How A Cancelled Train Led To A Great Canoe Trip

A last-minute curveball from VIA Rail threatened to kill a long-planned Spanish River trip. We refused to pack it in. Instead, we pivoted north to the lower Temagami River, launching from Red Cedar Lake and finding warm days, calm nights, and a crew that just clicked. That shift became a reminder that great canoe trips hinge on nimble planning, weather grace, and teammates who keep it light when logistics go sideways.

We dig into what made Temagami shine, then map out Spanish River Take Two this June with a moving water certification led by an ORCKA instructor. Bill shares how becoming an ORCKA instructor transformed his own paddling—turns that used to feel “fine” suddenly needed cleaner torso rotation, tighter stern work, and better trim. Efficiency becomes the real safety net when rapids stack up. We talk guiding on the French River, especially the South Channel and five-mile rapids—quieter stretches where boat traffic fades and the landscape opens up. The theme is consistent: seek solitude, read water, and save energy for the moves that matter.

The trail talk widens to hiking windows along the Bruce Trail and Niagara Escarpment, a late-light glacier hike in Iceland, and the growing appeal of crown land access near Georgian Bay and Philip Edward Island. Overlanding gets a nod for freedom and a caution for cost. We share fishing highs and humbling blanks, including the fly rod cameo after a spinning setup sank in the French. Fly casting shines as craft and meditation, even when the net stays dry. Bill explains the cheeky origin of Thunderbox Diaries and why storytelling through images still feels like a living logbook.

Gearheads will appreciate the shoutouts: compact lights and pumps from Flextail, backcountry meals from Wanderlost Kitchen and SLY Foods that taste like real food, and a fresh collaboration with Ostrom Outdoors. Watch for a prototype debut at the Hamilton Adventure Expo at the Organic Boat Shop booth. If you love canoe tripping, whitewater progression, better trip food, and hearing how a busted plan turned brilliant, this one’s for you. Enjoy it, then share it with a paddler who needs a nudge. Subscribe, leave a review, and tell us: when did your plan B beat plan A?

https://www.instagram.com/thunderboxdiaries/

https://www.hamiltonadventureexpo.com/

https://www.organicboatshop.com/

https://ostromoutdoors.ca/

www.wanderlustkitchen.ca

www.slyfoods.com

https://www.flextail.com/

Chapters

• 0:00 Warm Welcome And Guest Intro
• 2:10 Trip Plans Upended By Train Change
• 4:10 Pivot To Temagami And Trip Highlights
• 7:40 Spanish River Take Two And ORCKA Plans
• 10:20 Becoming An Instructor And Coaching
• 13:20 Guiding Debut And French River Routes
• 16:10 Seeking Solitude And Avoiding Boat Traffic
• 19:20 Hiking Habits From Bruce Trail To Iceland
• 22:10 Crown Land, Overlanding, And Access
• 25:00 Fishing Tales And Fly Rod Mishap
• 28:00 Thunderbox Diaries Origin Story

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

Hello and good day. Welcome to the Super Good Camping Podcast. My name is Pamela.

SPEAKER_01: 0:04

I'm Tim.

SPEAKER_00: 0:04

And we are from SupergoodCamping.com. We're here because we're on a mission to inspire other people to get outside and enjoy camping adventures such as we have as a family. Today's guest is a canoe tripper, hiker, loves to fish, and does some occasional woodworking. He's a certified orc instructor and guides trips for the organic boat shop. We also assume he has a job to pay for these expensive pastimes, but maybe that's that is it. Um please welcome from Thunderbox Diaries Bill Wilkie. Yay! Welcome, Bill. Hey, thanks to you, and happy new year.

SPEAKER_01: 0:34

Oh ho ho. I'm not calling you a hoe. I'm just saying. You're just jolly. Yeah, that's it. It's your usual jolly. I'm certainly working on a Santa Shape.

SPEAKER_00: 0:44

That's your dad bod.

SPEAKER_01: 0:46

Yeah. Yeah. You like it? Sure. Okay. All right, cool. You can stay. How the heck are you, man? Haven't talked to you.

SPEAKER_03: 0:53

Great.

SPEAKER_02: 0:54

Very good. Very good. Uh, you know, it's kind of that uh slow season right now, not much going on. Weather's kind of crappy, can't go out hiking, paddling's done for the year, so yeah. Just kind of muddling through till the uh the Hamilton outdoor show. Looking forward to next month.

