Learn to Drive a Truck

"Wilderness tripping is like long-haul trucking, eh?"

It's your first trip down a wild Canadian river. You expect big rapids, large lakes, and long portages. You judge yourself capable in intermediate-level (Class II-III) rapids. Beyond that, things get scary fast. Question: Which of these methods would better improve your skills?

A. Enroll in a whitewater canoe class. You'll learn to run big drops and perform powerful peel-outs and eddy turns in dicey currents. If you can play in rough rapids in a sport canoe, you'll whiz through Class II in a tripping canoe. B. Take a shake-down trip with someone who has canoed up north. Select a route that has risky rapids and large lakes. Pack enough stuff for a week. And plan to stay that long.

The correct answer is a resounding B! Accomplished paddle skills are second to good judgment--knowing your limits, and your boat's. Indeed, whitewater play procedures can even be a detriment, as this case illustrates:

In 1984, I guided a canoe trip down the remote Cree River in northwestern Saskatchewan for the Science Museum of Minnesota. The Cree's current is very fast, its Class II-III rapids go on for miles, and boulder gardens discourage eddy turns. All paddlers were intermediate level except for two Texas sport boaters who regularly canoed Class III.

A few hours into the trip, we came upon a fast, shallow rapid. Hip-high boulders confused the channel, and there appeared to be no outlet. But wait! Just ahead, there was a clear but narrow slot near shore. I yelled, "Back ferry, right now! Back ferry!" Then, I modeled the procedure and slipped cleanly through the slot. Three boats followed suit--no problems. Then came the Texans, who tried to turn and ferry upstream, hoping they could eddy out in time. Big mistake! Their canoe caught a rock and the rest is history. Later, when they had dried out, they told me they didnÂ’t know how to back ferry, that their instructors had said it was a "knee-jerk reaction of last resort." "We were taught," said one, "that a forward ferry is always the way to go."

Wrong. Dead wrong! This scenario has repeated itself so many times on my canoe trips that I feel it's time to speak out. Here's the deal. Whitewater schools provide sport canoes and kayaks that pivot on a penny--and they rightfuly teach techniques that are appropriate for these boats. But a wilderness cruiser is a big bruiser that, when loaded, weighs three-tenths of a ton and may need 20 feet to turn!

See the problem? Whitewater schools rightly emphasize aggressive bow-upstream techniques; wilderness trippers rightly de-emphasize them. They (sport paddlers) ferry forward, we (wilderness trippers) go back. They play in rapids, we run or line the edges. When in doubt, we portage!

I plead with whitewater schools to rethink their instruction, at least for beginning-level canoeists. Not everyone who takes a whitewater class will don a dry suit and brave bad rapids. Indeed, it's probably fair to say that most students who choose to paddle a canoe don't own a hot sport boat and probably never will. What they really want to learn is how to better paddle their family canoe or wilderness tripping canoe in rapids.

A sport canoe or kayak is like a hot Porsche; a wilderness tripping boat is like a lumbering 18-wheeler. Whom would you choose to drive a loaded semi down a winding mountain road--a Le Mans race-car pro or a long-haul trucker?

Learn to drive a truck before the wheels roll north!