Weight is less of a concern so we bring a cooler for the first two nights and go dry after that. Fresh food on night one makes the whole trip feel different. What do you splurge on?

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Sign in to chatWeight is less of a concern so we bring a cooler for the first two nights and go dry after that. Fresh food on night one makes the whole trip feel different. What do you splurge on?
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Sign in or create an accountRan the Wolf River in Wisconsin for kayaking and rafting and it is a genuinely fun stretch of whitewater without needing a plane ticket. Water levels change the character of it completely — what is a friendly bouncy run at one level is pushy and technical at another. Advice if you are heading there: - Check flow before you commit to a section. - Helmet and PFD every single time, no exceptions, even on the mellow stretches. - Scout anything you have not run. - Cold water early season will hurt you faster than the rapids will. Dress for the swim. Who else paddles the Wolf? Looking for recommendations on which sections are worth repeating.
The canoe carries more, portages worse, and is miserable in wind. The kayak is faster and drier but I cannot fit a week of food in it comfortably. For me the canoe still wins on anything over four days.
Loons everywhere, almost no bugs, and we had four of five campsites to ourselves. The 180-rod portage was worse than the map suggests after rain. Happy to share the day-by-day if anyone is planning it.
Two layers: everything in individual roll-tops inside a lined pack. The sleeping bag has its own compression dry sack and rides in the middle. I dumped in class II and lost nothing but pride.
Superior will hand you three glass hours and then twenty knots by noon. I now paddle early, camp early, and never fight a headwind on principle. Anyone with a forecasting source they trust up there?
Spent a Saturday in moving water practicing wet exits and swims with a group. The first real swim afterward felt routine instead of terrifying. Worth every cold minute.