Paddling story's - Canoeing / Kayaking

Table of Contents

Paddling story's - sperduton - Jun-28-12 8:10 AM
- Colin Angus - RapidMediaTVGuy - Jun-28-12 9:09 AM
  - Survival of the Bark Canoe - rjd9999 - Jun-28-12 11:11 AM
- Confessions of a Wave Warrior - Peter-CA - Jun-28-12 11:24 AM
- The View from the Canoe - mrmannerz - Jun-28-12 2:02 PM
  - Here's a great one! - thebob.com - Jun-28-12 2:33 PM
- Where Rivers Run - MLR - Jun-28-12 2:58 PM
- The River of Doubt - slowerpaddle - Jun-28-12 3:16 PM
  - The Starship & the Canoe - Seadddict - Jun-28-12 5:05 PM
- Paddl'ing st'or'ies' - seadart - Jun-28-12 6:33 PM
  - Oh, one other worth mention - rjd9999 - Jun-28-12 9:50 PM
- Rushton & His Times in American Canoeing - trilliumlake - Jun-28-12 10:36 PM
  - "Running the Amazon" - george4908 - Jun-28-12 11:09 PM
- Three great different adventures - pikabike - Jun-28-12 11:28 PM
  - A few.... - chodups - Jun-29-12 12:13 AM
- here is two - paddletothesea - Jun-29-12 10:05 AM
- Chris Duff - - tvcrider - Jun-29-12 10:44 AM
  - Ditto on..... - chodups - Jun-29-12 11:42 AM
    - "Death on the Barrens" - ness - Jun-29-12 7:27 PM
- Jon Turk - radskierman - Jun-29-12 7:31 PM
  - copy that! - chodups - Jun-29-12 9:13 PM
- Nastawgan - Mystical - Jul-02-12 12:33 AM
  - River Horse - RedCrossRandy - Jul-03-12 10:09 AM
- Some other choices - PJC - Jul-03-12 6:53 PM

Messages in this Topic

  Colin Angus
  Posted by: RapidMediaTVGuy on Jun-28-12 9:09 AM (EST)

Colin Angus has a few books that are pretty good. I forget the names at the moment but one was a Mongolia trip, there is an Amazon one as well.

Dan Caldwell
Rapid Media TV Guy

  Survival of the Bark Canoe
  Posted by: rjd9999 on Jun-28-12 11:11 AM (EST)

Or anything else by Mcphee (though only the title above is about paddling). Awesome writer.

I read a book by a Canadian father & son who paddled the Amazon, but can't recall the title. I can't recall the title, but I'll take a look around and see if it's still here. It was a decent read. A quick search turned up the following website which has a few books it cites as the "best," so that link is next:

http://www.ronwatters.com/BkPaddle.htm

http://www.ronwatters.com/BkLiam2.htm

is on that site as well and may be a good source.

Hope you find something good that you haven't already read.

Rick

  Confessions of a Wave Warrior
  Posted by: Peter-CA on Jun-28-12 11:24 AM (EST)

There is an excerpt of Confessions of a Wave Warrior in the Fall 2010 issue of California Kayaker Magazine. That excerpt can be read online for free at http://www.calkayakermag.com/magazine.html.

I have heard good things about The Fat Paddler, but haven't read it yet.

  The View from the Canoe
  Posted by: mrmannerz on Jun-28-12 2:02 PM (EST)

try my blog for short readings.
http://canoepost.blogspot.com/
365 days so far.

  Here's a great one!
  Posted by: thebob.com on Jun-28-12 2:33 PM (EST)

-- Last Updated: Jun-28-12 6:44 PM EST --

River of Darkness
Francisco Orellana's Legendary Voyage of Death and Discovery Down the Amazon
By Buddy Levy
Bantam Books/New York
2011

One of the "best" adventure books I've "ever" read.
BOB

P.S.
Another two............

