Twelve months, a dozen countries and a nearly lost art learned in each. It was a dream come true for Cincinnati-native WILL MEADOWS. Last year, 23-year-old Meadows finished a yearlong quest to visit indigenous master builders around the world and learn their traditional canoe making techniques.
“Canoes are found across the world. They lie at the intersection of human creativity and place,” he says. “They are vessels for exploration, artistic expression and sustenance.”
Meadows spent this past winter at the end of the world in Tierra del Fuego. There the Yaghan culture has lived for 6000 years, utilizing the bark of beech to craft canoes to hunt seals. Meadows lived with Martin Gonzalez, an elder of the Yaghan and the only man alive with knowledge of how to construct these canoes, for two months.
“I had read that the culture of the Yaghan had gone completely extinct,” says Meadows. “Many Argentinians and Chileans talk as if this people no longer exists. My original intent was to resurrect this canoe but when I got to Chile, I met living descendants of the culture who took me in as family and showed me their passion to regain lost knowledge and rebuild traditions. The Yaghan taught me how resilient traditions are, beyond catastrophes both environmental and social. They showed me as long as there is a person with a bent to learn, there is hope to pass on cultural heritage and sense of place.” Follow his journey at www.humanitysvessel.com…
Discover 49 more of the coolest people, gear and innovations in canoeing this year in the digital edition of Canoeroots and Family Camping, Summer/Fall 2014, on our free iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch App or Android App or read it on your desktop here.
Avalon Peninsula- Exploring Newfoundland’s Eastern Eden| PHOTO: LEE GILBERT
Lee Gilbert escaped a landlocked life in the city to return to his birthplace on Newfoundland’s Avalon Peninsula, where he now pursues a quieter pace and his passion for paddling, writing and photography.
THE ROCK. Home to the most easterly shore in North America, isolated from the rest of the continent by frigid seas and a quirky, half-hour-ahead time zone all its own. Newfoundland is a place where one never knows what secrets the next cove holds, and a bastion for the childlike wonder those discoveries instill.
The waters around the Avalon are nearly 20 degrees Fahrenheit colder than the same latitudes in the Pacific. The culprit is the Labrador Current, described by Newfoundland artist Christopher Pratt as “a relentless flood of molten ice, the bloodstream of our near sub-Arctic climate.” I’ve learned to embrace the unsettled weather. Briny bays where the sea has humbled me with four-meter waves and howling gales; tranquil open ocean and brilliant sunshine; the quiet of solo paddling in a thick fog.
I’ve come to expect the sublime: close encounters with icebergs and whales, hidden caves tucked behind waterfalls, bedding down in the same forgotten coves as two-millennia-old Paleo-Eskimo peoples. Between the quaint coastal villages lie some of the last vestiges of true freedom in a prodigiously encroaching civilized world.
TRIPS
If you have a half-day enjoy the sea stacks, arches and pristine pebble beaches of sheltered Aquaforte Harbour, paddling east from the community wharf in Aquaforte to where Spout River Falls tumbles into the ocean.
If you have a day and the forecast is calm, launch from Winterton and head 10 kilometers north to Hant’s Harbour along the uninhabited outer coast of Trinity Bay, gaping up at 460-foot cliffs.
If you have a weekend tour historic Conception Bay from the shipwrecks of Avondale to the archaeology site at Cupids. En route, explore towering lighthouses, dramatic headlands, quiet coves and a 19th-century copper mine.
If you have a week paddle from Hopeall to Sunnyside in Trinity Bay. Untouched coastline and wild beauty mingle with resettled towns and colorful fishing communities with equally colorful names, like Dildo and Spread Eagle.
Avalon Peninsula- Exploring Newfoundland’s Eastern Eden| PHOTO: LEE GILBERT
STATS
POPULATION DENSITY
17 per square mile (outside St. John’s)
AVERAGE SUMMER HIGH
66°F (August)
WILDLIFE
Whale, porpoise, sea otter, seal, moose, caribou, fox, coyote, bald eagle, puffin and other seabirds.
CAMPSITES
Cobblestone, grass meadow, free-camping on any flat spot along the shore.
EXPOSURE
Easterlies draw 2,000 miles of fetch from Ireland. Also watch for gusting offshore katabatic winds.
DIVERSION
Build a traditional Newfoundland punt or dory at Winterton’s Wooden Boat Museum.
BEST EATS
Mussels, uni, sea trout, seasonal codfish caught at camp.
