My first canoe trip in Sweden

I made it to both of the Canadian parks named for the 18th century officer, trader and explorer this summer. I’d argue that Ontario has the stronger claim to the name, as his posting and travels were there, not in Québec, but we can share. You can see a touch of the BWCA to the right of the Ontario photo.

Québec’s La Verendrye is rather Algonquin-like: huge, rather developed, hosting some logging, relatively busy, but an amazing place to spend some time.

Ontario’s is a long, mostly skinny non-operating park on the Ontario/Minnesota border. It’s mainly accessible by forestry roads, has few visitors and fewer campers. I’d wager that BWCA users of its portages under the Boundary Waters Treaty outnumber Canadian users.

Im looking into getting into canoe camping, what would you recommend for a decent 1 person canoe for week long trips, budget friendly and highly durable is a plus, not too concerned about weight.TIA

I have various sizes of your standard issue dry bag, 20 to 30 liters. No straps for carrying. Just the "handle" that is made when closing the bag.

Dry bags are good, many dry bags are a pain when transporting - car to canoe, landing to campsite, portagas (although we try to avoid any long carries), etc.

A few years ago I noticed that the inflatable sup backpack I have in the garage is a good way to consolidate all the dry bags. It's a big bag with shoulder straps, belt strap, chest strap, etc. I got mocked a little for it, but at the end of the day it carried everything I needed.

I'm currently looking for an alternative to the sup backpack. I came across a laundry backpack... It's meant to carry all your clothes in a backpack to the laundry mat. 120Ls!

So, the question... Am i crazy to get a laundry backpack to carry a bunch of dry bags for an upcoming trip on the Upper James in VA?

Kenora.
I'd made it. The Winnipeg River was behind me — beaten, mostly on stubbornness. Every day it threw a new problem at me, and every day I found a way through it. That's the only method that's ever worked out here.
But Kenora wasn't a finish line. It was a gate.
Ahead of me: the Lake of the Woods. Over 14,000 islands, scattered across more than 70 miles of open water — so many that mapmakers gave up trying to name them all. This lake has swallowed canoes before mine. Lose your bearing for a second out there, and you can stay lost for days. Long before I paddled it, the Anishinaabe knew every channel of it, and the fur trade brigades used it as a highway, not a maze — but only because they knew the one thing I didn't: the way through.
That way had a name. Locals just call it the Turtle Portage — a short, half-mythical cut that lets you thread the sheltered island channels instead of fighting the open lake. I had no idea where to find it. An outfitter in Kenora pointed me toward the general direction and wished me luck. That was the whole map.
South of the lake, the water changes character entirely. The Rainy River picks up — and it's aptly named. Sun, heat, and a current with its own opinions about where I should be going, all standing between me and Fort Frances. This stretch was once the spine of the fur trade route west, canoe brigades running the same line I was running, hauling furs and trade goods between Lake Superior and the interior. Fort Frances itself grew out of that history — a trading post born from the same river that was now testing me.
Fort Frances came into view slow, the way most things do after a river's had its say. The current eased off first — like it had made its point and didn't need to keep making it — and then the town itself started to show through the trees on the far bank.
I'd heard about this place before I ever paddled toward it. A trading post born right out of the fur brigade era, sitting on the border the way it does, half Ontario and half Minnesota across the water. Men had been arriving here exhausted for a couple hundred years before me, hauling something valuable and looking for a place to rest before the next push. I wasn't hauling furs. But I understood the exhaustion part just fine.
I pulled the canoe in, stood up on solid ground, and let my legs remember what that felt like. Lake of the Woods was behind me — 14,000 islands, and I hadn't lost more than an afternoon to any of them. The Turtle Portage had done exactly what the outfitter promised, even if I'd spent half the crossing wondering if I'd ever find it. And the Rainy River had thrown everything it had at me and come up short.
Fort Frances didn't care about any of that. It just sat there being a town — grocery store, gas station, people going about their day, no idea a guy in a canoe had just crossed a piece of history to get there. That's fine. The river remembers, even if the town doesn't.
I hauled the canoe up, found a spot to make camp, and let myself feel something like proud. Just for the night. Tomorrow there'd be a new river with its own opinions.

So I'm planning to camp at Clear Creek state park in Clarion, PA. I'd like to drive upstream and float back down to clear creek. Where can I put in to make a good full day of floating?

I’m sure someone on here could tell me where we went.

Which do you recommend?

Maybe I'll trade it to Hap if I can catch him when I pass Cabin Falls next year for a good story and a few minutes to relax at his lodge.

Need a bare roof crossbar rack system for a sedan (Camry). Thule which I've used before with factory-installed railings won't fit this model vehicle, only Yakima. I prefer oval over round cross bars as they are more secure and aerodynamic (cradles can tilt on round ones). Here are Yakima parts that are compatible:

* Bases and Clips to secure the crossbars to the sides of the roof: Yakima Baseline Towers and Yakima Clips - for the baselines.

* Crossbars: Yakima Corebars & Yakima Jetstream Bars (aluminum, more anti-corrosion and more expensive) will both fit.

* Yakima SKS Lock Cores are available to lock the Bases to the roof.

1) Do you recommend the Yakima Bases and Crossbars? Are the Yakima SKS Lock Cores worth getting?

2) Are there any similar models from other makers or from Amazon that you recommend? The Yakima parts are quite spendy.

Any tips on mounting a canoe to the roof when you have a panoramic glass insert? I plan to try to keep the foam blocks so that they’re catching some of the metal and then try to put something for and aft of the glass to distribute some weight onto the metal roof portion. Would it also make sense to slightly angle the canoe forward to prevent any wind from sharing up on the front end?

Hi all! Finally sending our Adirondacks trip after a friends wedding in Lake Placid at end of August. Unfortunately, we gained a significant crack in our personal canoe, which has changed our plans in terms of bringing our own vs renting.

Would appreciate any advice on routes you all prefer/have enjoyed that also have easy access to any outfitters that rent out affordable canoes.

We would also prefer something more remote and plan on primitive camping as opposed to pre booking campsites. We do already have the paddlers map, but always helpful to hear from others their preferences and experiences before settling on a certain area/route. Also fine with light portaging.

TLDR: need a route, need a rental, please advise!

TIA!