SPEAKER_01: 1:13

We're a month away, just yeah, with that couple of days away.

SPEAKER_03: 1:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 1:18

Looking forward to it. You're gonna, I don't know what your work schedule is like, but if it allows, I assume you're gonna be hanging with Greg at the uh shop. That's the plan right now.

SPEAKER_02: 1:28

I'm gonna be there for at least the Saturday. Right. Maybe the Sunday as well.

SPEAKER_01: 1:33

Cool. Well, looking forward to seeing you there, man. Yeah, for sure. Real life in person. Uh because well, because because what are you what are you social media folks? You know, we a lot of times we like know each other because we've just been back and forth on Instagram, you know, messaging and and and whatnot. Uh you and I have actually met in person a number of times, mostly at shows. Uh, but we did manage to do a Spanish River, no wait, tomogamy trip this year.

SPEAKER_02: 2:03

That's right. It was uh supposed to be a Spanish River trip, but unfortunately uh V Rail had different ideas for us.

SPEAKER_01: 2:10

Different ideas, yes. Yeah, that was that was pretty wild. It's like seven o'clock or seven thirty the literally the night before, and and I Greg's like, I got an email. They're pulling the uh the baggage car and we we can't go. Oh, that's cool.

SPEAKER_02: 2:27

That's that's I thought he was I thought he was pulling my chain, but not so much. So did I, yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 2:32

Listeners, that's the car that all the canoes need to be loaded on in order to transport them to the Spanish River.

SPEAKER_02: 2:37

Yes, therefore we could not go on the Spanish River, and we did everything we could to uh to try to make that trip happen. We were talking to all our social contacts, everybody messaging people on Instagram, WhatsApp. Is there a way to get on to the Spanish River without the bud car? And the answer from everybody was no. So we uh put our heads together and came up with a plan B that I think uh worked out pretty good, actually.

SPEAKER_01: 3:04

I think worked out just fine. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 3:07

So they ended up in Tamogamy.

SPEAKER_01: 3:09

We did. Yeah, I don't even I think it was I think it was actually the second choice you guys were trying to work out for tamogamy, but I don't care. It was awesome. That was a that's yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 3:18

So we ended up on the lower section, the lower section of the Tamogamy River. Um, we went in at uh I believe it was Red Squirrel or Red Sea Red Cedar Lake, I think it was called, and uh, and then paddled into the lower section of the Tomogamy River, and it was shockingly amazing. I did not it wasn't even on my radar until that trip, and now I'm probably gonna be heading back there next fall to do the entire length of the river.

SPEAKER_01: 3:44

Cool. Yeah, yeah, it was awesome. I mean, uh be hard to be hard to go wrong. The two the two biggest things that I think worked in our favor was the weather was just stunning. I mean, it was like 20, 21 degrees or 23 degrees through the day, uh, and didn't get ridiculously cold at night. And you know, we I we had a bit of rain on the last 45 minutes coming out.

SPEAKER_02: 4:09

Yeah, at the very end of our trip, it started raining, and we were just getting off the waters and started coming down, so it worked out perfectly.

SPEAKER_01: 4:16

Yep, and uh, and uh uh amazing group of guys, like that. That was that was awesome. There's like no dicks in the bunch, it was fantastic. No, no, it was good. Yeah, we ate well, we did all the things well.

SPEAKER_00: 4:31

So the Spanish River Take Two is potentially coming up this year.

SPEAKER_02: 4:36

June.

SPEAKER_00: 4:36

Uh in 26th.

SPEAKER_02: 4:38

That's right. So yeah, June uh 15th or somewhere around there, I believe it is.

SPEAKER_01: 4:42

June 12th, 12th, 12th, I think, yeah. I think I had 11th, but Greg wanted to move it a day.

SPEAKER_02: 4:47

Yeah, so we're heading up there, and we're going to be doing a uh Orca uh moving water one certification on that trip with a uh moving water instructor, because I myself am not a moving water instructor, just self-taught basically. Um, so I'm gonna be learning on that trip myself too, so that should be interesting. And then Tim and Thomas are coming as well, and uh yeah, it's gonna be great. And we got uh Kale's coming as well that was on the trip with us in Tomogamy this year.

