From Boy Scouts to Canoeing
By: Shelby Steck
Boy Scouts of America is a group of men who created an organization for younger boys to learn, and become more independent. Families tend to join Boy Scouts for their child because they want him to have experiences or to learn how to act in certain situations. Boy Scouts for Anthony was only a passage way to finding his true calling, canoeing. When Anthony was about 13 his boy scout troop went on a canoeing trip called Philmont, in New Mexico, and from then on he was hooked on canoeing. With Anthony being only 13 at the time finding something he was passionate about would be hard for a kid. After his trip canoeing became a new hobby and he continued with the activity, he even made life long friends, and found a job just from pursuing his hobby since he was younger.
While canoeing in Ely, MN Anthony met some of his best friends, he told me, “It’s hard to find good friends and it takes time to really call them best friends, but when I met them in Ely, MN we were best friends right away.” While doing something you love, you find great people along the way, people that will be there for you and will stick by your side forever.
As I was thinking of questions I thought, “What is your dream place to go canoeing?”, he responded with, “Alaska, because the rivers and scenery are gorgeous.”
Canoeing is a tough hobby, you need to have a certain mindset, and thats what I saw when I was talking to Anthony. He talked about his job, in Ely, Michigan and how he would take
people throughout the U.S. and Canadian border as a tour guide, they also had to get their passports checked while in the canoes. His job has a base, where they stay, while on base he found his tour guide from his boy scout trip. At his base there are different things to do like go hiking or they can go on their own canoeing trips, “but there was one time”, said Anthony, “I was going off base to pick blueberries, because it was blueberry season and I saw a black thing in the distance so I got closer (to about 15 feet), it was a black bear, it stood up and just walked off.”
He also explained to me what portaging is, “Portaging is just carrying your gear across land from lake to lake.” The way he explained it made it sound like a ton of work, your body would have to condition its self to the lifestyle he was living. They would take 80-100 mile trip that lasts for 7 or 8 days. There are usually 9 people including himself on the trip, and they mostly paddling. The other part of the trip is called a portage, which is the hiking portion of the trip. The group would hike to each lake, carrying their personal pack, and they would have to help carry the canoes.
While on the pillage you want to have the perfect canoe, not too light, but not too heavy, Anthony said, “There are two different types of canoes, a kevlar canoe, which is good for portaging, but bad for damage, and the other is an aluminum canoe which is 80-100 lbs and very sturdy.” His favorite canoe is the aluminum canoe because it’s really reliable.
Talking to Anthony about canoeing really introduced me to the community of canoeing. I new canoeing was a lot of work but I didn’t realize how much effort goes into each and every trip. I think it would be cool to continue the path of canoeing into a forest ranger position in Alaska. When I first met Anthony I didn’t expect him to say canoeing was his community, I was pleasantly surprised and super excited to hear what he had to say. I could tell how passionate he was about his community, and the experiences he had with his friends in Michigan. I’m glad I got to learn more about canoeing and maybe later in life I will get a chance to try it for myself.
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