Canoe Camping and Nature Photography - Keep it Simple, Keep it Light, Keep it Low, and Keep it Tight

 Some years back, my Nephew's Boy Scout troupe wanted to take a 50+ mile, multi day float trip down Arkansas' beautiful Buffalo River. I lived in the area at the time so I managed to take a few days off and join them on what proved to be an eventful canoe camping trip. 

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My brother and I had just returned from spotting my old pickup truck at the takeout located just below the rustic little community of Gilbert, Arkansas. The round trip took a little over an hour and by the time we had returned to the put in back up river the troupe were loaded up and ready to start their float trip full of anticipation. When I stepped out of the vehicle and walked over to the group, what I saw caused me to gasp internally. Two of the five adults who were making the trip with us, were sitting inside a fifteen foot canoe. That fact alone was not cause for alarm, but how they loaded the canoe was for they were grossly overloaded.

First of all, both men were quite large each pushing upwards toward 220lbs or more.  A fifteen foot canoe can handle a lot of weight if properly distributed to avoid it becoming top heavy, however, between them they had stacked at least two ice chests filled to capacity, and other assorted food containers and camping gear. That pile of stuff extended at least eighteen inches to two feet higher than the center gunwales, and stretched almost from bow to stern with barely enough leg room for the two large men to sit. It was so high, the guy in the stern could barely see over the top.  Worse yet when they shoved off, that small canoe showed no more than three at most four inches of freeboard and was a disaster waiting to happen.

We were not long in waiting for something to happen. A few yards down stream...and over they went, with nary an obstacle in their way. They were just too grossly overloaded and top heavy. For the next half day, it was one spill after another every few dozen yards. Through most of it I avoided upsetting certain sensitivities and ego's, but the situation was not good. That is when it was suggested (by me) they transfer some of their gear into my canoe, which I was paddling solo and had lots of room to spare, and for them to swap out to a seventeen foot canoe two of the smaller boys were using and let them use the shorter one. After that, we mostly made it down the river with only a few more relatively minor spills. Oddly enough, that four day float trip turned out to be a really good trip...once we got the gear loading situation ironed out. 

Canoe camping is an art and there are best practices that should be followed and more importantly, bad practices that should not be followed. I'll concentrate on one of the worst. First of all, my number one canoeing pet peeve is the ice chest. I have seen this bulky contraption toted more times than I want to remember. For some reason, many canoers think they have to take an ice chest stuffed with all kinds of goodies to be comfortable. They are not designed for canoeing. They are cumbersome and heavy. They are actually not watertight, they can cause the canoe to shift out of balance and if you take a spill, it is almost impossible to recover the chest and its contents intact. And, lets not forget should there be any kind of portaging required, carrying an ice chest simply becomes a burdensome bother. Ice chests, therefore, in my book of don't is a big don't. There are much better alternatives.

Canoe camping is not all that much different than backpacking and should be approached as such. Keep it simple, keep it light, keep it low, and keep it tight is a good axiom to follow. 

Keep it Simple...less is better, take only the basics required for the conditions you expect to encounter, and this includes camera gear, plus a little extra to carry you through an extended outing should weather interfere. 

Keep it Light...it just makes it easier and involves less physical work. That extra edition of War and Peace is probably not needed, nor is that 16" cast iron skillet, and for you photographer types, probably not that 600mm f4 monster of a lens, unless you are a professional wildlife photographer and have good reason to carry it. It's always a good idea to have good insurance on your camera gear.

Keep it Low...Lower the center of gravity by packing your heaviest gear low in the canoe and avoid having the gear extend above the gunwales. This keeps the canoe more stable. If paddling solo, pack your gear toward the front as this adds a measure of weight to the bow allowing for better tracking and handling through the water.

Keep it Tight...water tight that is. There are numerous dry bags available at most sporting goods stores or from places like Amazon or Cabela's and they come in a variety of sizes and configurations. Investing in several of these is well worth the minimal expense. I use three; a smallish one for things like my phone, wallet, keys, things like that.  Clipped to a cross thwart it provides a safe and dry container for my small gear. I also use a medium sized one mostly for a change of clothes and other soft things like a towel or rain gear and so on. I also use a large bag mostly for things like my sleeping bag, tent and/or tarp, ground cloth, just for camping gear mostly and I might also keep my food and cooking gear inside as well.

One piece of gear that is becoming more popular are what are known as Canoe Barrels. They are in fact just that. They are shaped like a small barrel and made of tough plastic and are sealed with a watertight lid. They are available in various sizes and prices, and some come with, or have available, a shoulder harness to make portaging easier. 