SPEAKER_01: 5:15

Cool, yeah, looking forward to that. It's gonna be it's gonna be awesome. Um, question How did you get into how did you end up being uh an orca instructor?

SPEAKER_02: 5:25

Like what how did Oh that was that was kind of just like uh buddies with Greg, been buddies with Greg for quite some time now, and uh he started uh offering the Orca courses. So uh I had uh a week off, just so happened to be the same week that he was running his instructor course last year, and uh or this year actually, I should say, still this year, not it's not yet 2026, right? Um, but uh yeah, so uh it would have been April of this year. I uh decided to take the course just because I was off that week. And uh and as a lifelong paddler, um I learned so much. And you know, you think you know everything there is to know about paddling a canoe, and then you take a course that teaches you how to teach it to other people, and you realize that you know absolutely nothing. I learned everything. Absolutely nothing, but that you you realize that you're doing a lot of things that are maybe poor form, um, and now you're you're you're improving yourself. And and I've I've taught a few courses and I've actually done a lot more instruction on trips than actual um certification courses because that's one of the things that we do uh when we are guiding people is that we we usually have uh someone that's an ORCA instructor on on that course guiding it, and they will uh basically coach the entire trip uh with with people. And um it's really worked out well that and that way. And um it's just been a great experience teaching people myself for myself. So um people are usually pretty appreciative of appreciative of it. Um, and they also didn't realize that you know they could make their paddling a lot more efficient than it might be. So and efficiency is pretty key when you're doing a long canoe trip, you know, wasted energy is energy you don't want to waste.

SPEAKER_01: 7:18

Yeah, especially why and and I I really find it I'm sure it applies to flat water, but if I find it way more the the white water, if you aren't like if you're not on your game, yeah, you get to the end of like a set of rapids and you're like, holy crap, I'm poop, man.

SPEAKER_02: 7:36

Yeah, you can't really uh there's no time to slow down in a set of rapids, you're just you gotta be focused the entire way down. As soon as you stop focusing, that's when you flip.

SPEAKER_01: 7:46

Yeah, it goes for crap. Uh so you're talking about guiding. How did how did that all come to be? And I don't know, tell me a couple of really cool trips.

SPEAKER_02: 7:54

Yeah, well, this was like uh the guiding for us was kind of our uh this was our our first year doing it, so it was kind of just a trial thing. Uh we did a trip on the French River uh in the summer, uh went very well, and then uh we had two trips on the Spanish scheduled for uh last week of September and then the one that you were supposed to go on, Tim. Um luckily the the trip in September got to go on the the train and got to do the Spanish, but uh unfortunately for us we didn't. Um yeah, Whitewater's pretty new for me myself, actually. Um, but once you start doing it, then you there's kind of no turning back. You don't want to you don't really want to paddle flat water that much anymore unless it's to get to Whitewater. But uh yeah, I've been uh I've been canoe tripping for most of my life. Started uh I've been camping my whole life, uh started getting into the backcountry uh in my early 20s, university type time, so going on 20-ish years now. Um yeah, but uh started off like everybody else, Algonquin. Um, you know, that's that's pretty much what everybody cuts their teeth on. Um and then you kind of just move from there. So from Algonquin, it turns into Killarney, it turns into big water on Georgian Bay, and then it's what am I gonna do next? And that's that's kind of like the uh progression into Whitewater, basically. So now it's it's that and it's getting further away from everything because as you know, Algonquin's pretty busy, especially in the summertime. Um, I don't personally like doing that. I like to be away from everything and not have a whole lot of people around me. So the further, the further it's it's it's like you need to get further and further north, it seems, every year. So French River's a big one for me. I love the French. Greg's got a place up there, so we run a lot of trips kind of out of that area. Um and uh yeah, there's a nice whitewater stretch on the French as well. Most people tend to head down towards the uh Georgia Bay end of it, the the Delta, the old the old Voyageurs Channel. Um, but there's the uh the South Channel, which is closer, is kind of uh the midway point of the French between Nipissing and Georgian Bay, and uh there's the South Channel there in the five-mile rapid section um that is just breathtaking. And there's not like there's a lot of boat traffic on the French in some areas, and uh the rapids kind of prevent uh people from getting in there with boats so much, so it's a nice kind of oasis away from that. But uh yeah, that's that's me in a nutshell with with tripping, it's yeah, all over the place, and I've made that progression in the whitewater now that that's kind of what I'm seeking all the time when I go out.