Lawrence, The Uncrowned King of Arabia
By Michael Asher
Overlook Press/New York
1998

Hemingway's Boat
Everything He Loved, and Lost 1934-1961
By Paul Hendrickson
Alfred A. Knopf/New York
2011

  Where Rivers Run
  Posted by: MLR on Jun-28-12 2:58 PM (EST)

"Where Rivers Run" follows Gary and Joanie McGuffins trip from The St. Lawrence seaway to Tuktoyaktuk over two paddling seasons.
It's a great read.

I'm currently reading "Shantyboat, A River Way Of Life" by Harlan Hubbard.
Excellent book.

  The River of Doubt
  Posted by: slowerpaddle on Jun-28-12 3:16 PM (EST)

At once an incredible adventure narrative and a penetrating biographical portrait, The River of Doubt is the true story of Theodore Roosevelt�s harrowing exploration of one of the most dangerous rivers on earth.

The River of Doubt�it is a black, uncharted tributary of the Amazon that snakes through one of the most treacherous jungles in the world. Indians armed with poison-tipped arrows haunt its shadows; piranhas glide through its waters; boulder-strewn rapids turn the river into a roiling cauldron.

  The Starship & the Canoe
  Posted by: Seadddict on Jun-28-12 5:05 PM (EST)

by Kenneth Brower. It's about Freeman Dyson the astrophysicist and his societal "dropout" & kayaker son George. Both very interesting people.

  Paddl'ing st'or'ies'
  Posted by: seadart on Jun-28-12 6:33 PM (EST)

In the Wake of the Joman - john Turk

  Oh, one other worth mention
  Posted by: rjd9999 on Jun-28-12 9:50 PM (EST)

Farley Mowat's "The Dog Who Wouldn't Be," has a passage fairly early in the book about the time his father and a friend attempted to boat from landlocked Saskatchewan to the gulf. All I can say is that it is well worth reading.

Rick

  Rushton & His Times in American Canoeing
  Posted by: trilliumlake on Jun-28-12 10:36 PM (EST)

Great book available from the Adirondack Museum. Rushton was the father of modern canoeing, and a lot of what we enjoy about canoeing today got its start with Rushton and his contemporaries.

Rushton built the first ultra-light cedar strip canoe for George Washington Sears, aka Nessmuk, one of the first white men to paddle alone through the Adirondacks.

There's a bonus section with plans for many of Rushton's canoes.

Fascinating book, couldn't put it down.

  "Running the Amazon"
  Posted by: george4908 on Jun-28-12 11:09 PM (EST)

By Joe Kane. The first full-length navigation ofthe Amazon from source to sea. Well-written, absorbing adventure, a classic of its kind. From the blurb:

"The voyage began in the lunar terrain of the Peruvian Andes, where coca leaf is the only remedy against altitude sickness. It continued down rapids so fierce they could swallow a raft in a split second. It ended six months and 4,200 miles later, where the Amazon runs gently into the Atlantic. Joe Kane's personal account of the first expedition to travel the entirety of the world's longest river is a riveting adventure in the tradition of Joseph Conrad, filled with death-defying encounters: with narco-traffickers and Sendero Luminoso guerrillas and nature at its most unforgiving. Not least of all, Running the Amazon shows a polyglot group of urbanized travelers confronting their wilder selves -- their fear and egotism, selflessness and courage."

  Three great different adventures
  Posted by: pikabike on Jun-28-12 11:28 PM (EST)

Jon Turk's Cold Oceans

Joshua Slocum's Sailing Alone Around the World

We Swam the Grand Canyon (can't remember the author's name; book is out of print)

  A few....
  Posted by: chodups on Jun-29-12 12:13 AM (EST)

Homelands by Byron Ricks
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1668878.Homelands

Cruise of the Blue Flugin by Ken Wise
http://www.amazon.com/Cruise-Blue-Flujin-Ken-Wise/dp/0961159669

We Survived Yesterday by John Reseck
http://books.google.com/books/about/We_Survived_Yesterday.html?id=6EzTAAAACAAJ