They are large capacity containers and unlike the ice chest, they are specifically designed for canoeing. Most use them to carry their food and cooking gear inside. If on a tight budget, you can make one as a DIY project. I made one out of a heavy duty five gallon plastic bucket sealed using what is known as a Gamma lid, or a Lock-tite lid, a lid with a tight fitting, O-ring sealed rim, where a twist on lid is rotated and locked into place. 

These are available at most hardware stores. I also used an old PFD attached to the barrel with a nylon strap as a padded means of carrying it on a portage. It's completely waterproof, easy to transport, and best of all only cost me about $10.00 to make.

My second pet peeve, and only by the smallest of margins, is the Boom Box. Why on earth would you want to carry along a loud, bulky music box and blare away to drown out the sounds of nature? Don't do it. It ruins the whole purpose for getting away. Not everyone in your group may like your choice of music anyway, the noise it makes carries a long ways and spills over into other areas. I have seen this far too often, mostly at public campgrounds, which I never use anymore, but also on more isolated adventures. Here you are, finally away from the grind, camped on a nice gravel bar or on a rustic campsite with a great view of the lake, birds singing, wind whispering through the trees, and water flowing over shoals, and someone brings out the boom box and blasts the sounds of silence into oblivion. Makes a grown man want to cry. I see no problem with someone bringing an acoustical guitar along as long as it can be protected from the elements. Some gentle guitar music around the campfire might be quite a nice thing to experience, but even that can become a problem if taken to an extreme. Leave the boom box at home and as far as that goes, leave the headphones and digital music at home as well. Enjoy the sights, sounds, and moments nature gives to you.

As a photographer, it is too temping to not take along my camera while canoeing. That, however presents a whole other problem. Sometimes I purposely choose to leave all that stuff at home and simply get out and make visual memories instead. Even so, camera gear and water generally do not mix well so caution needs to be taken to protect your gear. The best thing to use is a waterproof container like the ones made by Pelican. They can be a budget buster, but they are really good for camera gear. There are other less expensive brands that serve the same purpose, or you can go the shoe string route. I use a ammo can.

 Available at most sporting goods stores, they are inexpensive, O-ring sealed, and close snuggly. For added insurance I will place camera gear inside large zip lock bags and seal them inside the can. I also will place some shipping bubble wrap inside to cushion the camera and lens. The ammo cans provide easy access and relatively safe watertight protection, plus they are small and light weight.

As far as camera gear goes, I generally will go light taking only one camera body, a few extra batteries, and two lenses; a wide angle and a small telephoto. A small lightweight tripod can be useful, but again, caution is the better part of valor here. If used inside the canoe, and they can be, they must be tightly secured to prevent it from tipping over. They are better used on firm ground away from the water. Another option is to use a GoPro camera. They are great and take wonderful high definition video and still photos, plus they are waterproof. GoPro is the industry standard and consequently are somewhat expensive, but there are less expensive after market brands that provide similar features and quality.

Canoeing and photography go well together. For the most part it is easier to approach wildlife from the water with a canoe. I guess they just don't equate danger coming from the water. Slow movements, dull clothing, stealthy approach will often get you quite close. With a small telephoto lens, and you can capture the natural behavior of the wildlife. Get on the water early when there is a mist or light fog and you have the makings of very special light and compositions.

For overnight or multi-day trips, it is important to eat well. Doing so is subject to a wide variety of options and personal tastes. There is always the store bought dehydrated meals. These are very good and light, quick to prepare with little or no cleanup required. They can be a bit pricey depending on brand and the individual meal, but do offer a simple and nutritious solution to your daily meal plans. You can also dehydrate your own food and store them in zip lock bags. With a little practice, complete meals can be dehydrated, just add hot water and in a few minutes you're ready to eat. Having a meal plan worked out in advance makes your overnight outings rewarding and filling. If you are only going to be out for a single overnight trip, a few canned foods can be used for meals, but remember, if you pack it in, you pack it out. Too many times I have seen smashed cans left in a campfire. Not only does this look bad, its just a bad habit to get into. I will put my empty cans in the fire until the residue contents are burned out, then after the cans cool, I smash them and toss them into a zip lock bag to be disposed of later.

