Bugs, Sweat, and Fears: Beginner's Guide to Wilderness Canoe Camping

Janet Money is a writer and policy analyst for the Canadian Cystic
Fibrosis Foundation in Toronto.

Allan Bayne came to wilderness canoe camping as an adult, which makes
this book all the more credible. He was not steeped in the sport as a
child and therefore had no illusions about how “easy” and
“natural” it is. Wilderness canoe camping is something to be learned
and enjoyed simultaneously, and Bayne’s “been-there-done-that”
approach is refreshing. Bayne went on his first canoe trip at the age of
38 and eventually became director of a tripping organization. But he has
not forgotten his neophyte roots.

Particularly welcome for this neophyte was his assertion that learning
paddling strokes is not all that necessary: “I have been taking
beginners on canoe trips for years, and they always seem to manage to
get the canoe heading in the general direction they want it to go.”
This is a little-known secret. Yes, Bayne admits that mastering basic
strokes will improve efficiency. But not mastering them does not mean
canoeing is impossible. Taking the mystique out of the activity is the
book’s key accomplishment.

Bayne’s books covers all the basics of canoe tripping, including why
you would want to go in the first place, and topics such as safety, trip
planning, equipment, food, minimum-impact camping, and etiquette. These
basics are augmented by single-page tips on edible wild plants (by Dr.
Gary Platford) and camping. A chapter suggesting themes for trips
(family, marriage, exploration) offers a glimpse of the vast
possibilities for personal development while paddling and camping in the
wilderness.

For anyone who is tempted to take the plunge into wilderness canoe
camping but has qualms about doing so, Bugs, Sweat and Fears is a super
introduction.