SPEAKER_01: 10:42

Cool. Well, and I I totally get the getting away from the boat trapping. I mean, some of them are well, it's it's it's weird to be paddling and then have somebody at a you know 50-horse screaming past you. Um there's also maybe some that aren't pals. It's sort of like it always reminds me of like skiers and snowboarders. You know, they sometimes get along and sometimes they don't. Yeah. It's nice when they do get along, but it's there there can be some, you know, that's some some big wake and stuff like that sometimes.

SPEAKER_02: 11:16

And it's yeah, I've I've had a few experiences like that where there's you always have the the motorboaters that are uh very friendly, very courteous when they're passing you. Um, but I've been in places like Massa Saga, for instance, uh trying to head out to uh Georgian Bay from Pete's place, uh that launch there, and there's a very narrow channel there um to get you out onto the bay, and the boat traffic just doesn't care there, it seems that they just rip right through there, they not care in the world, and because it's so narrow, the waves just splash back and forth, and it's it's a nightmare. Same thing on the French River. There's a lot of spots there where people really aren't very courteous to uh to paddlers, unfortunately.

SPEAKER_01: 12:00

But yeah, we'll not do there's good too, yeah. So I was gonna say that that we had a couple not terribly long after we put in the uh Tomogany when we were doing that trip, and we had a couple of super nice guys went by, slowed right down, you know, said which way are you going? You don't want to go like that campsite's crap if that's where you guys are planning to go, you know, and then and they were totally totally took their wake into account and gave us lots of space and then went on about their business, which I thought was awesome. They would say that was fantastic.

SPEAKER_02: 12:32

Yeah, there's there's definitely lots of good people out there doing that. It's just uh you know, it's always that one that gives everybody a sour taste, right?

SPEAKER_01: 12:39

Yep, you knob. Um you do hiking as well. What uh what kind of hiking do you get into?

SPEAKER_02: 12:44

Uh I do a bit.

SPEAKER_01: 12:45

I don't I should do more.

SPEAKER_02: 12:49

It's kind of like uh I I I don't like hiking in the summer, can't stand it, unless it's a portage, I guess. Uh even then I try to avoid those, uh, as you found out on the tomogamy. Um but uh yeah, for me it's like a fall winter uh activity, early spring before the bugs come out. Um, you know, I don't like uh I don't like it when it gets too hot and too buggy to be out hiking. So for me, it's mostly uh southern Ontario, that's where I'm located. So it's a lot of the uh the Bruce Trail along the Niagara Scarden and do a lot of that. Um yeah, it's just for it's kind of a transition thing for me. We're we're not paddling, we're not going on trips right now, but try to keep active outside, right? So try to do a little bit of that. And I'd like to snowshoe, but the snow's just super unreliable here. I don't know what it's like up Toronto way right now, but we're just freezing rain, rain, and that's that's it right now. No snow for us at all.

SPEAKER_01: 13:46

Yeah, we're the we're the same. We got about six inches, what not yesterday, day before. With some freezing rain mixed in, and then yes, today we've got at least a couple of centimeters of freezing rain on top of that, and then pouring rain as well. So just a lovely mix.

SPEAKER_02: 14:06

Yeah, it's just no, it's no good for anything, right? So I haven't been out for a hike in in a few weeks now, um, just because the weather's been so unpredictable and you don't want to go on that. But yeah, that's that's it for hiking for me. I have done like uh I was in Iceland uh last year, so I uh I did some hiking there, uh hiked a glacier. Uh so that was that was an experience for sure. Um, I got a buddy that lives in Iceland, so I got the kind of the local experience of uh of hiking in Iceland. So that was pretty cool hiking up on a glacier at 10 o'clock at night.

SPEAKER_00: 14:43

Well, yeah, the land where there's no yes, no nighttime.

SPEAKER_02: 14:47

Well, it was getting dark by the time we got down, but it was it was pretty pretty bright for quite a long time while we were there. So yeah, but that's uh yeah, did that. Did did a lot of hiking uh when I was younger in Scotland and stuff like that, climbing uh the highest peak in Scotland, Ben Nevis. So yeah, a bit of hiking, but yeah, it's not really my big focus.

