Welcome, 2021! In 2011, I started MNCanoeing.com, which turned into Paddle Planner a few years later. This means that 2021 marks 10 years since I started on this journey with you. In 2011, I could hardly have imagined what my "personal project" would become. Along the way I have met many amazing people. Paddle Planner is not just a website. It is a community - one that I am blessed to be in. I am glad that you are a part of that community. It would not be the same without you.
We would like the 10-year anniversary to be special. To kick off the year, we have two announcements.
First, we are increasing our donations to conservations organizations. We are committed to protecting the places that we love, and we have always donated 5% of your membership fee to organizations that support and protect our paddling paradises. We are increasing it to 10% for our 10th year.
Second, we worked with the Friends of Wabakimi to create the Wabakimi map on Paddle Planner! During the past few years, Wabakimi was the most-requested map. Creating the map has been quite an undertaking. The Wabakimi area is huge - it is three times the size of the Boundary Waters and Quetico combined. The Friends of Wabakimi gathered portage, campsite, and route information for more than a decade. (They continue to gather information, and if you are interested in helping, please contact them.) All of that information has been compiled into a series of map books (which you can purchase on their website). Comparatively, our part was easy - translating the paper maps into digital ones.
The Wabakimi map is now live, including campsites, portages, common access points, and the Route Finder. The map includes the crown land and other parks surrounding Wabakimi. There are also GPX and KMZ files on the downloads page.
Wabakimi is not as "refined" as some other paddling areas we cover. Please pay attention to the warning and explanation above the map. If you are planning a Wabakimi trip, Paddle Planner is just one of the tools you should use (though an excellent one, if we do say so ourselves). We will be updating the map as we receive new information, but you should know that mapping this exciting, wonderful place is a constant work-in-progress.
We have more planned for our 10th anniversary, so stay tuned! As always, we welcome your comments and suggestions, so feel free to send us a message.
Sincerely,
Ben, Auralee, and Jay