The Enchanted Vagabonds
http://www.classictravelbooks.com/authors/lamb.htm

  here is two
  Posted by: paddletothesea on Jun-29-12 10:05 AM (EST)

two solo on the Missouri
One source to sea
the other to St. Louis
Mark Kalch-paddling 7 longest rivers on 7 continents. And or google him, a good blog of his solo hike from the north to the south border of Iran last year too.
and Bob Bellingham

www.7rivers7continents.com
www.steadypaddling.com

  Chris Duff -
  Posted by: tvcrider on Jun-29-12 10:44 AM (EST)

"On Celtic Tides"

"Southern Exposure"

  Ditto on.....
  Posted by: chodups on Jun-29-12 11:42 AM (EST)

...Southern Exposure.

  "Death on the Barrens"
  Posted by: ness on Jun-29-12 7:27 PM (EST)

and just about any adventure book that the Piragis Northwoods catalog lists for good reads.

  Jon Turk
  Posted by: radskierman on Jun-29-12 7:31 PM (EST)

In the Wake of the Jomon

  copy that!
  Posted by: chodups on Jun-29-12 9:13 PM (EST)

  Nastawgan
  Posted by: Mystical on Jul-02-12 12:33 AM (EST)

I love this book. Lots of short stories.

http://www.amazon.com/Nastawgan-Canadian-North-Canoe-Snowshoe/dp/0969078331

  River Horse
  Posted by: RedCrossRandy on Jul-03-12 10:09 AM (EST)

Not a paddling account, but a trip across America from NYC to the Pacific. It's filled with interesting factoids, like: what if John Wilkes Booth HAD hit oil in Oil City PA near the Allegheny River, how would that have changed history?

  Some other choices
  Posted by: PJC on Jul-03-12 6:53 PM (EST)

-- Last Updated: Jul-04-12 7:29 AM EST --

The "Lonely Land" by Sigurd Olson is a classic... an account of a canoe trip following a fur trade route across Saskatchewan to Manitoba. Quite well written, IMHO.

If stories of paddling in really exotic locations interest you, there are two I've read on the Tsangpo river and can recommend with some qualifications. (The Tsangpo runs east from Tibet near Mt. Everest through a canyon several times deeper than the Grand Canyon and much narrower. Think paddling Shangri La. It is the WAY upper end of the Brahmaputra.)
One is "Courting the Diamond Sow" by Wickliffe Walker, an account of the first attempt at a first decent of that river.
The other is "Hell or High Water" by Peter Heller.

I don't personally think these two are written as well as "Lonely Land" but, gad, what a river! And what river trips! The stories make up for the writing. Can you imagine a portage racing foul weather in the Himalaya?

While not really a paddling story, one that is a very good read and begins and ends with a smashed up kayak in the Queen Charlotte islands is the "Golden Spruce" by John Vaillant. Brilliantly written by a man who seems to be very very well versed on the all matters Pacific northwest.

"River" by Colin Fletcher (the Complete Walker guy) is a good one also. Solo raft trip of the Green/Colorado R. (He maintains the Green is really the upper Colorado since its the longer tributary) to the sea.

Second "On Celtic Tides", and "Wake of Joman" also.

	Colin Angus Posted by: RapidMediaTVGuy on Jun-28-12 9:09 AM (EST)
	Colin Angus has a few books that are pretty good. I forget the names at the moment but one was a Mongolia trip, there is an Amazon one as well. Dan Caldwell Rapid Media TV Guy

	Survival of the Bark Canoe Posted by: rjd9999 on Jun-28-12 11:11 AM (EST)
	Or anything else by Mcphee (though only the title above is about paddling). Awesome writer. I read a book by a Canadian father & son who paddled the Amazon, but can't recall the title. I can't recall the title, but I'll take a look around and see if it's still here. It was a decent read. A quick search turned up the following website which has a few books it cites as the "best," so that link is next: http://www.ronwatters.com/BkPaddle.htm http://www.ronwatters.com/BkLiam2.htm is on that site as well and may be a good source. Hope you find something good that you haven't already read. Rick

	Confessions of a Wave Warrior Posted by: Peter-CA on Jun-28-12 11:24 AM (EST)
	There is an excerpt of Confessions of a Wave Warrior in the Fall 2010 issue of California Kayaker Magazine. That excerpt can be read online for free at http://www.calkayakermag.com/magazine.html. I have heard good things about The Fat Paddler, but haven't read it yet.

