July 7, 2025 • 37 mins
Ever dreamed of leaving your day job to pursue adventure full-time? Adam Merrifield did exactly that when he became the new owner of Grand Experiences Outdoor Adventure Outfitters in Paris, Ontario. His journey from occasional paddler to outfitting company owner perfectly embodies the transformative power of following your passion for the outdoors.
The Grand River flows through the heart of this conversation, described by Adam as "one of the best and longest continuous waterways in Ontario." While many of us might drive past this stunning river system without a second thought, Adam reveals its hidden potential as a playground for paddlers of all skill levels. From gentle family-friendly floats to adrenaline-pumping spring rapids, Grand Experiences has spent 28 years helping people discover this natural treasure.
Adam shares fascinating insights into the operations of an adventure outfitter – from managing a fleet of distinctive yellow canoes to ensuring safety with Paddle Canada certified guides. He explains how most adventures range from 2.5-4 hours, with options for multi-day trips complete with riverside camping. Whether you're looking to try kayaking, canoeing, rafting or tubing, there's an experience perfectly suited to your comfort level.
Want to experience "the Amazon of Ontario" for yourself? Listen to the end for details on how to enter our contest and win a guided adventure with Grand Experiences. Send an email to hi@supergoodcamping.com with three types of watercraft they offer for your chance to paddle one of Ontario's most magnificent waterways with expert guidance.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello and good day.
(00:00):
Welcome to the Super GoodCamping Podcast.
My name is Pamela.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
I'm Tim.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
And we are from supergoodcampingcom.
We're here because we're on amission to inspire other people
to get outside and enjoy campingadventures such as we have as a
family.
Today's guest is the new ownerof an outdoor adventure company
based in Paris, ontario.
They cover all the basespaddling, hiking, camping and
instruction.
They provide guided andself-guided adventures, shuttles
and instructors when required.
(00:26):
Please welcome Adam Merrifieldfrom Grand Experiences Outdoor
Adventure Outfitters.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
Yay, welcome.
Thank you so much.
Thank you, I really appreciateit.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Thanks for joining us after your day, yeah.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
I was down in Big Creek today doing a trip for a
couple.
From when were they from?
Somewhere around.
London.
It was good, it was a beautifulday.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Also London Ontario, london Ontario.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Yeah, not like Tim and Ade London.
Yeah, so it was a beautiful day, beautiful trip out in Big
Creek.
It's like the Amazon of Ontario.
It's such a wonderful trip, butit was a long day.
By the time I drive back fromthere like an hour and a half.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Uh, yeah, I was pretty tired I imagine man, you
look like you got some sun too,yeah yeah, yeah, lots of sun so
I have to say that I I know ofyou, you or or your company.
Um, our youngest goes touniversity in Brantford and we
were going down about two yearsago Now.
(01:30):
We went down to Brantford justto check the place out, because
that was he was before his firstyear, and so we wandered around
Brantford a little bit.
We wandered down by the GrandRiver and we saw people in those
little like inflatable kayaktype of things floating down the
Grand and as we were standingthere watching it looked like
they were having a blast and Iwas like I need to check out,
(01:52):
like how do we do that?
We haven't yet done it, but Ifeel like it's on the bucket
list of things that we wouldlike to do, but it looked like
it was so much fun.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
Yeah, the Grand River in Ontario is such an amazing
resource that we have I meanit's you know, from a water
sport type of body of water.
It's probably, you know, one ofthe best and longest that we
have in Ontario.
(02:20):
That's sort of continuous andunbroken, so you can actually
paddle it probably from Eloraall the way down to Lake Erie.
You know at certain times ofyear like the more northern
parts get a little bit skinnier,but yeah, it's such a
phenomenal resource and I wantto say you know, probably
(02:41):
thousands upon thousands peryear enjoy a little run down the
river.
There's a number of outfittingcompanies that operate in
various locations and it is likeit's one of the most treasured
assets that we have in the area.
So you'll see lots of people inBrantford.
(03:02):
You'll see lots of people inParis and Kitchener, cambridge,
all taking advantage of theGrand River.
And it's such a short window oftime that we have to make use
of this resource and people,especially on the weekends and
holidays, just love to floatdown the river, either in a tube
(03:22):
, you know, canoe kayaks, and Imean that's why we're here.
I mean that's you know thecompany was founded, like 28
years ago by Jamie Kent and youknow, has been in continuous
operation that whole time.
So yeah, lots of people.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
You've just recently taken it over.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
Yeah, so, um, I I want to say a number of months
ago, um, you know, sort ofcoming through some life changes
at the time, Like my mom, Iknew she was getting kind of
older, Um, she's been sick for awhile.
So, you know, I was starting toquestion life, you know,
(04:05):
question what I'm doing.
And, you know, one thing led toanother and I reached out to,
you know, Jamie Kent, and I justasked him.
I said you know, do you haveany succession plans?
And he said I don't, as amatter of fact, and my wife
would like me to retire.
So, you know, let's starttalking.
So fact, and my wife would likeme to retire.
So, you know, let's starttalking.
(04:26):
So.
So we did, you know, I spent alittle bit of time, kind of
volunteering for him, going outon the odd, you know, trip here
and there, you know, just to seeif it was something that I was
into.
You know, of course I lovepaddling, I love being on the
water, I love the Grand River,but do I want to do it for a day
job, Right?
So, um, so I spent a bit oftime with them and, uh, you know
(04:47):
, we did a couple of schooltrips and a couple of scout
groups, uh, did some hiking hereand some paddling there and, uh
, you know, I really enjoyedwhat was going on and I could
feel myself, you know, gettinghappier.
Um, you know, getting lighterand uh, you know getting lighter
and uh, you know, one thing ledto another and here we are very
cool so did you have likeprevious instructor experience
(05:11):
or how did you?
Speaker 1 (05:12):
what was your background at pilot?
Speaker 3 (05:13):
so uh, that's sort of a circuitous path there.
Um, so we used to do and youknow this is to tie it back into
super good camping, um, when Iwas a kid, uh, we camped all the
time.
We did a lot of car camping,right?
Um, that usually involved acanoe, an old, had to be late
(05:35):
70s orange coleman canoe, withthe, you know the, the tube
running down the middle and the,you know the post from the
seats, and the thing probablyweighed as much as a volkswagen
beetle.
So we, so we would go camping.
My dad would take my brotherand I camping, um, you know,
(05:56):
several times a summer and, uh,we would always make an attempt
to portage that canoe, you know,from one lake to another, right
, yeah, so thankfully, you know,thankfully it was mostly car
camping, but we did, for daytrips, try to portage.
And yeah, I mean I you know, Iremember, you know, early on,
(06:17):
like probably in my early teens,when my dad started making me,
you know, start doing theportaging as well, grab a handle
and portage, and it was, uh,you know, a miserable experience
for somebody who was probably ahundred pounds soaking wet at
the time soaking- wet yeah so,um, you know so, but my love of
(06:42):
camping continued, my love ofpaddling, that particular canoe
did not.
So so I, eventually, you know,as I had kids, you know, I, I
took them camping and, you know,eventually got into boats and
started chasing, you know,bigger boats, better boats, you
know.
But then, always looking forsimplicity, I came back to, you
(07:06):
know, canoes and kayaks, kayaksin particular, and so.
I had been kayaking for, I guess, probably the better part of 10
years, and then, maybe aboutfive, six years ago, canoeing
was always in the back of myhead and I was like I really got
to get back to canoeing.
And, uh, and Jamie Kent againactually at Grand Experiences I
(07:30):
reached out to him, he had someboats for sale and so, uh, I
bought a canoe from him and andI haven't looked back since then
.
Right, so it's so, instead ofcollecting youboats, I started
collecting canoes.
So now I own a company thatowns a whole lot of canoes.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
So how many canoes have you got?
Because we've got two hangingin the garage, but he's got a
company that has a gazillion ofthem, but I wonder personally
how many he's got he doesn'thave to.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
It's all company stuff, not mine.
It's not my illness yeah, whatone of the events.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
So yeah, expensive.
I mean that was uh.
