This will be a fairly easy overnight canoe trip of about 14 miles on the Colorado River upstream from Bastrop.  We'll put in Saturday morning at the FM 969 crossing, primitive camp one night on an island in the river, and take out Sunday afternoon at Bastrop City Park.  It's about an hour and a half drive from San Antonio.

You will need all of your own gear to do this trip, and it must all fit in your canoe.  Canoes may be rented from Cook's Canoes in nearby Webberville at 512-276-7767.  **If you want to rent one, call in advance to get yours reserved.**  The cost is $40.  They will meet us at the put-in with the rental canoes.  Communicate with others on the RSVP list if you want to share a canoe with someone.

Cook's Canoes will also be providing shuttle service for the drivers for $10 per driver.

I'll have some stoves, as well as some pots & pans and some tables.  I'll also bring a grill and charcoal.  You will need to bring all of your own food & camping gear.  For Saturday night we will do a potluck dinner for those who want to participate.  If you want to participate please list in your RSVP what you'll be bringing.

We will be carrying all of our gear in the canoes, and camping on the island enroute.  There are no facilities, this is primitive camping.  We will have an outhouse setup though.  There is a lot of space on the island unless the water is too high, but there is very little shade.  If it's hot and sunny, be prepared.  There will probably be at least a couple of canopies.

The island is mostly sand and rocks.  I highly recommend bringing one of those four to six inch thick air mattresses with a battery pump.

Also, I highly recommend that you put your clothes, sleeping bag and tent in dry bags.  If you are going to do more of these types of trips you can get decent ones at Wal Mart for $20 to $30.  Really durable ones at places like REI run about $70 for those who are going to do lots of river trips.  In the very least, Wal Mart sells giant Ziplocs in their camping section that run about $8 for three of them.  I use these as an interior liner for my dry bags.  However they are not that much stronger than trash bags.  Trash bags also work well as a liner for a dry bag, but by themselves are totally worthless because they get holes in them way too easily.  A giant Ziploc either doubled or lined with a trash bag should be fine for this trip.  If you happen to capsize unexpectedly or there is rain you will be very glad you used them.  You will also just get water in your boat from stepping in and out of it and from dripping off your paddles.

This is a great trip for beginners or kids.  The river here is wide and flat.  It is also great for swimming.

Although the Colorado is big, wide and free of rapids and obstacles, it is notorius for strong headwinds.  If the water is up and there are no headwinds, the first day will be a piece of cake.  It is virtually always at a decent level, but the headwinds can wear you out and you will be tired by the time we get to the island if you're not used to doing this.

Feel free to bring any adult beverages, but take it easy on the river and save most of it for the island.

We'll meet at Starbucks at the Forum at 8:00am to carpool/caravan.

For a printable map and directions to this event, click HERE.