2 Days Canoe Camping the St. Marys River | The River Rose 2 Feet Overnight

In short: We slept a solid ten hours and woke up to a river that had come up on us overnight. Where only about two feet of the canoe was in the water when we went to bed, the whole boat was floating by morning. Tina had pulled it up high the night before, and that is the only reason we still had a canoe. We made coffee and corn beef hash, then floated down water I have known my whole life, stopping at spots that each carry a story.

The morning the river came up

It was 8:30 and we had slept good, ten hours worth. Then I looked at the canoe. That river rose last night, quite a bit. Only about two foot of the canoe had been in water and now the whole canoe was in it. I am glad Tina pulled it up or we would not have had a canoe today. That is the lesson right there. You pull the boat up high and tie it off every night, because a river can come up on you while you sleep. It is cheap insurance, and this time it saved the whole trip.

Coffee, cast iron, and eggs I did not forget

First thing was getting Tina her coffee, one of those bottles of water that fits just right in her cow cup. It might have a little grit of sand in it, that is river coffee. Then out came old trusty, the cast iron pan, for corn beef hash and eggs. And guess what I did not forget this trip, my eggs. I carry them cracked and scrambled in a bottle, which does not look like eggs but is, and it is a lot easier to pack than shells that break. Corn beef hash and eggs and Tina's coffee. You cannot go wrong with that.

A float through home water

The river ran muddy that morning from all the rain, but the day was easy, a nice breeze for late August. This is home water for me, and every bend has a memory. There is the cypress tree a bunch of us climbed and jumped out of inner tubing, with poor Billy still up in it too scared to jump. There is where my cousin and I skipped school and tied up in the rain and caught a boatload of catfish. There is the bank where 25 years ago I swung out on a rope, landed in three foot of water, and broke one ankle and tore up the other. That was the last time I swung out of a tree. We floated it out in the rain with my 83-year-old mother waiting to pick us up, and we had a blast. A little rain never ruined a good day on home water.

Questions about the rising river

Why pull the canoe up high at night?

Because a river can rise fast overnight after rain, more than you would ever guess, and a boat left sitting at the water's edge can float off while you are sound asleep and never know it happened. We saw exactly how real that is on this trip. When we went to bed only about two feet of the canoe was sitting in the water, and by the time we woke up ten hours later the whole canoe was floating. The only reason we still had a boat to paddle home in was that Tina had pulled it up well past the water line and tied it off the night before. Pulling the canoe up high and securing it is cheap insurance, it takes a few extra minutes at most, but it is the difference between paddling out the next morning and being stranded with no way home. This time it saved the whole trip, and I will not skip that step again.

Is it worth camping when rain is forecast?

Yes, if you camp smart about it. Pick higher ground, secure the boat well above the water line, cover your gear, and keep breakfast simple so you are not fighting a stove in the rain. We proved it works. The river ran muddy the whole next morning from all the rain that fell, but the day itself turned out easy, with a nice breeze for late August, and none of it slowed us down. We still had our coffee and a hot breakfast before we ever pushed off, and we floated the rest of the trip out in the rain with my eighty three year old mother waiting on the bank to pick us up. We had an absolute blast the whole way. The only thing that really matters is doing the basics right before the rain starts, pulling the boat up high, picking solid ground, and keeping your systems simple, because a little rain never ruined a good day out on the water.

How do you carry eggs for camp?

I crack them ahead of time and carry them scrambled in a bottle. It does not look like a carton of eggs sitting in my gear, but that is exactly what it is, and it packs a whole lot easier than shells you can crack and lose on a rough put in. This trip I made sure not to forget them, which has not always been the case. Once we are camped, out comes the cast iron, the same pan I call old trusty, and that bottle of scrambled eggs goes straight in with some corn beef hash for a simple, filling breakfast. I get that going right after I take care of Tina, who gets her coffee first every single morning, poured from a bottle of water that fits just right in her cow cup, even if it has a little grit of sand in it from being out on the river.