Canoe Touring

by Mike Jacobs
From the May 1998 WrapAround

A lot of the trips on our canoe touring schedule are on quickwater and Class I rivers. Some people simply prefer these easier trips. Others may find that they are ideal for practicing paddling skills. Many of us like to start the Spring canoeing season on an easier river, in order to tune up our skills. If you'd like to take along a friend with less canoeing experience, these easier touring trips offer an excellent opportunity to share the canoeing experience.

Some of the more challenging touring trips are on rivers with Class II or Class III rapids that don't often appear on the whitewater schedules. Often this is simply because the rivers have slower sections mixed in with the rapids.

In addition, we usually do a couple of tidewater trips on coastal bays or rivers.

An important difference between most whitewater trips and canoe touring is one of emphasis. A whitewater trip usually takes place on a single section of a river that happens to have the desired level of difficulty. Canoe touring is more likely to cover a longer distance on the river, including varied and contrasting sections of the river. For a trip like this, the canoe is the ideal vehicle of travel and exploration.