A Gift from the NFCT!

I've had to put the Trail Journal transcribing on hold due to a vicious onslaught of projects in January (room setup!  A giant writing project!  A LARP convention!  Working on two shows!  The job hunt!).  But I did get two nice developments from the NFCT headquarters in the new year:

The NFCT List Recognition

There I am!

After sending in my application in November, I've been added to the list of successful through-paddlers!  There are several designations of paddler types, from sectional to self-propelled.  Some people tackle the trail bit by bit in the optimal season, or always going downriver.  Some arrange for shuttles to get them past the doldrums (such as the 26-mile slog along the South Branch of the Dead River).  Some, like me, just slog on through and do it as one long journey.

I wish I could say this was due to any sort of grit or bravado: in reality, it was kind of just simpler that way.  There were a couple sections where, after just going to my happy place and just lining or portaging the distance, I looked back in the guidebook to read that many folks opted for shuttles.  I honestly hadn't known that was an option...  In these cases, I just tended to shrug and plod along to the next bit of water, but since my phone was without service and my wallet under pressure for the whole trip, I don't think I could have arranged a shuttle for myself if I had tried.  That would have taken planning and forethought.  I preferred to be a big dumb tank and just smash through it all.

In any case, no matter the motivation behind the method, it feels good to be counted in this illustrious category.

Some goodies in the mail!

Just in time for my birthday, the NFCT headquarters sent me a very thoughtful letter, certificate of completion, and a quality vinyl decal, which is going on Deiter's hull as soon as he thaws out of his current snowbank in the backyard.  That's one of the benefits of working with such a small, friendly organization: you know you'll get a human if you call, you can guarantee you'll meet one of the handful of head honchos if you run into a team in the field, and they really do care about each Through-paddler.  As soon as I have some surplus cash with assurance of its renewal (see above "job hunt"), they will definitely have one more dues-paying member.

Note the moose.  The moose is an important feature.

More Trail Journal updates soon to come!  (I admittedly find it dull to yank appropriate pictures off the Web to accompany the posts...  So they might be much less photogenic from here on in...)