I am curious what you fellows consider a good length camping trip,
days, and miles and lay over days.
Ron
days, and miles and lay over days.
Ron
Perfect length for paddling trip
- Thread starter tx river rat
- Start date
I haven't done anything over 8 days Ron. Layed over one day licking wounds.
Not that I wouldn't go longer....hacking out a living gets in the way. :cry:
I guess about 4-5 nights works for me at this point in life. I would like to do about a month if I could get away for that long.
Not that I wouldn't go longer....hacking out a living gets in the way. :cry:
I guess about 4-5 nights works for me at this point in life. I would like to do about a month if I could get away for that long.
Friend Ron,
If ya mean frum a canoe, I never done it, but I figger ideal iz a couple a days paddlin', then two nites in one nice site, then more paddlin'......with layovers az folks feel a need. Always paddled way too fast 'n way too far. Missed too much along the way. But I keep tryin'.
regards
bearridge
ps The better folks ya paddle with, the eazier it iz ta go slow.
One of the serious obstacles to the improvement of our race is indiscriminate charity. Andrew Carnegie
If ya mean frum a canoe, I never done it, but I figger ideal iz a couple a days paddlin', then two nites in one nice site, then more paddlin'......with layovers az folks feel a need. Always paddled way too fast 'n way too far. Missed too much along the way. But I keep tryin'.
regards
bearridge
ps The better folks ya paddle with, the eazier it iz ta go slow.
One of the serious obstacles to the improvement of our race is indiscriminate charity. Andrew Carnegie
I like 5-7 day trips. Never turn down one shorter - or longer.
Miles? I like to paddle about 5-6 hours a day, mileage varies. On a river I try to average about 1-2 mph over current speed unless obstacles force a slow down. On flat water, I average from 2.5-3.5 mph, varies with boat, load, and winds.
I don't really care for lay over days. They are often just lost time sitting out rain or wind.
On a river trip, I prefer to hit the water about 09:00 ± half hour. I like to eat breakfast on the roll. Lunch is more nap than food. Taking out is about 3:00 ± 1 hour. Pitch camp, nap, walk around, tell stories. Get decadent at dinner.
Willing to vary to fit local custom and needs. (Don't like scrambling up dirt bank with water rising over my feet.)
Miles? I like to paddle about 5-6 hours a day, mileage varies. On a river I try to average about 1-2 mph over current speed unless obstacles force a slow down. On flat water, I average from 2.5-3.5 mph, varies with boat, load, and winds.
I don't really care for lay over days. They are often just lost time sitting out rain or wind.
On a river trip, I prefer to hit the water about 09:00 ± half hour. I like to eat breakfast on the roll. Lunch is more nap than food. Taking out is about 3:00 ± 1 hour. Pitch camp, nap, walk around, tell stories. Get decadent at dinner.
Willing to vary to fit local custom and needs. (Don't like scrambling up dirt bank with water rising over my feet.)
Longest I have done , canoeing , was three weeks , car camping out west usually 30 days since I get side tracked a lot.
River trips , up when the coffee is done , on the water around 10 , paddle a short time , take a sand bar break , paddle some more , another break and pull off around 2 or 3 at the latest. CAN'T Paddle after 4 , no matter what since that is coctail hour and camp has to be set up by then and firewood collected. We do have rules .... you know.
Find a nice spot , lay over a day or so ( group decides on that decision) and then repeat the above process.
Most of the paddling is at river speed or a shade faster to maintain control , but we do drift a lot for the guys that want to fish. We are not out there to run a marathon , just to have fun and have to be no place at no given time.
Heck we can take a week to paddle a two day river like the Ocklawaha , it is really easy to do. Especially if you have located a good supply of firewood.
Okefenokee and Everglades , different story , you have to at a certain place ( campsite , unless you reserved it for 2 or 3 days) at a certain time or date due to the scheduling of the National Park service. Those are normally a 10 to 12 mile day paddle.
Chuck.
River trips , up when the coffee is done , on the water around 10 , paddle a short time , take a sand bar break , paddle some more , another break and pull off around 2 or 3 at the latest. CAN'T Paddle after 4 , no matter what since that is coctail hour and camp has to be set up by then and firewood collected. We do have rules .... you know.
Find a nice spot , lay over a day or so ( group decides on that decision) and then repeat the above process.