That was one of the advantageswhen I was putting in my order
at novacraft is uh you know, Ihad a certain target that I was
going to hit for a you knowfleet of boats.
And uh, and then of course Iwas like, ah, you know what,
take out two of those fleetmodels, we'll put in a couple of
personal boats.
There I mean company boats,exactly.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (08:34):
So I do have still on order.
If Chris and or Steve arelistening from Novacraft, I'm
still waiting for my fourthPatiently waiting Patiently
waiting, yeah, yeah.
So I've got one of the flagshipcanoes on order coming in, so
in Expedition Tough Stuff, so16-foot Prospector flagship, and
(08:56):
then I have a 14-foot solo inTough Stuff Expedition coming as
well.
So those would be my trippingcanoes when I have time.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
I don't know if I'll ever have time yeah, well, I
mean, it's been, it's been anadventure to get set up so that
we could actually get togetherto do this podcast, right, yeah?
Speaker 1 (09:18):
I missed it well, your work season overlaps with
the tripping season exactly yeahwhich, yeah, which is that's a
tough one man.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
So it's not only has it cost me money to go out and
do this trip, but I'm losingmoney because I'm not at home
doing my job.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
That's a tough one, man.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
Yeah yeah, this was the season too, like I had done
a couple like over the lastcouple of years.
I've done a couple like overthe last couple of years.
I've done a couple of backwoodscamping trips, but not nearly
as many as I would like to, andI had one in particular in
October last year and I was likethat's it.
(09:55):
Enough excuses, I've got to getout there.
I've got to set my calendar tomake that happen.
So I actually had a bunch ofweekends picked this year, um,
you know, to do like, say, threeand four day trips, um, you
know, on as many as many crownland camping.
You know sort of routes as Icould pick out and uh, and then,
(10:19):
and then this happened, it waslike, ah, okay, I'm canoeing in
every day.
I can't, I can't reallycomplain, right?
Speaker 2 (10:26):
So this is true, yeah .
Speaker 1 (10:29):
So, adam, are there different levels of difficulty
with the different experiencesthat you offer?
Speaker 3 (10:33):
I would say most of them are manageable by just
about everybody, um, but we dohave, uh some routes that we run
, uh in early spring or after ayou know heavy rainfall, uh,
where we can get some you knowwhitewater in there, uh, for the
folks that are interested indoing that.
So we actually just had anexperience.
Um we had a massive rainfall,localized rainfall, here in, in,
(10:57):
uh the sort of area, um, youknow, a couple of Saturdays ago
and that actually was toodangerous for us to run uh
anybody through, uh, you know,through the company, right.
So we shut down operations butwe took advantage of that and
took all the staff out for awhitewater run, which was which
(11:19):
was great, um, you know cause it?
Yeah, cause it can actually get, uh, you know, pretty intense.
So we do have, we do have folksthat, uh, you know they come on
a waiting list for us, um, sothat they can run that as well
when, uh, when the opportunityarises, but during normal, uh,
summer flows, uh, we've got acouple of routes that have you
(11:40):
know the odd, uh rapid or youknow steep decline here and
there.
You know the odd rapid or youknow steep decline here and
there, but really anybody of anyskill set you know is probably
comfortable running those.
You know you do get.
You know the odd person youknow that may dump a canoe, but
you know it's in the summer andthey have a great time doing it
(12:01):
and it's a story to to talkabout.
But but there are certainlylazier sections that we have.
You know we have a section uhup in, uh, kitchener, uh, at
Bingaman's Park, uh, weintentionally call it the lazy
river, simply because you knowyou hop in a tube and you just
kind of float down the river andthere's really nothing to
(12:22):
stress about, worry about at all.
Some of our runs, say, fromParis to Brand, for instance,
you know the first 40 minutesyou may have a couple of rapids,
here and there, a couple ofswifts, and then after that it's
pretty casual, just go with theflow and then we have.
One of my favorite runs isactually Glen Morris to Paris,
(12:46):
and that actually has a decentnumber of I don't want to call
them rapids, but you know fastermoving water and you know a
little bit more technical andyou know the odd rock to avoid
here and there, um, but uh, wehaven't.
(13:07):
You know it's.
It's rare, um, you know when,when we wouldn't consider a run.
You know safe for you know mostpeople to do so.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
Is there a best time of year to to do the Grand?
Speaker 3 (13:17):
Um, I think the Grand River is.
You know, for me, like I'll,I'll start in April, as you know
, as soon as, as soon as the icebreaks off.
You know, for the, like I'llstart in April, as you know, as
soon as, as soon as the icebreaks off.
You know, for the, for some ofthe slower moving sections, you
know I'll be out in April andI'll I'll go right up until
November myself, personally.
(13:38):
So, yeah, it's, it's prettymuch all season, and this year I
would actually like to offerbecause there's a lot of
sections of the Nith and theGrand that don't freeze over and
have decent access on theshores, like, there's a lot of
times, you know, where the shore, ice gets out a little bit too
far, but there's some spots thatremain open.
(14:00):
So I'd actually like toconsider offering some winter
paddling, for you know theadventurous you know, this
season.
We'll see, we'll see if there'sany takers on it.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
That'd be interesting .
So I've done, we've.
Thomas and I literally juststarted what I suspect will be
an adventure down the whitewaterstream, for lack of a better
term.
So we did those in wetsuits,but you're going to be in dry
(14:31):
suits for the winter stuff.
Yeah, is that not a little, isit?
How is it?
Cumbersome is the word thatcomes to mind right out of the
gate.
Speaker 3 (14:40):
I haven't worn one, but yeah, I mean, cumbersome is
sort of less of the problem,it's more the cost, right?
So you know, to bring on, youknow, as an outfitter, to bring
on a bunch of wetsuits thatwould accommodate, you know, a
number of different people,shapes and sizes, you know, is
probably going to be my biggesthurdle, so that may stop me this
(15:03):
season from offering it.
So that may stop me this seasonfrom offering it.
We do have a bunch of wetsuitsbecause we do a lot of April,
march and April.
You know spring runs when thewater flows are super high.
So we get a lot of thrillseekers that want to come out
and run the rivers like that.
So we throw them in wetsuitsbecause, you know, because the
(15:26):
accessible, um, and has lots ofareas to get out and stop, like
if you fell in with a wetsuit,um, you know you can pull over
on the side, set up a fire, um,but you're not more than you
know a 20 minute trip away fromyou know civilization, so you
know it's not too risky or scary, um, you know, if somebody got
wet, but I'd love to do itproperly and and get dry suits,
(15:50):
um, but yeah, I mean that may becost prohibitive.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
Yeah, crazy expenses is what somebody termed it as.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (15:59):
Yeah, yeah, that they are.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
And what's the duration of most of your
experiences, Adam?
Speaker 3 (16:09):
of most of your experiences, adam, I would say
most of them run between, say,two and a half to four hours,
and it, you know, it depends onthe flow rates we have.
You know, our signature trip isParis to Brandt.
That's the one that people knowus most for.
We have people that can, youknow, crush that in two hours if
the flows are a little bithigher.
And then we've got a lot ofpeople who want to take that
(16:33):
easy and they want to stretchthat out to four hours.
Stop on the shore for a picnic,stop on the shore and, you know,
go for a swim.
And it also depends on, youknow, if you've gone in a raft,
for instance, versus going in akayak, right?
So the folks in the kayaks, youknow they, they tend to, you
know, top out at two and a half,three hours.
(16:55):
You know, folks in the rafts,you know, if they're really
pushing it, they'll hit threehours, but oftentimes they'll do
, you know, four, especially ifyou get a headwind.
They'll do, you know four,especially if you get a headwind
, um, you know, going againstyou.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
We do have trips that go, um, as as long as five
hours as well um, and I think Isaw yeah, maybe I'm not 100 I
thought I saw something aboutthree three day, two night
guided trips yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (17:24):
So we've got a number of packages um where you can
either, you know, set up anaccommodation through a hotel
some of our partnering hotels oryou can actually we can book a
campsite for you down at BrandtPark.
So Brandt Conservation Area hasgot some beautiful campsites
(17:44):
right along the water.