SPEAKER_00: 15:08

Is it uh just day trips you do hiking, or do you do yeah?

SPEAKER_02: 15:11

So I was I was hoping when I was in Iceland to do a multi-day, but the weather was just so uncooperative that we didn't want to be caught out in the rain and the wind. And you know, you're gonna listen to the locals when they say don't go don't go hiking there. So good advice. Yeah, so we kind of just stuck to day day trips on that trip.

SPEAKER_01: 15:33

Yeah. Well, I don't know. I would listen to locals around here because they're just trying to keep you out of where they want to go.

SPEAKER_00: 15:39

Yeah, it's not about conditions, trying to have it to themselves, exactly.

SPEAKER_01: 15:43

Yeah, have you ever done any just I out of completely out of curiosity? Have you ever ever done any like you know, Crown Liking where you hike in to so you can go to a fishing spot or something like that?

SPEAKER_02: 15:54

No, never done any of that. No. Um, I've done Crownland, so like well, we were on the Tomogamy was a non-operating park, so that was typically essentially provincial park, just you know, uh almost Crownland, let's call it. Yep. Um, I've done Crownland on uh Georgian Bay, like uh Philip Edward Island area. I know you guys were there this year. Um one of my favorite places. I don't get there enough, so hoping to maybe get back this next year. Um, but yeah, never done like the like the boondocking, drive-in, hike in, uh Crownland camping, though. Started out with a lot of uh Algonquin campgrounds when I was a kid, so it was like Pog Lake, Canis Bay, you know, started with my parents, they always took us in there, and uh they weren't big backcountry campers, so it was always just front country, and then it was me that kind of took it to the next level, I guess.

SPEAKER_01: 16:52

Yeah, well I think I think that kind of plays out for the majority of us here in southern Ontario. Um Thomas and I where the heck were we we're coming back from I think we're coming back from a French River trip and there was a massive accident. The backup was going to be like three extra hours to the trip, according to the Google Eater, whatever. So the kid has on his he downloads Google Maps, so he's got them whether he's got signal or not. Okay, and on them it has like logging roads and stuff. So he you know, we boogeried off in the wrong in what I would assume the wrong direction, but it wasn't, and ended up going down logging roads and stuff, and we found uh a whole bunch of very cool crown land, and exactly that boondoggers dockers, you know, like they just veered off somewhere where somebody had cut some trees down, you know, four by fours and whatnot, dragged it in there, and were parked there for who knows how long, and you could see water beyond them, sort of deal. I thought, hey, that's a pretty cool thing because it's you know it's not money out of your pocket and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_02: 17:58

So yeah, it's like a whole other area of camping, right? So you got your backcountry campers, you got your front country campers, and then you you got your overlanders essentially, right? And that's an expensive hobby.

SPEAKER_01: 18:12

To buy the trailer and and the four by four and all that sort of jazz, yes.

SPEAKER_02: 18:15

Yeah, yeah. I got some buddies that are into it, and yeah, it can get pretty pricey for sure.

SPEAKER_01: 18:19

Yeah, and they seem to have like an extra trailer that they've got four by fours on, or like their their little ATVs or whatever, yeah, or side by sides or anything else, yeah. Yeah, looks looks fun, but wow. Yeah. Yeah, a lot of gas too, I'm sure. Um fishing. What uh how often do you get out? What do you what is your favorite fish to fish for?

SPEAKER_02: 18:44

I literally only get out when I go on trips. Okay. I'm not much of a uh fish every weekend kind of guy, right? It's it's almost strictly uh while I'm on uh on a canoe trip. And uh I am a terrible fisherman. Ask anybody that goes camping with me. Um yeah, I I I I love fishing, I do enjoy it. Um, I just never I I'm not one to to troll an entire trip, so I'm probably not gonna catch much. I might cast a bit at uh offshore when camp is set up, but that's it for me, really. Um as far as species, like I love catching walleye. Um, any kind of trout species is always cool to catch. Um, I just never have much luck.

SPEAKER_00: 19:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 19:36

I let the other guys handle that. Like uh Jeremy there on our trip. He's the he is put a fishing rod in that guy's hand and he'll just go forever.

SPEAKER_01: 19:46

And then that was that was pretty crazy. It was just like cast, fish, cast, fish, cast, fish.

