Canoe Trip Boredom?

People have asked me in the past how I keep my kids from getting bored on canoe trips. I thought it an odd question, but since those friends are not canoe trippers, I thought little more of it. Then a few weeks ago I read an account from a canoe guru about kids and boredom in the boat. Looking a little further, I found that others too had had this issue.

Having canoed with our kids regularly since their toddlerhoods, I find the whole topic to be rather puzzling, since my own kids never showed any signs of boredom on a canoe trip.

So, with my curiosity tweaked, I have gone through journals, photos etc. to remember just what we did that made the trips not only tolerable, but often even exciting for the kids. It turns out that most of these the kids figured out for themselves. Some of these are posted on the Lemonade website's family camping pages, and some of these I will list here:

• we stick close to shore where we can observe interesting features including cliff faces, rocky outcrops, interesting trees, wildlife, tracks in the mud, etc. This provides shelter from strong breezes as well as some occasional shade, and easier access to land for emergency bathroom breaks
• cloud glazing, from sharing "cloud pictures" to predicting the weather
• water gazing, sometimes using underwater viewer (found on the camping pages on the website)
• singing--when the kids were young (and often still now that they're teens), we sing on the longer stretches and crossings during our trip
• rock dropping--fill a bucket with rocks or twigs and drop them one at a time to watch the ripple patterns and also show the speed of travel etc. This is surprisingly amusing for 2-5 year olds
• float a boat--bring along a small toy boat and tie it to the canoe and watch it float
• bring an extra map so kids can begin to learn map reading skills; be sure to point out obvious features etc. regularly
• small paddles or even a whittled dead branch can let young paddlers try their hand at paddling
• the alphabet game that you can play in a car (finding letters on signs etc.) can be played by kids learning the names of different trees, plants, wildlife, lake and river names, etc. To make it easier, allow letters from any part of the name, not just the first letter
• becoming the trip photographer

At the site, the kids always found lots to do:

• pouring water over rocky areas and building stick and rock dams to alter the flow
• exploring (when younger, we had them wear their PFD with attached whistle to cushion from bumps, provide emergency signal if needed, easy sighting and emergency flotation in case of a fall into water)
• helping out (gathering firewood, pumping water, putting up tents, finding a good spot to hang the food, etc.)
• making obstacle courses for each other
• photography (they really like macro pictures in particular)
• star gazing
• hide and seek (with each other, or hiding natural objects)
• imagination games, such as when a log hanging out over a small bay became their pirate ship etc.
• swimming
• wildlife tracking
• using a pocket microscope to explore the tiny treasures they find

Things we found valuable to bring along on trips:

• at least one kid-proof bucket and shovel
• a toy boat, or a knife to whittle one
• binoculars
• swim mask or goggles (snorkels were also popular with the kids)
• a pocket microscope (a later discovery we wish we'd thought of earlier!)

We never paddled for more than 2 hours continuously, always stopping for lunch and a needed leg-stretch part way through. When paddling with the very young, for us anyhow, distance was never the primary goal. We made a point to move at a slower pace so the kids would have time to make and share their discoveries. Doing so gave us a whole new perspective on the wilderness we love so much, and (I hope) helped to foster a love of nature in our kids.

More family camping tips can be found here: http://llemonade.com/camp

A Glimpse Into One Family's Canoe Tripping Culture

Our family has developed a sort of rhythm for who takes on which jobs on our trips. The kids help plan the route and navigate, and take care of general site pick-up when we are about to leave. My older DS now carries one of the boats and sterns one of them as well.  DH does the driving and carries the heaviest pack and usually the second boat. My main jobs are carrying the barrel and adult clothing packs, trip planning and food preparation. Upon arrival at our site, the kids set up the tent(s) and find the thunderbox or an appropriate spot for such things, and then take over pumping water. DS starts unpacking food items and sleeping pads & bags which the kids lay out in the tents. Then he hangs a rope for the food pack and barrel, and sets up the stove. I set out food to soak before cooking, help with unpacking and then take over pumping water until the food has soaked enough to cook. Then one of us cooks the meal and we relax for the evening. DH usually does the dishes in an area he usually finds when scouting for an appropriate place to hang the food. If we are planning on having a fire that night (we usually have one per trip), then he uses the fire pit. It is difficult to believe, but some people still pollute lakes and rivers by washing dishes directly in them. Since we do our best to practice  low impact camping, we do not.