So we book a campsite for youand then we pick you up there
first thing in the morning, wetake you up to our 150-year-old
historic shop in Paris, ontario,we launch you right off of our
dock in Paris and send you downthe river and you end up right
(18:06):
back at Brandt Park where youget out, finish the rest of your
day, have your campfire, doyour camping and then the very
next morning we launch you outof Brandt Park and then we pick
you up down at Cockshut Bridgelater on in the day, and we can
do that as self-guided or guidedas well.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
So when you say self-guided like, I just see you
like pushing somebody off fromthe shore and say yeah with a
map, what else do you do?
Speaker 3 (18:40):
Well, so we do have a list of maps in our sort of
back catalog.
I haven't, uh, had the time toput them up on our website yet,
um, but I mean, the beautifulpart about a river is it goes
one direction.
Um, it's hard to get, it's hardto get lost that way yeah if
you're going, if you're goingthe wrong way, then all the
(19:02):
power to you.
You're, you know, um, but umyeah, instruct people.
You know what they're lookingfor.
You know Paris to Brandt, forinstance, you know we tell them
there's count four bridges.
You know, once you see thefourth bridge, give us a call,
we'll come down and pick you up.
So there's features andlandmarks that we have people
(19:23):
look for.
A lot of the public launchesthat we end up landing at
they're hard to miss, right.
So you know Cockshut Bridge ishard to miss.
You know Brandt Park is hard tomiss.
And then you know Penman's Dam,for instance.
That's the end point for, youknow, glenn Morris trip.
(19:43):
It's hard to miss Penman's dambecause there's a giant train
bridge there and a dam and bigwarning signs say go no farther,
right.
So, um.
So yeah, I mean, in myexperience, in my limited
experience so far, um, you knowit hasn't really been, uh, too
much of a concern, you know,sending people on their way,
right.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
So I haven't lost anybody so far.
Speaker 3 (20:05):
No, haven't lost anybody so far.
Um, you know, and it's, it'syou know it's the grand river is
such a friendly yeah, such afriendly river, right.
Speaker 2 (20:14):
So uh, so something that it feels, it feels like an
important thing.
If you're paying attention outthere in the audience, um, what,
uh, what are the modes oftransport that that you, that
you do do like kayaking,canoeing?
Speaker 3 (20:33):
Yeah, so we offer rentals for kayaks, canoes,
rafts and tubes.
The tubes are strictly up inour kitchen area right now, but,
yeah, we offer those four modesof transport for water and plus
we also do guided hiking tripsas well.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
When do people sometimes bring their own canoe
and say just I'd like you guysto guide me in my canoe.
Speaker 3 (20:58):
Yeah, so we've got bring your own boat guided
adventures.
So, and that's actually.
We did a trip down a big creektoday and they actually brought
their own boat.
So they, they had a couple ofolder pelicans actually that
were, you know, not the thinpelicans like like you have
(21:19):
these days, but, um, a littlebit more sturdy.
So, uh, they've hung on tothose for a while and, uh, but
yeah, they were the perfect boatfor, uh, you know, for big
creek and yeah.
So we allow that.
Um, you know, people bringtheir own canoes.
We've had a couple of those thisseason as well and we also
(21:41):
offer, like, a shuttle service.
You know, if you do want tolaunch in your own area but you
want to be picked up by us, thatis an option as well.
We don't list it, we just askthat you call us, because we
have to have it make sense witha trip that we're already doing
right, so we won't just kind ofgo out of our way to pick
(22:02):
somebody up, unless it justhappens to work out.
So I dropped off somebody attheir you know, vehicle the
other day because I was doing alaunch and they just happened to
catch me and say, hey, do yourun a guiding service.
I'm like, yeah, would you minddriving me back to my truck at
the end of the day?
I'm like, absolutely so, if itworks out, we're more than happy
(22:22):
to do that as well.
Speaker 1 (22:24):
Awesome.
Speaker 3 (22:25):
Cool.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
And on your guided trips, do you guys feed, feed
people.
Speaker 3 (22:30):
Uh, so the previous owner, jamie Kent, um, uh,
always used to do, uh, you knowhis famous chili, or you know
catered lunches, et cetera.
Um, all I can do this year, uh,we'll get into the fun topic of
liability insurance.
So all I can do this year is is, uh, supply the resources to
(22:55):
get yourself a catered lunch.
Uh, so I can't actually do anyof the cooking like, uh, like
Jamie Kent used to.
That's apparently somethingthat liability insurance isn't
willing to cover these days, notcheaply anyway.
So I'm learning all of the insand outs about liability
(23:16):
insurance this year.
Speaker 1 (23:19):
So just too much risk of somebody getting salmonella
or what's the yeah, a lot ofquestions.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
Yeah, yeah, are yeah yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (23:27):
Yeah, allergies are the big one.
And then food prep.
Um, they need to know thatyou're sort of following, you
know, the appropriate ontarioguidelines for food prep etc.
So, um, you know, makes senseyeah yeah, yeah, no safety.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
Safety first it's a shame it is.
It is a shame right chili seemslike it would be great yeah,
yeah, and that's.
Speaker 3 (23:50):
You know that that was definitely a popular feature
.
Um, you know he did a maplemaple chili.
I can't remember exactly whathe called.
It was an old family recipe andit was so good and we get the
stoves out.
So halfway through the trip,get on the shores, get the
stoves out.
So halfway through the trip,get on the shores, get the
stoves out.
So, um, I can still offersomething similar where I can
(24:11):
provide the cookware and we can,you know, engage in, in eating,
but I, I can't, I can't bringthe food or prepare the food.
Speaker 2 (24:21):
Well, you know, early , early, early bumps and stuff
as you're as you're workingtowards the end of the season
would be fabulous, Next seasonwould be even better.
You know, blah, blah, blah it'swhat they call growing pains.
Speaker 3 (24:37):
That's it.
Growing pains.
Yes, absolutely yeah, I've gota lot of those growing pains.
This year.
Speaker 2 (24:43):
Yeah, that probably adds to the tiredness a little
bit yeah.
Speaker 1 (24:47):
Yeah, it does, I hear you, hear you, man.
So how big a crew have you got,adam?
Speaker 3 (24:51):
uh.
So we've got, um, I want to sayfour part-time, uh, seasonal
staff, uh, and then we've gotabout four, four or five guides.
Um, you know that are, you know, a lot of the guides are
actually school teachers.
So as soon as they're off forthe summer, they're looking for
(25:11):
something to do and you know soa couple of them are Paddle
Canada instructor certified.
All of them, even our part timestaff, they're all Paddle
Canada certified so that theycan Paddle Canada certified so
that they can actually partakein some of the guided trips.
(25:32):
So we take safety, you know, tothe nth degree, right.
So we've got a, you know,flawless safety record over the
last 28 years.
Jamie reminds me of that everyday, so I don't want to let him
down.
So Jamie's still on, by the way, like he's, he's going to stick
around for a couple of years, Imean you know, 28 years of, uh,
(25:53):
you know, of running thisbusiness.
He's.
He's come to learn a thing ortwo.
Um, logistics, logistics, uh,being one of them, like
scheduling and logistics, uh,you know where to be at what
time and and you know how to getboats there, people back, et
cetera, you know so anyway, yeahso he's sticking around for a
(26:15):
couple of years and you knowkind of showing me the ropes and
yeah, I mean it's reallycritical for him that you know
safety comes first and you knowI have to agree, right, I don't
want to lose anybody, I don'twant anybody getting hurt.
And you know, for as easy as itis to run the Grand River, I
(26:36):
mean you know a lack ofexperience and you know getting
pinned on a rock and you knowsomebody getting a little bit
overexcited.
I mean you know that, can youknow that can cause, you know,
issues and people getting intotrouble.
So I'd like to avoid that whenI can.
So so yeah, we have, you knowthose, like I said, the, you
(26:58):
know the four or five guides andyou know the four part-time
staff and you know that, I think, keeps us going.
You know through throughout theseason, as far as I can tell.
So we'll find out.
