May 2003
Volume XV
Issue 1
Abridged Edition

Great Trip Stories and Memories

By Tom Todd

Where do we get them?

A paddling trip is a great way to get away from it all, whether it is a weekend paddle, a week-long paddle down a close-by river, or an expedition into the remote Canadian arctic. It is a wonderful time to relax, to bring thoughts inward, to think about life, and to plan the future. Paddling life is simple, planning your way down the river, providing for life's basics of air (fresher than you find anywhere), food (planned and packed way in advance, cooked over a softwood fire), and shelter (packed in a bag ready to be quickly set up in that place that provides the last), and comfort (a warm dry bag on soft moss.) Oh well, for the first few days the aching muscles will deprive you of that comfort.

It is also a wonderful time to observe the sky, the water, the landscape and how it all came to be. A time to follow the rhythms of the day. Your bladder forces you out of the warm sleeping bag to make the coffee to refill it. Next is breaking camp and packing to paddle the day. A lunch stop in sun or shade is selected to suit your needs. The selection of an early afternoon campsite is made to ready tents and dinner. And soon it is time to pack it in for the night.

For me this is the time to reflect, to collect the days thoughts, insights, and experiences. It is a time to enjoy yet again the experiences of the day, before it begins to blend into all the others. It is a chance to get out a pen and notebook and write. It is a chance to record the fish that got away, the back-breaking portage that filled your boots, the funny little eddy that almost sent you swimming, the kingfisher that caught a fish off your bow.

Our paddling trips are to be cherished. We never seem to have enough time for them as we meet the needs of life's complex demands. They are all so unique and yet we tend to forget. But we don't want to forget.

So we bring along a camera and snap pictures here and there … and those are our memories … or are they? Looking through my pictures, they never seem to convey a sense of size, of cold, of clarity, of bugs, of flavor, of excitement, or of almost … The camera tweaks the memory, but can't remember the thoughts, the distance, the fishing spots, the time paddling, the wind.

This is why putting pen to paper is so important. Here is where you get to really remember what the trip was like. Here is where you get to share the stories with others. Here is where you can help guide another down a difficult part of the river. Here is where you can entice others to follow your path or join you on the next trip.

After the trip, taking those notes to weave a story of your trip is yet another way to relive your trip. It allows you to put your thoughts together and to weave a theme for the trip. This story, read years from now, brings back memories and great joys.

Sharing that story with friends is the additional joy that we all feel in our common interest in paddling. Those stories bond us together. Sharing those stories in the WrapAround is the greatest joy of all

… and it will make your new WrapAround editor most happy!!