The Minnesota Canoe Association, Inc.

In Co-operation with Midwest Mountaineering

 

 Presents

 

The 2009 Near North Symposium

 

A Travelogue Series of Wilderness Paddling Near or in Minnesota

 

December 5, 2009  11:30 am to 5:30 pm

 

Cowles Auditorium, University of Minnesota Campus

 

Map link

 

Program                               Speaker Info                                      Topic Info

 

11:30 – Noon                     Registration at Door ($5.00)

                                                Register in Advance at http://www.midwestmtn.com/tickets.php

 

12:00 –1:00                         Zoe & Rob Kesselring                     Girls in the BWCA 

 

1:00 to 1:30                         Randy Strobel                                    Lower Missinaibi River

 

1:30 to 1:45                         Intermission                                       Vendors and Visiting

 

1:45 to 2:45                         Cliff Jacobson                                    Bear-Proofing Your Camp

 

2:45 to 3:30                         Fred "Jacques" Shermock            Quetico Routes

 

3:30 to 3:45                         Short Break                                        Vend and Visit

 

3:45 to 5:15                         Phil Cotton                                          The Wabakimi Project

                                                                                                                      West of Wabakimi

 

(11/5/09: Small changes in schedule may occur)

 

 

Speaker Info

 

Zoë Kesselring is a senior at Apple Valley High School and captain of the 

District 196 Nordic Ski Team.  She has been paddling since childhood.

 

Rob Kesselring (Zoe's father) is a veteran of 15 canoe expeditions north of the 60th parallel and 41 BWCA canoe trips.  He has paddled 96 rivers worldwide.  He is frequent contributer to outdoor magazines and the author of two books Father, Daughter, Canoe and River Stories.

 

Randy Stobel and his wife Joan Furlong are long time members of the Minnesota Canoe Association. They have taken an extended river canoe trip in northern Minnesota, Montana, or Canada almost every year for the last 20 years. Other notable rivers they have paddled include the Thelon, upper Missouri, Bloodvein, Albany, Otoskwin, Allanwater, White, Pipestone, and Steel.

 

Cliff Jacobson is known far and wide for a whole series of articles and books of instructions and tips on camping – canoe camping in particular.  He is an entertaining speaker with energy and inspiration.  Always looking for a better (lighter, faster, or safer) way of enjoying our great outdoors, Cliff challenges conventional wisdom from dealing with bears, making a fire, preparing food, choosing your footwear, to no-trace camping.  His wide experience, prolific writing and constant experimentation have led him to the forefront of outdoor gurus.




 

Fred "Jacques" Shermock is a wilderness canoeing enthusiast who has trekked the Quetico Provincial Park since 1969.   Jacques has led Scouts, friends, family and other groups into the Quetico Park over many different routes and in many seasons.

 

Phil Cotton is "Uncle" Phil, a retired music teacher, avid canoe historian, active environmentalist and founder of The Wabakimi Project.  He has guided canoe trips professionally in Algonquin, Quetico and Wabakimi Provincial Parks. More recently, he authored a chapter for Kevin Callan's "A Paddler's Guide toQuetico and Beyond" and designed an attractive, large-scale canoe route planning map that covers the entire Wabakimi area. Since 2004, Phil has devoted all of his efforts towards planning and organizing The Wabakimi Project from his home in Thunder Bay, Ontario.





 

 

 

 

Topic Info

 

Girls in the BWCA:   Seventeen year-old Zoë Kesselring will lead this multi-media 

Presentation.  It is based on a trip she led in the summer of 2009 with her four best friends (and a of couple dads).   Four of the participants had never been wilderness camping before.  The focus of the show will be: "It’s never too late for your first canoe trip and how you can do it and how you can have a lot of fun doing it."

 

Zoë’s dad, Rob Kesselring, will follow Zoë’s presentation with some tips and guidelines to help parents inspire their children to begin a lifelong love affair with canoeing and the BWCA.

 

Lower Missinaibi River: 

            This talk will describe a June 2009 canoe trip down the lower Missinaibi River from Mattice to Moosonee. Highlights of the trip include an awesome waterfall called Thunderhorse Falls, numerous class I and II rapids, and the trip finish in the tidewaters of James Bay.  Six MCA members were on the trip.

 

Bear-Proofing Your Camp: 

            Supported by the latest research, here’s the low down on protecting yourself and your food from bothersome bears.  You’ll learn that the recommended method of “storing food in trees” doesn’t always work. Cliff includes a detailed handout that suggests ways to cope with troublesome bears.

            Be aware that there are significant behavioral differences between wild bears, man-wise bears and habituated bears.  Know how to properly use pepper spray to discourage a bear. Understand behavioral differences between black bears and grizzlies. What should you do when you meet a bear on the trail?  Black bears, polar bears and grizzlies require different strategies.  Here’s practical up-to-date information about bears that you can use whether you trek to the Arctic or the Boundary Waters Canoe Area.

            If you’ve read Cliff’s views on bears in his books, you know he challenges accepted beliefs.  Now, new research by Stephen Herrero and James Gary Shelton suggest he’s right on track!

 

Quetico Routes: 

            Jacques' presentation for Near North ’09 will focus on specific route selections throughout the Quetico Park using a 3-D topo map projection.  The attributes of the routes will be outlined briskly, with commentary on length of time, level of difficulty and landmarks.  The talk is designed to help define the routes and offer route choices the canoeing enthusiast may want to try.…and maybe even stir a few memories for some as well!   Two short slideshows will kindle fond memories of the natural beauty and reverence for the Quetico Provincial Park

 

The Wabakimi Project - West of Wabakimi: 

            The Crown land canoe routes that lie on the Caribou Forest to the west of Wabakimi Provincial Park provide access to the park from paved Highway 599.  These routes also make strategic links to nearby St. Raphael and Albany River Provincial Parks. Volunteer participants of The Wabakimi Project have spent the past three years exploring, rehabilitating and mapping the canoe routes of this virtually roadless area that boasts few visitors and has no entry quota system.

            Budget-minded paddlers in search of un-crowded, pristine wilderness will find this presentation provides an excellent intro to this canoeing destination that is within driving distance of Minnesota and other upper Midwest states.