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Canoe Camping and TouringAn Editorialby Tom Todd This is sort of an editorial. … my opinions. A major theme that came out of the Reader Survey was the desire on the part of many members to have more canoe camping trips available. Many people are asking about trips to the Canadian wilderness and long trips in Maine and elsewhere. It has always been my impression that the AMC is the place to go for major adventure and travel. Are we providing it? Yes … and No. Our members (many of our members) go on a significant number of canoe camping trips each year, but there are not many trips published. Some of these trips are led by our members, others are from elsewhere. What gives? Canoe Camping is an adventure that requires a diverse set of skills, time to participate, and the ability to get along with others in a rather intimate environment. It also requires a organized leader that people are willing to follow who can deal with emergencies and interpersonal problems. This breaks down into issues:
Skills: Other than paddling and rescue skills, the NH AMC does not offer much training for canoe camping other than on some of the short trips of which we publicly offer very few. Canoe camping requires a diverse set of skills such as packing, cooking, tenting, navigating, planning, first aid, portaging, and foremost: getting along with others in potentially adverse situations. The only way we develop these skills is with experience on short trips. As the duration and remoteness of the trip increases, the necessary skill level must also increase dramatically. How does one determine if someone has the skills for such a major excursion? How does one develop these skills? The answer to both questions is by participating in closer and shorter trips. Knowing each other: People lead trips for their own enjoyment. They lead in order to be able to enjoy the experience that they ordinarily wouldn’t have a chance to enjoy for a reasonable amount of money. They also want to lead trips on which they know the participants and enjoy their company. Canoe camping is a very intimate sport. Enjoyment comes from the congeniality of the participants. A rotten apple or someone being unhelpful or with a bad attitude can ruin a trip for everyone. How does a volunteer leader make sure they, themselves, will enjoy their trip? They make sure they know and like the people that are coming with them. How do they meet them? By going on smaller trips and coming to meetings. Leadership: A leader’s responsibility and headaches increase exponentially as the duration and remoteness of the trip increases. Major trips require leaders with much experience in order to guide the participants in preparation and on the river. Another issue of leadership is the burden that AMC headquarters puts on leaders for official "Major Excursions" including a fee tax and training requirements. This motivates many leaders to limit themselves to private trips with ‘friends.’ The Situation - What to do Well, as you already see the WrapAround is full of canoe camping trip stories … after the fact … so they exist. We’ll keep those stories coming as long as we can get people to write them up. It is interesting that many of the requests for canoe camping came from people I don’t know (and recently I’ve been pretty active.) Just like in whitewater, the more you participate, the more opportunities you get. For me this was the first year I started getting calls for "boot leg" trips. That is because people began to know me and know my skill set. I’m going on the Colorado this summer solely because I was paddling on the river this past Spring when the leaders were talking about the trip. If you want to do more canoe camping, come out and participate in the touring trips. If you want to get invited on these trips, come to both the Fall and Spring meetings and the Spring Canoe School get together and meet and talk with the rest of the gang. The more you participate, the more opportunities will befall you. … and yes, I dream of paddling north of the tree line!!! [Comments invited]
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