Canoe

This season my canoe was late into the water, proving again for me that when deprived of a pleasure I appreciate it more.The canoe is a remarkable craft. As transportation or as exercise, it is fully democratic. It can be paddled, poled, sculled, rowed and sailed, but one can't, like Hiawatha, guide it by thought alone.The expert canoeist Albert Van Siclen Pulling defined it as ''the most interesting link that unites the past and future of the outdoors. It may be the only still popular but truly aboriginal tool that we have inherited.

Once thought to be a somewhat out-of-the-way spot for winter ski trips and summer getaways from the scorching heat, Deep Creek Lake and the adjacent Wisp Resort could become "the No. 1 - bar none - adventure sports destination spot in the world" if Todd Copley has anything to do with it. Toward that goal, Copley's Deep Creek 2014 LLC will be helping run next weekend's USA Canoe Kayak Slalom Team Trials there, as well as the sport's world championships in...

We generally don't do this. Something about the old warning, "If you do it once, you've got to do it for everyone. " But sometimes a letter comes in and it hits home. This one, from Michael Marlow, did just that. It needs no embellishment. It speaks for itself. I'd like to make it hard for anyone — that's you, punks — to get any pleasure out of stolen gains. And I'm hoping you, readers, will email the rightful owner, Michael Marlow (mfsmarlow@yahoo.com), or call the Baltimore City Watershed Rangers (410-396-9863)

By Kit Waskom Pollard Spring is a time for new beginnings, and that includes new hobbies. As the air gets warmer and the days last longer, it's the perfect time to try out a new outdoor sport. The Baltimore region offers plenty of opportunities for outdoor fun, from biking to paddleboarding. Thanks to local retailers that rent sporting equipment, budding outdoorsmen and outdoorswomen can try out new hobbies without investing too much money. Gary Weeden, of Annapolis boat and bike rental shop Paddle or Pedal, likens renting to test-driving a car. "Before you spend your money, this is a great way to try things out. Like with cars: Before you buy, rent and say, 'This is what I like and don't like.' " "If someone hasn't been on a bicycle for a while, and they're not sure of the type of bike they'll want to purchase, we offer several types they can try out at low cost," adds Jim White of Monkton Bikes.

A report of a capsized canoe, possibly with a body trapped underneath, had rescuers combing the waters of Gunpowder Falls in Baltimore County for more than two hours yesterday, but no body was found, county fire officials reported. Water rescue and medical units were called to the waterway just south of Masemore and Bunker Hill roads about 5 p.m. after a fisherman observed the overturned canoe lodged against a tree in Gunpowder Falls - with what appeared to be a man inside. Rescuers including county fire units, Maryland Natural Resources Police and the State Forest and Park Service ended the search about 7:30 p.m. Heather Lynch, a Department of Natural Resources spokeswoman, said that no equipment was found inside the canoe and that it appeared to be a privately owned craft that was blown into the waterway.

A 14-year-old Boy Scout from the Parkville area of Baltimore County died yesterday after his canoe capsized on Deer Creek in Harford County, trapping him under water for more than five minutes.Sgt. Tom French, of the Harford County Sheriff's Department, said Justin Sappington, the son of Jeffrey Sappington of the 8600 block of Ellen Court, was pronounced dead at Fallston General Hospital at 3:03 p.m., about three hours after the accident."They were still trying to work on him at the hospital, and from what I was told they did have some vital signs," Sergeant French said.

A fierce storm that tore through the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center has sidelined one of its most popular programs: its educational canoe tours. High winds June 4 downed trees, knocked out power and phone lines and destroyed eight of the Edgewater facility's 10-canoe fleet, along with a canoe shed and a canoe stand recently built by a volunteer Eagle Scout. Canoeing programs at SERC have been suspended until further notice, center officials announced last week. The hiking trails have been cleaned of debris and electricity restored - after being out for up to 67 hours - but the solution is not as simple for the canoe program.

Virgil Carlson and Jean Harvey Hepner, both in their early 70s, were adrift in the choppy waters of the Patapsco River, clutching the top of their capsized canoe, when two city police officers in a patrol boat spotted them.The officers, Sgt. Michael Dunn and Officer Robert Ward, pulled the two to safety Thursday evening as a strong current pulled their small canoe toward a rocky embankment near Canton.Carlson, 72, and Hepner, 73, were not injured, and both declined medical attention. Both live in Fells Point and told police they "leaned the wrong way" in the canoe, causing it to capsize in 30 feet of water.