OUTFITTERS
The Outfitters—rentals and sales in St. John’s; day trips, multi-day tours, instruction in Bay Bulls; www.theoutfitters.nf.ca.
MUST-HAVE
Drysuit and good judgment
This article first appeared in the Summer 2014 issue of Adventure Kayak Magazine. Subscribe to Paddling Magazine and get 25 years of digital magazine archives including our legacy titles: Rapid, Adventure Kayak and Canoeroots.
What's In the Canadian Canoe Museum | Photo: Virginia Marshall
“It’s astonishing just how sophisticated these kayak designs are,” says Canadian Canoe Museum curator Jeremy Ward, gesturing to a wall of elegant Greenland kayaks. “If you look at the influences of these very traditional forms on contemporary touring kayaks, you can see all of the design hallmarks.” The narrow beam, low volume and hard chines that today allow efficient touring and rolling, were originally designed to make the Greenland kayak the ultimate hunting craft. “If you’re hunting narwhal, beluga or seal with a harpoon, to get close enough you need a long, narrow, fast kayak, which is inherently unstable,” explains Ward. “One hand throws the harpoon while the other holds the paddle out to the side to stabilize the kayak.”
Across the room, a display of baidarka from the Western Arctic and Aleutian Islands further illustrates how hunting habits influence kayak design. “Baidarka is not an Aleutian word, it’s Russian,” says Ward. “During the Russian fur trading period, baidarka were used to access the kelp beds and hunt sea otter. This is a very rare three-person baidarka from the late 19th century that may have had a Russian agent overseeing the hunt in the middle cockpit with a paddler at either end.”
The gunwale of this circa 1930s East Hudson Bay kayak frame is composed of several pieces of smaller wood joined together, illustrating the resourcefulness
of early builders and their clever use of available materials. “Working above the treeline, assembling pieces of driftwood into a kayak frame is a tough job,” explains Ward. “You’d be accumulating wood over a long time to get enough to put together a framework.”
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The skins of ringed seals, like this one, were preferred for covering the kayak frame. The cleaned skins were stitched together along waterproof, overlapping seams using braided sinew or, in more recent times, scavenged materials such as dental floss or sewing thread. Once the skins were joined into a sheet, it was stretched tightly around the kayak and sewn along the top.
What’s In the Canadian Canoe Museum | Photo: Virginia Marshall
“We had an Inuk visitor from Greenland who was an avid competitive kayaker, and he said ‘You need to take the skins off of these boats,’” Ward recalls. “When you look at the frame stringers, you can actually see the hull is being compressed by the shrinking of the skin over time. From a traditional user’s point of view, the skin was something that would get worn out or rot, and you would just remove and replace it. But for us to remove the skin is to take away the female contribution to the hull. Typically the framework was made by men, and the skins were sewn together in a stitching party by women. It’s a real community effort to make one boat.”
Along with ever-changing displays, the museum offers hands-on programming for visitors. This model kayak frame is one of five kits created by museum staff for school programs. “We based the design on a Copper Inuit kayak and used mortise and tenon joints and artificial sinew lashing so the kit can be assembled and taken apart many times,” explains Ward.
This article first appeared in the Summer 2014 issue of Adventure Kayak Magazine. Subscribe to Paddling Magazine and get 25 years of digital magazine archives including our legacy titles: Rapid, Adventure Kayak and Canoeroots.
Living on a quiet British Columbia highway, 25 kilometers south of Golden, Columbia Wetlands Adventures owner Mark Teasedale wanted to do something unique to help advertise his business, and draw attention to the wetlands he loves. He does not recall exactly when the idea of building the WORLD’S BIGGEST PADDLE took root, but once Teasedale gets an idea, it usually takes off in a big way.
“I started wondering how big the world’s biggest canoe paddle was,” he explains, “so I started doing some research. I found nothing, so I decided to set the bar pretty high and try to build it as big as possible.”
With a 60-foot cedar pole shaft and blade composed of over 800 laminated veneers, the nearly six-ton paddle prompted the Guinness Book of World Records to create a whole new category. Teasedale is waiting for final confirmation on the record, expected soon after Guinness staffers scour the globe for competition….
Discover 49 more of the coolest things in canoeing this year in the digital edition of Canoeroots and Family Camping, Summer/Fall 2014, on our free iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch App or Android App or read it on your desktop here.
Here’s Kevin’s first in a series of videos on his family canoe trip around Killarney Provincial Park in Ontario, Canada. The trip started at the town docks of Killarney and looped the borders of the park in a clockwise direction: Killarney Bay-Fraser Bay → Baie Fine → McGregor Bay → Nellie Lake → Van Winkle Lake → Great Mountain Lake → David Lake → Silver Peak → Carlyle Lake → George Lake.
