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Post by High Sierra Fan on Sept 14, 2023 20:06:53 GMT -8
There are apparently a lot of people who take boats and do what is called the Great Loop. This is a six thousand (!!) mile water route that essentially circled the eastern half of the United States via the central rivers, the Gulf and Atlantic coast then the St. Lawrence, Great Lakes and back to the rivers. By some random act of Facebook posts about it started appearing in my homepage where I keep track of national parks etc. (Yosemite in two weeks!!) Fascinating stuff. www.greatloop.org/ |
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Post by High Sierra Fan on Sept 14, 2023 20:08:37 GMT -8
The routes.  |
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Post by Sleeping Bag Man! on Sept 14, 2023 21:22:16 GMT -8
If I had my way, I'd be doing the Great Loop right now, in one of those kayaks you can sail, paddle, or pedal with your feet...set a tent up using the akas... One of my many pandemic/post-divorce fantasies.  |
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Post by High Sierra Fan on Sept 14, 2023 22:27:47 GMT -8
Had you heard of it before? I hadn’t.
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zeke
Trail Wise!
Peekaboo slot 2023
Posts: 10,035 
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Post by zeke on Sept 15, 2023 2:58:27 GMT -8
I met a couple doing this while I was paddling in Everglades NP. They were taking their sweet time, even stopping at friends houses for weeks at a time along the way.
I have also heard of a 4 person team trying to set the record for canoeing down the length of the Mississippi. Odd what some people call fun.
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Post by Sleeping Bag Man! on Sept 15, 2023 5:40:34 GMT -8
Had you heard of it before? I hadn’t. Not until 2020 |
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Travis
Trail Wise!
WYOMING NATIVE
Posts: 2,830
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Post by Travis on Sept 15, 2023 6:21:20 GMT -8
I had never heard of it, and it seems like it is kind of an arbitrary route. Just depends on how many people consider it a real thing. But whatever floats their boats, so to speak.
What immediately came into my mind was about how many boat inspections and decontaminations you'd have to go through every time you crossed a state line or whatever. Wyoming and even some states east, such as New York, have gotten more aggressive recently in trying to stop the spread of invasive water species.
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Post by High Sierra Fan on Sept 15, 2023 7:41:52 GMT -8
I think the big commercial waterways are less of that sort of issue and that’s what this route seems to follow.
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Post by Lamebeaver on Sept 15, 2023 10:06:12 GMT -8
A few years ago, I bought an aluminum Grumman sailing canoe from someone who had sailed/paddled the length of the Mississippi River. It was over 50 years old and not a single leaky rivit.
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Post by High Sierra Fan on Sept 15, 2023 13:10:27 GMT -8
They made pretty tough trucks as well. Not to mention the F14.
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ErnieW
Trail Wise!
I want to backpack
Posts: 10,839
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Post by ErnieW on Sept 18, 2023 7:24:29 GMT -8
I've heard about a version of it since I was little but what my dad and friends called it was the inland waterway. My dad had friends that were ship captains for rich yachts. The captains would take the yachts from up here in the NE through the inland waterway in the fall down to Florida so the rich people could use them in the Gulf while they were wintering in Florida. They would bring the yachts back in the spring for the summer up here. Not all yachts are good for the ocean and even if they are the fall is hurricane season. The inland waterways were safer.
There were also recreational boaters from around here that just wanted to do the Mississippi or see the Midwest from their boat. As a kid we did trips up the Hudson, Connecticut and Housatonic rivers. The commercial traffic is a little hazardous but it was nice to be on a boat and seeing more than just water. Calm water and places to re-provision or go out to dinner along the way.
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Post by High Sierra Fan on Sept 18, 2023 15:23:55 GMT -8
ErnieW yes it does sound like it might be a relatively new phenomena, like trails in the wilderness that all of a sudden get a "name"though they'd existed for years and so the named route become a thing all by themselves.
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Post by swmtnbackpacker on Sept 19, 2023 9:42:31 GMT -8
Saw that and posted it .. even has its own govt website under the NOAA: oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/great-loop.htmlThen realized it’s been a thing for decades (Walter Cronkite wrote it was a trip he’d always been wanting to do). Looks pretty fun but the vast majority use 15 to 30 foot boats for sleeping quarters vs a handful using sea kayaks or even jet skis (deleted post realizing small vessel travel was an anomaly). Here’s one with a pontoon boat (motorized) … BoatUSA. Also mostly hotel (or host) stays so not really backcountry travel. Still looks like an awesome adventure though. |
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gabby
Trail Wise!
Posts: 4,662
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Post by gabby on Sept 19, 2023 19:53:07 GMT -8
Back a few weeks when we were getting daily triple digit temps, I was using the treadmill every day. Our old treadmill has now become obsolete AFA "Ifit" is concerned, so there are no longer Google Streetview maps to make for "exotic routes", so I've started resorting to Youtube "walking videos". Might seem strange to some that I'd watch someone walking across the desert while it was more than 100 degrees outside, but that's what I did. So, I watched Eric Poulin's multi episode video of his crossing of the Mohave & Sonoran deserts solo. If you are curious, I have to say I was impressed with both the guy and his videos. Via Youtube algorithms, Eric introduced me to others who introduced me (in the last 24 hours) to a "pseudo-trail" (that's not quite a reality) called the "American Perimeter Trail". I was wondering if anyone here had heard of it? americanperimetertrail.org/Not trying to change the subject, but High Sierra Fan's post made me think of it. If you do that sort of thing, check out Eric Poulin's channel. IMO, "good stuff". www.youtube.com/@seekinglost |
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