Re: [Paddlewise] Who We Are

I'm a bridge troll with a hankering for paddling in the wilderness.  Since I live
in Northern Ontario, I'm a very happy troll (
http://www.geocities.com/~culpeper/245264.jpg and
http://www.geocities.com/~culpeper/245280.jpg ).

In the summer I like to sea kayak on the Great Lakes.  I am presently living in
Thunder Bay, which is on Lake Superior, so the sea kayaking is tremendous -- lots
of little islands, mesas galore, potable water, and no people.  Previously I spent
a few years in London, Ontario, earning my keep teaching kayaking on Lakes Erie and
Huron.  I quite enjoyed the warm water and beaches of the little port villages.
Prior to that I lived in Sudbury for many years, where I ran the Sudbury Canoe Club
and spent most of my time on mid-northern-Ontario wild water (
http://www.geocities.com/~culpeper/kipphoto.html and
http://www.geocities.com/~culpeper/temphoto.html ) and on Georgian Bay.  Sudbury is
quite an amazing place, with more lakes in town than you can shake a stick at, and
within an hour of town are the Killarney, Temagami, French, and Spanish paddling
areas.

In the late summer and fall, when the bugs are gone, I like to canoe trip on the
Canadian shield.  I enjoy the close vegetation and the broken terrain.  As a troll,
I'm built for portaging ( http://www.geocities.com/~culpeper/245240.jpg ), so I
find shield paddling offers a relaxing mix of paddling and hiking/portaging.  I
adore being out in the middle of nowhere, and I also greatly enjoy the contrast of
winding down a rugged river and then emerging onto the ocean, so rivers which are
seldom visited, and which flow into James/Hudson's Bay, such as the Kattawagami (
http://www.geocities.com/~culpeper/kattaw.html and
http://www.geocities.com/~culpeper/katphoto.html ), are my preference.  Sometimes
folks ask what the most difficult thing about tripping in the wilds is, and to be
honest, for me it is having to return back to civilization.  The longer I am out
there, the more I feel at ease with myself, my paddling partner, and the land
through which we are journeying.

In the winter I ski, so when I read posts from folks wishing for warm weather and
high water, I hiss and spit at my screen.  In public school I got into back country
skiing with a friend, and gradually progressed into telemarking -- even made the
national team in 96.  It's as close to grace and decorum as a troll can get (
http://www.geocities.com/~culpeper/smophoto.html ).

Come spring, I hit the wild water in a kayak.  Needless to say, with rugged terrain
and much of the world's fresh water, Ontario has lots of delightful wild water
opportunities ( http://www.geocities.com/~culpeper/gulphoto.html ), but even then I
take off my hat to Idaho ( http://www.geocities.com/~culpeper/souphoto.html ),
where my friends and I visit to catch the peak run-off, and to warm up in hot
springs after a long winter.  I particularly like the crossroads settlement of
Prairie, on the arid canyon of the South Fork of the Boise.  The folks there are
very warm and welcoming.

Certificationally speaking, I'm a wild water instructor and a sprint racing
instructor.  I hold a B.A. and an M.A. in English literature (feminist novels), and
a law degree.  I'm a tree hugger, and I have been the environmental director of
Canoe Ontario and the Ontario Recreational Canoeing Association, have been the
conservation chair and a director of the Wilderness Canoe Association, and am
presently mucking about with Environment North.  My move from technical writing
into law was brought about by a number of environmental assessment adventures and
some environmental TV writing work.  I get great satisfaction in being able to help
protect the wilderness, and find that my troll like disposition is ideal for legal
environmental work ( http://www.geocities.com/~culpeper/sixpack.html ).  If I get
trapped inside too long, I start writing silly articles (
http://www.geocities.com/~culpeper/tales.html ).

My sweetie-pie-honey-kins, Karen Smith, lives about a thousand miles from me, and
having just called her my sweetie-pie-honey-kins, I doubt if she'll be moving
closer any time soon.  In the mean time, I have my two black cats, Merlin and
Morrigaine, to keep me warm through the winter.  And yes, our PFD'd cats do paddle
with us.  A few years ago on a hot summer afternoon while I was restoring a sprint
K-2 in London, I saw a petite woman cox a north canoe (a voyageur canoe) up to the
dock.  It was love at first sight for me, but took a week in Temagami's lost lagoon
to convince Karen.  Hey, trolls may not be much to look at, but they know their
grottos.  Since then we have happily canoed and kayaked about southern and
mid-northen Ontario.  Karen spent Christmas skiing in Thunder Bay, and is hoping to
make the Idaho trip with me in the spring (I encouraged her with a photo of some of
the guys lazing about in the buff in a hot spring (
http://www.geocities.com/~culpeper/locphoto.html )), so while being apart for a
year or two (until our careers jive) is difficult, the time we spend together is
wonderful.

So that's me, a happy old bridge troll, with my sweetie-pie-honey-kins, my paddling
cats, a yard full of boats, and a lifetime of wilderness to explore and protect.
Time to ... ( http://www.geocities.com/~culpeper/245281.jpg ).

Richard Culpeper
http://www.geocities.com/~culpeper/
"Hour after hour, day after day,
we paddled and sang and slept
under the hot sun on the northern ocean,
wanting never to return."


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