SPEAKER_02: 19:53

And then he I don't know if Pam uh heard the story, but he decided he was we're set up set up a camp in. He told us, okay, guys, I'm gonna go out fishing. If I'm not back by dark, don't worry about me. I'll be there. I'll be back. And he came back after dark and he had what a half dozen fish with him. Yep. Just started cleaning them, and away we go, eat some, some breakfast the next day. And yeah, that's that's Jeremy. He's the fisherman, he's the guy to talk to about that stuff.

SPEAKER_00: 20:26

And I don't know what the trick is. Like, even if Tim and I both go out fishing, he'll catch, even though there they may not be that something we can catch.

SPEAKER_01: 20:35

Keepers, yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 20:36

But he'll still catch them, and I won't I won't get a bite even.

SPEAKER_01: 20:42

I don't know. Jeremy's were all like great size, perfect sized fish. So I don't know if that means he threw eight of them back that weren't the perfect size, but that it was I I don't know. I don't know. Um and yeah, when we were so in tomogamy, you were fly fishing. How is that what's that's gotta be pretty cool?

SPEAKER_02: 21:04

I've never been that was another one of those hobbies that I picked up and then kind of just let let slides. Fly fishing is just insanely expensive. Now, the reason that I had a fly rod on that trip and not my spinning rod is because my spinning rod is at the bottom of the French River. Oh uh, I took my kids uh up on the French in September, and uh we were just just for an overnighter. We were on the North Channel, um, and uh we were just camped out by uh Oulette Rapids. And my daughter wanted to go down the rapids, and I didn't have a problem with that. And uh we had all our gear, we had our helmets, we had everything with us, so we were set up to go through Whitewater if we wanted to. Um, and I wasn't expecting to tip over because I only brought one change of clothing with me because it was just an overnighter, and uh and we ended up going for a bit of a swim. So I uh I had my daughter in one hand, I had my paddle in the other, trying to hold onto the boat as well, and then reaching for my tackle box with my paddle. Uh managed to get that, but uh luckily it floated, but my my fishing rod did not. So that's why I had my fly rod on that trip, because I don't have a spinning rod right now. Yeah, all right, bummer. But uh yeah, fly fishing is pretty cool. It's a fun thing to teach yourself, and um, you know, I've I've had some success with it, but um it is it is interesting, especially when you're fishing around rabbits and stuff, it's kind of conducive to it, right?

SPEAKER_01: 22:43

So it's uh yeah, it's nice. Yeah, it looks like a river thing. I mean, I've watched you know uh people like like Henry Winkler is a lunatic for fly fishing, he's an absolute just junkie for it. Uh and I've watched some you know, like friends that have been out with him filming him, and he would he would just do it for hours and hours and hours and work on it, you know, perfecting that got land it in the same spot 14 times in a row.

SPEAKER_02: 23:10

It's one of those things you enjoy even if you're not catching fish. That's that's kind of what I found with it. It's just practicing your cast, getting getting that perfection down, making it do what you want it to, and if you catch something, that's just a bonus, really.

SPEAKER_01: 23:25

Yeah. Cool. Where does Thunderbox Diaries come from?

SPEAKER_02: 23:31

Um honestly, I was it was I was I kind of had the idea that I wanted to start a website, but never started a website. So it was supposed to be Thunderbox Diaries, and I was gonna tell stories, and that was the diary essentially, basically. And I'm a bit of a smart ass, and I thought naming something after the uh the uh box that you used to go to the washroom on uh was was a was a cheeky uh cheeky name. So yeah, cheeky name. Um, but yeah, that was kind of it. So I never did a website, I'm kind of lazy in that sense. I always have these great ideas to to do this, and you never really have the time, and just keeping up with Instagram itself is a challenge. And you guys know with podcasts that you know it's a lot of work that goes into it that people don't see. So uh, but on Instagram I kind of try to tell a story with all my in my captions, so it's still kind of a diary in a sense, I guess.

SPEAKER_01: 24:28

Well, I think it's I think it's awesome. I I I remember reading, I'm sure it was at an Instagram post or something, and then and then I saw the the Thunderbox diaries and I went, oh, that's awesome. That is the perfect thing, man. I've heard a lot of people say that.