Maybe next year I grow andexpand, We'll see.
Speaker 2 (27:13):
Yeah, wow, I keep thinking about the boats because
I'm a canoe guy.
Speaker 3 (27:35):
Are they all like tough stuff T4, maxax type deals
.
So my fleet boats are all 15foot SPS or SP3 Nova crafts,
right, so a little bit thicker.
They lay them up a little bitthicker than your typical.
Speaker 2 (27:43):
Yeah, it's a heavier plastic sort of deal, right?
Speaker 3 (27:45):
Yeah, and it's a heavier boat.
I'm not going to lie.
Speaker 2 (27:49):
Yes, I know, I looked at them.
Speaker 3 (27:57):
Yeah, which is why I went with the 15s, just to shave
off a little bit of weight, andI got them all in yellow.
So I don't know if you'venoticed on the social media I
decided to go with a fleet color, so I got, got all my fleet
done in yellow and uh, yeah, soand it was great.
I mean, uh, you know, previouslywe'd worked with uh, uh,
paluski canoes and kayaks and uh, so they're out of.
(28:20):
I want to say lake field, um,okay, it's about six hours.
Um, okay, it's about six hours,you know, east of here, right,
or east of me anyway, and uh,and I was just, you know, I was
considering timing, you know,especially a time of acquisition
, and it just seemed for me torun six hours out that way and
(28:42):
run, or sorry, three hours thatway.
Yeah, six hours round trip.
Three hours that way, threehours back.
I, you know, made more sense toyou know, work with novacraft
and well, novacraft is londonright, so they're like beside
you.
Yeah, yeah so round trip, it'slike an hour and a half.
So, yeah, you know, so, yeah, I, uh, you know, talked to, uh,
(29:03):
you know, chris and steve there,and I said, you know, so, yeah,
I, you know, talked to you know, chris and Steve there, and I
said, you know, thinking ofbuying a fleet here.
Here's what I'm thinking of.
And, and you know, and you know, next year I'll probably do
their aqua fusion kayaks as well.
So this year, in a pinch I justhad to buy a whole whack of you
(29:26):
know Pelican kayaks, just to,you know, get them in the water
as quick as possible.
But I think next year I'llprobably put in an order for
aquafusions.
They seem to seem to be theright balance of, you know,
weight and sturdiness, but theyalso have, like, built in
ballast in them, so I don't everhave to worry about them
(29:47):
sinking, which is great.
Speaker 2 (29:49):
Yeah, back to that safety thing.
Speaker 3 (29:50):
Yeah, yeah, Not as maneuverable as as, uh, as the
spirit uh Poluski kayaks thatwe've been getting, but yeah,
but they're super sharp lookingkayak cool, I've done zero
kayaking, like ever oh reallyyeah, none I I canoe periods.
Speaker 2 (30:13):
Uh, actually I think last year the year before is the
first time I ever paddled asolo canoe, is probably the
first time I ever paddled thatwasn't tandem really yeah, I
hadn't really thought about ituntil it was like, oh, this is
different.
Oh, because you've never doneit before oh interesting.
Speaker 3 (30:30):
This is my thing, man , I'm actually a little bit the
opposite, where I spend all mytime solo canoeing and every
time you get me tandem, I'm justlike wait, I don't understand
the mechanics of this.
So, especially when the bowpaddler I was, uh, I was doing
(30:52):
some training the other day anduh, so I had a bow paddler, one
of my staff, um, big guy, sixfoot four, lots of muscle, and
he just he'd get in there and hewould dig and he would dig and
like I could not, I had to sweepout wide every stroke.
(31:13):
I'm just sweeping out wide justto counteract how much power he
had up there.
So you know, it's definitelydifferent for me.
I'm actually I'm getting usedto the bow, I'm liking the bow,
especially when we're goingthrough whitewater, because
that's where all the action is,that's.
That's a lot of fun up there.
(31:33):
You know getting all the youknow gems and your prize and
your you know cross draws andyou know avoiding all the rocks.
That's where I feel like I'mI'm really engaged.
But otherwise, yeah, solopaddling, it's like I like, I
like doing the ballet of youknow just pivots and swirling
(31:54):
around and you know just movingwhere I want to move.
Uh, you know, I use a giantpaddle as well, Right, so?
not efficient for tripping atall, but uh, but just great for
moving a lot of water and movingthe boat around cool.
Speaker 2 (32:10):
Yeah, it's, I don't.
I haven't racked up enough time.
I I know that I have to be waymore cognizant of the reactivity
of the boat when I'm soloing,because otherwise I try to step
in and I find myself on theother side in the water so
numerous times seen that happenyeah, yeah, it's okay, very low,
(32:34):
very slow, get in there oh mygoodness but I did find uh, it
was kind of.
It was kind of this same thing,but I could move faster.
So so I I initially did did asingle blade and went out and
paddled like you know, whateverthe normal way, I guess.
But I also had a, a double,like a kayak paddle and man can,
(32:59):
can you, you can just fly withthat as like holding macro
mackerel I was.
Speaker 3 (33:04):
I was stunned at the speed difference I could pick up
by having two blades yeah, yeah, and I spend a lot of time
going up river as well, like youknow, when I'm not guiding or
sending people down the river, Ispend a lot of time fishing,
and so I'll put in at one spot,but then I'll want to make my
way back up to where I put in,so so I bring a double bladed
(33:29):
paddle for that reason and alsofor standing up.
I stand up and paddle my canoea lot and I and instead of
having like a dedicated suppaddle, I'll actually use, um,
you know, a double-bladed kayakpaddle, uh, and then it's, it's
the perfect length and I canreach right up to the bow and I
(33:50):
can pull back to my hip and it'sgreat yeah this, this is the
stare of a guy that's like, yeah, no, I wouldn't.
Speaker 2 (33:57):
I wouldn't even get to fully standing up before I'd
be in the water every time.
Speaker 3 (34:01):
Yeah, yeah, it's just something I've always done.
Um, you know, I just I I'll doit in a, in a kayak, every once
in a while too.
It's a lot more hairy in akayak like, but in a canoe I'll
do it, okay, yeah, it's all acore, core muscles.
Speaker 2 (34:22):
I don't have any, so, so that could be part of the
problem.
Love you too, honey.
All right.
So for those of you watching athome, you've seen our camera
just change.
I don't know.
I'm technologically challengedand I have no children here to
troubleshoot for me, so we'restuck with the crappy, crappy
(34:45):
camera that's on my laptop tofinish this out, but this is the
exciting part of the show.
I got to say we're about to doa draw.
Hopefully you were payingattention earlier.
Adam, tell us what the draw isfor and I'll tell people how
they can enter.
Speaker 3 (35:02):
Yeah, yeah.
So we can do a number ofdifferent things, but I would
certainly love the opportunityto provide a guided experience
for one of your lucky listeners.
I think one of the more popularones is our Big Creek Echo
Adventure, which is down towardsLong Point.
(35:24):
You know it's been celebratedby Ontario Southwest, you know
their tourism board andDestination Ontario, so it's
definitely a spectacular trip.
But if that's too far out ofthe way for folks, we're more
than willing to, you know, offersomething a little closer to
(35:44):
paris or a little closer tokitchener.
So, um, you know we'll, we'llgive out, uh, a guided trip, um,
you know, for up to four hours,and uh give you the experience,
uh, hopefully, of a lifetimevery cool, very cool.
Speaker 2 (36:08):
I mean, we're not allowed to enter.
Yes, this is the problem.
Uh, okay, so how you enter issame as we did the last time we
did a draw.
Send us an email with theanswer to the skill testing
question, which is name threetypes of watercraft offered by
grand experiences outdooradventure outfitters.
There are four.
Go back and listen.
Give me three of them.
You'll probably pull them offthe top of your head.
(36:29):
Yeah, send us an email to hi atsupergoodcampingcom.
That's hi atsupergoodcampingcom.
I'm doing your job now.
Yeah, and we'll do a draw.
So this is now airing on July7th 2025.
We will do the draw on July21st 2025.
(36:52):
We'll send you, we'll hook,we'll hook.
