Advanced Gravel Bar Camping

[Greasy B]

For me the perfect gravel bar is free of all signs of previous occupation. If you can find a bar that doesn't even have foot prints especially later in the season you not only found an ideal camp site but you have picked the perfect float stream as well.

On my favorite overnight floats, the ones I do two or three times a season my camp sites are already picked out and usually meet the perfect site requirements. A couple of my sites are only a short distance from places the land owner frequents, one is an island a short distance up stream from from a private pavilion and picnic area. Every time I past this fellow and his family they give me a friendly wave just as I cut the motor and pull behind the island. Never have I felt unwelcome or threatened. To that land owner and others I am grateful.

[Al Agnew]

Okay, next chapter...equipment.

Tent, ground cloth. Sleeping bag and pad. Cooking stuff, plates, utensils. Some miscellaneous stuff like lights...

Since I'm in a canoe, I can carry quite a bit of stuff, even in the solo canoe. So for a tent I want a 4 person one, even if I'm by myself. Doesn't take up that much more room, weight is not important like it would be backpacking, and I love the roominess for throwing everything in there that I don't want to get wet from dew if not rain, and still having plenty of space to sleep. For many years I used the old Eureka Timberline 4, and almost replaced it with another one, but opted for a Mountain Hardwear Drifter 4 instead...I haven't used it enough yet to form an opinion on it. Whatever your tent is, it needs to have plenty of ventilation. I want large doors or "windows" on opposite sides at least. And you want it to be easy to set up (if you've just bought a new one, practice setting it up before you go, until you don't need the directions to do it).

When I was a kid we never had a tent, just a big tarp that we wrapped ourselves up in if it rained, otherwise we slept under the stars. And we'd be eaten by mosquitoes occasionally, wake up wet with dew, and sometimes have to wake up and get under the tarp real fast when a deluge hit. It's way better to have a good tent.

By the way, on a gravel bar, you want your ground cloth to be completely under the tent. If your ground cloth is bigger than the tent and it rains, the water collects under the tent, and few tent floors are completely waterproof. One of the many advantages to camping on gravel is that there's never a problem with drainage. The ground cloth is mostly there to give the tent floor some protection and a tiny bit of insulation from rocks under you.

Sleeping bags are an individual choice. If you float with your wife, get bags that zip together. I've got a synthetic bag rated to 30 degrees, that zips together with an unfilled bag with pockets for Thermorest pads. I use it when Mary goes along as the underneath bag, with the 30 degree bag on top. If by myself in all but cold weather trips, I just use the 30 degree bag. I've got a two 0 degree down bags for cold weather.

Padding is important.I carry a 3/4th length closed cell foam pad as an underpad, atop which I have a two inch thick self inflating pad. I'm completely insulated from rocks and sleep quite comfortably, as long as I have a good pillow. At home I sleep on two pillows of average thickness. I want something similar in thickness on the river. The lack of the right pillowing for my head is what will make sleeping the most problematical on a gravel bar. However, except during the hottest part of the summer, when I don't carry many extra pieces of clothing, I usually have enough extra clothing and jackets to form a good pillow, as long as I also have a nice pillowcase to stuff it all in. So I actually carry a pillowcase so that my head is touching something soft. If the clothing isn't quite thick enough, I put my life jacket underneath it. I tried a couple of different self-inflating pillows, but they didn't work for me because they were too small and my head kept slipping off them.

[Terrierman]

Equipment adds:

A table. Civilized man deserves a table to cook and eat on.

A lantern. The better to see with.

A tarp for over the table to keep the dew off and if it rains at all, you will feel like one of the most fortunate people on the planet.

A comfortable chair.

A stove to make your coffee with in the morning and to cook on too. Sure fire will work, but a stove is just so convenient.

A grate to cook on over the fire. For meat and such.

A dutch oven. Civilized men like biscuits and gravy on the riverbank. And sometimes ribs and beans. You just never know.

A folding shovel. For sanitation and also for dutch oven cooking.

Music, for when the sun is down, the fire is on and the whiskey is out. Not for blaring all day but for adding that magic touch that some of the good stuff adds. I carry an Ipod in a little speaker case.

[Ham]

Thin rope or cord to hang clothes and/or secure canoe.

Piece of plywood to make a table top on the cooler for supper.

gloves to handle hot roasted corn on the cob.

gotta have chairs

fire grate and wire brish

air mattress

change of clothes and dry shoes so nice to change out of the wet stuff at the end of the day.

IF it's warm, soap/shampoo to wash the grit off before supper.

you guys nailed all I look for in a gravel bar. I want smallish gravel under the tent. Hate sand. ample Firewood is a must. A little elevation in case of a river rise. a little open terrain to let a breese blow the bugs off. running water to suppress unwanted noise. I want to be under stars and NOT under branches.

[Al Agnew]

A lot depends upon how elaborate you want to go with meals. Ham's idea of the piece of plywood to put on a cooler for a table is great. You can also buy one of those roll-up tables that don't take up much room. Chairs are definitely a good idea. Lanterns are nice if you want to be spending a lot of time doing stuff after dark, but on my trips by the time it gets dark it's nice to just sit in front of the campfire, or in the dark, and soak up the surroundings and have some nice conversation. A reliable small flashlight is a must, though.

[Ham]

LED light on headband. LED lantern for in the tent. 6V LED flashlight just in case. Relatiively cheap. Easy on batteries. Pretty lightweight.

[Terrierman]

A lot depends upon how elaborate you want to go with meals. Ham's idea of the piece of plywood to put on a cooler for a table is great. You can also buy one of those roll-up tables that don't take up much room. Chairs are definitely a good idea. Lanterns are nice if you want to be spending a lot of time doing stuff after dark, but on my trips by the time it gets dark it's nice to just sit in front of the campfire, or in the dark, and soak up the surroundings and have some nice conversation. A reliable small flashlight is a must, though.

Roll up table is what I use. They are great.

[Flysmallie]

Equipment adds:

A dutch oven. Civilized men like biscuits and gravy on the riverbank. And sometimes ribs and beans. You just never know.

Or some peach cobbler after dinner.

[Wayne SW/MO]

Or some peach cobbler after dinner.

Yup, but finding something less than the common chunk rock is paramount.

[Mark]

Three items I always have that are not mentioned;

1)Baby Weber grill

2)radio (any self respecting Cards fan has to have the game on)

3)Guitar

Campsite priorities;

1)Evening and morning fishing spot

2)Enough wadeable water for a couple people to each have their own water

3)Enough tent room to keep snorers away from nonsnorers

4)Evening shade

5)Ability to get reception on radio for Cards game.

There's nothing like sitting around the campfire, having a cold beer, and listening and laughing at Mike Shannon.