New Wheels

So I bought a truck. It's a '99 Toyota Tacoma SR5 Xtracab 4wd. The idea is that I want to be able to live out of it full time after I graduate. So how am I going to go about doing that?

Well to start, I bought a camper shell, a Leer 148 for the extra head room. New caps cost anywhere from 1500-2000 dollars or more. I picked this one up used off of Craigslist for 100 bucks.



So what now? As I'm planning out the layout for the truck, I've divided it into four sections. First is the front seat area of the cab, which will be for driving myself and whoever is in the passenger seat. Second will be the seats behind the front seats, which I plan in turning into storage. I'm going to make a platform to level the bench seats and fill the space in between each row of seats, giving me an even platform to store gear. In this space, I see more of my living gear, clothes, blankets, etc.

In the bed, I am going to build a sleeping platform. I haven't quite figured out the exact design, but I want to build it around Rubbermaid containers, so that I have to sections; beneath the platforms, which will be storage for gear, like paddle clothes, cookset, etc. and above which will be the sleeping area, with whatever pad i decide on, sleeping bag, small light, etc.

Another thing I want to incorporate, if I can, is a solar powered battery. I want it to be small, but powerful enough that I can charge my cameras, power my laptop, etc. This way I don't have to poach power with an extension cord.

It's still in the planning stages, but this summer I want to start by weatherproofing the cap and building the platforms. We'll see how it goes

Updates, Where I See This Going

Hey guys,

I haven't posted in a while, other than to use a few posts as a dumpling place for pictures. Hopefully that will change. Summer is coming along, and with it, my job in New Jersey where some times the tedium lends itself to blog posts. I need to get in the habit of posting more, so I'll try to put three short ones up this week. The first one deals with what I am trying to do, and how I see this blog playing a roll in that.

I will be graduating college in approximately seven months, with degrees in history and political philosophy. As of yet, I am sure of only one thing; I don't want to go to law school, grad school, or into a career. So I am going to take some time and travel.

But at the same time, I have begun to seriously look at whitewater canoeing as a lifestyle, a vehicle that can take me into the next chapter of my life. Right now canoeing is an escape, a way for me to connect with the natural world in a very unique and special way. I think because whitewater canoeing is a niche area of a niche sport, that uniqueness is very appealing. But at the same time, I want more people to canoe. I think canoeing is absolutely the most legal fun you can have in this country, and I want more people to experience it. So where does that leave me?

I think I want to spend some time over the next few years promoting whitewater canoeing. I want to progress into Class V whitewater (I'm a noob IV right now) and as I progress I want to bring more and more people into the sport. Most of all, I want to get a canoe company that shares this vision and will let me help them with a marketing strategy to expand the industry. Will it happen? Who knows...time will tell.

But as I finish my last seven months of the relative security of college, I will use this blog as a means to detail the planning that goes into this endeavor. I've already bought a pick-up truck - there will be a post on that soon - and my next step is to outfit my truck so that I can live in it long term. Hopefully I'll be able to showcase each step along the way. Also, I'll hopefully be paddling more this summer, as I need the weekend to escape from the computer screen-filled week. And finally, I want to make this blog more personal, so that those who follow me on this journey actually feel like they might know me. We'll see how it goes.

Now, to motivate myself to actually keep up with this blogging...

Trip Proposals!

Winter in the northeast severely limits my adventuring, especially since my winter sports are limited to sledding and snow ball fights. But the winter does lend itself to trip planning.

Right now, I have two Algonquin trips going. The secondary trip is for late May, after classes end. It will be "the" loop, from Cedar to Catfish to Burntroot to Cedar, by the Petawawa and the Nipissing Rivers. My plan is to leave off Hogan in the hopes of spending an extra night at Burntroot, and maybe another extra day on Catfish. Maybe even reversing the direction, so we are with he current on the Petawawa.

This time, I want to take some time to fish and to check out the historical sites on Catfish and Burntroot.


But the BIG trip!

This is for late August, a week or two before school starts (if I'm still a student)

It would be my first lead, as this time it would be just me and my friend. I want to do a loop from Kiosk, going down Mink to Club the first night, up Erables to Maple the second night, over to Three Mile, down to Biggar, and over to North Tea the third night, a rest day, and then to Manitou the fifth night before heading back to Kiosk. We'd probably spend that sixth night in North Bay, before heading home through Buffalo (a true loop).

Right now my worries lie in the third day. Maple to Three Mile to Biggar to North Tea is a HAUL. It's about 15 miles, with almost 6km of carries. I have two contingencies planned. If we reach Three Mile and we are tired/late/fed up, we can portage 2800 meters downhill (like that would matter on a 2800 meter portage) to Manitou. And, once we reach Biggar, there are sites all the way to the East Arm of North Tea. But I really want to get to an island site on the East Arm, so that we can have a true rest day.

As for fishing, I've heard Club, Erables, Biggar, North Tea, and Manitou as likely spots for specks, lakers, and smallmouth. It would be great to catch anything, and maybe, if we are lucky, I can introduce Algonquin properly, with some fish dinner.

Lots of time left to plan. I can't secure the permit until February, so I'm sure there will be minor changes. But man, planning is fun.

(The Kiosk Route: I'll draw it out when I can. It looks like the bottom half of a capital "A")