Why? Interesting question. Americans seem quite ambivalent about such things. On one hand there is a high-minded respect for the individualist, and on the other hand, there's a notion that if you're not surrounded by a bunch of noisy friends who cram your calendar full, you must be a loser. Let me go ahead and play my card by telling you that I consider most people to be losers. Deceived fools. There is NOT safety in numbers, there is not necessarily happiness, and there is, in many cases, considerably less enjoyment of life and its best experiences.
I was reminded of this today by Mike at Pacific River Supply, who is a great guy with tons of excellent equipment and many years of experience and river wisdom. I'll probably soon buy an Aire Lynx II from him because my Lynx I can't really carry all the stuff I'll need for 150 river miles and two weeks on the first leg of my Alaska trip this summer. Anyhow, when I was in there renting a Lynx II today he and I inevitably got to talking about paddling solo. To quote myself in an article about solo floating the Alagnak that appeared in Fish Alaska magazine,
Don't go boating alone. Any experienced paddler will tell you this, and it is true.
What's also true, though, is that I paddle alone all the time, and so does Mike. You should have seen him glow when he described one of his solo trips. This is a guy who does a lot of guiding and group trips, and you could tell that he really, really treasures the peace and freedom of solo trips. As his face got more beatific describing this, I could feel the smirk growing on my own face. I almost said, "that's what I do almost all the time, Mike," but thought better of it. No need to boast when you are a true loner and loser . . .
Tomorrow's trip to test the rented Lynx II and compare it to the Lynx is NOT a solo one. I'm taking a buddy who has boated with me also on the Middle American. He's an unpretentious dude who doesn't mind paddling 'duckies,' as the kayaking elite say with a sneer (they are, in most cases, real losers). Talking with him just now about the logistics, I noted the fact that tonight he is currently fighting with his fiancee, with yelling in the background making it all the more vivid. I know he's excited to go, but boy was he grumpy on the phone. He is in Sartre's non-loser Hell: not alone.
Thinking these things over, I'm getting the dirty old smirk again. Only a loser would spend his day cutting and waterproofing nautical charts while half-watching premier league (down with Bolton!) and dreaming about a solo fishing trip still eight weeks away, or now be sitting around on a Saturday night eating mackerel and then blogging while half watching Mexican soccer (up with Cruz Azul!). But I am delighted to be him!
