by Doug Sjoquist | Sep 10, 2026 | Trail Notes Stories
Assumptions. They lead to trouble, sometimes even danger, and almost always are a mistake. I’m a little more careful now, but the certainty of youth generates a lot of them. As a young husband, I thought that since my very pregnant wife had never been camping,...
by Doug Sjoquist | Aug 27, 2026 | Trail Notes Stories
I’ve been out in the woods along our yard with a tractor, 200 feet of steel rope, and a bag of rated hardware, building a longer, steeper zip line for the grandkids. I checked the anchor trees again. Checked the rating of the cable again. I ratcheted out the...
by Doug Sjoquist | Aug 13, 2026 | Trail Notes Stories
Growing up near the Great Lakes and the rivers that feed them made water an important part of my world, but it was also something I took for granted. There’s a subtle difference between growing up in the “Midwest” and growing up in the Great Lakes...
by Doug Sjoquist | Jul 31, 2026 | Trail Notes Stories
Some wild places call you back. Others don’t even notice when you show up. One of those two is the reason a man ended up on the deck of a Canadian lake freighter late on a July night. Paddling across a small lake in a heavy fog is eerie, but kinda cool. There is...
by Doug Sjoquist | Jul 16, 2026 | Trail Notes Stories
August 9, 2008 First Up the Trail We were first on the trail that morning, three brothers and two teenage sons. The boys had wanted a more challenging hike before we left the Smokies, so we were making the trek to the Ramsey Cascades while the rest of our families...
