Best & worst campsites ever?

[recped]

Not the worst camp I've ever been forced to use but it was in the running. Fortunately the weather was dry even if the ground wasn't.

I was paddling towards the north end of the Smallwood Reservoir in Labrador, after a fairly long day of huge open water crossings I was heading to a spot that looked on the map might have some potential camp locations. It became obvious that I would not make it to that area before dark. I started to scan the shoreline for possible spots, it did not look good from a distance and when I got closer I could see that there was little other than swampy ground, with thick bands of alders. I continued on thinking that eventually I would come to a spot that would be feasible. It was now well past sunset, I estimated that I had less than 20 minutes to find something. I came to an area that had more substantial stands of spruce trees behind the alder barrier. This was an indicator of dry land were surely I could find a small dry spot to sleep on. I headed to shore, smashing through the alders until I could go no further. I hoped out of the boat landing in thigh deep water, there must have been 50 metres of semi-underwater bushes, when I had worked my way through to what was "dry" land all I found was a wall of spruce so thick that without spending an hour or more cutting trees I would never open up enough space to pitch a tent. By this time full darkness was only minutes away, I stumbled back to the canoe, nearby I found a small area of tiny hummocks that protruded out of the water (old alder "stumps"?). I really had few options at this point, I considered sleeping in the canoe but decided to try setting up my tent, then overinflated my Mondo pad so that it was ultra stiff and would sit on top of the hummocks. Once that was done it was dark, I grabbed an apple and a block of cheese for dinner and settled in.

I actually had a very nice sleep, got up fairly early and stepped out once again sinking into the "swamp" above knee level, quick pack up without breakfast and headed out. Not surprisingly after about 20 minutes of paddling I came upon a decent beach site that I could have used!

 

[stevet]

Worst was at “Grocery Place” site on the paddling loop at Collier-Seminole state park in SW Florida. Grass 2 feet high which I am certain contributed to mosquitoes so thick you couldn’t open your mouth to speak. Gave up cooking dinner when there were more mosquitoes in the pot than food. Not kidding. Never seen anything like it before or since.
Best will take some time to think about and search pics to aid memory.

 

[PaddlingPitt]

recped's water camp reminded me of the water camp that Kathleen and I shared on the Seal River in northern Manitoba. The following is copied from my Trip Report.

So, we ended our paddling day at 6:30 p.m. to set up camp on a very wet and boggy flat that undulated like a waterbed. Kathleen heated soup for supper, after which we crawled into the tent for tea.

Our very soggy, boggy home for the night was among the all-time worst campsites I have ever “enjoyed.” Even so, I was glad to have stopped, and to rest from struggling against fog, wind and rapids. We didn’t reach Hudson Bay today, and we thought we were still about 2 km (1 mile) above Deaf Rapids. Despite these adversities and anxieties, however, we were thoroughly enjoying our trip. Life on the river might not always be easy, but life on the river is always simple. Like all obstacles, we would deal with Deaf Rapids when we got there. We would run them if we could. We would portage them if we must. We would just have to wait to see what it looked like when we arrived tomorrow morning. Based on the persistent fog of the last days, Plan B was beginning to look likely. Maybe we would even paddle all the way to the Seal River Lodge tomorrow. If Deaf Rapids were just downstream, then we were only 10 km (6 miles) from the Seal River Lodge

 

[Pseudonym]

The campsite near the end of Webster Brook, just before Grand Lake Matagamon, is set back in the woods, near a flatter piece of the stream. During one June trip, we were feasted upon by a horde of mosquitos, so merciless and ubiquitous, that it ranks as an all-time least favorite site, even though the set up is pretty cushy.

 

[Seeker]

Hard to say what's best... I've had a couple that had the requisite view, mood, and isolation... One was in the middle of nowhere in the Kisatchie Hills Wilderness. The other is an un-numbered (but legal 150' from water/trail) somewhere in the St Regis Canoe Wilderness.

If I have a favorite campsite, it's the North shore lean-to on Fish Pond... It faces South, and gets a lot of light, though the rain gets in, so you have to scootch back from the edge a bit... the floor is starting to rot as a result... ideally, it would face East, but perhaps they can rotate it next time. It does conveniently face the water.

 

[recped]

We didn’t reach Hudson Bay today, and we thought we were still about 2 km (1 mile) above Deaf Rapids.

Incredibly bold of you to camp in that location, on my second Seal trip we stopped just little bit further upriver just to take a break before heading for the cabin at the coast. We cautiously walked around a little bit but I was nervous about going back into the tall bushes too far. After maybe 5 minutes we headed back to the canoes and found this just a couple of metres from the stern of my canoe......




Just for kicks, here is a pic of a part of Deaf Rapids

 

[PaddlingPitt]

Incredibly bold of you to camp in that location, on my second Seal trip we stopped just little bit further upriver just to take a break before heading for the cabin at the coast. We cautiously walked around a little bit but I was nervous about going back into the tall bushes too far. After maybe 5 minutes we headed back to the canoes and found this just a couple of metres from the stern of my canoe......

