Why Your Next Canoe Trip Should Be Solo

[lowangle al]

I only took a couple of my solo trips with a solo boat, all others were in a tandem. When I found that I couldn't comfortably single carry with the solo boat it wasn't worth the weight savings for me as I prefer bigger boats. It was nice for fishing though.

 

[ppine]

Does anyone do rivers solo?

 

[yellowcanoe]

Does anyone do rivers solo?

Used to. Did the Buffalo from Ponca to Maumee South ( may have been North) and also the Current from Baptist to Big Spring. West Branch of the Penobscot ( not the Cribworks part!)
All had handy shuttle systems available.

 

[Gamma1214]

I didn't realize this was an old thread. It just popped up and I read it.

Erica, no need to apologize. People join the site all the time and many threads are as relevant today as when they were first posted.

In this case, I read the article before joining this forum but missed the thread when it was posted. The article was one of the reasons I became more comfortable with the idea of making my re-entry to canoe tripping a solo venture and, looking back, I think "solo" was the perfect choice.

 

[Robin]

Robin -

On the Boundary Waters forum this morning it was mentioned that both Cabela's & REI are having sales on Garmin In-Reach units this weekend. The information says the units will be $100.00 less than usual. Just wanted to share that in case you haven't picked one up yet.

That's all for now. Take care and until next time...be well.

snapper

I know this an old post, but I just wanted to mention a thanks to Snapper for the heads up. I did buy a used SpotX on eBay, I really like it and being able to pay month to month is an added plus.
I sent a message to my wife from a cold wet windy campsite in northern Quebec mentioning the conditions, she replied “warm sunny here” , not really what I wanted to hear but I guess it was a polite way of saying “hey, who told you to go there, and the garbage is piling up” (we’ve been married a long time, I get that from “warm sunny here”)

When I am by myself, I can take all the time I want.

I agree, moving at my own pace is a benefit of going solo.

 

[Riverguy]

It is looking more & more like my June trip will be solo. I'll read that article.

 

[Erica]

Does anyone do rivers solo?

Upper Suwannee River and Upper Peace River, both in Florida. Not as remote as I like, but closer now that I live in Florida.

I took a couple days of solo whitewater training at Nantahala and learned that while I can paddle whitewater in the stern, I don't have the bow strokes imprinted and cannot do a white water trip solo. Just don't have the skills.

I am planning on paddling solo the Upper Liard River in Yukon this coming summer this summer. It was scheduled for 2020 and then covid hit.

I drew the courage to start solo tripping after reading a book or a very long post in myccr by Greg? I think it was. He was an avid tripper and then was in some kid of accident and was now a paraplegic. He paddled the Yukon River solo. If he could do it, I could too.

Going solo is not only a different tripping experience I think it's an even more of a different life experience.

Exactly.

 

[lowangle al]

In addition to moving at your own I like being able to set my own schedule. It took me about two days to get used to the fact that I didn't have to consult anyone about when to eat, and just ate when I felt like it. The big thing though was sleeping. Mornings and evenings are my favorite times to hang out in camp but the problem with tripping at northern latitudes is that they come too close together. Dusk may not come till after midnight so my habit was to stay up till maybe 1:30 or later. I would get up around 5 or 6, well after sunrise, but still nice to hang by the fire or go fishing. Sometime after that I would take a good nap. It could be at 10 or 2 or maybe even 7 or 8 in the evening.

It worked great for me 4 or 5 hours at night and another couple during the day. This would be hard to coordinate on a group trip, although with all us old geezers it might not be too hard to schedule it in.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

Does anyone do rivers solo?

All the time. Small rivers and creeks are my favorite, along with swamps and vlies. Not whitewater rivers above class 1, although I may have done so occasionally in my more expert youth.