Aleksander “Olek” Doba is enjoying a rather unusual retirement. The former mechanical engineer from Police, Poland, paddled from Africa to Brazil in 2011 and completed his second trans-Atlantic kayak crossing—7,716 miles from Portugal to Florida—earlier this year in his custom-built kayak, Olo. Even after 167 grueling days at sea, however, the cheerful Doba says he feels much younger than his 67 years. Since retiring, he says, “my big problem is not filling my free time, it’s choosing my next challenge.
Who paddles alone across the Atlantic?
Before my expeditions, I test-paddled with different kayakers. I set high standards. Unfortunately, I would usually end up being a babysitter and I wouldn’t have a partner. Partners support each other and that I didn’t find. I’m not a loner, but I had a choice: either go alone or not at all.
What do you say to people who claim Olo is not a “real” sea kayak?
I went to the shipyard in Szcezecin, Poland, with a sketch illustrating the special kayak I imagined would be suitable for crossing the Atlantic. We designed and built Olo to cross the ocean between continents, which no one had done before. Only three other kayakers in history have crossed the Atlantic, and they hopped from island to island. What is a ‘real’ sea kayak? The definition I know is a boat powered by a person in sitting position, facing the direction of movement, using a double-bladed paddle held freely in the hands. Olo meets all of these criteria.
When did you discover kayaking?
I caught the kayak touring bug on my first trip on the Drava River in 1980. When Poland lifted a ban on kayaking in the open sea, I became one of the country’s sea kayaking pioneers. I have more than 60,000 miles under my belt: 80 days around the Baltic Sea in 1999; 3,380 miles to the Arctic Circle from Poland in 2000; circumnavigating Lake Baikal in 2009. I do not paddle back and forth in a small body of water to collect miles. I am looking for new rivers, lakes and seas, so understandably that has meant going further and harder.
Where did you encounter your greatest challenges on the Atlantic?
On the first expedition, I faced more than 50 tropical storms, but otherwise it was pretty quiet. The second crossing was more than twice as long and much more difficult. I lost communication for 47 days. I was plagued by strong winds that trapped me for 40 nights in the Bermuda Triangle. A storm broke the kayak’s rudder and forced me to change course for Bermuda to make repairs. The saltwater, heat and humidity made my skin itchy and irritated my eyes. I wore as little clothing as possible to have less washing and drying, but I constantly felt that things were wet and unpleasant to the touch.
Why is retirement the perfect time for bold expeditions?
I worked nearly my entire professional life at the Police Chemical Plant. Due to the long period of work in harmful conditions, I could retire at the age of 60. I didn’t plan what I would do for my retirement. I never imagined I would be in the condition and good health to be able to implement such ambitious trips. Is there an optimal age for trans-Atlantic expeditions? I started paddling when I was 34. Could I have left for this expedition then, when I felt that I had enough experience? No, the father of young children going on risky expeditions – that is irresponsible and unfair. It’s still difficult for my wife and loved ones, but for me, now is the best time for such escapades.
Doba’s answers translated from Polish by Piotr Chmielinski.
This article first appeared in the Summer 2014 issue of Adventure Kayak Magazine. Subscribe to Paddling Magazine and get 25 years of digital magazine archives including our legacy titles: Rapid, Adventure Kayak and Canoeroots.
One stroke forward, two strokes back. | Feature photo: Reid McLachlan
It was a revelation when I first learned how to paddle a canoe backwards. Everything was so dramatically different. I was on the edge of control, where nothing feels natural and everything is new. But backwards paddling is not some idle trick; it brings real benefits to your paddling proficiency.
It was my dad who first got me going in reverse. He had returned excited from a symposium where he’d been canoeing with a freestyle paddler. “He said it almost like a mantra,” Dad told me and then he recited: “Anything you do forward you should be able to do backward.” It didn’t sound like a big deal, but then I tried it.
Paddling backwards is a great way to teach solo and tandem canoeists important concepts by taking them outside of their comfort zone. Not only does this translate into more efficiency and grace on the water, these are also skills that we can carry to moving water, whether back-ferrying a loaded tripping canoe or riding a sweet surf wave.
Initial tips for backward paddlers
There are two important pointers that will help for practising your strokes in reverse. For solo paddlers, the most common problem at the outset is trim. It is critical to have your weight in the center of the canoe, or a little forward of center, so you are not stern heavy.