Most of the paddling is at river speed or a shade faster to maintain control , but we do drift a lot for the guys that want to fish. We are not out there to run a marathon , just to have fun and have to be no place at no given time.
Heck we can take a week to paddle a two day river like the Ocklawaha , it is really easy to do. Especially if you have located a good supply of firewood.
Okefenokee and Everglades , different story , you have to at a certain place ( campsite , unless you reserved it for 2 or 3 days) at a certain time or date due to the scheduling of the National Park service. Those are normally a 10 to 12 mile day paddle.
Chuck.
If yer paddlin' with pals drivin' frum foreign lands (like the Sunshine State), ya gotta have a gatherin' up spot......usually a campground. That way folks kin roll in durin' the day, listen ta lies 'n set up camp fer the nite. Sometimes the campground iz nice, sometimes it aint all that special. If ya kin show up by noon, mebbe 2 pm, ya kin shove off by 3 pm fer a short run jest ta git away frum the racket 'n set up camp. If ya find a purty spot, ya kin stay there two nights so the older geezers kin git over Jeep-lag? :wink:
I figger 5 hours of paddlin' iz bout rite. It iz hard ta go longer'n 5 days cuz somebody usually haz ta "git back" fer one reason 'er anuther.....but I figger ya gotta try fer longer, if there iz a general store near the river where ya kin refill whatever ya run low on.
regards
bearridge
I had amnesia once -- or twice. unknown
I figger 5 hours of paddlin' iz bout rite. It iz hard ta go longer'n 5 days cuz somebody usually haz ta "git back" fer one reason 'er anuther.....but I figger ya gotta try fer longer, if there iz a general store near the river where ya kin refill whatever ya run low on.
regards
bearridge
I had amnesia once -- or twice. unknown
I've done a few canoe camping trips in the Quetico (the Canuck side of the Boundary waters). We usually went for around 8-10 days -- any longer and supplies (not to mention hygiene!) get to be an issue. On those trips, we'd portage in, crossing up to 5 lakes to get to our spot and then set up and stay put. We'd go out fishing all day every day and depend on our results for all our meals which really was not that big a risk up there. If you can't catch a fish there, you aren't trying. It was great!
good point.....slow river, fast river, ocean, swamp 'er lake all make a difference. See Ron, this pollin' aint eazy at all....not at all. :wink:
Two variables that have already been mentioned usually work to cut a trip's end - terrain (you run out of river) or somebody has to go back to w0%k.
Supplies would last me 10-14 days, but the last few meals would be combinations weird as all get out. Hygiene? We don't need no stinkin' hygiene. :lol:
Supplies would last me 10-14 days, but the last few meals would be combinations weird as all get out. Hygiene? We don't need no stinkin' hygiene. :lol:
Till you run out of bisquick. till you really need a shave......REALLY NEED A SHAVE. run out of toothpaste. Till you can't stand the smell any longer when you open your pack. Till all the batteries run down. Till you run out of river.
Piper
Piper
Piper San, I quit shaving a week before a trip. I wash a shirt or so. I gather all dirty clothes in a mesh bag and hang it out to dry and air. ...
Now Bisquick - NOW you got me by the short hairs. It is a standby for me. And, I husband batteries pretty closely.
Running out of scotch or seegars !!!!##&$%!! THAT will terminate a trip rat now!
Now Bisquick - NOW you got me by the short hairs. It is a standby for me. And, I husband batteries pretty closely.
Running out of scotch or seegars !!!!##&$%!! THAT will terminate a trip rat now!
They're all good!!! A short trip is better than no trip. Since my paddlin' pals have jobs (WORK is a 4 letter word), I usually settle for 3 day/2 nite river trips.
Back in the days when Grandma would go, we'd spend 7 or 8 days backcountry, but that was before she was even Mom. She quit goin' when the boys were old enough to know what they were missin' but still too young for a long (sometimes hard) trek.
I want to do the Allegheny River (western PA) from the Kinzua Dam to Three Rivers in Pittsburgh, +/- 190 river miles. The river has many, many personalities in that stretch. When I get to do it, I'll allow 3 weeks but in all reality it should only take me ten days. I know of people who have done it in 5 days but that's just way too much pushin' hard. Provisions aren't a problem since there are lots of places to stop for supplies and refreshment. It ain't exactly wilderness, even at the beginning. Grandma won't let me do it alone and she won't do it with me. She'd suffer from munchkin withdrawal and 4 of them are still too young for that kid of trek.