Cooking over a campfire is one of camping life's best pleasures. It takes a bit of practice, but can be mastered by almost anyone. One of my favorite and easy meals is to make Bannock quick bread served with scrambled eggs and bacon. Bacon can be frozen and wrapped in butcher paper and by the time its meal time, it will be thawed and still fresh. Free range eggs are best for as long as they have not been washed or refrigerated, they will keep a long time, several days for sure. (Washing them removes a protective layer on the shell that naturally prevents bacteria from entering the egg. Once washed, they must be kept cool.) Regular store bought eggs are good for a few days as long as the weather is not too hot.

Bannock is quick and simple. The basic recipe is one cup of flour mixed with one tablespoon of baking powder and a 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Add enough water to knead it into a bread-like dough. Sprinkle a little extra flour on top to keep it from sticking and spoon a glob into a hot frying pan greased with olive oil or even better...bacon grease. (this makes two or three large biscuit like cakes).

Smash it down to flatten it somewhat and flip it a couple of times until cooked through, it doesn't take long. Cut or fold it to make two halves. Add a little butter, and smother it with scrambled eggs, add a few green onions and/or green peppers, and bacon, maybe a little maple syrup, squeeze together and enjoy...I'm telling you, cooked over a campfire, there ain't no better camping meal around and it will carry you far into an active day. 

Canoe camping and photography offers the best of both worlds; a chance to get away and an opportunity to experience and capture nature up close. You'll find you can sneak up on wildlife with a canoe to get those amazing close in shots plus placing yourself in nature opens up more possibilities to capture truly amazing scenic photographs. Canoes are silent and safe when operated within their capabilities. As stated in the beginning, there are more don'ts than there are do's. Just use a common sense approach, keep things simple, and enjoy yourself...and as always, be safe and smart.

Milestones

 Beyond The Campfire started back in 2010 as an offshoot of an old 1990's website I developed called Oklahoma Backcountry. OKBC was an experiment where I learned how to construct a story and how to put my outdoor experiences into words. It was mostly about hunting and fishing along with some other outdoor related adventures mostly in the Oklahoma outdoor arena. Being an applications programmer I created the site using HTML code, which took a bit of a learning curve. Over time it developed a small but consistent following and garnered somewhere around 50,000 hits or so within its lifetime. It was selected as one of the top 10 AOL Hometown websites and was one of the featured pages on that platform. But, in time, the AOL Hometown platform closed down suddenly and almost all of the stories and photos posted on the site were lost. Except for a few printed stories, everything else was lost.

Fast forward a few years and I ended up in Kentucky. Photography became a larger part of my life and I began to explore the possibility of starting a new webpage with a focus blended on outdoor activity and photography. I settled on using Blogspot as a platform. It fit my purposes almost perfectly and in October 2010 I started Beyond the Campfire (BTC) and posted my first article, Time on the Prairie,  https://beyondthecampfirebykeith.blogspot.com/2010/10/time-on-prairie.html

It was short paragraph with a single photograph, but it was a beginning, and since then I've posted and shared almost 500 articles using countless photographs, with visits from almost 90 countries, all 50 states, and hundreds of cities. As of this writing BTC is approaching 140,000 hits. In 2018, using a similar format, I created a Media Page for the local Sunny 16 Camera Club. (https://sunnysixteencameraclub.blogspot.com/)  It has grown to date with almost 20,000 hits from 40 countries, 40 States, hundreds of cities, with over 80 articles and hundreds of photographs provided by club members.

Back 2019, After hundreds of articles and photographs, I felt like BTC had grow a bit stale and repetitive having lost some of its originality and freshness, so I decided to shut it down. It remained available for anyone to visit and browse through the archive of articles, and so it remained dormant for a while. 

By 2021, those creative longings once again began to stir and BTC was reopened with a newer approach focusing less on the how-to photography and more on the outdoor experience with photography as a measure of the moment. I also started making more video productions calling them Beyond the Campfire Adventure Photography Video Productions. That endeavor has gone through a great deal of trial and error, a lot of error, but has evolved into a series of YouTube video's focusing on the outdoor experiences captured not only through photographs, with using videography as the main media tool.

Beyond the Campfire over the past 12 years or so has taken on a life and personality of its own. My writing and videography skills are improving, with lots of room yet to expand into. I am thankful for all of the support and following from every visitor and I hope Beyond the Campfire has inspired you to explore the outdoors with your camera.

Doing With Less to Achieve the Most

 I stirred back to life from a questionable sleep to discover a sharply defined night sky filled with chandeliers of stars. No moon was out and light pollution was virtually nonexistent. I had slept little. Just dozed, here and there, waiting for the constellation Orion to climb high enough to breach the top of the ridge surrounding my campsite. Thought it might peek through the canopy of tall, ancient trees outlining the blue-black sky dome inside of which I was encased.