Secondly, watch where you’re going! My clients get so focused on their strokes that they forget what the canoe is doing and they run into the shore, each other, me, and once, even a wading nudist.
All of the traditional strokes—including the J-stroke, draws and pries—are fair game for backwards paddling, whether you’re solo or tandem. For a fun beginner stroke that’ll make you think about blade placement, try a reverse running stern draw. Practice it and impress your paddling buddies with a reverse dock landing or reverse eddy turn in moving water.
The instructions below are for solo paddlers, but tandem paddlers can try this if the bow paddler performs continuous reverse sweeps to both initiate and power the turn, while the paddler in the stern follows the instructions described here from step two on.
One stroke forward, two strokes back. | Feature photo: Reid McLachlan
5 steps to paddle backwards
1 Reverse J-stroke
First, gain momentum going backwards in a straight line with a reverse J-stroke. Now, just like its forward counterpart, initiate a turn with a hard reverse J at the end of the stroke.
2 Set up the stern draw
With the turn starting, tilt the hull to the inside of the turn and slice your blade out and slightly behind you to set up the stern draw.
3 Carve the turn
Open the blade to catch water by turning your grip hand thumb out. Doing this slowly, and gradually introducing more blade angle, will allow you to use the momentum of the canoe and carve a beautiful turn.
Hang on to the stern draw for as long as you can, allowing the canoe to pivot around your paddle.
5 Finish in style
For style points, finish off the draw with a palm roll and reverse J-stroke and now you’re set up to do the maneuver again, or maybe a reverse running pry sideslip, or a reverse low brace turn, or a reverse one-handed pry, or how about a reverse…
Becky Mason is owner and operator of Classic Solo Canoeing. She is a Paddle Canada Instructor Trainer and has been teaching people to go backwards, forwards and sideways for 27 years. Visit redcanoes.ca.
This article was first published in the Summer/Fall 2014 issue of Canoeroots Magazine. Subscribe to Paddling Magazine’s print and digital editions, or browse the archives.
One stroke forward, two strokes back. | Feature photo: Reid McLachlan
Always wanted to sleep in a giant slice of watermelon or show your love of the written word by peering out from between the pages of a gigantic paperback? Field Candy’s INNOVATIVE TENT flys feature bold patterns and daring scenes, ensuring you’ll never confuse your tent with another campers’ again (www.fieldcandy.com).
Field Candy writes: “Original Explorer tents are much bigger than most other standard two person tents, providing you with a spacious sleeping area and extra storage for muddy boots in the lobby. Each tent is made to the high quality of an expedition tent built to withstand extreme conditions. The unique designs will help you stand out from the crowd with colour and creativity.”
Discover 49 more of the coolest people, gear and innovations in canoeing this year in the digital edition of Canoeroots and Family Camping, Summer/Fall 2014, on our free iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch App or Android App or read it on your desktop here.
When it comes to the van life, this famous warning likely rings through your head: “You’ll be living in a van down by the river!”
Chris Farley always said it like it was a bad thing. The Saturday Night Live comedian would yell in his classic sketch, “You’re not going to amount to jack squat!”
To paddlers, Farley’s idea of being a deadbeat sounds more like living the dream—stay where you want, when you want, with minimal money and a river within reach.
Some boaters go the extra mile and deck out their cars to live comfortably, cheaply and best of all, happily. These paddlers have traded mortgages for moving water and stress for stunning scenery. With the perk of paddling on a whim, who wouldn’t drop everything to live in a van down by the river?
Eat, sleep, paddle, repeat. | Photo: Sierra Stinson
1 The White Beast
Andy Hill moved to Ontario at age 17 to pursue a life of playboating on the Ottawa River. In the nine years that followed, he went through eight vehicles, each too expensive to drive or not tough enough for Canadian winters. After much trial and error, Hill has found love in the former Mountain Surf van.
Vehicle name: The White Beast
Vehicle year/make/model: 1997 Ford E-350
Odometer reading: 270,000 miles, 20,000 of which were powered by veggie oil
Original vehicle cost: $1. Hill bought the van from freestyle champion kayaker Billy Harris who was sick of paying to maintain an old vehicle. “I have a bill of sale that says I bought it for one buck.”
Occupancy (people): 6
Occupancy (boats): “If you were very proficient at Tetris I would guess you could fit 30 or more kayaks in and on it.”
Under the hood: “Having a 7.3-liter, turbocharged diesel is great. It’s completely oversized but the cost of running such an engine is usually halved, because I use 50/50 veggie oil and diesel whenever possible.”
