cruise of the Siary Gamp, 1883. It is truly fascinating reading.
Pack boats are typically very nimble and very light which makes them ideally suited for winding rivers and streams, replete with lots of 'carries' (portage). Dispite their diminutive size and weight - ours are 12 ft./21 lbs. - they, like their guideboat brethern, carry a lot of stuff. Our cherry-trimmed kevlar/carbon fiber 'Spitfires'carry up to 375 lbs. - typically, in 2 boats, that's me, the wife, 2 dogs, and enough gear and provisions for as long as we want to be away.
In any event, I tell you all of this because only a few people have responded to my Make them an offer they can't refuse. Once again I extend the invitation. Come on people - it'll be fun and a chance to meet new and interesting people. Not to mention traversing a wilderness landscape in the best example of a 125 year+ old tradition.
It's not arduous or dangerous and it's good for the body and soul.
PS - I have not had time to respond to those who have responded but, just to let you know, I want to schedule this for late August. Let me know if this works for you.
Reader Comments (2)
Mark, In The Wife Making Delights, what the heck is that holding your wine glasses? How cool! I usually jam a couple bottles into my pack and imbibe at sunset from the same tin cup I made morning tea in. To think, stemware in the wilderness! What a class act...
Brett
Bret - when the wife first started canoeing, I enforced a rather strict regime of 'lighter is righter' and so, after she began sneaking wine into our duffle, we drank from the same cups .... while we sat on the ground and balanced our meals on our laps.
Now, creature comforts are king. After all, what is all that space in a canoe for? When we're traveling 'full boat', we keep the routes light on the carries and usually set up a 'base' camp.
Those wine-glass-holding-things came from Pottery Barn. They're just a simple metal skewer stem with an open loop on top - they weight not much more than a tent peg.