Rain on a Wilderness Canoe Trip

Living at the end of the Gunflint Trail I have a little more flexibility of when I can paddle and camp than someone who lives farther away. I prefer not to start my canoe camping trip in the rain as do most people. However, there are a hearty number of folks who choose to head out canoeing despite downpours of rain.

In the last 24 hours we’ve had .73″ of rain and since midnight .52″ has fallen.  We had a couple of groups delay their departure by an hour or so but most of them went out as scheduled. This included Mike and a group of boys from our church in Grand Marais. This is the third year he and the Pastor have taken this group of boys canoe camping(I did one trip with the girls and that was enough for me!)

Paddling in the rain isn’t too bad especially if there aren’t any waves or lightning. It is mesmorizing to watch the rain drop onto the surface of the water and beautiful to see the pine trees drip with water. The smell is fresh and  everything looks greener after a bath.

When your camping in the rain there is opportunity to just relax. When’s the last time you had nothing pressing you had to do? A game of dice or cards, reading a book, fishing and even swimming can all be done when it’s raining. It doesn’t have to interfere with our fun unless we let it.

And of course, a little rain on a wilderness canoe trip makes you appreciate the sunshine even more.