It must have been around midnight when I climbed out of my sleeping bag. The dog days of summer were but a distant memory, and winter hovered a few weeks away, so the air possessed a refreshing chill to it with the aroma of dry, late fall leaves covering the ground. Smoke from the campfire was but a smoldering ghost of itself by this time, but remnant aspirations settled low across the ravine below me illuminated by the ambient glow of thousands of stars. My purpose, well, first of all I just wanted to get away for a while. Secondly, I wanted to do some nature and woodland style photography and should clear skies prevail, do some night sky photography taking advantage of the dark skies of Mammoth Cave National Park.

My camp for early December was spartan; a small tarp draped over a stretch of paracord with a small ground cloth, sleeping pad, and a sleeping bag tucked underneath. I had backpacked into the backcountry of the park, and contrary to what I would normally carry, to save weight I purposely reduced the amount of gear I carried including my camera gear bringing only a Nikon for the main video both the A-roll and B-roll segments, a Sony for still shots, plus one extra lens and a few extra batteries. 

The only luxuries I afforded myself were two tripods, a smallish one for video, and my regular one for the still photography. I could have gotten by with but one, even so, the camera gear alone added several pounds to my packing gear which had mysteriously grown heavier by the time I reached my destination the day before.

Camping gear was basic with the tarp and sleeping bag being the most important portion, but I also brought along enough food and cooking gear for a two day stay, a small camp stove in case it rained, and a water filtration system to provide for clean water...

...not far from the camp, a spring created a light shower of water that gently tumbled off the top of a bluff to provide more than enough clean water... A few other basic extras completed my gear list. 

Doing with less to achieve the most, became the theme of this nature outing. Being somewhat hobbled with a troublesome hip encouraged me to reduce the overall weight of my gear. I was still able to limp along at a good pace, just had to take more breaks along the way.

 Doing with less prompts one to fully use what you do have. A tent would have been a nice luxury, but not necessary for the weather report indicated little chance of rain. The tarp would be more than adequate and I preferred its simplicity. Even in a moderate rain the tarp would provide enough protection. More camera gear would have only added more weight and not improved my chances of capturing some good photos. I actually carried more than I really needed, but used all of it.

I brought plenty of food, some dehydrated things, along with packages of oatmeal, and trail snacks, plus warm gear for the season and could have stretched my food into a third day if I needed to. Doing with less actually made the outing more enjoyable. There certainly were far fewer things to keep up with. I was able to spend some quality time just relaxing around the campfire writing in my adventure journal. 

Life is too easy sometimes. Being retired makes it too tempting to just do nothing, which is okay for a while, but not all the time. Forcing yourself to rough it and to become more self reliant strengthens resolve and confidence. It transports you into another realm where physical activity combined with a purpose lifts your emotional state to where satisfaction becomes the end result. Even as a photographer, being forced to use lesser equipment encouraged me to think through the process more thoroughly.  Instead of simply shooting a lot photos hoping one or two might turn out, I began to search for, and then see specific photo opportunities. Observing how the light filtered through and highlighted the landscape, I was able to focus more on moment defining shots.

 After doing so, checking out the finished photos reminded me of how enjoyable the outing was, and how rewarding roughing it can become. Those photos might be some of the most memorable ones I may ever take, because they are forever tied to a place and time, places and times locked into my memory banks by aromas, sounds, stillness, and visual beauty.

A backpacking photography adventure removes the boredom one might possess by sitting around the house. Got my heart to pumping again, lungs to working more deeply, and more calories were burned by limbering up the legs, shoulders, back, and...well pretty much the whole body. By the end of a couple of days, the beltline seemed looser as well. Although I'm in reasonably good shape for an old guy, all the new aches, additional stiff joints, and surprisingly sore muscles, helped me to appreciate more fully the luxuries I too often take for granted.

Time seemed to slow down, as a contrast to the often self imposed hurried and hectic life. The day seemed longer, the evening tarried well into the night, and a tired but relaxed state of mind prevailed. Yet, when it was over and time to pack up, it all seemed to fly by much to fast. This was my third backpacking trip into Mammoth Cave NP that season, and since then I have longed to return, and will do so when the season changes again. Until then, I will do much the same kind of thing, biding my time by paddling my canoe toward new and exciting outdoor adventures. A canoe fishing/camping/photo trip appears to be on order sometime soon. Much too hot to do more than plan for it now, but the heat will soon break and with proper planning, I look to make a multi-day, adventure photography outing...to video and write about the how to's and what for's of that adventure. That, after all, is what Beyond The Campfire is all about.

