Introduction to Canoe Tripping & Camping -- 2023

Objective and Scope

This course is intended to provide an introduction to canoe camping for those who have no previous camping experience or who have “car camped” but done little or no backcountry camping. The course will focus on activities and gear suitable to canoe tripping.

While there is a considerable knowledge and theory component to the course, the course is very “hands on” and centres on the planning and conduct of a weekend trip in Algonquin Park. Two in-town evening sessions will be held at the RA prior to the trip which will leave town Friday at noon and return Sunday evening.

Prerequisites

No camping experience is required. Participants should have had experience day tripping on sheltered water, but only basic paddling skills will be required to paddle from the put-in to the camp site.

Dates

This course will be in two parts, one delivered at two consequetive  Tuesday evenings May 30 and June 6 beginning at 7:00 PM at the boathouse at the RA Centre, and the second a camping weekend at Rock Lake in Algonquin Park 16-18 June.

The first evening session will be a discussion and demonstration of gear.  This will include personal gear such as clothes and packs and group gear such as stoves, water filters, tarps and cooking equipment

The second evening will be devoted to actually planning the trip:  tents, food and cooking, transportation, selection of boats and reserving and sign out any club gear required.

The acutal trip itself will be from the Rock Lake boat launch to sites about 2-3 km away on Rock Lake.  Camp set-up, camp sanitation, cooking, knots and tarps, portaging, risk management and expedition behaviour will all be discussed.

Course Fee and Other Costs

The course fee is $150.  This covers Paddle Canada registration, boat rental and use of any club gear required.  The club has pfds and paddles for all, a good assortment of canoe tripping packs, cooking gear and stoves and a limited number of tents.

Registration

Registration is open on PlayRA using code 40419 https://www.racentre.com/playra.html