It's as close to the water as you can get without getting wet.    Photo by John Walter Native Americans used canoes to travel between hunting and fishing grounds. Canoes were the primary means of transportation in the Americas for thousands of years. Paddling a canoe, one can become part of the scenery. Unlike powerboats or even row boats, the canoe is silent. Birds, fish and other wildlife are willing to accept a solitary individual in a canoe much more readily than a solitary hiker. There are thousands of rivers in the United States that are navigable by canoe. While some like the Russian River in Northern California and the Concord River outside of Boston can resemble a busy highway on a warm summer weekend, there are many rivers where you can paddle for miles without seeing another soul. Following is a good starting point to learn about canoeing: www.gorp.com.   | Home | Cultural | Environmental | Musical | Ordinary | | Contact Us | About the Authors | © Copyright 2007 fiftythings