Make sure, when you send it theinformation to us, you give us
your contact information, we'llget Adam to hook up with you and
you guys will be off to theraces.
Speaker 1 (37:10):
How's that sound?
Sounds good.
All right to you, young.
That's it for us for today.
Speaker 2 (37:13):
Thank you so much for watching and listening and
putting up with our crappycamera man.
Speaker 1 (37:16):
We will talk to you again soon.
Please feel free to reach outto us anytime.
We are at hi at super goodcampingcom, that's hi at super
good campingcom and that's hi atsuper good campingcom.
And we are on all the socialmedia and you can check out Adam
at grand experiences, outdooradventure outfitters and we'll
talk to you again soon.
Bye, bye.
Hello and good day.
(00:00):
Welcome to the Super GoodCamping Podcast.
My name is Pamela.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
I'm Tim.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
And we are from supergoodcampingcom.
We're here because we're on amission to inspire other people
to get outside and enjoy campingadventures such as we have as a
family.
Today's guest is the new ownerof an outdoor adventure company
based in Paris, ontario.
They cover all the basespaddling, hiking, camping and
instruction.
They provide guided andself-guided adventures, shuttles
and instructors when required.
(00:26):
Please welcome Adam Merrifieldfrom Grand Experiences Outdoor
Adventure Outfitters.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
Yay, welcome.
Thank you so much.
Thank you, I really appreciateit.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Thanks for joining us after your day, yeah.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
I was down in Big Creek today doing a trip for a
couple.
From when were they from?
Somewhere around.
London.
It was good, it was a beautifulday.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Also London Ontario, london Ontario.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Yeah, not like Tim and Ade London.
Yeah, so it was a beautiful day, beautiful trip out in Big
Creek.
It's like the Amazon of Ontario.
It's such a wonderful trip, butit was a long day.
By the time I drive back fromthere like an hour and a half.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Uh, yeah, I was pretty tired I imagine man, you
look like you got some sun too,yeah yeah, yeah, lots of sun so
I have to say that I I know ofyou, you or or your company.
Um, our youngest goes touniversity in Brantford and we
were going down about two yearsago Now.
(01:30):
We went down to Brantford justto check the place out, because
that was he was before his firstyear, and so we wandered around
Brantford a little bit.
We wandered down by the GrandRiver and we saw people in those
little like inflatable kayaktype of things floating down the
Grand and as we were standingthere watching it looked like
they were having a blast and Iwas like I need to check out,
(01:52):
like how do we do that?
We haven't yet done it, but Ifeel like it's on the bucket
list of things that we wouldlike to do, but it looked like
it was so much fun.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
Yeah, the Grand River in Ontario is such an amazing
resource that we have I meanit's you know, from a water
sport type of body of water.
It's probably, you know, one ofthe best and longest that we
have in Ontario.
(02:20):
That's sort of continuous andunbroken, so you can actually
paddle it probably from Eloraall the way down to Lake Erie.
You know at certain times ofyear like the more northern
parts get a little bit skinnier,but yeah, it's such a
phenomenal resource and I wantto say you know, probably
(02:41):
thousands upon thousands peryear enjoy a little run down the
river.
There's a number of outfittingcompanies that operate in
various locations and it is likeit's one of the most treasured
assets that we have in the area.
So you'll see lots of people inBrantford.
(03:02):
You'll see lots of people inParis and Kitchener, cambridge,
all taking advantage of theGrand River.
And it's such a short window oftime that we have to make use
of this resource and people,especially on the weekends and
holidays, just love to floatdown the river, either in a tube
(03:22):
, you know, canoe kayaks, and Imean that's why we're here.
I mean that's you know thecompany was founded, like 28
years ago by Jamie Kent and youknow, has been in continuous
operation that whole time.
So yeah, lots of people.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
You've just recently taken it over.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
Yeah, so, um, I I want to say a number of months
ago, um, you know, sort ofcoming through some life changes
at the time, Like my mom, Iknew she was getting kind of
older, Um, she's been sick for awhile.
So, you know, I was starting toquestion life, you know,
(04:05):
question what I'm doing.
And, you know, one thing led toanother and I reached out to,
you know, Jamie Kent, and I justasked him.
I said you know, do you haveany succession plans?
And he said I don't, as amatter of fact, and my wife
would like me to retire.
So, you know, let's starttalking.
So fact, and my wife would likeme to retire.
So, you know, let's starttalking.
(04:26):
So.
So we did, you know, I spent alittle bit of time, kind of
volunteering for him, going outon the odd, you know, trip here
and there, you know, just to seeif it was something that I was
into.
You know, of course I lovepaddling, I love being on the
water, I love the Grand River,but do I want to do it for a day
job, Right?
So, um, so I spent a bit oftime with them and, uh, you know
(04:47):
, we did a couple of schooltrips and a couple of scout
groups, uh, did some hiking hereand some paddling there and, uh
, you know, I really enjoyedwhat was going on and I could
feel myself, you know, gettinghappier.
Um, you know, getting lighterand uh, you know getting lighter
and uh, you know, one thing ledto another and here we are very
cool so did you have likeprevious instructor experience
(05:11):
or how did you?
Speaker 1 (05:12):
what was your background at pilot?
Speaker 3 (05:13):
so uh, that's sort of a circuitous path there.
Um, so we used to do and youknow this is to tie it back into
super good camping, um, when Iwas a kid, uh, we camped all the
time.
We did a lot of car camping,right?
Um, that usually involved acanoe, an old, had to be late
(05:35):
70s orange coleman canoe, withthe, you know the, the tube
running down the middle and the,you know the post from the
seats, and the thing probablyweighed as much as a volkswagen
beetle.
So we, so we would go camping.
My dad would take my brotherand I camping, um, you know,
(05:56):
several times a summer and, uh,we would always make an attempt
to portage that canoe, you know,from one lake to another, right
, yeah, so thankfully, you know,thankfully it was mostly car
camping, but we did, for daytrips, try to portage.
And yeah, I mean I you know, Iremember, you know, early on,
(06:17):
like probably in my early teens,when my dad started making me,
you know, start doing theportaging as well, grab a handle
and portage, and it was, uh,you know, a miserable experience
for somebody who was probably ahundred pounds soaking wet at
the time soaking- wet yeah so,um, you know so, but my love of
(06:42):
camping continued, my love ofpaddling, that particular canoe
did not.
So so I, eventually, you know,as I had kids, you know, I, I
took them camping and, you know,eventually got into boats and
started chasing, you know,bigger boats, better boats, you
know.
But then, always looking forsimplicity, I came back to, you
(07:06):
know, canoes and kayaks, kayaksin particular, and so.
I had been kayaking for, I guess, probably the better part of 10
years, and then, maybe aboutfive, six years ago, canoeing
was always in the back of myhead and I was like I really got
to get back to canoeing.
And, uh, and Jamie Kent againactually at Grand Experiences I
(07:30):
reached out to him, he had someboats for sale and so, uh, I
bought a canoe from him and andI haven't looked back since then
.
Right, so it's so, instead ofcollecting youboats, I started
collecting canoes.
So now I own a company thatowns a whole lot of canoes.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
So how many canoes have you got?
Because we've got two hangingin the garage, but he's got a
company that has a gazillion ofthem, but I wonder personally
how many he's got he doesn'thave to.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
It's all company stuff, not mine.
It's not my illness yeah, whatone of the events.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
So yeah, expensive.
I mean that was uh.
That was one of the advantageswhen I was putting in my order
at novacraft is uh you know, Ihad a certain target that I was
going to hit for a you knowfleet of boats.
And uh, and then of course Iwas like, ah, you know what,
take out two of those fleetmodels, we'll put in a couple of
personal boats.
There I mean company boats,exactly.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (08:34):
So I do have still on order.
If Chris and or Steve arelistening from Novacraft, I'm
still waiting for my fourthPatiently waiting Patiently
waiting, yeah, yeah.
So I've got one of the flagshipcanoes on order coming in, so
in Expedition Tough Stuff, so16-foot Prospector flagship, and
(08:56):
then I have a 14-foot solo inTough Stuff Expedition coming as
well.
