RE: [Paddlewise] Discovery vs. GPS vs. guidebooks rant

Doug said,

> I think if anyone is silly enough to stand off shore, fretting over
some
> distant point where allegedly exists an author's perception of a great
> camping/lay-over spot, well, their just silly.

To be fair, I'm highlighting just this one snip, but Doug's post was
balanced and fair, so I'm not knocking his "silly" comment, just
expounding upon it.  

The point I want to emphasize is "PERSPECTIVE".  While the above snip
and other people's opinions may be valid where they live/paddle, it's
not always the case for everyone, so I want to flip the coin for a
moment.  As said before, in many East Coast scenarios, you aren't
fretting over someone's perception of a "great" spot.  You may be
looking for the ONLY available patch of ground that can accommodate a
tent, no matter how great or how crappy.  I understand that that's not
just an East Coast thing - I'm just far more familiar with my
experiences, so I'll stick with an East Coast example.

With overhanging bushes and branches protruding, say, 5-8 feet over the
water, in water that drops to depths too great to make it possible to
get out of a kayak without doing a wet exit, and no possibility of
pulling your boat through the growth even if you manage to somehow make
it to shore through all the scrub yourself..... then that guidebook
telling you where you CAN actually get onto dry land can be a valuable
tool.

I've looked at maps, topos and aerial photos that didn't do the trick,
but a book told of a 10 or 12 square foot splotch of bare land that
could be landed on and a single tent pitched.

The above is primarily my fresh water in-land experience, and not
necessarily descriptive of all the paddling locations I've been to, but
it serves the purpose of my example.

With my Salt water, tidal experience, I contend with lots and lots of
marsh and wetlands on the edges of open water, and where there are nice
beaches or dry land... there's a house.  So, the prospect of reading a
guide book to discover that within a particular 20 mile stretch of coast
line, there are basically "nn" spots to "legally" get ashore, and here
they are.. and only this one is suitable for pitching a tent due to
size, location or legality.... well, give me the guidebook.  I may
discover on my own that it was wrong, but I sure want to see what they
have to say BEFORE I'm 20 miles into a trip and for the life of me can't
find a single spot to get ashore.

So, IMHO the bottom line on the usefulness of guidebooks are totally
dependant on where you're paddling, and the quality of the info within
the guidebook, and what your needs are.

If we're talking about "secret spots", let's discover those on our own.
If it's "here's a spot where you can get out of your boat" if you need
to, then let's publish those.  If you're using the guide book as your
ONLY source of info, and taking it literally, then you're probably
setting yourself up for disappointment and troubles ahead.  It should
only be a piece of your research, not "the" research.

Also, with the density of the population on the east coast, "secret
spots" really aren't in my realm of thinking anyway.  Here, "wilderness"
is relative. It means there aren't "many" people, roads and towns in the
area   :-) And wilderness in relation to the coast of the Atlantic
ocean... FORGET IT!  It may be lightly populated in areas, but believe
me... it's populated.  And those sections that aren't populated are
restricted, too polluted to even want to go to, National or State Parks,
or uninhabitable due to terrain issues (too swampy, etc).  I need to
move, any west coasters want a freeloader for a while  :-)

Okay, I'm finished practicing my typing skills.....

Rick 
***************************************************************************
PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed
here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire
responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author.
Submissions:     PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net
Subscriptions:   PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net
Website:         http://www.paddlewise.net/
***************************************************************************