The single most important way of ensuring a safe and enjoyable
trip is by taking the time to properly plan that trip. The
most important part of any trip is the time we spend  planning
before we leave. If we choose to skimp on the planning
process we're almost certain guaranteed that our group will
receive a healthy dose of adversity and discomfort, and we will
possibly be putting our lives and the lives of others in danger.
Stories of groups who arrived at the put-in point at the
beginning of their trip only to discover missing food, tents,
paddles (yes, even canoes!) are not uncommon. Even sadder are
the tales of the groups who put in a hard day of paddling before
realizing their omissions.
These stories may sound amusing, but they involve experiences
which are at best inconvenient and at worst dangerous. Having to
drive back two or three hours from your put-in is a major pain.
It means that we're going to have a grumpy group of paddlers
waiting for us when we get back five or six ours later. We are
going to be running half a day behind schedule. We probably
won't get to our planned campsite that night, or if we do it
will be by paddling long and hard in the afternoon. Setting up
tents in the dark is not the best way to spend the first evening
of our canoe trip.
Worse than that scenario is that there is sometimes a temptation
to look at the long backtrack for forgotten gear, and say
"forget it." The temptation to get the canoes into the
water and get going may mean that we abandon good sense and
decide to leave without the third tent and say "we'll
squeeze in together", or to ignore the fact that that last
food pack is missing by saying "we'll stretch the menu by
catching fish." These scenarios have the makings of a
nightmare trip.
These errors are not the exclusive domain of the novice paddler,
either. The old cliché that "familiarity breeds
contempt" has been the undoing of many an experienced
tripper. Experience can make us lazy. We know that all of the
gear is in a pile in the basement from our last trip, so we
don't have to check it against a list. We just throw it in the
truck and get going. We think that we don't need a detailed menu
or grocery list - we have a "pretty good idea" of what
to bring.
Careful planning and written check lists are important whether
you are leaving on your first trip or your fiftieth. If you are
not the organized type, or you aren't confident about your
ability to plan the trip down to the very last detail, ask for
help or delegate
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