The K family who had done the Smith River float before selected our campsites for the group. They were all great campsites. When you began the float, the ranger gave each boat a detailed river map showing the campsites along the way, and I saved mine. When we started out each day, our group would discuss which campsite we would stop at for lunch, and where our night campsite was. So we kind of had a game plan for the day.
Wednesday evening our first overnight campsite was at Rock Creek. It is a really pretty location right on the point at a bend of the river. There are flattened down areas in the fields where other tents have pitched on previous nights, and so after landing our group would spread out and each family group pick their tent site. We had a central kitchen area which was usually closest to the river and with a fire ring. That's where we would set up all our food cases, and put our folding chairs around the campfire.
The first night everyone was pretty tired out. It had been a long day with the preparation for put in and the first day learning how to manuever the boats etc. Over the day, the rafts would get spread out along the river and many times K & I couldn't even see anyone else. But we'd always meet up at lunch time and evening camp.
As my friends know, I was most anxious about the camping part of this trip. I've only camped for one or two nights at a time before, in an established campground with facilties and with our vehicle nearby. So this was a challenge to me - to be really "out" in the elements with no choice but to finish the 60 mile trip. So the first night I wanted to quickly get our tent set up (a 6-pound 3-man tent borrowed from a friend that worked out GREAT for us) and our things set up and tucked inside before dark. K and I figured out the set up routine quickly - who would do what each night and each morning. And where we would put things inside and outside of the tent. After day one, it all worked like a charm. I needed our tent to feel like a comfortable refuge and it did.
K and I had packed and organized our supplies so that we could pack and unpack quickly and efficiently each day. The fact that there were only 2 of us made it easier as well since we needed fewer things to bring along. We kept all of our things grouped together in containers - I think I counted 6 tubs or bags that we had to unload and reload each night, and we always kept one cooler and our fishing gear on the boat. We wanted to make it as efficient as possible which worked out well. I didn't want to spend all our time working on reloading daily or hunting for something. We had our system down and it was about efficiency and quick set-up and take-down. Extra work at the beginning but then it made every day easier.
The latrines on the other hand........ Each campground had a latrine that the FWP and dug and put in for floaters to use. Very very rustic. We're talking a stool to sit on, out in the open, usually a short walk away from camp. Ugh. You went as least often as you could get away with and always carried a plastic bag with TP and moist towelettes. This was definitely the worst part. Rock Creek's latrine was up a steep hill behind the camp, with the trail dodging rocks, bushes, etc. at a steep pitch. When you got to the top of the hill you were rewarded with an incredible view...and a nasty dirty latrine. Yuck. Each night K & I took the bathroom visit together and I would try to NOT have to go back until morning. Thankfully, I never had to. Ok. Enough toilet talk. Moving on...
Part of what kept you distracted and rewarded throughout the river trip, were the incredible landscape vistas everywhere you looked. You would be going down the river (I sat in the front of our boat to balance the weight) and would point out to K the tree-covered mountains in the distance. Then I would turn around to say something to him and gasp at the view behind us as well. Spectacular views everywhere.
Our friends who had done the float before told us that there were basically different experiences each day of the trip:
Day 1: Mostly forested landscape through shallow water with lots of rocks. Learning to manuever the boat around sharp turns.
Day 2, 3, & 4: Beautiful canyons walls with deeper water, fewer rocks, faster flow. The best part of the float. The best fishing too.
Day 5: River straigthens out and slows, flows more shallow again. Landscape turns to rolling meadows and farmland. It seems boring compared to earlier days. You're tired and just want to get to the take-out spot.
That's it for Day 1 - overnight at Rock Creek. We had lots of funny stories to tell around the campfire that night. It felt good to unwind and realize, "Yes, we can do this."
Day 2 tomorrow. Wildlife photos.
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