Packing for Northwest Canada

What to bring with you…

A Carolina Paddler Article

By Jim and Ruth Mead

You have a trip scheduled. What do you need to bring? Do you have all the gear you need, or will you need to rent/buy/borrow? This is not intended to be a comprehensive list.  It does include suggestions for tripping in the north based on our experiences.

Boats/Outfitting

Boats

• There were 8 clients and 2 guides on the Mountain River trip (5 canoes total).

• Inflatable or folding canoes are easier to get on a float plane and thereby may reduce costs (smaller plane and/or fewer trips). However, we much prefer hard boats for durability and handling. A hard boat responds much better when you shift your weight or lean.

• We’ve always used 16-foot open canoes like the Esquiaf Prospector with about 3.5 inches of rocker and skid plates.

• This size allows for packing two, 60-liter barrels in front of the center thwart and two more behind it. Each boat on the trip carries two personal barrels and two group barrels, plus additional gear (fire box, stove & fuel, tents, tarps, etc.).

• Canoes also can be handy when setting up camp. Turned over and set on a barrel at each end they form a table for preparing/serving food. Filled with water or some other weight they can be used to secure lines for tarps when there are no other anchor points.

• We did see a self-supported kayak group on the Nahanni. They were moving fast and putting in long days so they could carry fewer supplies.

• Raft support can come in handy on more difficult rivers or rivers that have special requirements to protect fragile environments. We’ve done two trips with raft support. One was the Firth River so that canoes could carry lighter loads and be more maneuverable in whitewater. The other was the San Juan River in Utah, where the raft carried propane stoves, the required river toilet system for a group of 12, and other group gear.

Spray decks

• Spray decks are essential for northern rivers IMHO. They keep a lot of the water out of the boat and keep you warmer in cold winds.

• However, the idea of a spray deck being cinched around your waist with Velcro or a cord lock is terrifying. It’s not like you’re going to roll a 17-foot heavily loaded open boat if you flip. Instead, we have always used spray decks with an open cockpit for easy exit. Plastic wands in sleeves fore and aft of the opening arch up the deck and shed water so it does not funnel into the boat.

Other outfitting

• Canoes provided by outfitters do not have thigh straps – too much entrapment hazard under a spray deck and with your feet under a seat.

• There are usually foam pads glued down for kneeling. We bring non-skid kneeling mats with us just in case they are lacking and leave them at the float plane base if not needed.

• We also bring foam pipe wrap to attach to the leading edge of the seats with duct tape. This cushions the back of your thighs and butt when kneeling every day for two weeks.

• Spare paddles are a must – preferably one per person, but at least one per boat.

• A bilge pump with an extension hose makes bailing from under a spray deck much easier and you will be the envy of others on the trip.

• A water bottle for each paddler, clipped to the deck for easy access, makes the day go better.

Paddling Wear

Drysuits

• On our first trip I wore a neoprene wet suit but switching to a dry suit for subsequent northern trips was a good decision.

• A drysuit with attached socks (not ankle gaskets) and relief zipper is warmer and much more comfortable. Your feet get really cold wading in 40-degree water without the dry socks.

• A two-piece set-up – dry pants or bibs with a semi-dry sea kayaking top with hood has worked well for me. It’s easier to vent and offers more flexibility than a one-piece dry suit.

• Ruth loves her one-piece women’s dry suit and just sits down in the water if she gets too warm.

• We packed Aquaseal and Tech tape in case repairs were needed.

Other

• Booties must be large enough to fit over dry suit socks (for me that’s 1 or 2 sizes larger.)  The booties should have soles thick enough to protect your feet when portaging or lining a boat.

• A neoprene beanie that fits under your helmet is good to have on wet or cold days.

• A visor for your helmet shields from rain and sun.

• Even with foam pads glued in the boat, I think wearing knee pads is a good idea. Ruth doesn’t like them.

Hand Protection

• Your hands will take a beating – lifting barrels, setting up camp, paddling all day long, and alternating between wet and dry in cold, silty water.

• Fingerless boater’s gloves offer some protection – just try them beforehand to make sure the seams are well-placed to avoid blisters and that they don’t get loose and bunch up when wet.

• On every trip we’ve done, multiple people have ended up with cracked skin and split fingertips, including me – even with using O’Keefe’s hand cream every night.

• Once my fingertips started to split, wearing neoprene gloves helped. The thin Hydroskin type are less spongy and are less prone to cause hand and forearm strain.

• I cut the index finger off one glove to operate the helmet cam.

• Maintaining a good coat of Newskin liquid bandage on cuts and splits helps keep the wound dry and promotes healing, although it burns like a mother when you first apply it.

Clothing

• Prepare for a wide range of conditions with layers and wind/rain shells. Ruth brings everything from a bathing suit to a Primaloft coat.

