“There is one thing I should warn you about before you decide to get serious about canoeing. You must consider the possibility of becoming totally and incurably hooked on it.” -Bill Mason
I like cutting-edge techniques and equipment as much as the next guy, but sometimes it pays to go back to the classics. Song of the Paddle is and update of the earlier Path of the Paddle, one of those kinds of books that brings you back to the old days, where PFD’s were optional, helmets were from the hockey rink, and flannel was the high-tech fabric of the time.
Bill was a lifetime paddler who lived and breathed canoeing and camping. Solo wilderness trips into middle of nowhere, writing, filmmaking, and painting all revolved around the simple canoe. Song of the Paddle is an instructional book first and foremost, with hundreds of photos detailing a myriad of strokes and camping skills. Basic river-reading, ferrying, packing, and other details that take a lifetime to master are thoughtfully laid out.
Song of the Paddle covers alot of ground, including the bare basics of the parts a canoe, simple forward strokes, solo and double paddling, advanced whitewater skills, recoveries, and the skills of wilderness tripping. A beautiful section of color photos highlight his wilderness trips and whitewater days. Bill peppers his prose with numerous stories and anecdotes that adds a dimension rarely seen these days. Yeah, I’m gushing, but man do I like this book. Bill passed away in 1988, but I get the feeling that somewhere Bill’s pulling into an eddy and smiling.
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I must humbly submit that you are in error in stating “Song of the Paddle” is an update of “Path of the Paddle”. “Path of the Paddle” is an instruction guide about canoing technique interspersed with Bill’s philosophical musings. “Song of the Paddle” is specifically about wilderness tripping/camping or as Bill put it, the difference between “roughing it” and “outdoor living”. Though of course they are related, the two books cover distinctly different subject matter.
Thanks,
Phreon
All of Bill’s books are wonderful reads. There is Path of the Paddle Flatwater, Path of the Paddle Whitewater, Song of the Paddle and his son’s book, Thrill of the Paddle.
The paddling instructionals (flat water and whitewater cover both solo and tandam paddling. Song does indeed cover wilderness canoe tripping and Thrill covers more modern advanced whitewater canoeing techniques.
The videos available by the same names are also very good but I do believe that if you can only see or purchase one of them, order Water Walker. It is Bill’s last film before his passing and also his best…a timeless classic.
Another great read is Raffin’s biography of Bill titled Fire In The Bones Bill died of bone cancer at an early age but the title also describes his love of the wilderness.
Enjoy
Jim Adams