Advice Column

The students of the 2017 Prince William Sound Kayaking trip went through a lot of hardships and trials, and they want to help you avoid them! Below you can find advice from everyone on the trip. Whether you're going on a ten day kayaking trip or just on a day trip we recommend that you try out a few of the things suggested below.

If you’ve been reading through this and are thinking to yourself, “I love being cold and wet! This trip sounds awesome and I’d love to go sometime!” then I have some advice for you:

1. The first few days are going to be awful. It’s probably going to be raining most of the time and that doesn’t help anyone stay happy. Just know that eventually it gets better and the rain won’t bother you that much by the end of the trip.
2. When the sun does come, enjoy it. There were only really 1½ days that the sun shone on this trip, and every time it sunned (is that a word?) we slowed down and enjoyed it. Sunny days are such a morale boost, so enjoy them while they last.
3. Be kind to your tent mates and kayaking partner. Of course be nice to everyone, but be especially nice to these people. You’ll be spending most of your time with them, so it’s important to be kind and considerate towards them. This trip would have been so much worse if I wasn’t on good terms with them. Now, at the end of the trip, it’s like we’re one big happy (slightly damp) family.
4. Eat. Food from a bag will seem unappetizing after a few days, but it’s important to stay full. The food will give you energy throughout the day and help your body stay warm at night. To avoid becoming too tired of the food, I recommend bringing tons of snacks. And also candy. Bring enough to share.
5. Have tons of fun. I know it sounds super cheesy, but honestly the worst days of camping were days when everyone was bored. As soon as someone whipped out some UNO cards the day immediately got better. So bring a book, card game, or other small thing to keep you occupied.

    I hope these tips have helped you out. If you really want to go on this trip or a similar kind of trip, then I definitely recommend you go. Even though it rained most of the time and I almost forgot what the sun looked like, I definitely enjoyed myself. It was one of the most fun intensives I’ve ever taken.
​-Hriana Bowie

Some advice I'd like to give those somewhat outdoorsy people is… to make sure you keep your clothes dry, especially your socks because when your feet get wet it's not very nice! Saying dry is hard in some environments. Prince William Sound is very rainy and windy for what I've seen.  Make sure you always keep your rain gear dry because that  is one step closer to staying dry.  I made a list of ways to keep your rain gear and yourself dry to help those some what outdoorsy people like myself:  1) Don't run out in the rain without rain gear. 2) Wear rain gear. 3) When rain gear is not in use zip it up and don't leave in the rain. 4) Make sure that there are no holes in your rain gear (strongly suggested)
And I know this sounds silly but crazy things can happen in the wilderness.
-Greta Baker-Hodge

• Keep a positive attitude. Trust me, it’ll make your experience better if it’s not going the best.
  
• Do your best to keep your clothes and anything that will keep you warm, dry.
  
• Bring your own food. Even if it’s just enough for a few days. Rice, oatmeal, just food that you can easily cook because you’ll get tired of freeze dried food.
  
• Bring bug spray.
  -Leo Munoz
  
  

I would highly suggest this intensive to anyone that is willing to get a “little” wet and to have a good time. The nice thing about it is that paddling is super easy to learn and once you get the hang of it, you can hold your own. The key things you want to pay attention to when going into it is, time of year, and location. You may think you need to pack a bunch of close to go on the ten day trip, but trust me, if you don't mind sweat, pack light. You’ll be spending most of your time in a paddle suit (which is very warm), so you’ll should wear something light like an athletic shirt of some sort. But when you’re around camp, you’ll need something a little warmer and some light rain gear depending on the weather. Now something I would’ve done differently would be packing out non-freeze dried food. Yes the Backpackers Pantry is nice and all, but after day 3-4, you won’t want to have it anymore. So I suggest taking the time to pack actual meals.
​-Bjorn Libal

I would give two pieces of advice to a student taking this intensive: make sure you know how to keep you AND your stuff dry before you leave, and stay positive and don’t let the weather get you down!
-Addy Wright​