When we get up in the morning on a regular day, everyone packs their sleeping bags before leaving the tent. I stay in and pack up the rest of the tent items (flashlights, pocket knives, hats, sleeping pads etc.) while DH starts breakfast. The kids start gathering up all our items from around the site (TP, food rope, tarp, etc.) then start taking down the tent(s). We eat, then finish packing, pack the boats, pump some more water for the morning, do a final site check (where DO all those socks that seem to grow in backcountry campsites come from??!), then head out.

Quicker mornings when we wish to get an earlier start skip the hot breakfast and grab an energy cookie and some gorp either in the boat or shortly before heading out. Everyone packs on these days in a sort of assembly-line fashion.

This year we are planning a longer trip (for us). Since we will be gone for two weeks and are strict vegetarians, we will not be killing any fish to supplement our meals. We also have two adolescent boys who can pack food away like nothing I've ever seen before. The trip will travel on three different river systems with some "interesting" portages, so keeping things light and compact is a major goal.

After along, hard day of hiking, portaging and/or battling strong winds, nothing tastes as good as a home-cooked meal. Over the years we have experimented with many meal options--from pre-packaged Harvest Foodworks dehydrated meals and grocery store finds, to my own homemade recipes. I have learned how to dehydrade fruits, vegetables and even tofu.

Packing food is even more challenging when you have a fussy eater on board. We have one child who generally plans and prepares his own meals to accommodate this fussiness. At camp, this is less practical, so we spend a lot of time experimenting (because pasta or eggs every night is NOT an option!). Recent one-two pot successes for this "do not mix my food together" guy include sweet and sour stir-fry and curried lentils & couscous. Who would have ever guessed that?!


So this year I am going to try a few new things regarding our trip food.


I'm going to try dehydrating grated potatoes using instructions from this website: http://preparedness365.blogspot.ca/2011/05/dehydrating-hash-browns.html; dehydrating sweet potatoes using instructions from this website: http://www.backyard-homesteading.com/preserving-food/dehydratingdrying-food/44-small-harvest-preserving-dehydrating-sweet-potatoes.html), and I'll make some yummy sounding carrot-pineapple salad from this website: http://thebackpacker.tribe.net/thread/0269b9fc-eb27-4337-9c4e-eb64e87ea2ce. I'm also going to replace the Uncle Ben's Bistro Express rice with my own cooked and dehydrated organic brown basmati rice to save money, weight and bulk.

I'm also going to experiment with a couple of easy dessert items. Note that these have not been tested at all yet! Once that has been done, any successes will be posted on my website.

Dessert idea #1: Chocolate Oatmeal Coconut Balls (no cook)

1 teaspoon cocoa powder

2-3 teaspoons hot chocolate powder

2 tablespoons each instant oatmeal flakes and coconut

1.5 teaspoons sugar (or add honey at camp)

Add (1 teaspoon honey) and a little water in baggie a little at a time to good malleable consistency and eat.

Dessert idea #2: Fruit Cobbler

At home: set out a package of lady finger cookies for a few hours to let them dry out, then use a blender or food processor to chop them into cookie crumbs.

Take 3 tablespoons each dried apples and dried blueberries or other berries and grind two of each in the coffee grinder to make a powder. Leave the other whole for texture. Add 2 teaspoons sugar and 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon to the powder and whole-berry/apple chunk mix and seal that in a baggie. 

At camp: pour fruit mix into a pot and add water to cover. Bring to a boil and turn off heat while stirring. Stir in the crumbs and eat.

I will also be taking along an "odds and ends" food bag that will include some basic ingredients such as: sun-dried tomatoes, dried onions, garlic/ginger/salt spice mix, cinnamon sugar mix, dried blueberries, dried apple bits, dried strawberries, m&m’s, alfalfa seeds for sprouting, powdered sun-dried tomatoes, raw sunflower seeds, raw pumpkin seeds, cooking oil, cider vinegar, powdered milk, dried mushrooms, dried peppers, instant soups, bannock mix, dried tofu crackers and hummus mix. We'll carry a small selection of dried herbs and spices and sea salt. Pita bread, tortillas, dried cooked rice, dehydrated potatoes and dried cooked beans will round it all out. From this, we will put together our last few suppers and lunches based on the flavours we are craving most at that point.

