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| Otterslide Lake Sunset |
More Pictures
Now that I've been home for awhile, I've had a chance to go through the rest of the pictures from my canoe trip. While I think the best pictures were in my earlier blog entry, there are certainly some good pictures that didn't make it into my blog entry. You can find these in my Picasa album.
Equipment and Food
The planning for our trip was guided by two principles - single-trip portages and no washing of dishes.
My years of backpacking have taught me not to bring anything I don't need. We packed relatively light, but not overly so. We used two packs - one primarily for food and the other for gear. All of the portages were single-carry. My son, Calvin, carried the gear pack, PFDs and paddles. I carried the canoe and food pack. I'd estimate the gear pack weighed 50 lbs and the starting weight for the food pack was 40 lbs. I would typically start each day with two liters of water, which I would carry in the food pack.
We used a Wenonah Jensen 17 canoe for this trip. This is an easy-handling, fast-moving canoe. Best of all, it weighs about 45 lbs and is nicely balanced over the yoke, making it easier to carry.
Equipment List
- Wenonah Jensen 17' canoe (kevlar, approx. 45 lbs)
- Whiskeyjack bent-shaft paddles
- REI Half Dome tent
- Jetboil PCS stove (with one spare fuel canister)
- Two travel mugs
- MSR folding spoons
- Katadyn Vario water filter
- Platypus water bottles
- Two down sleeping bags (Marmot Arroyo and Western Mountaineering Versalite)
- Two air mattresses (Exped Downmat 7 and Big Agnes Air Core)
- Nemo Fillo pillow (just one)
- Two Byer hammocks
- Lightweight tarp
- Lightweight compression sacks (for compressing clothing and sleeping bags)
- Folding pruning saw
- Osprey Atmos 50 backpack (food pack)
- Large Marmot backpack (gear pack)
- SPOT Satellite GPS Messenger
- Petzl Tikka 2 headlamps
- Black Diamond Orbit lantern
- Packtowl
- First Aid kit
- Books to read
- Playing cards
- Garbage bags to keep thing dry in the pack
Clothing
With proper layering, we were able to keep our clothing to a minimum. This was further reduced by knowing that we rarely use the clean clothes that we bring. For each of us, we brought:
- A pair of convertible pants (shorts and long pants in one garment)
- Single change of shirt, underwear and socks
- Rain gear (jacket and pants)
- Marmot Windshirt (unused due to the warm temperatures)
- Vest
- Long-sleeve Capilene 1 shirt
- Lightweight running shorts (for swimming)
- Salomon Techamphibian water shoes (worn while traveling)
- Sandals for camp
Food
The only cooking our meals required was boiling water, which we did on the Jetboil stove. Nearly all of the food was purchased at the local grocery store and was prepared in freezer bags. We also ate from the freezer bags, which was why Calvin was longing to eat from a real plate. This approach minimizes the cooking equipment required and eliminates the need to wash dishes.
For lunch, we had gouda cheese and pepperoni (or summer sausage) on flour tortillas. We also brought three apples. We would share one apple every other day and an apple had never tasted so good. In addition to our meals, we brought enough other food (trail mix, dried fruit, beef jerky, cookies, etc) that we never felt like we were doing without.
Dinners consisted of a variety of ramen noodle dishes, couscous and instant mashed potatoes. When meals called for chicken or vegetables, we used AlpineAire freeze-dried chicken and AlpineAire freeze-dried vegetables. Some meals called for bacon and we used Oscar Mayer real bacon bits.
In addition to the instant coffee and hot chocolate mix, we brought plenty of Kool-Aid mix to drink.
To keep the critters out of our food, everything was kept in OPSAK odor-proof barrier bags. We had used these before and they seem to work well, though probably not for bears.
Breakfast
- Instant oatmeal (two packages per person, per day)
- Starbucks VIA coffee
- Hot chocolate mix
- Nature Valley Granola bars (brought 20, also used for trail food)
Lunch
- Three 10 oz wheels of Gouda cheese (2.5 oz per person, per day)
- Pepperoni
- 8 oz Summer Sausage
- 30 flour tortillas
- 3 apples
Dinners
- Ramen Noodle soup with chicken and vegetables (twice)
- Ramen Noodles with Pesto
- Instant Mashed potatoes with bacon (twice)
- Couscous with chicken and dried cherries
- Bacon and Cheese pasta
Snacks
- cookies
- trail mix
- dried pineapple
- sunflower seeds
- beef jerky
- marshmallows