	The View from the Canoe Posted by: mrmannerz on Jun-28-12 2:02 PM (EST)
	try my blog for short readings. http://canoepost.blogspot.com/ 365 days so far.

	Here's a great one! Posted by: thebob.com on Jun-28-12 2:33 PM (EST)
	-- Last Updated: Jun-28-12 6:44 PM EST -- River of Darkness Francisco Orellana's Legendary Voyage of Death and Discovery Down the Amazon By Buddy Levy Bantam Books/New York 2011 One of the "best" adventure books I've "ever" read. BOB P.S. Another two............ Lawrence, The Uncrowned King of Arabia By Michael Asher Overlook Press/New York 1998 Hemingway's Boat Everything He Loved, and Lost 1934-1961 By Paul Hendrickson Alfred A. Knopf/New York 2011

	Where Rivers Run Posted by: MLR on Jun-28-12 2:58 PM (EST)
	"Where Rivers Run" follows Gary and Joanie McGuffins trip from The St. Lawrence seaway to Tuktoyaktuk over two paddling seasons. It's a great read. I'm currently reading "Shantyboat, A River Way Of Life" by Harlan Hubbard. Excellent book.

	The River of Doubt Posted by: slowerpaddle on Jun-28-12 3:16 PM (EST)
	At once an incredible adventure narrative and a penetrating biographical portrait, The River of Doubt is the true story of Theodore Roosevelt�s harrowing exploration of one of the most dangerous rivers on earth. The River of Doubt�it is a black, uncharted tributary of the Amazon that snakes through one of the most treacherous jungles in the world. Indians armed with poison-tipped arrows haunt its shadows; piranhas glide through its waters; boulder-strewn rapids turn the river into a roiling cauldron.

	The Starship & the Canoe Posted by: Seadddict on Jun-28-12 5:05 PM (EST)
	by Kenneth Brower. It's about Freeman Dyson the astrophysicist and his societal "dropout" & kayaker son George. Both very interesting people.

	Paddl'ing st'or'ies' Posted by: seadart on Jun-28-12 6:33 PM (EST)
	In the Wake of the Joman - john Turk

	Oh, one other worth mention Posted by: rjd9999 on Jun-28-12 9:50 PM (EST)
	Farley Mowat's "The Dog Who Wouldn't Be," has a passage fairly early in the book about the time his father and a friend attempted to boat from landlocked Saskatchewan to the gulf. All I can say is that it is well worth reading. Rick

	Rushton & His Times in American Canoeing Posted by: trilliumlake on Jun-28-12 10:36 PM (EST)
	Great book available from the Adirondack Museum. Rushton was the father of modern canoeing, and a lot of what we enjoy about canoeing today got its start with Rushton and his contemporaries. Rushton built the first ultra-light cedar strip canoe for George Washington Sears, aka Nessmuk, one of the first white men to paddle alone through the Adirondacks. There's a bonus section with plans for many of Rushton's canoes. Fascinating book, couldn't put it down.

	"Running the Amazon" Posted by: george4908 on Jun-28-12 11:09 PM (EST)
	By Joe Kane. The first full-length navigation ofthe Amazon from source to sea. Well-written, absorbing adventure, a classic of its kind. From the blurb: "The voyage began in the lunar terrain of the Peruvian Andes, where coca leaf is the only remedy against altitude sickness. It continued down rapids so fierce they could swallow a raft in a split second. It ended six months and 4,200 miles later, where the Amazon runs gently into the Atlantic. Joe Kane's personal account of the first expedition to travel the entirety of the world's longest river is a riveting adventure in the tradition of Joseph Conrad, filled with death-defying encounters: with narco-traffickers and Sendero Luminoso guerrillas and nature at its most unforgiving. Not least of all, Running the Amazon shows a polyglot group of urbanized travelers confronting their wilder selves -- their fear and egotism, selflessness and courage."

