A Slow Paddle in Stillwater Canyon
During the summer of fires and plague, a father and son make their own wilderness camp
You can’t plan an adventure. That goes against the nature of adventure: an undertaking of unknown outcome. But you can set one in motion, and lately all my best have been with my son, Cooper. In the summer of 2021, the summer we were supposed to come out of the pandemic but didn’t, it was my little guy and me, just the two of us, for three months straight. I made plans for the whole season, weekdays spent at day camps for Coop (I still had to work), but then wildfires broke out across Colorado. Smoke in the Vail Valley made it hazardous for kids to be outside, and before it even started the first week of camp was canceled.
Panic set in. I faced the dilemma of countless parents: With no help, how was I going to work and entertain a seven year old? The answer was Dad Camp: six days and five nights on a Green River float through Stillwater
1,400 words to go
You’re just getting to the good part.
This story — and 41 issues of them — opens with a subscription.
Either one picks up right where you left off.
Join 7,000+ readers · Independently owned · Since 2008
Already a subscriber? Sign in
Adventure Journal — Print Quarterly
Stories like this, in your hands four times a year.
41 issues. 10 years. Independently owned. Printed on 70lb uncoated paper with a soft-touch cover, solar-powered, and shipped in a brown paper envelope. Free domestic shipping.
