At a suggestion from the paddle section of this forum we decided to c=try canoeing in the Whitney C Williams Wilderness. It was great and we will be back.
12' fiberglass Old Town Stillwater canoe, hammock camping set up, packed a bit heavy 'cause only the one portage.
Little Tupper was breezy but manageable. Hugged shore a bit and lee side of islands. Saw an otter, bald eagle and a few loons. Crazy darn flies in canoe ate me up. Reminder to self: applying bug spray on the beach then walking in water to launch canoe is silly - reapply!
Outlet to Rock Pond was great. A few beaver dams, most of which you could scootch over. Getting out and pulling over was a new adventure for us but no mishaps. Island site on rock pond was taken, saw/smelled the smoke. Good thing to because by the time we found a site heavy weather was coming in.
Had a thunderstorm sheltered under a tarp. It stopped long enough for us to enjoy dinner and set up camp. Thunder storms remainder off and on remainder of night. First experience hammock camping in such a deluge and we did fine (had winter tarp with us).
Saturday we hiked, toured rock pond, watched the island campers leave, read books and generally lazed about. Campfire Sat night but turned in early.
A bit disappointed we'd be missing out on star lit sky both nights. Smart daughter had an idea though:
Liz: Dad, you are old
Me: Ok, not sure where this was going
Liz: You get up once or twice at night, right?
Me: This is true...
Liz: If one of those times is close to morning, wake me up and we can start early!
So yes indeed, I nudged her at 4am and she was game. We broke camp and were on water before five. In star light! Canoeing by star light! Caught dawn coming intoLittle Tupper from outlet.
We did get misplaced on portage. There is a sign that says "Trail" paddling back. Did not look like portage we came in on, but it was dark. So we moved gear and got lost going back for canoe. Dark woods. Gear somewhere way over there, canoe somewhere way in the other direction, us walking on the rail bed with headlights thinking it was the portage. A bit annoying at the time but fun to look back on.
Started calm on Little Tupper then had wind at our backs. Nice surf back to launch point
New Gear: Tried out Steripen for second time. Big difference using it in a lake vs snow melt stream. Killed all the bad stuff I am sure but you still had some veggies in the water. May be our winter water treatment option, stick with Sawyer for summer.
Best Gear: Warbonnet Outdoors Superfly hammock tarp kept us dry through a series of thunderstorms. Kelty Noah 12 tarp also handy keeping camp dry.
Worst Gear: Liz had 'water shoes' which are fine for teh beack but for a portage you want something with a thicker bottom. We both had hiking shoes but were to lazy to slip into them. Duh.
Trying sharing photos with Google, not working. Will link later
12' fiberglass Old Town Stillwater canoe, hammock camping set up, packed a bit heavy 'cause only the one portage.
Little Tupper was breezy but manageable. Hugged shore a bit and lee side of islands. Saw an otter, bald eagle and a few loons. Crazy darn flies in canoe ate me up. Reminder to self: applying bug spray on the beach then walking in water to launch canoe is silly - reapply!
Outlet to Rock Pond was great. A few beaver dams, most of which you could scootch over. Getting out and pulling over was a new adventure for us but no mishaps. Island site on rock pond was taken, saw/smelled the smoke. Good thing to because by the time we found a site heavy weather was coming in.
Had a thunderstorm sheltered under a tarp. It stopped long enough for us to enjoy dinner and set up camp. Thunder storms remainder off and on remainder of night. First experience hammock camping in such a deluge and we did fine (had winter tarp with us).
Saturday we hiked, toured rock pond, watched the island campers leave, read books and generally lazed about. Campfire Sat night but turned in early.
A bit disappointed we'd be missing out on star lit sky both nights. Smart daughter had an idea though:
Liz: Dad, you are old
Me: Ok, not sure where this was going
Liz: You get up once or twice at night, right?
Me: This is true...
Liz: If one of those times is close to morning, wake me up and we can start early!
So yes indeed, I nudged her at 4am and she was game. We broke camp and were on water before five. In star light! Canoeing by star light! Caught dawn coming intoLittle Tupper from outlet.
We did get misplaced on portage. There is a sign that says "Trail" paddling back. Did not look like portage we came in on, but it was dark. So we moved gear and got lost going back for canoe. Dark woods. Gear somewhere way over there, canoe somewhere way in the other direction, us walking on the rail bed with headlights thinking it was the portage. A bit annoying at the time but fun to look back on.
Started calm on Little Tupper then had wind at our backs. Nice surf back to launch point
New Gear: Tried out Steripen for second time. Big difference using it in a lake vs snow melt stream. Killed all the bad stuff I am sure but you still had some veggies in the water. May be our winter water treatment option, stick with Sawyer for summer.
Best Gear: Warbonnet Outdoors Superfly hammock tarp kept us dry through a series of thunderstorms. Kelty Noah 12 tarp also handy keeping camp dry.
Worst Gear: Liz had 'water shoes' which are fine for teh beack but for a portage you want something with a thicker bottom. We both had hiking shoes but were to lazy to slip into them. Duh.
Trying sharing photos with Google, not working. Will link later
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