School’s is going to be out in the next few weeks. No more homework, no more deadlines, and no more winter gloom. After months of dreadful anticipation, summer has finally graced us with its warming presence this year. Perhaps you’ve been meaning to go on a vacation to an exotic island and bring home wonderful memories of getting intimate with a culture different from your own, or maybe you decide to spend summer getting engrossed in your personal pet project?
Well, whatever the case, summer calls for recreation and celebration—a time-off, you can say, from the yearly tedium of school or work. So aside from the small get-together and planned vacation, is there any better way to celebrate the warmest season of the year? Well, how about partaking in an outdoor excursion with some elements of sport on the side? Yeah, that sounds reasonably fun, especially if you crave for some action taking place in a natural setting—after all, being a couch potato and generally bumming around inside of the house all day doesn’t constitute a fun vacation in our book. Lots of options to choose from, but this time, we’re gonna talk about canoeing and camping—followed by what sort of gear and equipment you should prepare.
For those who have never experienced being a boy scout, canoeing is an activity that involves paddling a canoe with a single-bladed paddle on lakes, rivers, oceans, ponds, and streams, with each offering its own level of difficulty and challenges for the paddler to navigate through. Nowadays, this ancient form of transportation has been adopted as a means of recreation. The recreational form of canoeing, the one we’ll be focusing on, is usually referred to as canoe touring, which normally include long-distance travel and setting up a camp along the way. Canoe touring is especially popular in North America and the fact that canoe touring is what Native Americans have practiced to this day makes the trip even more notable. There are numerous locations in the wilderness that are just perfect for this sort of outdoor trip, with Minnesota comes to mind as a recommended spot if you plan on doing so.
Due to its higher level of versatility compared to that of backpacking, canoe touring offers a higher degree of satisfaction—we even dare say that canoe touring brings you even closer to nature, and you can take your time to soak the atmosphere, explore an otherwise unreachable area, and learn to appreciate the beauty of the wilderness. As for the gear you’ll need for it, unfortunately, you’re gonna be carrying far more than what backpackers would usually do. For one, obviously, you’re gonna need a canoe, complete with the peddle and floatation device—and some additional protective gears like a couple of knee pads, shoulder pads, and a helmet. And since you’ll end up camping anyway, you can bring the usual checklist of necessities like a tent, sleeping bags, a water bottle, a knife, ropes, a lighter and a lamp...and don't forget your Malo'o DryRack. For a bonus, you can add fishing rod in your inventory—there’s nothing better than eating a freshly-caught fish once you’ve camped at the end of the route. For an extra dose of fun, you can bring one or two friends along with you—just remember not to bring too many, as the number of people in a canoe touring party is in inverse proportion to the quality of the trip.
Feeling intrigued? Well, don’t take our word for it. Go online for some additional help and immerse yourself in nature this summer.
