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Campsite Memories
True Tales from Wild Places
by Cliff Jacobson
ICS Books, Merillville, IN USA 1994
$9.99 151 pp. (US)
For info call 1-800-541-7323
Review by MICHAEL PEAKE --
Che-Mun Editor
Canoelit Home Page
This is the latest from that prolific little American dynamo - Cliff Jacobson. It's his eleventh book for ICS and this one adopts a bit of a retrospective gaze. Perhaps Cliff is feeling a little older and experienced enough to recount a series of entertaining tales from the many thousands of miles he has paddled.
And perhaps that's the key. Cliff has put-in into so many diverse areas that he's bound to be discussing one where you've been. Campsite Memories recounts more than two dozen incidents that range from humourous to poignant, and cover trips throughout the Northwest Territories and northern Ontario.
In his Introduction, Cliff quotes Stefansson who was asked upon returning from one of his many expeditions, if he'd had any adventures. " No - no adventures, just experiences. Adventures are the result of incompetence." The way I first remember hearing that quote was with Stef saying. "If I'd had any adventures, I wouldn't talk about them to you about it." Fortunately, Cliff has no such reservations.
As a schoolteacher and a professional guide (and we should note, devoted Che-Mun reader) Cliff has been exposed to a great many unprepared and inexperienced people. And that always makes for good "adventures".
Getting there proves to be half the fun on several occasions. Cliff is the single most unlucky person I've ever heard of when it comes to trailers. One trailer mishap even sliced his entire canoe in half in the remote Saskatchewan bush. But he discovered - as a good many others have - that there can be a certain charm about travel in the Canadian north.
I think any canoeist will want to empathize about killer portages, wrapped boats and the myriad of things that can and do go wrong - always at the worst times. There are a few little errors, i.e. the Tyrrell expeditions were Canadian - and not British. But Cliff includes enough historical detail when warranted to round out the tales. And above all his enthusiasm shines through. Grab yourself a copy, it's a fun and breezy read.
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