One food we often crave is cheese, and for this we will bring along some Baby Bel for later on in the trip. A bonus is the leftover wax. You can make goofy "lips" with them, and it makes a great substitute for playdough during a trip. Another great use for that wax is to make your own survival candle/firestarter.

I'm also going to try sprouting alfalfa seeds about halfway into the trip. I know some people use a nylon stocking for this, but I'm going to try a peanut butter jar with the lid cut out (like a mason jar) and line it with mesh instead. I hear the trick for avoiding spoilage is frequent rinses, so I'm crossing my fingers that it will work and give us that elusive "fresh veggie crunch" mid trip.

We will also bring along a couple of instant soup mixes, powdered drink crystals, herbal tea and hot chocolate powder. 

Our breakfasts are not very creative; they include instant oatmeal and my own rendition of "Holy Crap" (hey, I didn't name it!) cereal. For the first day, we sometimes bring along muesli breakfast pitas. On days we want to move early, we often grab an energy cookie, then get into gorp in the boat. We lack breakfast creativity at home too, so this isn't a hardship for us.

Different people have different tricks for organizing and packing their food. We prefer to separate the food into "meal types" rather than daily rations to allow us more freedom of choice as we go. We have a breakfast bag, a snack bag, a lunch bag and a supper bag. On shorter trips we put the snacks in with lunch. On the coming trip, we will likely add the "odds and ends" bag as a fifth bag.
When we re-pack the barrel, we shift the food so the next needed bag will be on top. Each meal that requires preparation instructions has these written on using a permanent marker. 

Our trip is not for several months now, but I promise to issue a full report on our successes (and failures) once we have returned.

The French River

We recently paddled on the French River. It took many years for us to get there--other places called loudly to us, and the motorboats and cottagers tend to cramp our style. But there is a certain history there, and after our travels in eastern Canada, and especially Montreal and Ottawa, it only made sense to take the kids on the French River where the voyageurs once travelled.

Although we went during the week, it was still mid August, so I expected crowds. Luckily I was wrong. We did see several other groups each day, but the rugged nature of the area dominated. The landscape was as if Temagami, Georgian Bay and Algonquin Park all got together and had a party. The wind was favourable, and we even let the kids paddle us around our island campsite out on Georgian Bay. We saw a water snake, a giant muskie, many frogs, several turkey vultures, golden eagles, terns, and cormorants, just missed a bear and saw lots of evidence of elk.

The kids had fun exploring the geology of each site and along the shore as we travelled. Some of the stunted trees by the bay looked similar to the tuckamore we saw in Newfoundland.

Although there is much history, between the Voyageurs, the Couriers de Bois, logging camps, the Group of Seven, fishing lodges, cottages and kids' camps, as well as various man made dams that came and went over the years, the area was still very rugged and natural, and I had the impression that nature was dominant. Within the history that echoed throughout the glacier-scraped landscape, human activity was a mere punctuation mark.

As we crossed Wanapitei Bay at the end of our trip on Saturday, more and more motorboats began to clog the waterways, and I could tell that we had timed our trip well.

Canoe Tripping Styles

The family canoe is in the shop getting a new set of well-earned gunwhales, thwarts, fabric and paint. In the meantime, I have recently been reading about a cross-continent canoe trip the Shepardsons made with their two young children back in the early 80's.

In reading this, it has become clearer to me that there are some very different ways to approach canoe tripping!

On our trips we travel in a much more luxurious fashion than they did. We carry a serious water filter (Katadyn Combi), a single-burner camp stove, and ALL of our food. We decide which sleeping pads to bring not whether to bring any at all. We carry internal frame packs, not Duluth packs (I've never even tried using a tump line!). We generally carry 2 or maximum 3 sets of clothing each, plus extra socks and underwear, all packed in drybags, and rain gear. We have not yet done a trip in which we stop along the way for supplies, nor do we hunt or fish. Our focus is different. So are both the length and intensity of our trips.

They're much more traditional in their approach, more like modern-day Voyageurs than vacationers. We are much more casual. Both are valuable, but very different sorts of activities!

