What I’d Bring on a Summer Canoe Trip

Over the years, I’ve written a lot about what I bring on canoeing and kayaking trips, and now that I’ve sold my kayak guiding business (blog post coming on why soon) I’m really looking forward to canoeing more often. In fact, I’ve been in a canoe more often than I’ve been in a kayak this year. I haven’t been able to say that since 2006. Not only have I been canoeing more often than in past years, I’m starting to think about a few new and interesting trips that I could take in the next five years by canoe. I’m really excited about canoeing, so when Lisa, Community Manager at Salt City Optics, invited me to join other bloggers in blogging about what they’d bring on their next canoe adventure I figured that might get me writing about canoeing.

So, what would I bring with me on my next canoe adventure? That’s easy. I’d bring a canoe.

Where might my next canoe adventure take me? The adventure that I’m thinking about is paddling the 560-mile Little Missouri River. The Little Missouri travels from Wyoming through Montana into South Dakota and then through Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota until it reaches the Missouri River. My only hesitation is the amount of fracking in the oil patch and all the natural gas flares which have ruined the night sky and waste our American resources. The amount of gas flared in a year there would fuel 2.6 million homes for a year. I’ve heard from multiple people that no one drinks the water there anymore. Doing the trip could call attention to massive and immoral waste of a precious energy resource and the precious resource of water, so it might be worth doing for that reason alone.

Or check out these pictures. In Teddy Roosevelt the river valley is amazing. There would be the amazing landscape reward as well.

So, what would I bring?

• I’d bring a Northstar Phoenix or Northstar Magic. The Magic is THE solo tripping canoe for long trips like this. I’ve owned one for many years and it has seen many miles. The Phoenix is built for moving water and tripping. It’s also a blast to paddle.
• And the new, super secret prototype ultralight wood paddle from Sanborn Canoe Company. It’s so secret that I’m not even suppose to be talking about it. It weighs 13.8 ounce and combines carbon fiber with cedar and ash. It feels great to paddle with. It’s so secret that I’m probably not allowed to post a picture of it. But, I can’t hold back this goodness.

You’re going to want one of these solo canoes and paddles as well.

And maybe I’d bring one of these birch bark canoes to float on the river next to me and then Paddle to the Sea [Amazon link].

Yep, that’s what I’d bring on a canoe adventure this summer.