Friday, August 13, 2010

Comfort but no skill

I just returned from the beautiful Flathead River in North Western, Montana. My family and I canoed the beginner friendly river for two days. Popular with fly fishermen, this glacial clear river shimmers in the presence of burnt sticks, left over from a forest fire earlier this decade, jutting from the surrounding hills. Although we have both "paddled" the flathead before we learned quickly that our steering skills were minimal when we flipped our canoe! What a shock when we tipped into the crisp glacier water, having grown up often canoeing and never flipping, it seemed to slip our minds that you could get wet going down a river in a canoe. The flip was followed by a lot of yelling at who was to blame and eventually some tears of exasperation were shed, but we became a good paddling duo by the end. This small trip reminded me that although I am comfortable outdoors I do not have the skills that match my confidence (thus MAST program should help!). My parents never taught me to tie knots or steer a canoe on any of our outdoor trips but they did help me develop a love for outdoor recreation and nature.

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