• We have one set of polypropylene underwear to wear under dry suits and another set for off the river. Smart wool is another option that some folks like. Wool sox can work well under a dry suit if not too bulky. Wool sox in camp are warm and bugs can’t bite through them.

• Materials are synthetic for quick drying. Wool is an option but it is a little slower to dry. After repeated use, wool smells better than synthetics. Avoid items that are too bulky. Other than bandanas, use no cotton.

• Clothespins and a clothesline that can be rigged inside or outside the tent can be very useful.

• Boots for hiking or portaging and use around the camp are good to have, although a pain to pack. We use a separate medium or small dry bag for boots and a daypack. Mid-height boots pack more easily than full ankle boots. They also keep out water on rainy days better than shoes.

Packing for the River

• After our first trip on the Mountain River, we were converts to using 60-liter barrels for our personal gear. They are waterproof, rugged, and deter animals. If you rent one from an outfitter, make sure it wasn’t used for food previously, or at least was very well washed.

• There are several brands of harnesses for portaging the barrels that also can be buckled around a thwart to make sure they stay in the boat.

• When in transit on commercial airlines, pack the harness separately to avoid snagging on conveyor belts. Fasten a plastic cable tie through the slot on the barrel’s metal locking ring to prevent it from opening.

• Color coded stuff sacks help tremendously in packing barrels and making items easier to find.

• In addition to one barrel per person, we also had three medium/small dry bags for easy access during the day. One had bug jackets, head nets, sun caps, sunscreen, snacks, quick-dry towel, and alternate layers if it got warmer or colder. Another had boots, daypack, fanny pack, and personal repair kit. The third had alternate paddling wear.

• A fourth drybag held our tent, ground cloth and camp chairs.

• We always bring multiple large plastic bags to hold any wet gear inside a dry bag.

• An old Nalgene bottle works well for carrying sunscreen, DEET, and Aquaseal so they can’t leak onto anything else.

Sleeping

• Sleeping bags need to be appropriate for a range of temperatures. Twenty-degree bags have worked for us, packed in compression sacks to fit in barrels.

• A good sleeping pad is a must for campsites on cobble bars. We’re considering switching from old school Thermarests to the newer inflatable insulated pads for easier fit in the barrels.

• A decent pillow greatly improves your sleep. We used Sea to Summit Aeros Premium large inflatable pillows on this recent trip. They collapse smaller than a softball and are very comfortable.

• Note that it barely gets dark at night. Sunset on the Mountain River in late July was 12:30 AM and sunrise was at 4:30 AM – with twilight glow in between. Some folks find a sleep mask helps them fall asleep.

Camping

• Tents were Mountain Hardwear Trango 3’s.

• We had a large Katadyn water filter for the group.

• Silty water greatly shortens the time between filter changes, so we carried Aquamira chemical treatment as a back-up and on other trips have used it exclusively.

• A firebox is essential – for cooking (as much as possible), burning trash, and preventing fire scars at campsites.

• A pruner and small saw work best for collecting dead wood for fires.

• We carried a stove on the Mountain River as a back-up, but barely used it. On barrens river trips (north of treeline) the stove got a lot more use, but we still used the firebox for trash disposal.

• A dutch oven with charcoal briquettes makes baking possible. This is especially nice on long trips for lasagna, bread, dessert, cinnamon buns for breakfast, etc.

•The outfitters supplied a green and white tarp made by Chlorophylle to cover the food preparation area. We usually put it up regardless of weather and carried a second one to set up if it was raining so everyone could be under cover to eat.

• We bring a small ground cloth/tarp for INSIDE our tent to help keep things dry.

• Chairs or three-legged stools – if they fold down small – are nice for eating or hanging out in camp, especially if it’s cold and wet.

Bear Protection

• Being in a group of 4 or more is a good bear deterrent. Keep this in mind if part of the group splits off to go hiking.

• Food and toothpaste need to be kept in barrels, not in tents.

• Our trips have always included bear spray and bear bangers (basically an M-80 with a launcher to shoot it into the air over your head). Neither of these can be carried on commercial airlines.

• Firearms can be checked on commercial flights, but significant paperwork is required to bring them into Canada. Black Feather carries a shotgun on trips where polar bear encounters are a possibility.

Bug Protection

• There will be bugs. On barrens river trips they can be especially bad, so Black Feather carries bug tents for eating on the Firth and Hood River trips.

• Protective clothing helps a lot. Bug jackets made by The Original Bug Shirt Company are very useful and worth the expense.
• In addition to bug jackets, we also carried quickly accessible head nets in case bugs were bad at a temporary stop along the river.
• I wear fingerless cycling gloves in camp (including while eating). They protect most of your hand, yet you maintain dexterity. Mosquitoes and black flies love to bite the backs of your hands.
• We also carry DEET to dab on exposed skin in camp or hiking. Bugs rarely bother you while moving downriver, so we avoid using it on the river because of what it does to synthetic fabrics and plastic. For this reason, we use DEET in stick form, instead of lotion or spray, although it can be hard to find. This keeps the chemical off your fingers and puts it only on the targeted area.