Memorable moment: “There are a lot of stories that came with that van, like when a tornado put a stop sign through the roof at a kayaking festival. When I bought it from Billy I promised I would only ever pass it on to another boater, so it’s a pretty cool legacy.”
Photos: Mícheál Howard
2 #RedDraggon
After years together in a gear-crammed college apartment, Mícheál Howard, Eoin Farrell and Simon McCormack started life on the road. Although they opt to camp outside of their car instead of sleeping in it, they all consider it home base. The three Irishmen agree that van life has made a world of difference to their European travels. “It’s the freedom really,” says Howard, “not having to worry about campsites or hotels. You can stay wherever you want.” The trio headed out on their first three-month kayaking trip last summer, and it won’t be their last.
Vehicle name: #RedDraggon
Vehicle make/model: Citroën Berlingo
Odometer reading: 100,000 kilometers
Essential features: Roof racks were a mandatory addition for carrying boats, but the group also got a rack for the back to carry a bike for shuttles. Finally, they added three big bins “to store all the living gear in the boot.”
Reno cost: “The turbo went in it, and that cost $2,500 to replace. But other than that just the regular maintenance and servicing costs.”
Occupancy (people): Zero. “We spent one night with all three of us inside and it was miserable.”
Occupancy (boats): Eight—creekers on the roof and playboats in the back.
Memorable moment: “Driving through amazing mountains and landscapes with great music blaring on the radio.”
Feature photo: Tommy Penick
3 Grandma’s kitchen
Tommy Penick’s license plates say he’s from Virginia, but he hasn’t lived there in over six years. Instead he’s been on the road building his photography business. “There’s more or less two ways to make your career come together,” he says. “You either find a job that helps you supplement your income, or you drastically cut your living expenses.” For Penick, who’s at home on a class V river, it was a no brainer: cut down on comforts for the freedom of life on the road.
Vehicle year/make/model: 2009 GMC Yukon and converted 5×10 utility trailer
Odometer reading: 90,000 miles
Occupancy (people): Three really good friends.
Occupancy (boats): Five boats on the highway, seven for the shuttle.
Photo: Tommy Penick
Photo: Tommy Penick
Essential features: Penick added insulation, hardwood floors, solar panels and a water tank to his trailer, and, to make it feel like home, “I bought a really nice candle from a thrift store and called it done. It’s called Grandma’s Kitchen and it smells delicious.”
Memorable moment: Attempting to hit up Cali classic South Silver, Penick and a friend missed a turn during a midnight shuttle, trailer in tow. “Long story short, we were on the wrong road, and got stuck.” They were a little late for work the next day, but squeezed in a good run.
Photo: Stephen Wright
Photo: Stephen Wright
4 Beast
Stephen Wright is a three-time U.S. National Freestyle champion and Jackson Kayak athlete who spends a lot of time on the road, traveling to and from his hometown of Vienna, VA. When the engine on his first shuttle vehicle, a Toyota Corolla, overheated and exploded, Wright knew he needed something to keep up with the demand. “I was planning to quit my real job and just make my way traveling and kayaking,” says Wright, “I wanted something I could sleep in and carry most of my stuff.” When this Hostess delivery truck came up on eBay, he knew it was the one.
Vehicle name: Beast
Vehicle make/model: Freightliner MT35
Original vehicle cost: $7,000
Reno cost: $2,000
Occupancy (people): 2–3
Occupancy (boats): Many!
Essential features: “I soundproofed the engine compartment, added a passenger seat, radio, solar panel and LED interior lights. I added insulation, wall paneling, laminate hardwood flooring, a futon bed and new back door, cut two windows, two vents, and will eventually add a table, cabinets, stove, roof racks and more—I’m basically building a small RV.”
Memorable moment: Wright’s first drive in Beast was almost 1,700 miles from the seller in Texas to Philadelphia, with the speedometer maxing out at 52 miles per hour. He’s since swapped the transmission.
Photo: Tommy Penick
5 Orange B!tch
If you’ve been to any number of kayaking festivals around North America, chances are you’ve seen Dave Fusilli. The Fayetteville, WV, native spends his year touring to festivals and running rivers. “It’s my eighth year traveling the good parts of the USA kayaking,” Fusilli says. Pyranha handed over the keys and a gas card as part of a sponsorship deal and Fusilli hasn’t looked back.
Vehicle name: Orange Bitch
Vehicle make/model: Ford 350
Odometer reading: “I have put about 200,000 miles on it,” says Fusilli. “Almost entirely kayak trips.”
