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At the campsite
If you're interested in whitewater tripping you probably already know a thing or two about camping, but we thought we'd share a few things about how we do it.
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Pulling your weight
It's important on backcountry trips for everyone to feel like they everyone is pulling their weight. One of the ways to ensure this happens is by talking about it ahead of time. Split Rock has put together a Tripping-labour contribution discussion guide to help with this.
Camp set up
First arrival
It will depend on how late in the day it is, but when we first land at a site, it's ideal to land with a plan. Just as we land, or sometimes just before landing, we'll have a quick discussion about who is doing what. On a multi day trip, this all just becomes a bit of a ritual. Tents will need to be set up, but there's also food prep, firewood collection and shared camp prep like putting up a tarp or the bug tent. It's important just to consider the whole group's needs. Don't be the dude that sets up his own tent and then starts whittling a spoon or decides to crack a beer and go for a swim.
We recommend keeping up the momentum and just setting up everything. Sure it may be an option to make supper and then set up the tent, but after starting to relax, no one wants to have to jump back into work mode. Get it all done and then relax.
Secure the paddling gear
At every site someone will need to organize all the paddling gear. This job can be assigned to, a "Quartermaster" who does it all the time to make sure that it's done. Things to do:
Pull the canoes out of the water and secure them to the shore.
This is easily done by running one painter line through all the grab loops and then tying that one line. If the boats are half in the water and floating even a little bit, they'll slightly bob with the water. The other end of the boat, which is likely on rocks, is slowly 'sanded' by the rocks. I've seen this wear away through the first two layers of Royalex into the foam core. No bobbing boats at night.
Assume a very windy storm is coming that could flip over a canoe and send it into the water. If you've pulled a canoe up into your campsite surrounded by trees, you likely won't need to tie it off, but otherwise tie em up. It's a terrible feeling being woken up in the middle of the night by a violent wind storm knowing that your canoes are not tied down.
The question of whether or not to flip the canoes at night just has to do with whether or not you want to risk them getting wet if it rains. Some people really don't want to sit on a wet seat. On whitewater trips this feels like less of a concern since the boat will be getting wet.
Pile the paddles, bailers and rescue equipment
A specified place for these items helps keep the site clean.
Hang up all the PFDs on a line
This isn't super important, but rather than having these expensive items sitting wet in the dirt overnight. It also (maybe) helps prevent the unlikely situation of a rodent chewing into your PFD.
Animals getting into your stuff
As you may have heard, there are woodland critters that would like to eat your food for you. Mice, chipmunks, raccoons, and bears for example. Hanging your food bag way up on a line between trees is one way of keeping food out of reach and it is critical when camping with only soft bags. Another strategy is to use a solid container like a barrel that critters can't open, and bears would at least have to struggle with it for a bit giving you time to scare it off. We do hang food sometimes early on trips when all of the food doesn't fit into the barrels.
We once saw a nice insulated drybag for food tossed in the garbage at a take-out because a mouse had tunneled into it. That's a bag that should have been hung. On more than a few occasions, we've been visited by a mouse while cooking. While we've thus far avoided any interactions with larger animals on a site, this is largely due to our vigilance with food items.
Camp management
Managing gear around the site
A mess of gear everywhere doesn’t make for a nice relaxing feeling of being in the bush. We try to keep our site reasonably presentable, but can be a real challenge when everyone is tired. Once everything is all set up, we put empty or not currently used dry bags under a tent’s backdoor fly. We'll also try to designate a barrel and kitchen area, which can inevitably be a bit of a disaster as things go in and out of the barrels while cooking, but at least it's contained to one area.
Food smells
The most effective method of keeping animals away from a campsite is to be careful with food smells around the site. Any food that falls on the ground is a potential food smell attracting animals at night. We'll pick it all up, scoop some of the soil with it, and throw it in the fire. We spit our toothpaste into the fire at night and make sure all food garbage is packed up into the barrels at night. Also, if you use the lid of a barrel as a food prep surface, use the inside and ensure it is washed afterwards that way the food-smelling side is faces inside the barrel.
“No trace” camping
We try, within reason, to leave no trace that we were ever at a site. All garbage is picked up and we don't leave a bunch of gross food in the fire pit. We do not burn cans and leave them for the next group or ever leave garbage unburnt in a fire pit. If there's no thunderbox, we bury everything. Who wants to see little packages of toilet paper in the bush? We don't really get into the "Bushcrafting" scene where you cause unnecessary damage to live plants or trees just to make a cool adjustable pot hanging system. No one needs that.