First Aid

• What to include in a first aid kit could be an entire article by itself, so I’ll include just a few thoughts.
• If you think you might need it, pack enough for two weeks. We enclose a cheat sheet with dosages for various meds that have been repackaged into smaller waterproof bottles
• Some sort of anti-inflammatory is advisable given the impact of two straight weeks of paddling on shoulders and knees.
• Carry an Epipen if needed for allergies to bee stings, etc. Carry at least two, easily accessible, packed in different places – and let other people in the group know where they are.
• On our most recent trip the guide had a handy item that was new to me – finger cots, aka finger condoms. They worked well to protect bandages on bleeding, split fingertips.
• Newskin liquid bandage is also good to have for protecting small cuts from dirt and water.
• Kneeling with your feet up on your toes for long periods can be tough on toenails. We include silicon toe caps in our first aid kit.

Toiletries

• Baby wipes work great to remove sweat, sunscreen, and DEET at the end of the day. Using them, you can take a “bath” in your tent. We figured on 3 per person, per day.
• We carried a solar shower on a few trips, and it was nice. However, we found that too often when it was warm enough to want a shower it was also buggy.
• Definitely use sunscreen, even though it’s in the north and might be cold – the days are long and the sun is intense. A sunscreen stick in a pfd pocket is handy for re-applying during the day without getting it on your hands.
• Toothpaste – a small travel size tube will last two people about a week. Either swallow after brushing or spit in the river to avoid attracting animals.

Sanitation

• How human waste is dealt with depends on the river.

• In the southwest and on some other rivers you must pack it out, requiring the use of a groover or some other river toilet system.

• Some rivers with an established water trail or designated campsites will have outhouses or vault toilets.

• For most of our northern Canada trips, the procedure involved using a trowel to dig a cat hole away from the water and saving toilet paper in a sealed bag for burning at regular intervals.

Emergencies

• In addition to individual and group first aid kits, there needs to be some way to request outside assistance for medical emergencies.  A satellite phone (cell phones don’t work) allows two-way, detailed communication with first responders.

• Other options (e.g., SPOT) will also work but allow more limited communication.

• If medical evacuation is needed, a long helicopter flight is the only option. It’s expensive and a travel insurance policy that will cover this is advisable – in fact some outfitters require it.

• Besides medical situations, a damaged canoe can severely impact a trip. A boat repair kit and rescue gear are essential items.  We were on a trip on the Verde River in Arizona when a canoe wrapped on a rock and was nearly ripped in half. The guides used a hand drill, parachute cord, wire, gorilla tape, and c-clamps to stitch the two parts together and patch the gunnels and thwart – plus a cooler wedged under a thwart to brace the hull. This Frankenboat made it a few more days down the river and across a reservoir to the takeout.

Camera

• Don’t scrimp on batteries and media cards. Their cost is minimal compared to the cost of the trip and it would be silly to run out. I took 5 GoPro batteries and kept at least 3 fully charged and available during the day.
• I used power bricks to recharge the GoPro batteries – one large and one medium/small – and had more than enough charges to shoot over 12 hours of helmet cam video. I carried them and the charger in a small dry box in a barrel.
• I tended to let the camera film for long stretches if I thought the scenery or whitewater was interesting. Better to shoot a lot and edit later, than to miss something good because you forgot or were too busy to turn it on.
• Lens wipes are such a simple way to improve image quality by removing dust and water spots. I used individually packaged wipes to start each morning with a clean lens and then cleaned again at lunchtime if needed.
• Polarizing filters don’t seem to make the dramatic improvements to digital images that they do for old school film. However, I did bring one for the GoPro and on bright sunny days it improved depth of color.
• I filmed video at 2.7K resolution, 60 frames per second, and linear field of view and was happy with the results. With these settings, one hour of footage would use one fully charged GoPro battery and about 20 GB of chip storage.
• The only setting I might change would be the field of view. I don’t care for the GoPro wide angle because of the fish-eye effect. However, in deep canyons, the linear setting for field of view tends to cut off the tops of the cliffs. In the future, I’ll try to switch to wide angle for canyon stretches.
• I marked the interlocking “fingers” of the helmet cam mount with a line drawn by a silver sharpie to index the position that aimed the camera properly. This made it easy to check and re-adjust if I was concerned that it might have been knocked out of position.
• Lastly, we’ve compared filming with the camera on the bow paddler’s helmet versus on the stern paddler’s helmet. We much prefer the view from the stern paddler’s helmet because you can see the boat moving and it feels more like whitewater canoeing. To me, video from the bow paddler’s helmet looks somewhat like it was shot from a drone flying low above the water.