great time
Well I had a great time, anyway. What I can’t figure out is that the wife says she would come again? even though she complained and was miserable the whole time. I think she has some sort of warped reality she lives in.
Thanks for everyones advice.
Aww, Christie needs a 2nd chance
I don’t at all get why Christie wanted to bail out. What was her complaint? Maybe it was you not appreciating her singing talents. I hope you didn’t tell her how to paddle! That can be tragic.
I was on a ten-day trip with no stove once. And on that trip, most of what we brought to eat had to be cooked. We spent a lot of time and energy building fires. But it is tough when you get a good soaking. We had one night when we had a wicked storm blow through. It blew down my comrades’ tent and most of their gear got wet in the ensuing rain storm, which by morning turned into a wind-driven snow storm. Everything was coated with wet snow and ice. It took until noon to get a fire going and we spent all day drying their gear and trying to keep them warm. That was not a happy go-lucky camp, we knick-named it “camp misery”, which when you get down to it, is a testament to how good our lives are in the US compared to the rest of the world, because things weren’t that bad (sez I, who was warm and dry). I know the kids would have called for a ride if they could’ve.
Second the get-a-stove recommendation. Hot food and beverage might have brightened Christie’s outlook. If you must have fire, pack a last-ditch fire starting kit, and collect the smallest (hair like) dead twigs off the lower branches of trees. They may be wet, but better than what’s on the ground. Your kit needs to include enough combustable material to dry some of those tiny twigs and set them on fire. And once started, you need a bunch more to dry/burn until you have a conflargation of tiny twigs, to which you can start adding bigger twigs. Cotton balls gobbed up with vaseline work great, and you can carry several in a 35mm film jar. If you look at split firewood, often you can by hand pull off strands of oak that are matchstick diameter or less. A handful of “oak hair” in a zip lock can work pretty well, too. Cedar burns very hot, so it can be good, but it also burns fast, so you need more.
Supposedly, a real woodsman doesn’t need those tricks, and can find a dead and dried tree limb, and split it to get at the dry center, and make dry kindling when there is none. I’ve never been that skilled or desperate. Well, enough on fire.
Sounds like it was a good trip. And for Christie, upgrade her gear. On the ten-day trip I mentioned, my travelling companions spent much of that trip cold and wet, and that made it hard for them to enjoy themselves. But they kept pretty good attitudes and still rated the trip as a success. I had gore-tex and polartec fleece, and had an outstanding trip. I endorse that expression “there is no bad weather, just bad gear.” And I would append, “and bad attitudes.”
Shame you stayed by the road. The hiker biker sites have the virtue of being intentionally isolated from road access and I think would have been more enjoyable.
I’m looking for a river trip in mid August and may end up on that same stretch. Thanks for the TR.
~~Chip
backpacking stoves
I’m surprised you only relied on building a fire to cook your meals by. Because of rain and a lot of campsites now just plain don’t allow fires on the ground; it’s a good idea to carry your own stove. I will even carry my stove on day trips during colder weather (or when the water temps are cooler). If I (or anyone else) gets cold (or goes for that unexpected swim) a warm drink can mean the difference between continuing on or having to cancel the paddle due to someone becoming to cold. With me it’s a safty issue because I plan a lot of trips for my boy scout troop. Anyways, look into some of the little stoves that use the propane gas canisters (the little ones). Or try a Jetboil. That’s what I take on my kayak. If I’m camping I like to use an alcohol pepsi stove that I made. These things take up next to no room and there’s nothing to beat a hot cup of french press coffee the next morning!!
Sportsmans guide has…
http://www.sportsmansguide.com/net/cb/cb.aspx?a=442721
or
Just search through here:
http://www.sportsmansguide.com/search/search.asp?r=Page%3A+%2FDefault.asp+KW+Box&s=SEARCH&a=search&k=stove
Paddle easy,
Coffee
stove
in hindsight I should have brought a stove or some dry fire starting materials.
It was my first trip and was trying to conserve space, as my yak was full. Plus I wanted to save 40 bucks. I learned my leason!
paw paw
I am planning to paddle paw paw to little Orleans or even hancock. I’m from PA so do you need to purchase boat permits to use boat launches? In PA you only need a permit if you are using state park launches, is it similar down there…?
Thanks!