Sam and I canoe poling during our time at Jack Mountain Bushcraft River Guide School. Photo courtesy of Tim Smith.
Bull Moose Patrol partnered with Sam Larson, winner of the hit television survival show, "Alone," for an awesome three-day, skills-intensive canoe trip on the Flambeau River in the beautiful northwoods of Wisconsin!
I met Sam several years ago at the Jack Mountain Bushcraft River Guide School in northern Maine, and we immediately hit it off! While I've been running Bull Moose Patrol, Sam has gone on to win the incredibly grueling ALONE survival show.
Sam starred in two seasons of ALONE. In his debut season, he survived alone in Vancouver Island’s wilderness for 55 days, which landed him a solid second place finish. He returned for redemption in season 5 where, after 60 days in Mongolia's harsh and unforgiving wilderness, he outlasted everyone for the win!
Paddling the Flambeau
Excited to paddle the rapids of Wisconsin’s Flambeau River! Photo credit: Sam Larson
Sam and I worked to put together a fun and educational canoe trip on the Flambeau, one of my favorite rivers in the region. This section of the Flambeau offers a great training run for river canoeing skills, including an intro to whitewater paddling.
We designed the trip to provide an introduction to canoe camping and wilderness survival. The Flambeau’s wild northwoods mixed forest with its remote back country campsites is a great venue to teach canoe handling, rapids reading, camp craft, survival skills, and have a lot of fun!
Paddling and Bushcraft with BMP and Sam from ALONE!
Trip mates from Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, and Nebraska gathered on a rainy Thursday night at our rendezvous camp, where we shared excited introductions and pre-trip talk.
The next morning, we loaded for our upriver shuttle in a complete downpour. Lesson #1: how to not be a fair-weather camper! Bull Moose Patrol outfitted this trip, which included canoes, food, group camp gear, emergency gear, individual dry bags, and a detailed packing list. This may seem elementary, but I can’t tell you how many seemingly experienced campers I’ve seen have trips ruined with soggy gear! The rain didn’t phase us, and we were happy knowing that it’d bring the Flambeau’s flow up, ensuring a great downriver run.
We launched at Nine Mile Creek Landing on Hwy 70. The stretch of the Flambeau from Nine Mile Creek Landing to Oxbo is scenic, fairly mild, and thoroughly enjoyable! Over the next three days, we paddled down the beautiful and, at times, challenging Flambeau River. Camping on the river at remote paddle-in only campsites is a great feature of the Flambeau that really adds to the backcountry feel. As we headed downriver, we worked on paddling skill development, knowing that our last day would have us running Cedar Rapids and Beaver Damn Rapids before reaching our final destination.
Our crew did great! Jason and I were the only ones to take an unplanned swim; a jammed paddle snapped, rocking the canoe and letting water rush over our gunnel. We managed to stay upright, but once the canoe filled with water, it simply sank from under us!
Check out some of our paddling moments:
Learning Wilderness Skills
Here are a few of the key canoeing, backcountry camping, and wilderness survival skills our participants learned over the course of the trip:
River Navigation: Reading currents, identifying dangerous obstacles, and navigating rapids
River Safety: Self and group rescues, avoiding dangers, and recovering from mishaps
River Canoeing Paddle Strokes and Maneuvers: Draw and cross, braces, ferrying, eddy turns, etc.
Fire Skills: Modern, emergency, and primitive fire lighting and fire management (including the bow drill friction fire method, which everyone achieved, despite the rainy conditions!)
Axe, Saw, and Knife Use: The lost art of safe and efficient edged tool use for the woodsman
Knots and Rope Work: Essential knot and rope knowledge for the wilderness traveler
Campfire Cooking: All meals were cooked over an open fire, including hot breakfast and dessert from the reflector oven
In addition to the formal lessons, we all enjoyed listening to Sam’s campfire tales and stories of his time competing on two seasons of ALONE!
Join Bull Moose Patrol on Our Next Wilderness Trip or Class!
Want to join in the fun? Contact us to learn more about Bull Moose Patrol’s next wilderness trip or skills building class! Also, be sure to follow our Facebook page for regular updates and discussions.