	Three great different adventures Posted by: pikabike on Jun-28-12 11:28 PM (EST)
	Jon Turk's Cold Oceans Joshua Slocum's Sailing Alone Around the World We Swam the Grand Canyon (can't remember the author's name; book is out of print)

	A few.... Posted by: chodups on Jun-29-12 12:13 AM (EST)
	Homelands by Byron Ricks http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1668878.Homelands Cruise of the Blue Flugin by Ken Wise http://www.amazon.com/Cruise-Blue-Flujin-Ken-Wise/dp/0961159669 We Survived Yesterday by John Reseck http://books.google.com/books/about/We_Survived_Yesterday.html?id=6EzTAAAACAAJ The Enchanted Vagabonds http://www.classictravelbooks.com/authors/lamb.htm

	here is two Posted by: paddletothesea on Jun-29-12 10:05 AM (EST)
	two solo on the Missouri One source to sea the other to St. Louis Mark Kalch-paddling 7 longest rivers on 7 continents. And or google him, a good blog of his solo hike from the north to the south border of Iran last year too. and Bob Bellingham www.7rivers7continents.com www.steadypaddling.com

	Chris Duff - Posted by: tvcrider on Jun-29-12 10:44 AM (EST)
	"On Celtic Tides" "Southern Exposure"

	Ditto on..... Posted by: chodups on Jun-29-12 11:42 AM (EST)
	...Southern Exposure.

	"Death on the Barrens" Posted by: ness on Jun-29-12 7:27 PM (EST)
	and just about any adventure book that the Piragis Northwoods catalog lists for good reads.

	Jon Turk Posted by: radskierman on Jun-29-12 7:31 PM (EST)
	In the Wake of the Jomon

	copy that! Posted by: chodups on Jun-29-12 9:13 PM (EST)

	Nastawgan Posted by: Mystical on Jul-02-12 12:33 AM (EST)
	I love this book. Lots of short stories. http://www.amazon.com/Nastawgan-Canadian-North-Canoe-Snowshoe/dp/0969078331

	River Horse Posted by: RedCrossRandy on Jul-03-12 10:09 AM (EST)
	Not a paddling account, but a trip across America from NYC to the Pacific. It's filled with interesting factoids, like: what if John Wilkes Booth HAD hit oil in Oil City PA near the Allegheny River, how would that have changed history?

	Some other choices Posted by: PJC on Jul-03-12 6:53 PM (EST)
	-- Last Updated: Jul-04-12 7:29 AM EST -- The "Lonely Land" by Sigurd Olson is a classic... an account of a canoe trip following a fur trade route across Saskatchewan to Manitoba. Quite well written, IMHO. If stories of paddling in really exotic locations interest you, there are two I've read on the Tsangpo river and can recommend with some qualifications. (The Tsangpo runs east from Tibet near Mt. Everest through a canyon several times deeper than the Grand Canyon and much narrower. Think paddling Shangri La. It is the WAY upper end of the Brahmaputra.) One is "Courting the Diamond Sow" by Wickliffe Walker, an account of the first attempt at a first decent of that river. The other is "Hell or High Water" by Peter Heller. I don't personally think these two are written as well as "Lonely Land" but, gad, what a river! And what river trips! The stories make up for the writing. Can you imagine a portage racing foul weather in the Himalaya? While not really a paddling story, one that is a very good read and begins and ends with a smashed up kayak in the Queen Charlotte islands is the "Golden Spruce" by John Vaillant. Brilliantly written by a man who seems to be very very well versed on the all matters Pacific northwest. "River" by Colin Fletcher (the Complete Walker guy) is a good one also. Solo raft trip of the Green/Colorado R. (He maintains the Green is really the upper Colorado since its the longer tributary) to the sea. Second "On Celtic Tides", and "Wake of Joman" also.