Bear control
In our many years of backcountry camping, only one of us experienced a bear enter our campsite. It was quickly scared off by a dog, and doesn't make for much of a story, but we still keep vigilant about bears. Here is what we do to mitigate the possibility of a bear visit.
We control the food smells. This also includes pouring dish basin water away from the campsite.
We set up tents, bug tents, hammocks and beached canoes in such a way that there's always an easy route for a bear to run away and not feel trapped even for a second.
We sing with gusto. This has less to do with bears, but a raucous sing along tends to scare away any and all animals, including other campers!
In recent years, we bring a dog that looks like a wolf. So, we're cheating a bit there.
We do carry some bear-tech, a small fog horn, bear bangers (very loud firecrackers), and bear spray. It's best to keep these in your "boat bag" (the smaller dry bag that is accessible from the canoe) rather than in a barrel or 115L bag, and have these available in a known location at the site.
If you're worried about bears at night, some find it comforting to sleep with a paddle just outside their tent. There was once an Algonquin camp counsellor that scared away a bear with just a paddle. Similarly, you're not going to win in a knife fight with a bear, but it can also be oddly comforting to sleep knowing your knife is with you in the tent. Knowing it's there can make you feel more comfortable when you swear you just heard twigs snapping in the middle of the night.
If you encounter a bear
If you do see a bear, don't run away just make lots of noise that isn't aggressive or fearful. You could loudly say, "Hey bear. You can go away now bear. Good bear." It serves to both let the bear know you're there and aren't a concern and also lets your fellow campers know about the situation.
Back away slowly from the bear keeping it in your sight, but avoid direct eye contact which can be interpreted as aggressive. If it still doesn't leave, use the air horn. If you have them, bear bangers are useful here —but make sure to fire it straight up. Don't aim them at the bear. They shoot pretty far so it will go past the bear and go off behind them, causing them to run away from the sound and towards you!
If you're with others, move towards each other. Never split up.
And remember that bear attacks are a heck of a lot less common than dog attacks. Bears just happen to be bigger. If a bear charges, use the bear spray if you have it. If it attacks, fight with everything you have. The 'play dead' thing only applies if you're certain it's a mother protecting her cubs. Aggressive bears are mostly lone males that haven't eaten in a long time.
Firewood collection
If you're looking to set up a good cooking fire and then chill around a campfire into the evening, head out into the bush and collect what you think you need for a night. Then go back out and get three times more. Fires eat a lot of wood.
Also, don’t be the guy who builds a massive fire that quickly burns through the wood pile while everyone else is still out gathering. Unless there’s a purpose like you need the coal bed for supper cooking. (In that case, let everyone know so they don’t think you’re being an ass). Once the fire has served its cooking purposes, a large fire isn't really needed. Sometimes it's fun, but when firewood is scarce in an area, just maintain a small fire.
If you're on an official campsite, firewood gathering will always be a challenge. Often a "firewood shuttle," a trip across the river in an empty canoe will land you a jackpot of firewood. Best not to go alone.
When you portaging, look out for birch bark on the ground (don't peel it off trees!) and bring it along with you to your next site. It's the best firestarter. Don't worry about it getting wet in the whitewater since it will still burn when wet.
Also, if there happens to be no rapids between the last portage and your next campsite, pick up wood at the end of the portage trail and load it (carefully) into the canoes. Don't pop the flotation! There will always be plenty of wood there.
We discourage cutting down trees, even if they are dead. There are usually plenty of trees that have fallen already. Felling a dead tree could cause damage to the environment and creates unnecessary risks for the feller.
Firewood collection has inherent risks—whether it be from the implements that may be used (e.g., hatchet, saw) to the risk of slivers. One should always exercise caution. We advocate for the use of gloves because nothing is more annoying than a cut or sliver that is aggravated by paddling. It's always important to be super careful with sharp tools when access to emergency care is far away.
People tend to mostly be looking at the ground when collecting firewood, since that's where it tends to be, but also try to keep some situational awareness. It's possible to accidentally walk up on a bear without knowing it.
And remember, it's good karma to leave some wood for the next campers.
Packing for a canoe trip
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