Essential features: Fusilli added a box onto the back of the van for wet gear. “There are some crazy smells that come out of that damn box—we call it the Gnar Box.”
“I find all kinds of gear that is not mine back there,” says Fusilli. “Usually I just sell it to someone in need.”
Occupancy (people): “Three is the magic number and five is pretty stressful.”
Occupancy (boats): 12–20
Memorable moment: “One time, the windshield fell off when it was dumping rain. We went kayaking and dealt with it later.”
Photo: Kaydi Pyette
6 Grey Goose and Whiskey Militia
Kyle Smith and Dan Whillans migrate to the Madawaska Valley every spring for a season of surf. Just minutes from the Rapid office, their trailers are parked a mile from the local river and they commute to and from the shore in a muffler-less Subaru Forester. “I live in my trailer for five months of the year,” Smith says, “then I move to where the weather is better and living is cheap.”
Vehicle name: Grey Goose and Whiskey Militia
Vehicle year/make/model: 1965 Golden Falcon 13.5’ and 1974 Jayco 15’
Essential features: No electricity, no indoor plumbing—no problem. These guys have a sunset view of the river valley and 240 acres of scenery unrolling around them. Trailer renos included removing a family of mice, hanging some curtains and adding a custom paint job.
Occupancy (people): “Sleeps five, so tell your friends.”
Occupancy (boats): The Subaru maxes out at six boats and five boaters.”
Memorable moment: “Sunset sessions.” Every night paddlers from the area head to the trailers with guitars and drums to watch the sun set over the river valley’s rolling hills.
This article was first published in the Summer/Fall 2014 issue of Rapid Magazine. Subscribe to Paddling Magazine’s print and digital editions, or browse the archives.
Making bush bannock is so simple, you’ll have it everyday while on trip. | Feature photo: Kaydi Pyette
Most of us make compromises on our food when tripping in the wilderness. It doesn’t mean we don’t eat well, but we often give up the taste and comfort of soft, fresh bread for pita and flatbreads that won’t squish. Stop sacrificing! Here’s a delicious recipe for bannock that promises a fluffy backwoods treat.
Easy Backcountry Bannock Recipe
Bannock is a Gaelic-rooted word that comes from the Latin panecium, which means baked things. A bannock is a small, flat loaf of bread, risen by a leavening agent. Its roots date back to ancient times, where bannock nourished Roman armies and First Nations tribes. Add some honey and it tastes like manna from heaven—hot, light, and delicious.
Make the mix at home before your trip. To do so, mix the dry ingredients together then cut the shortening in with a pastry cutter or two knives until you have a granular, corn meal-like mixture. Package in Ziploc freezer bags and double bag it if you’re going on a long trip.
Making bush bannock is so simple, you’ll have it everyday while on trip. | Feature photo: Kaydi Pyette
To Serve
Once fireside, warm a small cast iron frying pan on the fire and oil it well. Next, pour water into the bag of mix, squishing it around in the bag. Pour in enough water so the dough spreads easily, but has a heavy and thick consistency. The faster you go from mixing the dough to spreading it in a skillet, the lighter your bannock will be.
Squeeze the mix out of the bag and onto the warmed pan. If the dough sizzles, it means the pan is too hot, cool it off and try again. Spread the dough so it’s no more than an inch thick, then place the pan over hot coals. As the dough cooks, it will start to rise slowly. Flip over your loaf when the underside takes on a golde tone. Wait another five minutes, then flip again.
The key to great bannock is a consistent heat, ideally from glowing red embers of hardwood. You’ll know it’s ready to eat when you can stick a fork in the center and it comes out clean.
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Bannock Recipe Variations
A fun variation is cooking bannock on a stick. To do this, roll out a snake-like length of dough and wrap it around a stick, keeping it a half-inch thick. Rotate your bannock above hot coals until it cooks through and is easy to slide off, usually about 10 minutes.
Get the full article in the digital edition of Canoeroots and Family Camping, Summer/Fall 2014.Subscribe to Paddling Magazine’s print and digital editions, or browse the archives.
Discover 49 more of the coolest people, gear and innovations in canoeing this year in the digital edition of Canoeroots and Family Camping, Summer/Fall 2014, on our free iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch App or Android App or read it on your desktop here.
This article was first published in the Summer/Fall 2014 issue of Canoeroots Magazine. 
This article was first published in the Summer/Fall 2014 issue of Rapid Magazine. 
