I’m still reeling from the sensory overload of the Far North Symposium, held this last weekend in St. Paul. Organized by the Minnesota Canoe Association, it was the first paddling symposium I’d been to… okay, it was the only symposium of any kind I’d ever been to. The program had described seasoned paddlers sharing their stories of travels deep into the rivers and yonderlands of Canada. Beyond that, I had no idea what to expect. Would I be bored to tears by endless slideshows of fish on stringers? Would I have to demonstrate a proper J-stroke or do a loon-call to get in the door? And just what in the flamin’ hootie-hoo is a symposium, anyway?

Thankfully, any reservations were quelled as I found a friendly community of young and old, clean-cut and rough-hewn; all of them in love with the same beautiful places and experiences that I am. Each presentation was a course in a visual feast of rich boreal colors, reclusive wild creatures and lonely paradises. Speakers shared more than simply stories. Between live accompaniments with a fiddle, and tactics for equally portioning instant pudding between paddlers, liberal helpings of inspiration and wanderlust were served to all (maybe that’s what a symposium is). We’ve posted my notes and drawings (though they don’t nearly do justice to the presentations themselves), and hope you’ll read through them all.