"Alan Kesselheim is a master of the paddle and the pen . . . This [is] the best of Kesselheim: wit, wilderness savvy, and a boat-full of sound advice."Larry Rice, editor, Canoe & Kayak Welcome to simplicity. You are holding the only wilderness paddling guide that tells you not just what gear you need, but what to leave behind and how to judge the difference. Welcome to discovery. This guide equips you to design and plan your own expedition instead of slavishly following a trip mapped by an "expert." Welcome to experience. Any good book can outline the requisite skills for backcountry paddling. This one also shows by example when and why to use them. Here are the keys to canoe tripping, whether for expeditions of one to one hundred days. Alan Kesselheim is both a master paddlerwith 25 years and more than 10,000 miles of wilderness paddling behind himand a writer of uncommon grace and skill. He has created here a book of concentrated wisdom that is so pleasurable to read you may scarcely realize how much you're learning. The Wilderness Paddler's Handbook packages rich nuggets of experience in stories that entertain while they instruct. Most how-to books are written either to grow into or to outgrow. Not this one. You can start with The Wilderness Paddler's Handbook, and you can keep going. You can paddle right off the map. "Alan Kesselheim's mix of paddling experiences and superb writing skills make him ideally suited to dispense this highly personal and entertaining look at the how-tos of canoe tripping."Michael Peake, editor, Che-Mun: The Journal of Canadian Wilderness Canoeing "Alan Kesselheim is a first-rate writer who flat out knows what he's talking about. This is a book that will enrich your days on the water."Jerry Dennis, author of From a Wooden Canoe