I completed my canoe/camping trip on the Navasota River from Hwy 30 (Collage Station) to Hwy 6 (Navasota) with my daughter. This was the hardest trip I have ever done. It is 27 river miles. The middle 10 miles are so the elevation is very low so the river, which was a little high, spread out. The tree growth and log jams made the river impassable in places. We were constantly fighting through limbs and getting hung up. Came very close to tipping a couple times.
Not knowing when we would find a suitable camping location we finally settled on a clearing that was swamped, but doable. We hung our hammocks above 3" of water. I laid a tarp down in the mud so we could put our stuff and chairs down. Thankfully, I got a fire going so I could grill our burgers.
There was a nice breeze blowing throughout the night which made for comfortable sleep. I didn’t even use our rain fly’s and the breeze kept the dew off.
We set out again fairly early and battle more trees before it opened up and we found ourselves paddling along side of 20’ cut-bank.
I don’t know that I will ever do this trip again, but we made a great memory and I am a better paddler now for it.
This was also the maiden voyage for my new Esquif Prospecteur 16. It was great for twisting through all the obstacles.
Canoe camping is a great way for making lasting memories. Glad you are pleased with your new canoe. I often paddle a small, undammed river here in SC (Enoree River) that floods when we have heavy rain. I enjoy seeing the changes as down trees and log jams come and go over time. It is a favorite paddle given the twists and turns and occasional portages.
Just finished up this video on the most difficult trip I’ve ever done. You can hear panic in my voice a few times because we were sideways in the current and came close to tipping. This made a very memorable trip for me and my daughter. She did an amazing job for only having gone on 3 or 4 trips before.
That looks like a tough and relatively dangerous trip, something to be proud of. But the dad jokes gotta stop!
Ha ha! I’m hurt. We had actually planned a lot more jokes, but we were too tired.
It does look dangerous with that current. Any faster and you probably should postpone. A capsize could easily put you under the branches. Your daughter handled herself well in the video. Going slow is a plus when approaching that kind of stuff and knelling lowers both your center of gravity and profile when you duck under stuff. I often paddle a river that is somewhat similar.
Enjoyed seeing a young person enjoying the adventure. Our 3 grew up doing this kind of stuff. They also have to put up with dad jokes to this day. At the coast I focus on Tern puns. Where does a tern eat?..At the turntable! (archaic device for listening to music) 
So, In tern it is their tern to make interns of the next generation for their tern. It never gets old! 
There was one point where we had to go around a fallen tree. There was a log perpendicular to that tree. We were up against that log and the current was full on sideways. We dipped and came extremely close to flipping. I did not have the camera at that point, but my heart was racing.
Do you have turnups when you turn up at the turntable?
It’s a little-known fact but terns find turnups a ternoff.