Gear

A few additions this time

We wanted to be a little more self sufficient on this trip so we purchased a Brunton Solar Roll in order to charge our own batteries.

We also brought along a video camera so that we could capture some live footage and record some commentary along the way.

Our old no-name chairs got replaced by two Crazy Creek chairs and we brought along an axe this time.

We purchased a length of six inch plastic pipe and a couple of caps in order to make a storage and carrying case for the solar panel. A D-ring was glued to the side of the tube so that it could be clipped to a pack for portaging.

The axe was also clipped to a pack for carrying so that it could be readily available on portages.

We purchased a Lowe-Pro waterproof camera bag and it contained all our camera and video gear ... extra lenses ... microphone ... extra video tapes ... the GPS ... a Globalstar satellite phone and spare batteries.

With this amount of electronic gear we were always charging batteries when the sun was out.

Other than that it was the tried and true stuff

Our Ostrom Wabikimi pack and waterproof liner as well as two 15 gallon barrels with Ostrom Voyageur harnesses were the backbone of our storage and portaging setup.

One barrel held our food for up to eighteen days while the other held all our hard gear ... stove and fuel ... outback oven ... utensil bag ... water filter ... fishing kit ... plates, cups and bowls ... tarp ... cook kit ... extra ropes ... sharpening stone ... duct tape ... extra carabiners ... soap bag ... folding wash tub and repair kits.

The Wabikimi was charged with the tent, matresses, sleeping bags, our clothing, rainsuits, extra footwear and slipped up the back was our extra set of maps ... we always carry two sets.

As you can see, we're still depending on our Dagger Venture. Even loaded with us and all our gear we've still got six inches of freeboard ... which allows us to attempt class II rapids and some easy class III's. Our rule of thumb is that if we can't see the bottom of the rapid from the canoe as we approach or if the path through is not obvious we portage. It's as fast to do the portage as it is to study the rapid.

Our Grey Owl bent shaft paddles are along again ... and if you look closely at the canoe you'll see the carrying pads attached to the yoke. They're from Chosen Valley Canoe Accessories. They've been with us for many years and are a blessing.