Starting the solo canoe trip - 17 day solo canoe trip - Part 1 

Thank you so much for sharing your experience. Your 17-day solo trip is such a great aspiration for me. I've been planning to go on a 9-day canoe trip Everglades Wilderness Waterway, but always had to cancel because I couldn't find someone to go with me. After watching your videos, I gained the courage that I could do it solo.

Fahad Asmat That is great news Fahad that you are able to go canoe tripping solo! Best wishes for an excellent solo tripping career! I am heartened to know that I inspired another person to travel out on their own. I did my first overnight solo when I was 14 years old. Then worked up from there, eventually to month long solos some summers. When done with skills training, and an ongoing quest to always improve one's skills and knowledge, its actually quite safe, and never boring with all the work that has to be done! The more you travel solo, the more challenges you will face, and the more you will learn. Facing challenge at one's own pace is very rewarding!

wow! surprised to know you did a solo trip at only the age of 14. You are a brave man! It takes a lot of courage and effort to actually go on a solo trip. Whenever I go on a canoe trip, I think I'm prepared. However, ever time I face new challenges and get prepare better for next trip. I'm learning more as I'm watching your trip videos. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

Thanks again Fahad! Keep on practicing your skills, and the more you do solo trips, the more you will want to do longer solo trips! :o)

Thanks Jay! The snow and ice is melting here, time for me to start planning the next trips!

Thanks G! For provincial parks go to their websites or call them and they can give you info. For Crown land outside of parks, have a look at Google Earth and you can find bush roads or turn offs to park in. For this area I am paddling in this vid, you can get most of the info I used from The Wabakimi Project, which documents the Crown land routes surrounding the park. Check out the TWP's website and look for the route volumes 1-4. That's how I found this spot I am paddling in, inclduing a place to park. They sell them for $35 each, but I think they are a bargain, especially since their crews went through and cut out the blowdown. Please make note of Ontario's infamous "Green Zones", where non-residents are not allowed to camp without an outfitter. I don't think the area in the vid is a green zone, but you need to check. Ontario's MNR website will have a map of green zones. Also, non-residents need a crown land camping permit, which is about $10 per day or so. Call MNR or go to their website to look up details. (They don't make it easy for our American friends to come up here on crown land, unfortunately). For a park experience that has a similar landscape to where I am paddling, Woodland Caribou Prov. Park is fantastic. Red Lake Outfitters can set you up for a trip there, even if its just parking and a vehicle shuttle (check their website).

Thanks TT! My canoe on this video series is a "small 16", actually 15 foot 8 inches. Its a 34 inch beam with mild tumblehome, which makes getting the hip over to one side more comfortable for paddling, and allows for a nice lean for classic Canadian stroke paddling. The depth is 14 inches in the middle, and the bottom is slightly round, which makes for a stable big water ride in a chop, and for fishing, fighting big thrashing northern pike. Best wishes for a great Mexico paddling trip!