Pro Tips: Spring River Trip Packing
Spring river trips can be the trickiest trips to plan. Of course you want nice weather, great flows, and be the only person on the river. However, that is rarely going to be the case. You can hope for maybe 2 of those 3 desires.
Here are some spring river trip packing tips to help you enjoy your maybe cold, maybe hot, rainy/snow, spring break river trip.
Layers
You have probably heard someone say to wear/dress in layers. This is the best advice for most all trips, but especially spring river trips. Spring weather is often unpredictable, fast changing, and likes to throw all of the elements at you. Being able to add or remove a layer as the weather changes is key to being comfortable.
Layers!
Here is the basic layer set up you should go with.
- Base layer
- Mid layer
- Insulation layer
- Rain/splash/wind layer
Day Bag
Spring trips are where I use my day bag most often. Normally I keep sunscreen, my epi pens, chapstick, phone/camera, battery bank with cords, and maybe a small layer in my day bag. When spring rolls around it gets a little more full with hand warmers, more layers, gloves, and a warm hat. Just make sure there is room to put stuff in if you take some layers off as the day starts to warm up.
Footwear
Along with layers the right footwear can really make a trip that much better. I would plan on bringing a minimum of river shoes, camp shoes, sleeping socks/booties. Rain boots are nice for in camp if there is rain in the forecast. Some trips have options for hiking so you may want to bring a dedicated hiking shoe or boot.
Foodwear options
Camp
Spring trips typically mean lots of time around the camp fire. Some rivers require you to bring fire wood while others let you use any down wood you can find. Either way, a tarp or old dry bag is a great way to keep wood organized and "dry." A nice big tarp with a big fire pan near is going to make your camp experience that much nicer.
Camping on the Illinois River with a canvas tent and wood stove make for a cozy trip
If you plan on doing a lot of cold weather river tripping, you may want to consider a canvas tent and wood stove. There are a bunch of options and sizes out there from small teepees to big cabin size tents. Having a dry and warm place to hang out is a big morale boost.
Hot lunch and drink
Warm soup or a hot beverage at lunch on a cold river trip are hard to beat. When it's cold I like to bring as many insulated drinking vessels as possible. It will take some extra work and fuel but its nice to start the day those vessels full of hot water so you can have a hot beverage at any point.
