There should always be adventures for every season. Sure we live in Canada which means living in frozen fuck-scape for at least one third of the calendar year but that merely breeds diversification. I just ice skated for the first time in a quarter-century because of a “why the hell not” idea last year. I camp and hike way more than I used to for basically the same reason (and a fantastic partner). I also find myself more and more likely to float around on local bodies of water using various simple watercraft (including a pool noodle raft) than I ever expected. And then there are Obstacle Course Races, hosted by Spartan, X Warrior, Mud Hero and others, which are most popular in the warmer seasons but a few do run all year round. That of course means that you can belly-roll exhaustedly over a finish line not only tired as fuck but also with slowly freezing extremities. Woooo!
And as that selfsame fantastic partner has discovered, if you strike in the off-season you can gear up for your adventures on the cheap.
I don’t consider myself irresponsible with money. I was brought up by fairly frugal people who taught me not to throw around what I could save and I’m generally immune to impulse purchasing. Oh, but I do like me some adventure. After Stand Up Paddle Boarding, kayaking and – yes – homemade rafting with Cathy last Summer, I appreciate the water more than I did before. I still find it shockingly cold to enter bodily but that’s neither here nor there and a good reason to stay the hell upright if nothing else. The point is that I’ve never impulse-bought an inflatable kayak online before just because the sale was good and there’s a damn good selection of lakes out there. But the sale was good and there’s a damn good selection of lakes out there.
To be entirely honest with you, I didn’t even know you could get a kayak of any kind for less than two hundred dollars. However the particular model we found was not only raised-by-cheap-asses affordable but came highly rated by most reviewers who have used it. It’s a beginner level kayak, because we put the newb in newbie, but if you’re not going to take the craft whitewater racing every weekend you only need it to float and continue floating. Plus it comes with a section of integrated cargo netting across the front section: luxury!
So we bought two.
In two days a pair of boxes containing real outdoorsy watercraft for real outdoorsy noobs showed up at my front door. We’re now the proud owners of boats. I know that either sounds like bupkiss if you prefer the comfortable indoors or it sounds like bupkiss because you own an actual boat and this blow-up dinghy is nothing. To us this is significant however because it opens the way to exploring the many, many lakes throughout Alberta and beyond. Our little kayaks will bear us onto a variety of waterways wherever we happen to want to go, from glacial mountain reservoirs to the North Saskatchewan River, right through Edmonton itself. We’ll go places we haven’t been before and like the voyageurs of Canada’s early fur trade, we’ll make our way intrepidly to new lands …like an interesting island in the middle of the local marsh because the ducks over there are adorable. Exploration!
The kayaks themselves fit into easily portable carrying bags to fit in any subcompact. The exercise will be fast paced or slow depending on the mood. The scenery will be breathtaking (mostly because I’ll still be out of breath from all the air pumping).
This acquisition makes me wonder just how creative we might get, in the spirit of exploration. Between the two kayaks and our existing pool noodle raft that mostly floats depending on how you ride it, we potentially have a catamaran. Imagine it: people in the pontoons, food and/or alcohol on the convenient tabletop centre. Or alcohol and caffeine, oooohh!
Add a couple of friends with their own watercraft and you have an outdoor party. I’m sure this is how the voyageurs must have done it.
As for those luxurious cargo nets, well you could easily improvise some waterproofed picnicking supplies or waterproofed hiking stuff for overland exploration. Let’s face it, whatever we put in there it’s going to be soaked at some point. I don’t trust myself to keep even a buoyant balloon full of air completely upright. But the possibilities for hauling as much glorious shit with us as we reasonably can are irresistible. I could even pack the hobo reel I’m building; it’s a cheap wooden dowel with a fishing line and hook on it that you dangle from a boat. Throw that from the side of an inflatable kayak in the very middle of a lake and I’m sure there’s no chance of anything but a good time!
The February Edmonton is experiencing right now is virtually more water than snow and sometimes it’s hard to believe Spring is still months away. Despite this I will resist the temptation to blow up my boat and paddle across the parking lot to Superstore. I may be a total git but I recognize the genuine threat of wear and tear, after all. But there are adventures for every season and until it’s Real Spring Edmonton’s actually pretty damn good for all your walking/skating/skiing/snowshoeing/snowman building/ice sculpture investigating/festival going needs.
Rest assured though, there will be images of me soaked and embarrassed. Watch this space!
There's No Going Back 