Packing- Overnight Kayaking

Last weekend, we did an overnight kayak trip on the Clarion River.  We started at Lazy River Canoe Rental in Ridgway, Pa and yakked 30 miles down river.  We spent the night along the river, and did I mention, we had 6 kids under 9!? (with 4 adults)

Doing this might seem impossible if you overthink it.  My husband kept giving me the side-eye and what-ifs as I planned this adventure.  Mostly, about what to bring with us, and what to leave at home.  So, here's what I packed.

The first thing I did was go out to purchase some things we didn't have, but thought we would need.  Now, this list is not extensive because we are on a serious budget right now.  Although I was worried about that part, there wasn't anything I was missing that we truly needed.  I would love to have a personal coffee maker for the outdoors, but that would be a luxury more than a necessity.  What I did purchase though were a couple of dry bags and straps- not a luxury, a definite necessity!

I packed our dry bags, two filled with sleeping bags and one filled with changes of clothes, 2 sets per kid per day (one for adults), a swimsuit, a sweatshirt, sweatpants and a change of shoes.  They wear their water shoes on the boats, so even a pair of flip flops makes it nice to get out of the wet shoes. Easy peezy!

Tent, check!

Cooler-  I packed drinks and lots of them.  I stashed some extra water bottles and drinks in different cubbies and spaces in our kayaks that I could refill the cooler with.  It was HOT!  We had cheese that I presliced and put in ziplocs, deli meat and cheese, brats and hot dogs, and Hershey bars in the cooler.  In the little pocket in the front of the cooler, I had sunscreen and bug spray for easy access.

Our dry food bag had crackers, beef sticks and turkey sticks, jerkey, granola bars, trail mix, cheeze it crackers, and our bread items (buns for brats and dogs and bread for lunch meat)  Every food item I could get into a ziploc bag went into one.  I had snack bags with snacks in them.  Anything in the cooler was in a ziploc.  I wanted everything to stay dry!

I packed some soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste, a hairbrush, deodorant, dry shampoo, sanitizer, first aid kit, flash lights and baby wipes into a bag.

We also had a dry box for cell phone, etc, lighter, some fire starter, a gun, rope, and a knife stashed throughout some of the bags.

That was it!  It was almost too easy!  I learned that I can actually pack a little more than I did as the kayaks will hold a lot more than we expected.

Here is what the boats looked like all packed up and ready for launch!

    The three on the right are ours, and the three on the left are friends'.  You can see how our tent fit right underneath a wet bag on the green kayak.  The cooler was in reach to grab drinks on the float on the blue kayak.  There was a snack bag right behind my seat so I could easily grab and pass snacks to kids.

 

These were the dry bags we purchased from Walmart that were $13 and did a great job at keeping everything dry, and some of our necessities packed up and ready to be loaded.

I'll be sharing more about our trip next!

Rain, rain, go away

We had planned to hike through a section of the Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail (LHHT) into Ohiopyle this weekend.  The game plan was 6 miles of hiking, stay at an overnight shelter and another 6+ miles of hiking into the quaint town of Ohiopyle.  Sadly, my gear is still sitting in the corner, all packed up with no where to go.  Hiking with the three very young ones sometimes means a change of plans if the weather does not cooperate.  The last thing I want is to drag cranky, wet kids through almost 13 miles of trail.  It might not seem like a lot of trail for some, but for those little legs, you may as well say it's across the country!

So, no real adventures means we dream up our next adventure.  With the long Memorial Day weekend approaching, where will the outdoors take you?

My mega-brave 4 year old at Ohiopyle natural waterslides area Aug, 2015.  This girl is wild with heart.

Back Story

I have been an outdoor enthusiast long before I heard those words.  I grew up with a love of the outdoors and adventures.  From camping to ATV’s, to night time walks and fires in the woods, I have always felt grounded in the big, beautiful outside.  Fast forward to raising three children under nine, I am inspired to give them the opportunity to find the beauty in a wild flower, the majesty of a mountain top, the endless fun of a stream, and a lust for adventure.  

I often hear comments about how crazy it is to take these young ones on such adventures, but with the right equipment and preparation, and mindset, anyone can.  We indulge in weekend camping trips, overnight backpacking, kayaking, day hikes, ATV’s, river rafting, fishing, skiing, and hunting.  We hope that our posts can help to get past some of the negative thoughts that revolve around, say, taking babies on a camping trip, and empower our readers to get out and love this beautiful earth.  

Finally, our blog name.  It comes from my favorite hymn, “How Great Thou Art.”  Every time I hear this hymn, I know this is why I was created, what my purpose is.  I was given this earth to make my soul sing.  I’ll leave you with my favorite verse.  

When through the woods, and forest glades I wander,

And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees.

When I look down, from lofty mountain grandeur

And see the brook, and feel the gentle breeze.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,

How great Thou art, How great Thou art.