I wouldn't say that we are bold. We didn't sleep all that well, worried about polar bears. My .308 lever action at my side.


Just for kicks, here is a pic of a part of Deaf Rapids

Here is our picture of Deaf Rapids.

We left our soggy, boggy, undulating, waterbed camp at 10:00 a.m., beneath a low sky, but no mist on the water. We ran two rapids down to Deaf Rapids, and got out to scout on river right. Very high, threatening waves throughout. From our vantage point, it looked like there was a potential “sneak route” right up against the bank on river left.

“Do you want to ferry over there, Kathleen, and see what it’s like?”

“No. I want to portage.”

We portaged.

 

[PaddlingPitt]

We spent the next night at Jack Batstone's cabin on Hudson Bay.

Polar bear wandered by in the morning.

 

[stevet]

Favorite…I know this is sort of stretching the intent of the topic but one of my very favorite sites was a houseboat a group of us rented on the Mississippi at Prairie Du Chien, WI to go up and down river for a few days, beach and paddle some backwaters. Boats stored on top.
Second pic is me (R) and, for those here who remember him, Ned Sharples (L)…owner of CanoeSport in Ann Arbor.
There is something to be said for a full function kitchen at the end of the day

 

[Jmharrick]

Hard to say what's best... I've had a couple that had the requisite view, mood, and isolation... One was in the middle of nowhere in the Kisatchie Hills Wilderness. The other is an un-numbered (but legal 150' from water/trail) somewhere in the St Regis Canoe Wilderness.

If I have a favorite campsite, it's the North shore lean-to on Fish Pond... It faces South, and gets a lot of light, though the rain gets in, so you have to scootch back from the edge a bit... the floor is starting to rot as a result... ideally, it would face East, but perhaps they can rotate it next time. It does conveniently face the water.

I’ve seen this lean-to site on fish pond and can agree it looked like a good one, but it was taken when we arrived this spring.

We did find a really nice elevated site off the portage between Fish Pond and Little Fish Pond. It had nice views of little fish pond, caught a breeze, had a flat tent pad, and you could hear the water burbling through the short stream that connected the ponds. It was my favorite site of the trip along the 9 carries route.

 

[sweeper]

Favorite: The middle site on North Grace, Algonquin PP

Worst: the solo on Frank's Lake also in Algonquin PP. I was hoping for a nice spot, the only site on the lake. I found a burnt-out fire pit where the fire went down into the roots of 2 pine trees. I didn't bother taking pictures

 

[Seeker]

I’ve seen this lean-to site on fish pond and can agree it looked like a good one, but it was taken when we arrived this spring.

We did find a really nice elevated site off the portage between Fish Pond and Little Fish Pond. It had nice views of little fish pond, caught a breeze, had a flat tent pad, and you could hear the water burbling through the short stream that connected the ponds. It was my favorite site of the trip along the 9 carries route.

That's also a nice one. I have seen mergansers surfing that stream, seeming to enjoy themselves as they navigated the run. Funny to watch. There is also an amazingly heavy pot hanging on a tree by the firepit there... cannot believe someone carried it all the way in; possibly skiied/sledded in during the winter.

 

[Jmharrick]

That's also a nice one. I have seen mergansers surfing that stream, seeming to enjoy themselves as they navigated the run. Funny to watch. There is also an amazingly heavy pot hanging on a tree by the firepit there... cannot believe someone carried it all the way in; possibly skiied/sledded in during the winter.

I remember seeing the pot in the tree. I think there was actually more than one.

I will say we stopped at the farthest east campsite on the north shore of Fish Pond and there had to be 50 beer cans in the fire pit. I was in complete disbelief that someone would go through the effort to portage so many full cans of beer over a mile into Fish Pond and not be willing to portage the empty cans out. Unbelievable to find so much trash at arguably the most remote pond in the area.

 

[Seeker]

That spot, if it's the one I'm thinking, is the nicest campsite on Fish Pond... it's on the North shore, which means it gets the sun, and also a beautiful view of the sunrise... there is also a really nice stream to pull water from nearby, vs dipping it out of the pond... the streams flowing into most of the ponds in the area, so long as they originate 'up the hill' and not from another pond, seem to be less tannin-soaked and tea-like, and therefore taste a bit better. All that contributes to that site being popular, especially as the lean-to's are typically grabbed first...

I once had the South lean-to, and had to listen to a group of 6x young-20s women gabbing for hours one evening, before one of them decided it would be a great idea to pipe some music through a bluetooth speaker around 9pm... from the other side of the pond, over 500m away, I clearly heard one of her friends say "put that away Sarah... no one wants to hear your music out here"... (This was especially good to hear, because I was considering a night-time raid on that campsite, to find and drown said speaker after they all went to bed... I am not unskilled in night land navigation in strange woods, especially with even the slightest touch of moonlight to guide me.) Fortunately, they moved on the next day and I resumed fishing in peace.