In the East, especially the Southeast, there are thousands of sub-class 1 rivers, creeks and spring runs that are called smooth water rivers or brown water rivers or black water rivers. Many of these are so slow that you can paddle them upstream or downstream. Not many of these U.S. rivers can support long, multi-day canoe camping trips as in Canada, but many solo paddlers have done long Canadian rivers.

I have solo paddled many tidal rivers on the east and west coasts also.

Here is a put-in on the Silver River, a first magnitude spring run in Florida:

 

[Black_Fly]

I have been "sorta" solo tripping with my dog for 15 or so years. Now, as more friends and celebrities suddenly pass away at my age or younger, I'm wondering if it would be more humane to leave the pup. If I were to expire in the backcountry, it might also be a cruel death sentence for my best friend. On the other side, he wants to be with me ALWAYS, and leaving him is also kind of cruel. There's also the economies of less weight, more room in the canoe, no dog food to carry, possibly extending my range. Just something I'm considering as I become more aware that nothing is forever, and my peak is long past.

 

[ppine]

I take my dog everywhere. I do a lot of solo hiking, fishing, and camping and never feel alone with the Border Collie.

 

[Black_Fly]

The biggest advantage of soloing is the absence of people to care for. I always end up doing all the planning, navigating, camp setup, cooking, fire building, etc., and sometimes I just wanna fish. Tripping shouldn't be another job.

 

[Cheeseandbeans]

I don’t like playing guide either. Solo suits me fine. I also like to bring a 1/2 scale guitar when feasible and I wouldn’t presume to impose my musical ramblings on anyone.

Bob

 

[Black_Fly]

I don’t like playing guide either. Solo suits me fine. I also like to bring a 1/2 scale guitar when feasible and I wouldn’t presume to impose my musical ramblings on anyone.

Bob

I'm considering learning the ukelele.

 

[Woodpuppy]

All the time. Small rivers and creeks are my favorite, along with swamps and vlies. Not whitewater rivers above class 1, although I may have done so occasionally in my more expert youth.

In the East, especially the Southeast, there are thousands of sub-class 1 rivers, creeks and spring runs that are called smooth water rivers or brown water rivers or black water rivers. Many of these are so slow that you can paddle them upstream or downstream. Not many of these U.S. rivers can support long, multi-day canoe camping trips as in Canada, but many solo paddlers have done long Canadian rivers.

I have solo paddled many tidal rivers on the east and west coasts also.

Here is a put-in on the Silver River, a first magnitude spring run in Florida:

View attachment 129039

Did you paddle up to the spring? Or go on the Ocklawaha, or both?

And… what’s the boat? Nice lines

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

Did you paddle up to the spring? Or go on the Ocklawaha, or both?

And… what’s the boat? Nice lines

I've paddled the entire Silver River many times, usually starting at Ray Wayside Park and paddling upstream past the monkeys to the head spring. The picture I posted above is actually the put-in at the head spring. The canoe is a Bell Wildfire.

I have also paddled the Ocklawaha many times from Ray Wayside Park to Gore's Landing and from Gore's to the Ocklawaha Canoe Outpost, which runs shuttles. My favorite of the three runs is the Ocklawaha downstream from Gore's. It is very "jungly" and has occluded tributaries to explore at high water levels.

 

[Woodpuppy]

Ona theses days… I plan to take my 6yo son camping at Silver Spring State Park and do some paddling.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

Ona theses days… I plan to take my 6yo son camping at Silver Spring State Park and do some paddling.

That's a very nice park and one of my favorites. If you camp there, you can access the parking lot for the head spring put-in for free. You can paddle down the Silver as far as you want and back up. Or vice versa from Ray Wayside Park.

As I said, the Ocklawaha Canoe Outpost will shuttle you for trips on the Ocklawaha.

From Silver Springs State Park, you can also easily reach Juniper Springs, which is one of my top 10 paddling places, and Alexander Springs, both of which offer fairly inexpensive shuttles.

In other words, you can get at least five high quality canoe day trips by staying at Silver Springs State Park, even if you only have one vehicle.