The places we go tend to be overstressed by human activity as it is--we do our best not to add to the problem any more than the long drive up and our travel along the portage paths.
I know many see fishing as a crucial part of canoe tripping, but we have had no need. Perhaps if we were in a more remote area and in emergency conditions we would fish. Some lakes near us are artificially stocked for weekend anglers. We've found fishing line left draped over bushes, and some still use lead weights which further pollute the waterways. I do not wish to contribute to this practice. Instead, to keep the packs manageable, we grow and buy local produce and dehydrate it ourselves.

There is a can and bottle ban in Algonquin Park, where we first started our canoe tripping adventures. This has shaped our food planning by forcing us to repackage items, and in doing so, reduce our weight and bulk for portaging. It also helped us on our way to learning to pack well for backpacking trips. We hang all our food before bed each night, and whenever we leave any behind on our site while exploring. Nuisance bears are common in the well-travelled places we paddle, but I wonder if our precautions don't serve more to entice them than dissuade them. Still, we have been fortunate to have avoided theft by bear when camping, and the family canoe still has indents where a bear rolled the canoe to get at food packs underneath during one of my father in law's trips. Raccoons and red squirrels on the other hand can climb well and are appreciative when you hang "their portion" in the relative safety overhead. Red squirrels (and chipmunks) thank you by chattering and clucking and dropping well-aimed cones and twigs where you are working.

I now make up bannock mix in pre-measured baggies (just add water and oil) and we cook this on sticks over the fire, usually on the last night. I also measure out portions of dried hummus in baggies (add water, seal bag, knead with hands then cut off corner of the bottom of the bag to squeeze it out). More camping food ideas can be found here.
Yes, the baggies are an environmental blemish on our trips. I'm working on it. We no longer double-bag items, and reuse resealable packaging when we can. It's not perfect, and suggestions are welcome!

If we are travelling more remotely (or more likely, off season in normally well-travelled places that are now deserted), we carry a camp saw rather than an axe. It's much lighter to carry, and we generally use smaller sticks of wood (rather than logs) anyhow. But carrying a camp stove reduces our need for wood. Wood is our backup plan, and we do plan one fire/trip to appease the kids who love to practice their pyromania. The eldest can start a fire from a single ember left by previous campers, and has done so several times now. It's a little alarming to see how quickly it can grow, all from an inadequately extinguished fire, and usually just from material within arm's reach of the fire pit!

Many times people who canoe trip are focused on their distance, esp. distance travelled each day. We are slow movers, slow paddlers, and very slow portagers. This used to bother me, but once we had kids, I learned to accept and embrace that. On trips marked for 4 days, it is not unusual for us to take 5 or even 6. But for us, the trips are vacations, so relaxation is an essential element. The kids need time to build dams and waterways, follow insects, float sap-powered leaf boats, etc.

As the kids are getting older though, I see that the relaxation is becoming a little more like laziness. Last year in the Barron Canyon the kids gave us a little peek as to what they are capable of, and I'm going to be hard pressed to keep up this year! It's amazing to me how strong and efficient they've become. They can set up and strike down camp themselves in minutes. They carry appreciable loads now on portages, and when they paddle, the boat gains considerable speed. They are truly comfortable with nature, which I'm sad to say is a rare phenomenon with kids these days.

We have never run any whitewater with the kids. Our own skills are a bit lacking in this area, and we've only really dealt with class I or II in the past, so this is probably a wise decision. Having said that, I believe it is time for us all to take a clinic then practice the skills. There are rivers calling, and the kids are old enough to appreciate safety and still young enough not to have lost their nerve yet. They can cheer on their over-cautious parents!


I absolutely love the Lady Evelyn River (the site of our honeymoon), and hope to return soon. Aside from the "interesting" portages on the south channel, I think we would be able to manage it later one season (once we've done a more laid-back lily-dipping lake trip to warm us up). For the south portages, it will just be grin and bear it, and try not to fall on the steep scree slopes. Luckily, the kids are part mountain goat. Here's hoping that recent reports about the increasing traffic and degradation of sites are overstated.

Am I ready to canoe across the country? Nope. While many areas call to me, I know that I'm (way) too soft for huge expeditions like that. 2 weeks seems like a more attainable and enjoyable goal for us.

There are some rivers--the Nahanni, the Tatshenshini, and several in Quebec that sound pretty interesting. Our skills and fitness levels aren't up to those yet, but perhaps it's time to set a goal!