So those would be my trippingcanoes when I have time.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
I don't know if I'll ever have time yeah, well, I
mean, it's been, it's been anadventure to get set up so that
we could actually get togetherto do this podcast, right, yeah?
Speaker 1 (09:18):
I missed it well, your work season overlaps with
the tripping season exactly yeahwhich, yeah, which is that's a
tough one man.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
So it's not only has it cost me money to go out and
do this trip, but I'm losingmoney because I'm not at home
doing my job.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
That's a tough one, man.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
Yeah yeah, this was the season too, like I had done
a couple like over the lastcouple of years.
I've done a couple like overthe last couple of years.
I've done a couple of backwoodscamping trips, but not nearly
as many as I would like to, andI had one in particular in
October last year and I was likethat's it.
(09:55):
Enough excuses, I've got to getout there.
I've got to set my calendar tomake that happen.
So I actually had a bunch ofweekends picked this year, um,
you know, to do like, say, threeand four day trips, um, you
know, on as many as many crownland camping.
You know sort of routes as Icould pick out and uh, and then,
(10:19):
and then this happened, it waslike, ah, okay, I'm canoeing in
every day.
I can't, I can't reallycomplain, right?
Speaker 2 (10:26):
So this is true, yeah .
Speaker 1 (10:29):
So, adam, are there different levels of difficulty
with the different experiencesthat you offer?
Speaker 3 (10:33):
I would say most of them are manageable by just
about everybody, um, but we dohave, uh some routes that we run
, uh in early spring or after ayou know heavy rainfall, uh,
where we can get some you knowwhitewater in there, uh, for the
folks that are interested indoing that.
So we actually just had anexperience.
Um we had a massive rainfall,localized rainfall, here in, in,
(10:57):
uh the sort of area, um, youknow, a couple of Saturdays ago
and that actually was toodangerous for us to run uh
anybody through, uh, you know,through the company, right.
So we shut down operations butwe took advantage of that and
took all the staff out for awhitewater run, which was which
(11:19):
was great, um, you know cause it?
Yeah, cause it can actually get, uh, you know, pretty intense.
So we do have, we do have folksthat, uh, you know they come on
a waiting list for us, um, sothat they can run that as well
when, uh, when the opportunityarises, but during normal, uh,
summer flows, uh, we've got acouple of routes that have you
(11:40):
know the odd, uh rapid or youknow steep decline here and
there.
You know the odd rapid or youknow steep decline here and
there, but really anybody of anyskill set you know is probably
comfortable running those.
You know you do get.
You know the odd person youknow that may dump a canoe, but
you know it's in the summer andthey have a great time doing it
(12:01):
and it's a story to to talkabout.
But but there are certainlylazier sections that we have.
You know we have a section uhup in, uh, kitchener, uh, at
Bingaman's Park, uh, weintentionally call it the lazy
river, simply because you knowyou hop in a tube and you just
kind of float down the river andthere's really nothing to
(12:22):
stress about, worry about at all.
Some of our runs, say, fromParis to Brand, for instance,
you know the first 40 minutesyou may have a couple of rapids,
here and there, a couple ofswifts, and then after that it's
pretty casual, just go with theflow and then we have.
One of my favorite runs isactually Glen Morris to Paris,
(12:46):
and that actually has a decentnumber of I don't want to call
them rapids, but you know fastermoving water and you know a
little bit more technical andyou know the odd rock to avoid
here and there, um, but uh, wehaven't.
(13:07):
You know it's.
It's rare, um, you know when,when we wouldn't consider a run.
You know safe for you know mostpeople to do so.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
Is there a best time of year to to do the Grand?
Speaker 3 (13:17):
Um, I think the Grand River is.
You know, for me, like I'll,I'll start in April, as you know
, as soon as, as soon as the icebreaks off.
You know, for the, like I'llstart in April, as you know, as
soon as, as soon as the icebreaks off.
You know, for the, for some ofthe slower moving sections, you
know I'll be out in April andI'll I'll go right up until
November myself, personally.
(13:38):
So, yeah, it's, it's prettymuch all season, and this year I
would actually like to offerbecause there's a lot of
sections of the Nith and theGrand that don't freeze over and
have decent access on theshores, like, there's a lot of
times, you know, where the shore, ice gets out a little bit too
far, but there's some spots thatremain open.
(14:00):
So I'd actually like toconsider offering some winter
paddling, for you know theadventurous you know, this
season.
We'll see, we'll see if there'sany takers on it.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
That'd be interesting .
So I've done, we've.
Thomas and I literally juststarted what I suspect will be
an adventure down the whitewaterstream, for lack of a better
term.
So we did those in wetsuits,but you're going to be in dry
(14:31):
suits for the winter stuff.
Yeah, is that not a little, isit?
How is it?
Cumbersome is the word thatcomes to mind right out of the
gate.
Speaker 3 (14:40):
I haven't worn one, but yeah, I mean, cumbersome is
sort of less of the problem,it's more the cost, right?
So you know, to bring on, youknow, as an outfitter, to bring
on a bunch of wetsuits thatwould accommodate, you know, a
number of different people,shapes and sizes, you know, is
probably going to be my biggesthurdle, so that may stop me this
(15:03):
season from offering it.
So that may stop me this seasonfrom offering it.
We do have a bunch of wetsuitsbecause we do a lot of April,
march and April.
You know spring runs when thewater flows are super high.
So we get a lot of thrillseekers that want to come out
and run the rivers like that.
So we throw them in wetsuitsbecause, you know, because the
(15:26):
accessible, um, and has lots ofareas to get out and stop, like
if you fell in with a wetsuit,um, you know you can pull over
on the side, set up a fire, um,but you're not more than you
know a 20 minute trip away fromyou know civilization, so you
know it's not too risky or scary, um, you know, if somebody got
wet, but I'd love to do itproperly and and get dry suits,
(15:50):
um, but yeah, I mean that may becost prohibitive.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
Yeah, crazy expenses is what somebody termed it as.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (15:59):
Yeah, yeah, that they are.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
And what's the duration of most of your
experiences, Adam?
Speaker 3 (16:09):
of most of your experiences, adam, I would say
most of them run between, say,two and a half to four hours,
and it, you know, it depends onthe flow rates we have.
You know, our signature trip isParis to Brandt.
That's the one that people knowus most for.
We have people that can, youknow, crush that in two hours if
the flows are a little bithigher.
And then we've got a lot ofpeople who want to take that
(16:33):
easy and they want to stretchthat out to four hours.
Stop on the shore for a picnic,stop on the shore and, you know,
go for a swim.
And it also depends on, youknow, if you've gone in a raft,
for instance, versus going in akayak, right?
So the folks in the kayaks, youknow they, they tend to, you
know, top out at two and a half,three hours.
(16:55):
You know, folks in the rafts,you know, if they're really
pushing it, they'll hit threehours, but oftentimes they'll do
, you know, four, especially ifyou get a headwind.
They'll do, you know four,especially if you get a headwind
, um, you know, going againstyou.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
We do have trips that go, um, as as long as five
hours as well um, and I think Isaw yeah, maybe I'm not 100 I
thought I saw something aboutthree three day, two night
guided trips yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (17:24):
So we've got a number of packages um where you can
either, you know, set up anaccommodation through a hotel
some of our partnering hotels oryou can actually we can book a
campsite for you down at BrandtPark.
So Brandt Conservation Area hasgot some beautiful campsites
(17:44):
right along the water.
So we book a campsite for youand then we pick you up there
first thing in the morning, wetake you up to our 150-year-old
historic shop in Paris, ontario,we launch you right off of our
dock in Paris and send you downthe river and you end up right
(18:06):
back at Brandt Park where youget out, finish the rest of your
day, have your campfire, doyour camping and then the very
next morning we launch you outof Brandt Park and then we pick
you up down at Cockshut Bridgelater on in the day, and we can
do that as self-guided or guidedas well.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
So when you say self-guided like, I just see you
like pushing somebody off fromthe shore and say yeah with a
map, what else do you do?
Speaker 3 (18:40):
Well, so we do have a list of maps in our sort of
back catalog.