As a photographer, during that late fall backcountry outing, nature began to present herself in ways I may never experience again, plus that night sky, oh what a special evening that was. Orion never glowed so brightly, and the heavens opened their door allowing me to enter into its realm. The memories...well, they will last forever, and I plan on making new ones soon. Doing with less to achieve the most out of life, there's something to be said about roughing it outdoors, even as a photographer.

Photographing Nature From A Canoe

Many hours have I spent inside a canoe over the years. A good number of them with a camera in hand capturing nature from a water level vantage point. 

The fundamentals of photography remain the same, of course, regardless from where you find yourself, but photographing from inside a canoe presents both new possibilities and new difficulties. 

There are common sense precautions one must follow when using a canoe, but I'll leave that discussion for another time. Just start out on a smaller body of water to gain some experience before tackling more demanding conditions.

The new possibilities are numerous, and present themselves simply because a canoe allows you to access areas you may not otherwise be able to access. Whether on a float down a scenic river, or gliding across the mirrored surface of a lake, simply being able to reach other points of interest opens you up as a photographer to all kinds of opportunities. Dewitt Jones, a former National Geographic photographer always advocates, as a photographer, you should strive to place yourself at the point of greatest potential. This means being on location at a time that offers the greatest opportunity to capture the most interesting subjects in the best possible light.

I've managed to do some wildlife photography over the years with limited success most of the time. But, the best wildlife photographs I've managed to capture were almost all made while I was paddling in my canoe. Not sure why that is exactly, but I suspect most wildlife do not equate threats coming  from the water, so they tend to remain a bit calmer and less spooky as a result.

I once was able to paddle very close to a immature green heron. I saw him fly across a cove and land on the far bank about seventy five yards away, so I pulled my camera out with the big 50mm - 500mm lens and slowly made my way over to where he sat down. I could see him moving along the bank and in the shallows searching for a meal. Slowly and calmly I worked the canoe toward him, snapping photo's as I closed in, eventually drifting to within fifteen feet or so. Several closeup photos were made but most of the time I simply watched his antics from close range for several minutes until he squawked and flew off. He never acted spooked at my presence, even when so close.

One of the most iconic wildlife photos I captured was while canoeing up on Barren River Lake late one summer. It was just before sunup when I arrived to make my way toward the upper end of the lake. There was some fog on the water creating a surreal atmosphere. The morning grew brighter and as I was moving toward a better vantage point to photograph some great egrets, I heard a soft splash and saw some movement through the fog. Turned out to be a deer swimming across the gap between a small island and the mainland. I hand held the camera and long heavy lens to get that photo. It's high key finish turned it into a unique wildlife portrait, one I would never have captured without the use of my canoe.

Although it is sometimes difficult to crawl out of bed well before sunrise, the photographic rewards can be downright inspiring by doing so. It's that place yourself at the point of greatest potential concept that comes into play here. Many times I have been in the right place at the right time simply because I was willing to lose a few hours of sleep. Photographically, the rewards almost always justify the effort, but more importantly, the visual and emotional rewards are even greater. 

So many times I've simply stopped paddling to drift silently across the stillness of the morning. It is during those times I find myself most at peace with my surroundings. Although the camera only captures a weak facsimile of the experience, what truly matters is how your heart captures the moment, for it is within the depths of its chambers the best images are made and the most personal of memories are kept. 

There are bigger, faster, and more comfortable boats, but none more versatile than a canoe. Mine has allowed me to slow down and observe nature at her best. Because of this classic and timeless vessel,  time spent in nature has afforded me the luxury of witnessing the heart warming moment when the amber hues of a new day slowly drift into view. I have been awed, caught up close, within the power of a thunderstorm, and calmed by the beauty of cobalt blue skies. The sting of wind blown sleet in my face and the warmth of the sun on my back has added to many canoeing adventures. No sleep was ever so peaceful as when camping next to flowing, crystal clear waters. Gazing into a dark unopposed night sky to witness the majesty of the Milky Way and a wolf howling moon as it lingered across the heavens, well, it just don't get much better. 

Those times spent communing with nature in my canoe granted me precious moments of sharing days more personal and intimate than ordinary times could afford to offer, and...along the way...I managed to take a few pictures.