SPEAKER_00: 24:45

Because yeah, people know automatically is backcountry because that's where the thunder boxes are, yeah. Uh and then yeah, diaries, so telling your stories.

SPEAKER_01: 24:54

Yeah, we like to tell stories. And I I I'll also have to say to anybody who's who's watching or listening, go go check Bill out. Uh he is good at storytelling in pictures, like he just is he's a natural for it. So, and they're always good pictures. So uh how do you I like I know I've seen some some food that's come with you on trips. I'm pretty sure there was a Flextail Light. Uh you have partnerships maybe with with some companies. How does that work? Yeah, so I how does that work out?

SPEAKER_02: 25:29

Yeah, so I've been uh getting into a few brand partnerships. Uh Flextail's one of them. So they uh they reached out to me about uh doing some stuff, and uh so so they uh they've they've been there. Uh the other one that I've been working with lately is uh Wonderless Kitchen. They were on with you guys recently. Yeah, friends. So we've got a little partnership going on there, and uh they're great. I love their meals. Um nothing like I've I've made that type of stuff for myself before uh for trips, not as good. But like it's a great meal, it's it's got flavor, and like I've I was never a big uh freeze-dry dehydrated meal guy, you know, because pre-packaged, I'm saying, um, because they were terrible growing up, like it was bland or it was too salty or overspiced or just unappetizing. And the companies that are coming out right now are just awesome. And and and local too, like Ontario. We got we got ones coming from so Wonderless Kitchen's one. The other one I just started working with, haven't put anything else out yet, is Sly Foods. Um, they are located in Quebec. We had one on our trip, Tim. I don't know if you got a chance to try it out. I don't think so. But they also have amazing meals, and I was shocked at how good they were. Um, so I'm probably gonna do a lot more of that this year versus making my own stuff. Um, and then I have a uh another opportunity coming up that's going to present itself at the Hamilton Adventure Expo. Um, I am working on a partnership with Ostrom Outdoors. Um, you saw my table, Tim. Um, so we're gonna be me and me and Bill Ostrom are working on a collaboration right now, and it should be uh ready for the Hamilton show. So we'll be very cool there.

SPEAKER_01: 27:29

Yeah, yeah, he's a we we had him on a year ago, maybe something like that. Maybe maybe more than that. Uh very cool dude, very cool dude. Yeah, like I love his he comes from a this is how I want it to be on my back kind of a guy. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02: 27:46

Yeah, so yeah, we were we've we've been talking back and forth, we've been uh shooting ideas, names. Um we are uh in prototyping phase right now with it, so um, but we should have something out for the Hamilton show. So come and visit us, come and visit us at the organic boat shop uh booth, and there might be a little surprise there.

SPEAKER_01: 28:10

I I have a feeling that we're gonna be running around with microphones and cameras for like the entire weekend. They the the organizers of the show have given us a uh a booth, donated us a booth to to do sit and do podcast stuff. But I'm not so sure how often I'll actually be there. I think I'm gonna be going around checking stuff out. We'll see.

SPEAKER_02: 28:30

Oh, there's so many great, great vendors there.

SPEAKER_01: 28:32

Like great vendors, great presenters, everything, man. It's I am so looking forward to that.

SPEAKER_02: 28:39

Yeah, I'll be doing my uh before the doors open, running around and saying hi to everybody and putting some money down on some gadgets, I guess. Spend some Christmas money. Yes.

SPEAKER_01: 28:54

I have already spent all my Christmas money. Awesome. Looking forward to seeing you there, dude. Uh yeah, we'll all be running around. I think it's gonna be great. All right, cool. It'd be fun.

SPEAKER_00: 29:08

All right, that's it for us for today. Thank you so much to Bill Wilkie from Thunderbox Diaries. Find him on Instagram. You can also, he's got YouTube and TikTok, but primarily Instagram, uh, and look for Thunderbox Diaries. And you can also meet him at the Hamilton Adventure Expo at the end of January 2026, and we'll be there too. And check he'll be at the organic workshop booth. And for us, um, that's it for us. Well, if you want to talk to us, we are at high at supergoodcamping.com. That's hi at supergoodcamping.com, and we are on all the social media. Please like, follow, subscribe, share, and all of the good things. And we'll talk to you again soon. Bye.

SPEAKER_01: 29:47

Bye. Thanks guys.