paddle – Backpacking with blisters

Packing for a canoe trip is actually a bit of a daunting task – but once you do it once or twice, it’ll be a breeze for future trips.

Canoe trips require pretty specific gear as you are living in deep forest, travelling through very wet water (duh) and have to think about animals that might want to come hang out. Plus, you can really only bring the essentials since you only have the space of a canoe to carry your stuff. If you’re planning a car camping trip, you can use the list below but you don’t need to pack as robustly as you can really leave most of the stuff in your car.

Here is what I bring on Canoe trips– you can rent most of this stuff if you don’t own it. I know Mountain Equipment Co-op (Canada) and REI (US) rent out some gear for short term use. If you have more than 2 people, you will need to likely double the list below.

Gear

Tent and footprint (For canoe trips, we use the the Eureka Midori 2 and for car camping, we go a bit bigger with the Eureka El Capitan 4 when space allows)
Canoe + paddles + life jackets
Boating Safety Kit
Large camping barrel (for all food and toiletries) with harness straps for portaging
Large dry bag per person (put all clothing, bedding and anything to stay dry in here. You don’t need to go fancy here – mine is from Mountain Warehouse)
Sleeping Pad
Sleeping bag (I like the Marmot Nanowave 35 as I am a cold sleeper)
Empty pillowcase – at the campsite, stuff this with your clothes to become a pillow
Compass
Whistle
Map of your route (keep this in a Ziploc bag to waterproof it or purchase a map case)
Headlight (mine is the Black Diamond Storm)
Mini small lantern (optional – for your tent)
Lighters/Matches
Fire Starter (optional)
Small, foldable camping chair (optional)
Quick dry towel
Hiking sticks (optional)
Duct tape
Small pocket knife
Toilet paper (keep in Ziploc bag)
Rope (bring a few and make sure they can hold a heavy load – you will need this to hang your barrel which will be heavy when full)
Lightweight tarp
Water Bottle (I us a Nalgene with the loop top)
Water filter (or purification tablets)

Miscellaneous

Printouts of your camping site reservations
ID (drivers license, health card)
Travel sized board games (we love backgammon)
Watercolour kit
Inflatable water tubes (optional! route dependent if you have a flogger/lazy day)
Small notepad/pen
Deck of cards
Extra batteries
Book/Reading Materials
Camera + extra charged batteries (your phone will die, don’t rely on it!)
Backpacking bag with rain cover (optional – but I like storing my dry bag and all my random stuff in here)
Waterproof watch (cheap! Just to set alarms if needed)
Earplugs and eye mask
A few carabiners

Clothing

1 hat/bandana
2 t-shirts – workout material is best since it’s quick dry if it gets wet
1 long sleeve shirt
1 bathing suit
2 underwear
1 pair of workout shorts
1 thin warm pants or PJs
1 thin warm sweater or fleece
1 rain jacket
2 wool socks (I usually reserve one pair for just nights)
1 winter hat (weather dependent)
1 gloves (weather dependent)
1 pair of hiking boots (I LOVE my Merrell Mid Chameleon Shift Traveler and wear my orthotics inside)
1 pair of Tevas or slip-on camping sandals with straps
Change of clean clothes/slip-on shoes to leave in the car (literally the best feeling to put this on after a trip for a long drive home!)

Toiletries

1 Glasses + Glasses case
1 sunglasses
Contacts with solution + mini mirror
1 Sunscreen
1 Deep Woods Bug Spray
1 lip balm with sunscreen
Camp soap (I like dr.bronners unscented castille soap or campsuds)
1 Hand sanitizer
Feminine products if needed (in Ziploc bag)
1 toothbrush and toothpaste (in Ziploc bag)

Med Kit

Any prescribed medication
1 pill bottle filled with: advil, pepto bismal, benadryl
Moleskine and bandaids
1 tube of polysporin
1 tube of Anti-itch cream/cortisone
1 tweezers
Alcohol pads
Safety pins

Cooking

1 camping stove + gas
Large Ziploc bags
1 set of cutlery (buy some cheap at the dollar store)
1 bowl
1 plate (optional, you can just use your bowl for everything)
1 coffee cup/travel mug
Aluminum foil – optional (you just need a bit folded up if you plan on cooking over a campfire)
Camp soap (you can use the one you have in your toiletry kit or make a mini bottle)
Sponge
1 pot with lid (try to find one with a foldable handle for easier packing)
1 pan with lid (optional, meal plan dependent)
Pot/Pan handle (if yours doesn’t have a foldable/removable one)
1 mini spatula (optional, meal plan dependent)

Menu planning

Check out some of my top meal choices and tips.

Have a recommendation for my list based on what you usually bring? Let me know!

Ok, maybe I’m strange but I love long distance drives – especially when you are going somewhere you have never been to. In the summer of 2015, my boyfriend and I planned a New York extravaganza where we drove 12 hours to New York City from Toronto, spent a couple days there doing the most city of city-things and then headed north towards the Adirondacks for complete off-the-grid charm.

Why the Adirondacks? Both being Canadians, and having done a lot of Ontario camping and hiking, we wanted to see what camping on the other side of the border was like. To be honest, it was very similar to Ontario’s Algonquin Park, but felt more like a holiday since we were out of country and used currency that didn’t look like colourful Monopoly playing pieces.

We decided on a 3 night canoe trip in the Saranac Lake area, not far from the border of Vermont. If you are renting gear, we rented from St. Regis Canoe Outfitters and they were fantastic. They helped us not only plan the route, but gave us suggestions on the best campsites to reserve, as well as picked up the gear from us at the end of the trip – saving us the hassle of trying to tie a wet boat to the top of a car.

Our route sounded a bit complicated but it was actually quite easy as long as you have a map – we took off at the parking lot at First Pond, had a very leisurely paddle upstream to Lower Saranac Lake, canoed through The Narrows, past Loon Bay and into Saranac River, which then led us to Middle Saranac Lake where our campsite was waiting for us (Campsite #66).

The first stretch of paddle takes you through a set of hand operated old-school locks to get from one lake to the next – if you’ve never experienced this before, it’s kind of exciting to watch the boat jump from high elevation to low elevation – but make sure all your gear in your canoe is secure and in dry bags.

If you’re a hiker, Ampersand Mountain trailhead can be accessed from Middle Saranac Lake – which we planned on doing as the views looks amazing but due to rainy weather, and a hiking boot mishap the night before (I might have melted the back of my hiking boots near the fire…), we had to pass unfortunately.

We got pretty bad weather the whole time, and as campers, we were prepared with our rain gear, but you get a bit of cabin fever staying in the tent for too long. I would love to do more of the Adirondacks in the future, especially in the fall when all the leaves start to change. There is no cell service, and we barely saw any one else while on the lakes and rivers – and considering we were there in June (aka busy time), this really is a great place to get away and reconnect with nature.

Have you ever been camping/canoe-tripping in the Adirondacks? We plan on going back with the hope of good weather, so let me know about your trip!