Backpacker – August 2019

JULY/AUGUST 2019

BACKPACKER.COM 41

MIKE CARINA

CHEAT SHEET

Put Wind to Work
Paddling’s fun, but covering miles while you lounge with a cold drink is hard
to beat. Catch a break by taking advantage of tailwinds and setting sail on
open lakes (frequent turns make sailing difficult on rivers). A 5- to 8-mph
tailwind is ideal for sailing (anything faster creates chop). Look for breeze-
driven riffles—not whitecaps.
In a group, join boats together. Hold onto your neighbors’ gunwales or
hook a leg into their boat to stay close. Tie two paddles to the corners of a
tarp or rainfly (for sailing in a single canoe, a rain jacket works). Those in the
bow should hold the paddles upright to hoist the sail. Stern paddlers steer.

THER E IS SUCH A THING a s a death ma rch on the water. I lea rned that

one summer leading a g roup of teena gers through a daylong headwind on

Quebec’s Lac Poulter. W hitecaps crested over our bows a nd we battled

sideways ra in for hours. W hen we fina lly reached la nd, a stony silence hung

over the g roup. But a s soon a s I dra gged my boat a shore, I noticed blueberr y

bushes dabbled across a n outcrop. We’d paddled fa r enough that other

boaters ra rely ca me out here. The bount y wa s a ll ours.

Without removing my life jacket, I bega n to pick. The ra in had clea red,

a nd my cha rges, having lived off of cold Pop-Ta r ts a nd tor tilla s for t wo

weeks, were delighted. We followed blueberr y bushes up a pine needle-

ca rpeted slope where views of the la ke stretched on three sides. We snacked

as we went, then emptied our Nalgenes to collect more. A scramble down

some rocks revea led even more fruit tucked a mid dense brush.

It ’s possible to be drunk on berries. Sing ing a nd chatting, we picked

for nea rly t wo hours a nd ba rely dented the crop. That night, we created a

backcountr y confection: berries cooked with lemonade mix a nd topped with

a crumble of oatmea l a nd honey. Only a long paddle could deliver us to such

a place—a nd only berries could turn a wea risome day into one we wished

would never end.

IT HAPPENED TO ME

Berry Bliss

A day of hard paddling leads to the best backcountry

surprise. By Zoe Gates

PADDLE LIKE A PRO

W het her you wa nt t o cover long d is t a nces or

navigate whitewater, master these basic strokes

t o get s t a r t ed.

Forward paddle

Both bow and stern paddlers default to this stroke.

Turn your torso slightly to reach over the gunwale.

Dip the entire blade in the water and pull toward the

stern, generating power from your torso and back.

Lif t the blade out of the water at your hip. Feather

the paddle to clea r the water ( hinge your wrist

so the blade becomes parallel with the surface)

while you bring it forward to the starting position.

Reverse the motion (backpaddle) to go backward.

Rudder

The stern paddler rudders to turn the boat to the

paddle side. Dip your blade at your hip and brace it

against the gunwale.

Sweep

The stern paddler uses the sweep to turn the boat

away from the paddle side. Reach as if to forward

stroke. Instead of pulling the blade straight back,

trace an arc away from the boat.

Draw

Use this stroke to make quick adjustments from the

bow. Reach over the g unwa le a nd dip the blade so it

faces the boat. Pull it straight toward you—the bow

will turn to that side. To go the other way, cross-

draw: Twist to reach over the opposite g unwa le

without swapping hand positions and pull.

Ready to hit the water? Get the gear on page 60.