I lost my bow paddler today - December 20, 2020

I lost my bow paddler today, or maybe I should say my stern paddler because he was always in the background ready to execute the perfect correction stroke to keep me on track. My father – Gustav W. Eckilson (Ecky to his friends and Welton to his family) passed away on December 20, 2020 after a long illness. He is absolutely responsible for my addiction to paddling, and it is one of the many, many things that I thank him for every day.

 

As a young man my father was an active outdoorsman and mountain climber. In 1962 he reached the peak of Mount Rainier – one of the most challenging mountain summits in North America, and a frequent training ground for Everest climbers. Arthritis and a young family ended his outdoor activities for a while, but they resumed in retirement when he enjoyed hiking, camping and canoeing, mostly with the Narragansett Chapter of the AMC.

 

I did my first canoe trip with my father in 1989 on the Albion to Manville section of Blackstone in the Spirit II, and my first whitewater trip in 1990 below the Pontook Dam on the Androscoggin River in the Mohawk. I still paddle both of those boats regularly today. Unfortunately, my young family limited my ability to paddle with him when he was most active. By the time I caught the paddling bug around 2006, his arthritis had returned and he was out of the boat and off the trail. He would ask about my adventures, but we were never able to go on a trip together.  

 

I went out today to paddle on the Blackstone as a tribute to him. It was cold and gray, and somehow it didn’t fill the hole in my heart in the way that I expected. I’m sure in the days and years ahead I will miss him in many ways that I never expected.  

 

Rest in peace Dad – no one deserves in more than you.

Paddling the Errol Rips on the Agroscocggin River in 1990