If an overnight canoe trip down Back River in February doesn't capture your imagination, relax. The idea leaves Jeffrey Leo of Dundalk cold, too.Cold doesn't cover it, though. Try numb. And wet. And embarrassed.Mr. Leo, 24, a Bethlehem Steel worker who lives in the 3100 block of Wallford Drive, said that he "had a couple of days off" and that he decided to take his canoe on an overnight trip.On Wednesday afternoon, he slipped his canoe into Herring Run in Baltimore.Things went well the first day, and he camped out. But yesterday morning, after he paddled down Moore's Run and into Back River, the wind picked up. The waves developed a 1- to 2-foot chop after he passed under the Eastern Avenue bridge.

Searchers yesterday recovered the body of a 6-year-old Bel Air boy who died April 15 in a canoeing accident that also killed his 10-year-old sister.The body of Samuel Thompson was found about 10:15 a.m., 10 minutes after volunteers began dragging the area off Tilghman Island where the canoe capsized. The children were visiting their uncle, Annapolis attorney Paul J. Weber, at his Tilghman Island home when the accident occurred. Mr. Weber was rescued by two boaters about four hours after the canoe capsized.

Two people were rescued from the Bush River in southern Harford County late Wednesday after their canoe capsized, the Harford Fire & EMS Association said. A call for a boat rescue was dispatched at 5 p.m. by Harford County emergency radio. According to the monitored broadcast, two people were in the water of the Bush River between Church Creek east of Aberdeen and the Amtrak Railroad bridge that crosses the river linking Perryman and Edgewood. The Fire and EMS Association reported on its media Facebook the incident occurred behind Water Park Drive, which runs along the river in the Waters Edge development in Belcamp.

Scott Parsons, of Bethesda, failed to advance from the qualifying run of the single kayak event Sunday at the Lee Valley Whitewater Centre. Parsons, a three-time Olympian, placed 16th with a score of 94.16, which left him 1.59 seconds shy of advancing along with the top 15. He was 10.91 off the pace of Germany's Hannes Aigner, who placed first with a 83.49 on his second run. Casey Eichfeld -- who is from Drums, Pa., but worked at the Adventure Sports...

The thing that bothered me about the Kansas City fans' treatment of Robinson Cano at the Home Run Derby wasn't the boos. I thought it was, until I realized that if I were a Kansas City fan, I would've booed too. I think the thing that really bothered me about the Home Run Derby, the thing that made me and others squirm in our couches on Monday, was that it wasn't fun. They yelled at his mother in the bathroom. His dad was dead serious. Cano wasn't laughing. And sure the fans in Kansas City were laughing, but they were laughing at Cano's misfortune, which is certainly their right as paying fans, but it wasn't fun, and forgive me but sports are still supposed to be fun, right?

Mathilde B. "Mimi" Lee, who as the wife of Lt. Gov. Blair Lee III eschewed the political pomp and circumstance of Annapolis for the fields and woods where she could hike, canoe and swim, died Tuesday of congestive heart failure at Laurel Regional Hospital. The Silver Spring resident was 91. Mathilde Boal was named for her paternal grandmother, who was related to Christopher Columbus. Her father, Pierre de Lagarde Boal, was an American diplomat who had served as ambassador to Nicaragua and Bolivia.

100 Years Ago An article in the Aug. 5, 1911, edition of The Argus reported on some hardy residents' ambitious plans for a summer vacation adventure in the Adirondack Mountains in upstate New York . Messrs . Benjamin Whitely and Harold Phillips of Catonsville, and Mr. Frederick R. Huber , of Baltimore, left last Friday for a month's canoeing in the lakes of Northern New York, and from accounts of their previous experiences...

Five miles of trails, twilight canoe trips and an environmental learning center make Eden Mill Nature Center a haven for outdoor lovers of all ages. “People come for the interpretive programs, the hiking and the canoeing and kayaking,” says program director and naturalist Frank Marsden. Located in Pylesville, and situated along Deer Creek, Eden Mill offers classes for adults in avian biology, beekeeping, wildlife photography and agro-ecology through its Piedmont Learning Center.

Paul Weber was exploring the coves on Tilghman Island in a red aluminum canoe with his niece and nephew when the sunny Saturday afternoon suddenly turned deadly."

SEATED AT a shady picnic table next to Piney Run Lake, seven water enthusiasts gathered to learn how to safely handle a canoe Saturday morning with instructor Tom Harbold. Although hundreds of people rent canoes at the lake without taking basic instruction, the class offers many benefits, such as safety tips and easier handling methods. Harbold, 36, who offers canoe and kayak instruction through the nature center and the county recreation department, began the lesson with a canoe at his feet, explaining basic terminology amid comments from participants Morgan Barton, 13, and JoAnna Walker, 12, who were eager to start the lesson on the lake.