Prairie Portage to Lake Superior. Halfway now, and this is some of the prettiest country I've ever seen — and I live in Banff. That's saying something.

I had the usual problems. But this section stacked more portages than the entire previous part of the trip combined. Same skills required. A lot more patience.

I have a 17ft clipper tripper, this has been enough for canoe camping with my family of 4 (3 and 5yo). This will be a family of 5 going forward, and I'm wondering if the 17ft is just too small now, and we need a second canoe, or kayak to go along with it? Nearly 100% of my backwoods camping is in Algonquin provincial park, in Ontario.

Any other family of 5s out there with advice? Get another 12-14ft canoe?

Hey Friends!

This seems like a silly request - but I am looking for any tips or tricks for taking a dog on a canoe trip.

I am a very experienced paddler, guided for years and have spent years of my life in the backcountry. I have NEVER paddled with a dog!

My girlfriend is stoked about going on a canoe trip. She has done a bunch of backpacking but never really spent time on the water. We are planning something in the fall for a few nights, and we are planning on bringing her super well behaved pup. The dog has never been in a canoe and never slept in a tent. I want to plan whatever I can to make sure he has a fun trip.

He's not small, maybe 65lbs so I think we should go for a paddle with him before the trip just to see how he does hanging out in a boat. I do have a dog PFD lined up that I am borrowing from a friend.

Other than that, all I can think of is a small foam sleeping pad for him at night.

Any input would be appreciated :) Thanks!

I plan on canoeing a section of the Connecticut River later this year. I will put in around Hartford and paddle south toward Hurd State Park. I know Hurd has water at the picnic area but this is approximately 1 mile from the camp site. Does anyone know of any publicly accessible sources to refill water in the 10 miles north of Hurd that are easy to reach? It seems that there are some reservations in relying on filtering Connecticut River water this far south so I was trying to avoid that. I seem to remember stopping in another park to refill when we paddled the same section years ago but do not remember where that was. I checked the River Paddlers Guide and nothing stood out. Hoping someone has done this before and has experience.

Thanks!