I haven't, uh, had the time toput them up on our website yet,
um, but I mean, the beautifulpart about a river is it goes
one direction.
Um, it's hard to get, it's hardto get lost that way yeah if
you're going, if you're goingthe wrong way, then all the
(19:02):
power to you.
You're, you know, um, but umyeah, instruct people.
You know what they're lookingfor.
You know Paris to Brandt, forinstance, you know we tell them
there's count four bridges.
You know, once you see thefourth bridge, give us a call,
we'll come down and pick you up.
So there's features andlandmarks that we have people
(19:23):
look for.
A lot of the public launchesthat we end up landing at
they're hard to miss, right.
So you know Cockshut Bridge ishard to miss.
You know Brandt Park is hard tomiss.
And then you know Penman's Dam,for instance.
That's the end point for, youknow, glenn Morris trip.
(19:43):
It's hard to miss Penman's dambecause there's a giant train
bridge there and a dam and bigwarning signs say go no farther,
right.
So, um.
So yeah, I mean, in myexperience, in my limited
experience so far, um, you knowit hasn't really been, uh, too
much of a concern, you know,sending people on their way,
right.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
So I haven't lost anybody so far.
Speaker 3 (20:05):
No, haven't lost anybody so far.
Um, you know, and it's, it'syou know it's the grand river is
such a friendly yeah, such afriendly river, right.
Speaker 2 (20:14):
So uh, so something that it feels, it feels like an
important thing.
If you're paying attention outthere in the audience, um, what,
uh, what are the modes oftransport that that you, that
you do do like kayaking,canoeing?
Speaker 3 (20:33):
Yeah, so we offer rentals for kayaks, canoes,
rafts and tubes.
The tubes are strictly up inour kitchen area right now, but,
yeah, we offer those four modesof transport for water and plus
we also do guided hiking tripsas well.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
When do people sometimes bring their own canoe
and say just I'd like you guysto guide me in my canoe.
Speaker 3 (20:58):
Yeah, so we've got bring your own boat guided
adventures.
So, and that's actually.
We did a trip down a big creektoday and they actually brought
their own boat.
So they, they had a couple ofolder pelicans actually that
were, you know, not the thinpelicans like like you have
(21:19):
these days, but, um, a littlebit more sturdy.
So, uh, they've hung on tothose for a while and, uh, but
yeah, they were the perfect boatfor, uh, you know, for big
creek and yeah.
So we allow that.
Um, you know, people bringtheir own canoes.
We've had a couple of those thisseason as well and we also
(21:41):
offer, like, a shuttle service.
You know, if you do want tolaunch in your own area but you
want to be picked up by us, thatis an option as well.
We don't list it, we just askthat you call us, because we
have to have it make sense witha trip that we're already doing
right, so we won't just kind ofgo out of our way to pick
(22:02):
somebody up, unless it justhappens to work out.
So I dropped off somebody attheir you know, vehicle the
other day because I was doing alaunch and they just happened to
catch me and say, hey, do yourun a guiding service.
I'm like, yeah, would you minddriving me back to my truck at
the end of the day?
I'm like, absolutely so, if itworks out, we're more than happy
(22:22):
to do that as well.
Speaker 1 (22:24):
Awesome.
Speaker 3 (22:25):
Cool.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
And on your guided trips, do you guys feed, feed
people.
Speaker 3 (22:30):
Uh, so the previous owner, jamie Kent, um, uh,
always used to do, uh, you knowhis famous chili, or you know
catered lunches, et cetera.
Um, all I can do this year, uh,we'll get into the fun topic of
liability insurance.
So all I can do this year is is, uh, supply the resources to
(22:55):
get yourself a catered lunch.
Uh, so I can't actually do anyof the cooking like, uh, like
Jamie Kent used to.
That's apparently somethingthat liability insurance isn't
willing to cover these days, notcheaply anyway.
So I'm learning all of the insand outs about liability
(23:16):
insurance this year.
Speaker 1 (23:19):
So just too much risk of somebody getting salmonella
or what's the yeah, a lot ofquestions.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
Yeah, yeah, are yeah yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (23:27):
Yeah, allergies are the big one.
And then food prep.
Um, they need to know thatyou're sort of following, you
know, the appropriate ontarioguidelines for food prep etc.
So, um, you know, makes senseyeah yeah, yeah, no safety.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
Safety first it's a shame it is.
It is a shame right chili seemslike it would be great yeah,
yeah, and that's.
Speaker 3 (23:50):
You know that that was definitely a popular feature
.
Um, you know he did a maplemaple chili.
I can't remember exactly whathe called.
It was an old family recipe andit was so good and we get the
stoves out.
So halfway through the trip,get on the shores, get the
stoves out.
So halfway through the trip,get on the shores, get the
stoves out.
So, um, I can still offersomething similar where I can
(24:11):
provide the cookware and we can,you know, engage in, in eating,
but I, I can't, I can't bringthe food or prepare the food.
Speaker 2 (24:21):
Well, you know, early , early, early bumps and stuff
as you're as you're workingtowards the end of the season
would be fabulous, Next seasonwould be even better.
You know, blah, blah, blah it'swhat they call growing pains.
Speaker 3 (24:37):
That's it.
Growing pains.
Yes, absolutely yeah, I've gota lot of those growing pains.
This year.
Speaker 2 (24:43):
Yeah, that probably adds to the tiredness a little
bit yeah.
Speaker 1 (24:47):
Yeah, it does, I hear you, hear you, man.
So how big a crew have you got,adam?
Speaker 3 (24:51):
uh.
So we've got, um, I want to sayfour part-time, uh, seasonal
staff, uh, and then we've gotabout four, four or five guides.
Um, you know that are, you know, a lot of the guides are
actually school teachers.
So as soon as they're off forthe summer, they're looking for
(25:11):
something to do and you know soa couple of them are Paddle
Canada instructor certified.
All of them, even our part timestaff, they're all Paddle
Canada certified so that theycan Paddle Canada certified so
that they can actually partakein some of the guided trips.
(25:32):
So we take safety, you know, tothe nth degree, right.
So we've got a, you know,flawless safety record over the
last 28 years.
Jamie reminds me of that everyday, so I don't want to let him
down.
So Jamie's still on, by the way, like he's, he's going to stick
around for a couple of years, Imean you know, 28 years of, uh,
(25:53):
you know, of running thisbusiness.
He's.
He's come to learn a thing ortwo.
Um, logistics, logistics, uh,being one of them, like
scheduling and logistics, uh,you know where to be at what
time and and you know how to getboats there, people back, et
cetera, you know so anyway, yeahso he's sticking around for a
(26:15):
couple of years and you knowkind of showing me the ropes and
yeah, I mean it's reallycritical for him that you know
safety comes first and you knowI have to agree, right, I don't
want to lose anybody, I don'twant anybody getting hurt.
And you know, for as easy as itis to run the Grand River, I
(26:36):
mean you know a lack ofexperience and you know getting
pinned on a rock and you knowsomebody getting a little bit
overexcited.
I mean you know that, can youknow that can cause, you know,
issues and people getting intotrouble.
So I'd like to avoid that whenI can.
So so yeah, we have, you knowthose, like I said, the, you
(26:58):
know the four or five guides andyou know the four part-time
staff and you know that, I think, keeps us going.
You know through throughout theseason, as far as I can tell.
So we'll find out.
Maybe next year I grow andexpand, We'll see.
Speaker 2 (27:13):
Yeah, wow, I keep thinking about the boats because
I'm a canoe guy.
Speaker 3 (27:35):
Are they all like tough stuff T4, maxax type deals
.
So my fleet boats are all 15foot SPS or SP3 Nova crafts,
right, so a little bit thicker.
They lay them up a little bitthicker than your typical.
Speaker 2 (27:43):
Yeah, it's a heavier plastic sort of deal, right?
Speaker 3 (27:45):
Yeah, and it's a heavier boat.
I'm not going to lie.
Speaker 2 (27:49):
Yes, I know, I looked at them.
