“HOW COULD THEY ALL
HAVE BEEN TOO BUSY?” PHOTO: JAMES SMEDLEY
Who Said That?
WHEN THE VOICES START, YOU REALIZE SOLO TRIPPING ISN’T THE SOOTHING MENTAL BALM IT’S SUPPOSED TO BE
SOLO CANOE TRIPPING evokes noble images of ear- nest trippers reaching the height of outdoor purity. We can all picture it: mountains rise on the horizon, trees flood the foreground, and into this pristine wilderness paddles a lone canoeist across a lake so calm it resembles a sheet of glass. There’s something to be said for this ideal. When you are
alone you don’t scare away the wildlife with incessant chit chat (more on that later), so it’s easier to connect with na- ture (I love you Mr. Squirrel) and, yes, connect with yourself (Hello Ben, it’s me, Ben). A closer inspection, one that includes psychological anal-
yses of first-time solo trippers, exposes the solo canoe trip to be not the soothing emotional balm we think, but an inevi- table step by stop process of slow mental unravelling….
32 n
C ANOE ROOT S early summer 2007
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68