Canoe Camping On A Gravel Bar

[P_L]

My best friend and I are planning a canoe camping trip for mid/late June. We both have done multiple 10 day trips canoe camping in Canada so we sort of know what to expect but all of our canoe camping has been done on lakes not rivers. It is months away so some of the details are still up in the air but we have time. Are there any tips you guys could offer?

-We have a specific section of river in mind and we are both familiar with fishing/floating there just not overnight. We will be self shuttling and using our own canoes

-We plan to do 3 or 4 days and limit it to 5ish miles a day so we have plenty of time to fish. (mostly park and wade thanks to Tim Holschlag's books lol), I might rig up an anchor system if yall think it would be worth the extra weight and trouble.

-I worry about flash flooding so we will definitely change the dates if it looks like storms or the river is up. We also know where the higher ground is just to be on the safe side.

-Not sure if we will tandem or both solo. We wont have much in the way of gear with us and probably wont even have a cooler so weight shouldn't be an issue if we decide to tandem.

My biggest questions are:

Can we still use an alcohol stove to cook with if there were to be a fire ban? cold/raw meals add tons of weight

I don't want to start another legal river access debate but if by chance we camp on a private gravel bar, can we still collect dead fall for a fire/duck into the woods to use the bathroom? The area is a mix of private and public land so it wont be hard to find public land if you think it would be a problem. It will just be 2 of us and we are both pretty quiet/respectful "leave no trace" type campers. We will avoid camping within eye sight of any club houses if it does happen to be private land. We are looking to get away, not listen to a bunch of drunks yelling around a camp fire at least on this trip anyways.

Is a therm-a-rest chair pad good enough to sleep on or should we pick up a few cheap yoga mats for extra padding? We don't mind sleeping on the ground but hard river rock isnt soft dirt.

Can we use bivys or will the bugs be too bad in June?

Rick will likely want to carry his hand held boom stick, any problems or things he needs to consider before bringing it along? He is legal, doesn't drink, carries most of the time and has good judgment so its not him we are worried about really.

thanks for the help and if there is anything we are not thinking of please feel free to speak up.

paul

[Wayne SW/MO]

I'll try some of you questions. The ban on fires has been on campfires, or open fires. You should be fine with alcohol and in fact it is the safest of all the fuels.

There should be no privately owned gravel bars, public access is accepted as the high water mark.

It's hard to know what your comfort level is, but a lot gravel bars have some good sized gravel on them. I think I would take all the padding I could reasonably take.

Yes on the bugs, if you don't have screen fronts for your bivys the skeeters will find you.

The gun is optional, and probably not necessary. I've never been on a float where I wished I was armed.

If you would post the river you would probably get better information and there are no secret rivers anyway.

[jdmidwest]

Carry a small handheld NOAA weather radio and keep abreast of the weather conditions. They will post flash flood warnings in advance so you can plan accordingly. Check it often if there are storms are rain in the area. Some watersheds can collect enough water far upstream to flash flood a lower portion that does not get any rain. Research the river and learn the local towns so you can tell if you are in an affected area.

I would carry a light weight tent with some weatherproofing, just in case it rains. A thermarest mattress should do fine. Probably a 50 degree bag or a nice blanket that time of year.

Assuming you are floating a MO stream, you are legal to carry openly anywhere you go with a handgun and concealed if you have the permit. Concealed is best as most river rats are scared if they see you packing heat openly and will ask questions. Ark is different, they prohibit carry in stream access areas and some other goofy stuff. Read the rules.

Hopefully there will not be a burn ban this year in MO, we have busted the drought. So you should be able to collect deadfall. But a firewood supply along the river is always iffy if it is a popular stream, it gets picked clean. Portable stoves are usually not included in a burn ban, just open camp fires.

[P_L]

Sorry I didnt post the name of the river, I didnt think it would matter much but it is the Meramec. I own a couple acres kinda near the section we are going to float camp. Both of us have fished there plenty of times during the day just never much past dusk. I often wonder what the "night life" on the river is like so to speak. It will be nice to see what animals are out and what fish are biting at 2am. I will bring the screen tent and a weather radio now thanks to you folks. I hope we dont need a gun on the river but rick enjoys carrying and to each his own. I would rather he didnt but im not going to make an issue out of it if he does. I also think less is more when camping and think we will be good with one smaller bag to share for clothes and a larger pack for food/tent/sleeping bags.

[Wayne SW/MO]

I'm not familiar with the Meramec, but I doubt you'll have any people problems, but if makes your buddy happy and he's stable, no harm no foul. If you have room in the canoes you might pick up wood you come across floating, rather than try to find it after you camp.

I'm sure you'll get some good specific advice about the river from others on here.