We completed our annual 3 day, 2 night Neches River father/son trip this weekend (Thursday-Saturday). Thursday it rained all day. We were pretty miserable. My old Eureka 2-man tent is about ready for an upgrade. Woke up with water dripping on my head and my feet wet.
Friday morning it was clear skies. We had a great day of paddling. However, the river was high so the second night it was difficult to find a good camping spot. There were no sand bars left. We camped in the woods at the same spot we did last year, but because of all the rain it was pretty muddy. But the wind was blowing and I was able to dry all my stuff out from the night before.
On Saturday we paddled the last 17 miles without stopping. The boys had a great time. The first-timers enjoyed it despite the difficulties and want to do it again. That means it was a success!
Your boat looks top heavy. I hope you were wearing life jackets.
Safety is even more important with kids along.
Great experience to go overnight for kids.
We started at age 10.
Rain comes with the territory.
When I was a Scoutmaster, our philosophy was if it’s planned, it’s happening. We camped in heavy rain, high wind, snow and nice weather.
The boys always had a good time but inclement weather was when the stories were told. New kids showed up after those adventures.
That small box on top is pretty light. The bulk of the weight is all down low in my tote, ice chest and a water jug up front. I had a third passenger part of the way sitting in front of me. This is my Minnasota 3 which is very stable. And, yes, we require life jackets for both sons and dads.
This was the 10th Father/Son trip I’ve done and I’ve only seen 1 canoe flip. They hit a submerged log. One of the son’s was special needs and he just leaned with the boat and it rolled. Thankfully, there were several of us close and we were able to guide them all to shore. The only thing they lost was the dad’s company cell phone.
One of the dad’s texted me the night before and asked if we were still going. I said, “absolutely!” They had never done it before, but were ready to do it again when we were done.
I was on a trip once were tornadoes were in the area. We were blasted with hail. One of my tent poles was snapped by the wind. When it stopped everyone got out of their tents and I realized my canoe was gone. I had pulled it 50’ from the water and staked it down, but the wind took it anyway. Thankfully, one of the dads had come by with flat-bottom boat & motor. After we bailed the water out, we search for my canoe and found it about a 1/4 mile down river. We made it back about 3:00am. That was a crazy night.
We were camped on the shore of Lake Houston on a day with tornado warnings. Cloudy and windy and a couple of miles from our subdivision. One of the mothers decided to come check on her son. When she got there , she asked where he was. I told her he was on tornado watch on the shore, not that she needed much more stress.
Tornados never happened but the boy walked by with a half eaten bloody chicken carcass that had been his dinner. We required then do their own cooking.
He became an Eagle Scout and last I heard was a counselor working in Germany.
I shouldn’t get started on camping storys.