The 15 yo can't spend that much time away from electronic civilization.
Anybody feels so inclined, I'm pretty much available anytime till the water gets hard, then it's ski time, but that's another tale... (we can see the slopes from our dining room window.)
Back in the days when Grandma would go, we'd spend 7 or 8 days backcountry, but that was before she was even Mom. She quit goin' when the boys were old enough to know what they were missin' but still too young for a long (sometimes hard) trek.
I want to do the Allegheny River (western PA) from the Kinzua Dam to Three Rivers in Pittsburgh, +/- 190 river miles. The river has many, many personalities in that stretch. When I get to do it, I'll allow 3 weeks but in all reality it should only take me ten days. I know of people who have done it in 5 days but that's just way too much pushin' hard. Provisions aren't a problem since there are lots of places to stop for supplies and refreshment. It ain't exactly wilderness, even at the beginning. Grandma won't let me do it alone and she won't do it with me. She'd suffer from munchkin withdrawal and 4 of them are still too young for that kid of trek.
The 15 yo can't spend that much time away from electronic civilization.
Anybody feels so inclined, I'm pretty much available anytime till the water gets hard, then it's ski time, but that's another tale... (we can see the slopes from our dining room window.)
Try the Clarion if ya want more wilderness Gramps.
http://www.fish.state.pa.us/watertrails/trailindex.htm
http://www.fish.state.pa.us/watertrails/trailindex.htm
Clarion
Been there-done that. I do like the Clarion but having spent my "formative paddling years" growing up on the Allegheny, that's were my heart is.
I'm not knockin' the lack of wilderness. In fact, as a 'mature' adult, it's somewhat reassuring to know that help, if needed, isn't that far away.
BTW, the Clarion is on the August agenda for a long weekend.
Been there-done that. I do like the Clarion but having spent my "formative paddling years" growing up on the Allegheny, that's were my heart is.
I'm not knockin' the lack of wilderness. In fact, as a 'mature' adult, it's somewhat reassuring to know that help, if needed, isn't that far away.
BTW, the Clarion is on the August agenda for a long weekend.
Mostely just one or two nighters and there have been precious few of them in recent years.
Most of our coastal rivers are less than 50 miles long and most of the inland ones aren't worth paddling.
There are practically no outfitters here so all logistics have to be arranged including car shuttles and secure parking etc. Tis a very big help to know someone at or near to the town at the put in as well as the take out.
Sometimes, the guys at the local Police Stations will let us store our cars in their station yards but that is becoming more difficult these days. City cops getting sent to the bush etc.
I would love to spend a couple of weeks on our upper Mary River before we lose it but am still trying to organise logistics.
Most of our coastal rivers are less than 50 miles long and most of the inland ones aren't worth paddling.
There are practically no outfitters here so all logistics have to be arranged including car shuttles and secure parking etc. Tis a very big help to know someone at or near to the town at the put in as well as the take out.
Sometimes, the guys at the local Police Stations will let us store our cars in their station yards but that is becoming more difficult these days. City cops getting sent to the bush etc.
I would love to spend a couple of weeks on our upper Mary River before we lose it but am still trying to organise logistics.
Friend Ron,
How long do ya like ta paddle 'n camp? :wink:
regards
bearridge
Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock. Will Rogers
How long do ya like ta paddle 'n camp? :wink:
regards
bearridge
Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock. Will Rogers
My favorite trips are about two weeks paddle for 3 or four days then sit still a couple , then start over, I guess you would call me a three on two off camper, long days like we have now about 8 hours on the water paddling is about right.
Ron
Ron
Ron,
If I'm on strange waters, I like to leave enough time for exploring backwaters or interesting places,(caves or historical sites). I'm an avid fisherman, so I almost never make distance an issue.
If I end up 10 miles further than planned or 10 miles shorter, I just make sure I can fish while awaiting pick-up. :wink: :wink:
Lee
If I'm on strange waters, I like to leave enough time for exploring backwaters or interesting places,(caves or historical sites). I'm an avid fisherman, so I almost never make distance an issue.
If I end up 10 miles further than planned or 10 miles shorter, I just make sure I can fish while awaiting pick-up. :wink: :wink:
Lee