Speaker 3 (27:57):
Yeah, which is why I went with the 15s, just to shave
off a little bit of weight, andI got them all in yellow.
So I don't know if you'venoticed on the social media I
decided to go with a fleet color, so I got, got all my fleet
done in yellow and uh, yeah, soand it was great.
I mean, uh, you know, previouslywe'd worked with uh, uh,
paluski canoes and kayaks and uh, so they're out of.
(28:20):
I want to say lake field, um,okay, it's about six hours.
Um, okay, it's about six hours,you know, east of here, right,
or east of me anyway, and uh,and I was just, you know, I was
considering timing, you know,especially a time of acquisition
, and it just seemed for me torun six hours out that way and
(28:42):
run, or sorry, three hours thatway.
Yeah, six hours round trip.
Three hours that way, threehours back.
I, you know, made more sense toyou know, work with novacraft
and well, novacraft is londonright, so they're like beside
you.
Yeah, yeah so round trip, it'slike an hour and a half.
So, yeah, you know, so, yeah, I, uh, you know, talked to, uh,
(29:03):
you know, chris and steve there,and I said, you know, so, yeah,
I, you know, talked to you know, chris and Steve there, and I
said, you know, thinking ofbuying a fleet here.
Here's what I'm thinking of.
And, and you know, and you know, next year I'll probably do
their aqua fusion kayaks as well.
So this year, in a pinch I justhad to buy a whole whack of you
(29:26):
know Pelican kayaks, just to,you know, get them in the water
as quick as possible.
But I think next year I'llprobably put in an order for
aquafusions.
They seem to seem to be theright balance of, you know,
weight and sturdiness, but theyalso have, like, built in
ballast in them, so I don't everhave to worry about them
(29:47):
sinking, which is great.
Speaker 2 (29:49):
Yeah, back to that safety thing.
Speaker 3 (29:50):
Yeah, yeah, Not as maneuverable as as, uh, as the
spirit uh Poluski kayaks thatwe've been getting, but yeah,
but they're super sharp lookingkayak cool, I've done zero
kayaking, like ever oh reallyyeah, none I I canoe periods.
Speaker 2 (30:13):
Uh, actually I think last year the year before is the
first time I ever paddled asolo canoe, is probably the
first time I ever paddled thatwasn't tandem really yeah, I
hadn't really thought about ituntil it was like, oh, this is
different.
Oh, because you've never doneit before oh interesting.
Speaker 3 (30:30):
This is my thing, man , I'm actually a little bit the
opposite, where I spend all mytime solo canoeing and every
time you get me tandem, I'm justlike wait, I don't understand
the mechanics of this.
So, especially when the bowpaddler I was, uh, I was doing
(30:52):
some training the other day anduh, so I had a bow paddler, one
of my staff, um, big guy, sixfoot four, lots of muscle, and
he just he'd get in there and hewould dig and he would dig and
like I could not, I had to sweepout wide every stroke.
(31:13):
I'm just sweeping out wide justto counteract how much power he
had up there.
So you know, it's definitelydifferent for me.
I'm actually I'm getting usedto the bow, I'm liking the bow,
especially when we're goingthrough whitewater, because
that's where all the action is,that's.
That's a lot of fun up there.
(31:33):
You know getting all the youknow gems and your prize and
your you know cross draws andyou know avoiding all the rocks.
That's where I feel like I'mI'm really engaged.
But otherwise, yeah, solopaddling, it's like I like, I
like doing the ballet of youknow just pivots and swirling
(31:54):
around and you know just movingwhere I want to move.
Uh, you know, I use a giantpaddle as well, Right, so?
not efficient for tripping atall, but uh, but just great for
moving a lot of water and movingthe boat around cool.
Speaker 2 (32:10):
Yeah, it's, I don't.
I haven't racked up enough time.
I I know that I have to be waymore cognizant of the reactivity
of the boat when I'm soloing,because otherwise I try to step
in and I find myself on theother side in the water so
numerous times seen that happenyeah, yeah, it's okay, very low,
(32:34):
very slow, get in there oh mygoodness but I did find uh, it
was kind of.
It was kind of this same thing,but I could move faster.
So so I I initially did did asingle blade and went out and
paddled like you know, whateverthe normal way, I guess.
But I also had a, a double,like a kayak paddle and man can,
(32:59):
can you, you can just fly withthat as like holding macro
mackerel I was.
Speaker 3 (33:04):
I was stunned at the speed difference I could pick up
by having two blades yeah, yeah, and I spend a lot of time
going up river as well, like youknow, when I'm not guiding or
sending people down the river, Ispend a lot of time fishing,
and so I'll put in at one spot,but then I'll want to make my
way back up to where I put in,so so I bring a double bladed
(33:29):
paddle for that reason and alsofor standing up.
I stand up and paddle my canoea lot and I and instead of
having like a dedicated suppaddle, I'll actually use, um,
you know, a double-bladed kayakpaddle, uh, and then it's, it's
the perfect length and I canreach right up to the bow and I
(33:50):
can pull back to my hip and it'sgreat yeah this, this is the
stare of a guy that's like, yeah, no, I wouldn't.
Speaker 2 (33:57):
I wouldn't even get to fully standing up before I'd
be in the water every time.
Speaker 3 (34:01):
Yeah, yeah, it's just something I've always done.
Um, you know, I just I I'll doit in a, in a kayak, every once
in a while too.
It's a lot more hairy in akayak like, but in a canoe I'll
do it, okay, yeah, it's all acore, core muscles.
Speaker 2 (34:22):
I don't have any, so, so that could be part of the
problem.
Love you too, honey.
All right.
So for those of you watching athome, you've seen our camera
just change.
I don't know.
I'm technologically challengedand I have no children here to
troubleshoot for me, so we'restuck with the crappy, crappy
(34:45):
camera that's on my laptop tofinish this out, but this is the
exciting part of the show.
I got to say we're about to doa draw.
Hopefully you were payingattention earlier.
Adam, tell us what the draw isfor and I'll tell people how
they can enter.
Speaker 3 (35:02):
Yeah, yeah.
So we can do a number ofdifferent things, but I would
certainly love the opportunityto provide a guided experience
for one of your lucky listeners.
I think one of the more popularones is our Big Creek Echo
Adventure, which is down towardsLong Point.
(35:24):
You know it's been celebratedby Ontario Southwest, you know
their tourism board andDestination Ontario, so it's
definitely a spectacular trip.
But if that's too far out ofthe way for folks, we're more
than willing to, you know, offersomething a little closer to
(35:44):
paris or a little closer tokitchener.
So, um, you know we'll, we'llgive out, uh, a guided trip, um,
you know, for up to four hours,and uh give you the experience,
uh, hopefully, of a lifetimevery cool, very cool.
Speaker 2 (36:08):
I mean, we're not allowed to enter.
Yes, this is the problem.
Uh, okay, so how you enter issame as we did the last time we
did a draw.
Send us an email with theanswer to the skill testing
question, which is name threetypes of watercraft offered by
grand experiences outdooradventure outfitters.
There are four.
Go back and listen.
Give me three of them.
You'll probably pull them offthe top of your head.
(36:29):
Yeah, send us an email to hi atsupergoodcampingcom.
That's hi atsupergoodcampingcom.
I'm doing your job now.
Yeah, and we'll do a draw.
So this is now airing on July7th 2025.
We will do the draw on July21st 2025.
(36:52):
We'll send you, we'll hook,we'll hook.
Make sure, when you send it theinformation to us, you give us
your contact information, we'llget Adam to hook up with you and
you guys will be off to theraces.
Speaker 1 (37:10):
How's that sound?
Sounds good.
All right to you, young.
That's it for us for today.
Speaker 2 (37:13):
Thank you so much for watching and listening and
putting up with our crappycamera man.
Speaker 1 (37:16):
We will talk to you again soon.
Please feel free to reach outto us anytime.
We are at hi at super goodcampingcom, that's hi at super
good campingcom and that's hi atsuper good campingcom.
And we are on all the socialmedia and you can check out Adam
at grand experiences, outdooradventure outfitters and we'll
talk to you again soon.
Bye, bye.
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