When John Muir came ashore in San Francisco in 1868 and asked for the quickest route out of town,
the question he got was simple: “To where?”
“ANYWHERE THAT'S WILD,” he responded.
That same principle guides what we seek at Gotham Canoe: Visions of the wild, wherever it is. From the schist boulders in Central Park to the trout streams of Patagonia. And that towering oak in your own front yard.
Stubborn Hikers, Steady Snow – And a Moment of Truth on the Via Alpina
April 4, 2024George Anders The trail. The map, The water and snacks. The cozy destination over that pass for the night. And then comes the snow, and impending dusk, and talk of snow slides ahead. What do you do?
Nantucket Forever
March 13, 2024By Paul Lancaster Few things are sweeter than the return, summer after summer, to the same vacation house. Here, an unearthed celebration of many summers long ago.
The True Cost of Fishing on Cape Breton’s Majestic Margaree
March 9, 2024David N. McIlvaney The salmon can be elusive on Cape Breton Island's magical Margaree River. But so much of the joy is in the fishing.
The Last Will & Testament of an Extremely Loved Cat
August 24, 2023David N. McIlvaney Wherein one proud and august cat, Pelburn Betula Birch, expresses her satisfaction at a life well lived and a mouse well stalked, and leaves behind her final testament.
Welcome to Your Cancer Journey in Ten Short Lessons
December 21, 2023By Neil King Jr. The word has lodged in your brain and spirit: Cancer. It is the start of a long and grueling journey. Here are ten short lessons from the trenches to buck you up and get you started.
Fishing Cape Cod’s Monomoy Flats in Beep’s Jeep
December 2, 2022By Peter Fritsch When my dad died with a few big dreams unmet, I jumped to fulfill one of my own in his honor. I bought a boat to fish the gorgeous shoals of Cape Cod's Monomoy Island.
To Norway, To Swim
February 6, 2022By Neil King Jr. What better way to celebrate a big life transition that several days of swimming, well before summer, in Norway's gorgeous but bracing fjords? That's what we did right after my eldest daughter graduated from college.
A Vagabond Fisherman Finds Harmony on a Treasured Virginia Creek
September 6, 2023Mike Tapscott Done with cancer and moving on with life, a Mississippi fisherman hits the road and finds layers of meaning along the way.
Nervous Dads, Friends, Siblings: Now Everyone is Stepping Up to Officiate Weddings
December 6, 2022Bob Davis I was hesitant and nervous about officiating my daughter's wedding, but got good advice: Know what's in her heart. In stepping up, I joined a boom in weddings without rabbis, ministers or priests.
Looking Back, Seeing More: The Rewards of Returning to Old Places
July 26, 2022By Janet Hook It's tempting, with the pandemic receding, to strike out for new, unexplored places. But surprises and new awakenings abound when you revisit destinations from your past.
Welcome to Your Cancer Journey in Ten Short Lessons
December 21, 2023By Neil King Jr. The word has lodged in your brain and spirit: Cancer. It is the start of a long and grueling journey. Here are ten short lessons from the trenches to buck you up and get you started.
Conversations with a Christmas Ornament
December 19, 2023By Neil King Jr. Christmas trees sparkle but they also notch, like nothing else, the tick tock of our years. But on this tree, a boyish lute player on a tin-can lid has all the time in the world.
When in Iceland to Fish, You Fish, No Matter What.
November 11, 2022David N. McIlvaney Iceland is a Shangri-La for the flyfisher, but you can't be picky in your choice of fishing days. Sheets of rain? River flowing in a torrent? Gale-force winds? Just get to it. This is Iceland.
GLEANINGS
Glean (verb): to gather leftover grain or other crops in the field after harvest.
Or, in this case, wonderful found objects from famous and lesser-known writers, all in the public domain.
Every Man a Ruler, And Yet Nothing Pleases
May 20, 2020By Emanuel Howitt Have we changed in 200 years in our rumbling, inchoate discontent as a nation? Not that much. In the fall of 1819, a 28-year-old Englishman named Emanuel Howitt came to the young United States to see if he might settle there. He didn’t much like what he found.
On Walking
May 11, 2020By Henry David Thoreau Thoreau was one of his era’s great practitioners of ecstatic walking and often sang of its virtues in his works, but nowhere so potently as in his essay Walking, published in The Atlantic...
