Dave Japikse

Dave Japikse was born in Reading, Pennsylvania, on May 2, 1943, and moved to Bexley, Ohio (near Columbus) in the summer of 1951 at the age of 8. From eight years of age until age 22 he spent one year living in the outdoors hiking, backpacking, canoeing, kayaking, fishing, hunting, and sailing. At age 19 he was solo leading wilderness canoe trips in the Canadian wilderness around Timagami, Ontario. Along the way he became an Eagle Scout, with a gold palm, and developed many hobbies, especially...See more

Dave Japikse was born in Reading, Pennsylvania, on May 2, 1943, and moved to Bexley, Ohio (near Columbus) in the summer of 1951 at the age of 8. From eight years of age until age 22 he spent one year living in the outdoors hiking, backpacking, canoeing, kayaking, fishing, hunting, and sailing. At age 19 he was solo leading wilderness canoe trips in the Canadian wilderness around Timagami, Ontario. Along the way he became an Eagle Scout, with a gold palm, and developed many hobbies, especially outdoor hobbies. As college yearsapproached, decisions had to be made and a struggled balance between engineering, wilderness sport, and photography ensued.Dave graduated with a B. Sc. in Engineering Science (essentially mechanical engineering following his dad and grandfather) from Case Institute of Technology in 1965. That summer, he married L. Ellen Drum, his high school sweetheart. This was followed by a M.Sc. and a Ph.D. from Purdue University in the fall of 1968 on an NDEA Title Four scholarship and then into post-Doctoral study as a Fulbright Scholar and an NSF fellow withstudy in Aachen, Germany. His beloved wilderness seemed far away, but weekend travels helped with much time camping in wilderness areas. Waking up to the cry of a real cuckoo bird was special!The years up to 2022 focused on science and technology with considerable success. Still, many weekends found him in the wilderness either with family, scout units (usually a 3-day trip every 3 weeks and summer trips of about 10 days) as Scout Master and later Post Advisor, plus summer camping with his family. By age 50, he had spent a second-year camping in the wilderness in all seasons; after age 50 he has lost track of how much time has been spent outside!In 2020 Ellen and Dave began their first annual 10-day trip in the Maine Woods which was very successful. Ellen was closely observing and suggested that Dave really should become a Registered Maine Guide which he did that winter and passed his exam smoothly on April 12th of 2021.At the same time a passion for Thoreau's Maine trips blossomed into this book. Dave traces much of his canoeing-camping practices back to the Timagami First Nation tribe (Canada) who set the style of wilderness life and practices used during his teenage years. See less