So far, I’ve had two other outdoor skills posts for camping. In these posts, I discuss alternatives to the commercialization of recreational camping trips. While it’s true that expensive outdoors gear may have a place in extremely intense outdoor adventures, a casual overnight or weekend camping trip can probably be done with what you already have in your home/garage. It also turns out that Northern Michigan has very many camping opportunities ranging from campgrounds full of amenities to a random spot in the woods.

For this camping trip, I chose canoe as my means of transportation as opposed to the ATV I used before. It’s easy to rent canoes and drop offs/pickups along rivers in Northern Michigan. Admittedly, you will have a harder time avoiding other people along rivers. Rivers are popular summertime destinations. I saw many fishermen along the river up until nightfall. However, due to the June 19th holiday being a weekday and strategic choice in camping sites, I was still able to avoid the crowds while camping and canoeing in the morning.

The forests surrounding the Au Sable River are mostly cedar and white pine. However, some areas have significant stands of hardwoods and birch trees are common throughout. In fact, for Native Americans birch trees were used for the construction of canoes. I’ve even heard that birch trees gave northern tribes of Native Americans a strategic advantage as birch bark canoes were much lighter than canoes dug/burned out of logs. In addition to trees, you’ll probably see a lot of wildlife along the river. I saw over a dozen deer including one young fawn. I saw ducks and geese replete with ducklings and goslings. I saw a bald eagle flying overhead and several beavers in the river. Finally, I saw songbirds, a kingfisher, and fish.

The woods and rivers don’t suffer perfectionists any more than the unprepared. This is true even in basic things. Some people are particular about how they tie a canvas tarp between two trees. During my ATV trip, my two chosen jack pine trees were far apart, and my cord barely reached. I had to get creative for how I would attach the cordage to each tree. Then, during my canoe trip the two cedar trees I chose were so close that my tarp barely fit between. It took a few tries to get things right. Life is easier for those that work along with or around mother nature than those that try to bend her to their will.

I wasn’t too prepared for cooking. Having run out the door, I forgot everything from aluminum foil to eating utensils. But I was able to use a chip of firewood as a utensil and I boiled my potatoes in a steel canteen cup and browned some burger on a cast iron skillet.

So now we have another option to get back to the basics of camping in Northern Michigan. Canoe camping seems somewhat more adventurous than car camping, but you have fewer options of where to go.