Pages » 1 2
 |
Camp fire
Photo: Eric Evans |
|
Now you've bought a canoe or kayak, taken a lesson, and enjoyed a few day trips. You begin thinking about going for a longer trip, perhaps a weekend or
more. You want to get farther away from civilization, maybe into the quiet backwaters far from town. You want to wake up and hear the chuckling of a
stream mixed with the trills of early morning birds outside your tent. You begin to wonder what you would need and how to get started camping with your boat.
When you close your eyes and imagine yourself camping, what do you see? Settling on a destination can be the most difficult part of planning the trip as
there are so many great locations to choose from. Do you see yourself on a glassy early morning lake with the moon just sinking, casting a line to the
rising rainbows? Or are you ready to launch beside a short set of rapids with the morning fog gently lifting off the water? Maybe you are beside a
stand-up tent on an island in Penobscot Bay, just finishing brunch and thinking about dinner. If you have one of these visions, or something like it,
you can camp with just a little planning.
Once you've decided your destination and what kind of a trip you'd like to take, the next step is to assemble your team. Maybe it's you and your spouse
or you and a number of buddies, or maybe you're camping solo. If you're not going alone, make sure that you are comfortable with your companions (you'll
be spending a lot of time with them in close quarters) and that you all share the same vision of what the trip will be like. If your spouse thinks the
best part of camping is sleeping late and great meals and you want to cover as much ground as possible with only jerky, rice cakes, and water on the menu,
it will be difficult for either of you to have a good time.
Make sure that you have a well-rounded team, one that includes folks who have the skills that the trip needs: planning and organizing, rescue, first aid,
navigation, cooking, and entertainment. It's good to share the responsibility if you're designing your own trip, but it can also be fun to go with somebody
who has experience and knowledge to guide and teach you about tripping. Either way, make sure that you are comfortable with the folks and the trip plans.
The usual worries of first time kayak or canoe campers include: Am I strong (or skilled) enough for this trip? Who will I be partnered with - will they do
their share - will they be fun to be with? Will the paddlers be equally strong, or might I be left behind? Will the paddling be leisurely or constant? Will
there be enough to eat? Will the food be palatable? What will we do if a canoe capsizes? These are excellent questions and should be discussed by the team
well before the trip, and plans should be made to accommodate the whole team. If goals are clear and agreed upon, all team members are more likely to be
happy campers.
Many favorite trips have campsites that are established and maintained for public use. If it is at all possible, use these campsites to avoid additional
impact on the waterway. Be careful to use Leave No Trace guidelines at both established and pristine campsites.
If you have some camping experience already, whether it is car camping or backpacking, you can transfer what you know, what you have, and what you like to
small craft camping. If not, it's still an easy leap: the trick is to make a few lists to help you get organized. I like to think in these terms: kitchen,
bedroom, transportation, repair, and personal gear.
I keep an inventory of all my camping/canoeing/kayaking equipment and go down the lists to make sure that I don't forget anything. If you don't have such an
inventory, you might consider creating one. Of course, all the stuff on the list on a given trip, but I think about each item and leave it behind on purpose,
not because I forgot it. This mental process makes it more likely that I'll have everything I need on my trip.
Briefly, for the kitchen, my list includes items for cooking, eating, and cleaning. My bedroom list has everything on it for a good night's sleep. My personal
gear list is for clothing, navigation, and all the small items that make me comfortable (your list will be different). I have a tool list that includes repair
equipment and other hardware such a water filter. Transportation includes the vehicles that we will use to get to the put-in (and perhaps take-out) as well
as the canoes and their associated gear.
