Follow-up on my Right Ankle…

If you have read any of my earlier post you know I had some problems with my right ankle while on my solo canoe trip in the Woodland Caribou Provincial Park.

Today I went and saw, Dr. Paul Langer, http://www.mnortho.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=ap.home&apid=283 , to see what could be causing my problem and / or how to correct the problem.

About 14 years ago I jumped out of a moving van (work related) and partial tore a tendon around my ankle. This was covered by workman’s comp and I needed some orthotics which I got. They were good for a couple years but instead of going back I began buying Smart feet insoles for every shoe I had and for every shoe I bought since then. These inserts are very good and they seemed to be doing the job for about 10 percent of the cost of the custom orthotics.

Last year I sprained my same right ankle while in Wabakimi. I haven’t had any more problems up until my last canoe trip.

Today I went to see Dr. Langer and brought my NRS boots and other foot wear. The Doctor took some x-rays, did a strength exam on my foot and watched me walk.

It appears that I have been putting stress on the peroneal tendon so he did some modification to my Smart feet inserts and I should wear an ankle support for awhile.

I also got some thick moleskin to put around the inside of my ankle to keep the pressure off the inside ankle if I need it when wearing the NRS boots. Well, hopefully that will take care of my problem. I might need to buy another pair of NRS boots, but one size larger.

I did make another appointment in two weeks in case the doctor has to tweak the modifications to the inserts. If the modifications aren’t causing any problems then he told me to cancel the appointment. Then I will need to pick up some supplies to modify all my inserts.

It’s only about seven weeks before I head to Armstrong, Ontario to begin a three week canoe trip with Dave Phillips from Virginia on crown land, Wabakimi, Misehkow River and the Albany River. I’ll post more about this trip when it gets closer.

Chuck

Woodland Caribou Solo

I put up another blog where I'll post my Woodland Caribou Solo Canoe trip. It will include my trip report and I will post many photos once it's finished.

http://woodlandcaribousolo.blogspot.com/

Chuck

Scott Kelby's Second-Annual Worldwide Photo Walk

Check out the homepage: http://worldwidephotowalk.com/

I missed signing up for the Minneapolis photo walk, but I did sign up for the St. Paul photo walk for Saturday, July 18, 2009. Here is the link to the different cities: http://worldwidephotowalk.com/listing-of-all-photo-walks/

One of the reason's I missed signing up for the Minneapolis one was because there appeared there were going to be two Minneapolis photo walks, but the second one never happened. Anyways, 50 people can sign up for each photo walk. Yesterday, I believe there were still 17 spots for the St. Paul walk.
http://worldwidephotowalk.com/saint-paul-mn-usa/ . Looks like there are 14 spots left. I'm going more for the social part, since I don't get too excited about this type of photography.

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Woodland Caribou Solo trip report update:

I've been working on my photos from my Woodland Caribou solo canoe trip. I took about 700 or so during this 6 day paddle. I've also started writing the trip report. I'm not sure when I'll get it done. I'll probably put up another blog in the next couple days telling everyone that the trip report is coming soon.

Chuck

Katie, Rebecca & Whitney

These were also taken on Sunday, 06-23-09, at Jeff Belzer dealership in Lakeville during our monthly Minnesota Strobist shoot. http://www.flickr.com/groups/mnstrobist

Katie Schroeder:

Rebecca Arneson:

Whitney Button:

Model Mayhem info: http://www.modelmayhem.com/833908

Chuck

Cari Lyn

These photos of Cari were taken on Sunday, 06-21-09, at Jeff Belzer Chevrolet Dodge Kia, Inc. in Lakeville. These were taken at our monthly Minnesota Strobist shoot. http://www.flickr.com/groups/mnstrobist

Here is Cari's Model Mayhem information: http://www.modelmayhem.com/1198949

Thank you Cari for coming to the shoot. This was the second time I've photograph Cari. Cari was kind enough to include a couple of my photographs in her portfolio from last months Strobist shoot.

Chuck

I'm back from Woodland Caribou...early...

I’m back from my Woodland Caribou Solo canoe trip. Overall, it was a very good trip, but unfortunately I cut the trip short. This was planned as a 10 day trip that ended up being six days.

I cut off three complete days of travel that would have taken me further west and I combined two days of travel into one. I made the decision to alter my route after traveling three days when my right ankle became very sore.

I think it was day two and for sure on day three I felt my ankle bone on the inside sore, but I thought it was from the ankle bone rubbing against the open latch to my Pelican case for my camera gear. For traveling during the day I wear NRS boots that are neoprene on the inside and a thin stiffer rubber material on the upper part to give support. These are very good boots for wet footers.

On day three I encountered some very steep portages and the outside of my ankles had pain with every step I took. Since I hadn’t done anything obvious to the ankle I was getting concerned that something was wrong with the tendon. When I got to camp I changed into my Danner boots and the pain wasn’t there when I walked. Now I was thinking that my NRS boots were rubbing on the tendon.

My last two portages on day three were through a burn area. The second to the last portage was a 550 meter portage that doesn’t sound like much but I needed to bush whack over burned over bedrock with downed burned trees then through a low area with more down trees without any obvious portage. I was concerned that if my ankle got worst I had more of the same type portages coming up in the next couple days. On day six there were some longer portages and the longest was 850 meters through the burn. My thought was if I continue past this point where I was and went further to the NW I wouldn’t be able to turn around and I would need to cross the 850 portage. Would this be a bush whack, too?

It wasn’t until I put my NRS boots on in the morning of day four that I made up my mind. As soon as I put my right boot on I could feel the pain. I was camped on Welkin Lake. I saw that if I back track a little that all I had to do was cross a 300 meter portage to take me to Wrist Lake. I checked my maps and this portage was just outside the burn area so I hoped the travel would be easier than through the burn area with down trees. There was no option. I wasn’t going to completely back track across that 550 meter portage I experienced yesterday and if I continued to the NW I could potentially cause me more problems if the ankle got worst.

On day 4 I used an Ace bandage around my ankle and a little tape to try to keep some padding between my ankle since I thought it was the boot rubbing on the tendon causing the problems. Day 5 I used some foam that I was using to protect my Really Right Stuff BH-40 ball head on my tripod. I ended up cutting the foam and putting it around my ankle to keep the pressure off the pain area. This seemed to work but it started to get sore in another spot.

The only problem with having an ankle problem is that it hurt with every step I took with my right foot. It could have been worst if both ankles were bothering me.

I sprained my right ankle on the Wabakimi trip last year. I think this was what was causing me my problems on this trip. It doesn’t hurt much now when I walk but I can feel some pain since the Ibuprofen has stopped working. When I palpate the tendon on the tendon it’s still sore. Now I think it’s a tendon problem and not my NRS boot.

Heading up to Red Lake I saw several bears, some deer, moose and other wildlife.

I took a lot of photos and I plan to write a report about this trip, but it will be a while before I post it. I’ll probably post it in its own blog.





Chuck

The Prism is ready...

and is waiting for me. Tomorrow I'm be heading north to my father's. Then Thursday morning I'll head to Red Lake, Ontario to see Claire and Harlan Schwartz. I'll begin the Woodland Caribou Solo on Friday.

I put some new epoxy on the bottom of the Prism and some on the inside. The inside was getting pretty worn and I didn't want any water to soak into the foam core.





Chuck

Mobal Iridium Sat Phone

Yesterday when I posted some information about the Iridium Sat phone I couldn't get the link feature to work. I recommend if you are considering renting a Sat phone to check out Mobal.

Mobal

I also put a link to the right side of this page under Links.

Chuck

Getting packed and ready to go soon....

Well, this past week-end I spent putting my food together for my Woodland Caribou trip. This was in between going to get some things that I wasn’t going to buy. You know how it is going to the camera shop to buy three cleaning clothes and walk out with them and a new carbon fiber tripod. Oh, well…

I have a Gitzo 3541LS with a Really Right Stuff (RRS) BH-40 ballhead, but it takes up so much space inside a pack. I bought a Manfrotto 725B tripod a couple years ago but it has a fixed ballhead. It won’t accept my RRS L bracket, so I decided to buy a Manfrotto 190CXPRO3. This way I can put my RRS ballhead on it. I’ll feel much better attaching my camera and lenses. I will take my 24-70 mm 2.8 lens. I’m leaving my 70-200 mm 2.8 behind. Instead I’m taking my Tamron 18-300mm. I also decided to take the Nikon D-80 instead of the D700.

Looks like I’ll be tugging my Pelican 1524 case along with my camera gear. The 1450 won’t cut it. I also needed to buy a Pelican 1150 for the Iridium Sat phone that I rented for this trip. I rented it from Mobal , and it arrived today a day earlier than the day I wanted it. I wanted it on June 9 in case there was a delay with FedEx for some reason. I leave for Grand Rapids after work on June 10th.

It really didn’t seem like I was getting any thing accomplished this week-end until I began packing my two Granite Gear packs. I bought these two packs in the mid 1990’s when they were made in Two Harbors, MN. It always seems like I’m packing to go somewhere.

Last week I received my two Granite Gear pack liners. I already had one from Ostrom’s. I won’t be hanging any packs from any trees. I’ve never tripped with barrels.

Well, there were other items I bought for this trip, but I’ll just mention them in my trip report when I write it.

Harlan of http://www.solotripping.com/community/ was supposed to come out of the park today after ten days, but I haven’t received an e-mail from him yet. This was the first time Harlan had been in the park. I’m interested in hearing what he thought about it. The temperatures have been colder than when I go in at least that is what the long range forecast says. I’m curious on how much rain he had. I spoke to someone in Thunder Bay today and they said it had been raining there all day. I know that’s a ways from Red Lake but the weather here in the Twin Cities haven’t been that great the last few days either.

I think I’m pretty much all packed I just need to do some odds and ends. I need to take off my racing canoe off my Suburban and replace it with my Prism. I’ll do that tomorrow.

Chuck

Edit: After I got done posting I went and did some more arranging and it looks like I'll be taking my Pelican 1450 case and not the 1524.

Woodland Caribou Update

I just got done speaking with Claire Quewezence, Assistant Park Superintendent.

She said she drove the road to Leano Lake and the road is still fine with vehicles with high clearance. She drove down with Harlan of solotripping.com this past Friday night, 05-29-09. Claire mentioned they saw several bears on the way but no reports at any campsites.

She has only one trip report and that was from an entry on the west side.

The water is high, probably due to the 10 inch snow a couple weeks ago and the fact the ground is still frozen in the bush.They were expecting snow last night but only got a cold rain. Claire reminded me to bring warm sleeping gear/clothes.

Chuck

Rogue Cinema Sleepover Girl - June 2009 Rachel Grubb

Rachel e-mailed me a week or so ago and told me that some of my photos taken of her were going to be posted at RogueCinema.com. Main site: http://roguecinema.com/. Rachel is featured in about the middle of this page, then click the "Read" link and it will take you to the page about her.

Looks like five of my photos were used from my last shoot with Rachel on 05-17-09. I've done other photo shoots with Rachel and she's very fun to work with.

Here is the link to Rachel and what she has been up to and some my photos that were included. Thanks Rachel!!

http://roguecinema.com/content-194.html

Chuck Ryan