I would definitely recommend this intensive to another student. However I would recommend bringing an extra set of rain gear and more garbage bags than you think you need. Because your not really hiking anywhere you could bring real food in a bear can. After a few days of eating the freeze dried meals I felt the will to eat them disintegrate slowly. After about three days I basically lived of of what ever snakes there were available. If you are expecting to stay completely dry, well you're completely wrong. I believe that there is a chance that you are going to get wet socks or someone moves your raincoat out of unter your tarp and alot more ways your stuff can get wet (especially when its raining the whole time). And if a friend has a father that is cooking food for the entire group don't be afraid to take advantage of the opportunity.
​-Chase Crawford

My advice for people planning on going on a kayaking trip with Bryan: if he says that what you’re bringing is “extra,” don’t listen to it.  I can guarantee that if you can bring extra garbage bags, extra long johns/under armour, and extra gloves you’ll be a dry and happy camper.
​-Ethan Brookover

Since this was my first time kayaking I did not know what to bring so I just bought what I thought I would need. Because I just started kayaking, I have plenty to tell the newbies. The first thing that I would have brought are extra hand warmers, because it can get cold at night. One of the biggest things I wish I brought were extra zip lock and trash bags. They come in handy if you have wet stuff or forgot to put it in a dry bag. The next thing I notice that help is bring an extra pair of base layers. On the topic of clothes I would make sure to get a good pair of rain boots and always keep a warm and dry pair of gloves and hat with you when in the tent. The last and final thing that saved me through this camping trip was Addy. I would have been eaten by a bear if I did not have Addy. So if  you're going kayaking make sure to bring an Addy with you so you don't get eaten.
-Grace Green

It will rain.
It will suck.
​Do not be wet.
​-Daniel Fisher

If I had to give advice to another student about this trip I would tell them to bring a good tent you know has no holes in it.  Line every drybag you bring with an extra duty tough garbage bag.  Try to keep yourself warm by putting on more clothes than you think you  need because the weather can change out there in an instant. If a piece of clothing gets wet don't just throw in with your extra clothes, because that will get them wet and mildew will begin growing and making your clothes smell bad and they’ll be wet also. Lastly, don't give up, even if you're cold and wet keep a positive attitude and you'll be ok. Always be wearing some sort of hat either a warm hat or a sun hat.
-Jackson Burris

Advice to a person going on this trip...

• Line ALL of your bags with garbage or ziploc bags
  
• Bring specific shoes to wear with paddling suit
  
• Bring your own food, NOT freeze dried
  
• Wear neoprene gloves when paddling
  
• Don’t give up on an article of clothing if it gets wet
  
• Always keep one sweater/pullover for camp
  
• Take a warm hat, rain hat, and thin hat
  
• You’ll get wet, but it will be okay and you’ll have a good time
  ​-Josh Bierma
  
  

The Seven Deadly Sins of Kayaking With Polaris

1- Wrath/Don’t Hate the Other Campers
    You have to live with them, if you get in quarrels things can get MESSY.
2 - Pride/Not Taking Care of Yourself
    Do not think you are invincible. You can and will get wet, sick, cold, or worse if you do not take the proper actions to keep yourself healthy and safe.
3 - Gluttony/Bring Good Food
    Don’t get stuck with freeze dried food you don’t enjoy eating. Take time to learn how to cook meals in the backcountry or even just bring some snacks to supplement the provided food.
4 - Sloth/Not Taking Care of Issues
    Don’t let tasks pile up. Take care of the problems and chores at hand then use the leftover time to eat, sleep, and party.
5 - Lust/Don’t Lust After Others Things
    I understand you don’t have this one thing that someone else brought, but don’t complain and try to get it. Instead, take note of what it was so you can bring your own next time around.
6 - Envy/Don’t Hate the Experienced
    Don’t be sad, mad, or disappointed about not being experienced. Instead learn from the more experienced people in your group so you can be them in the future.
7 - Greed/Don’t Eat Everything
    Leave good snacks and food for future days. Don’t eat all of your yummy snacks on the first two days, leave some for each day of the trip and make sure you pack enough in the first place.
​-Laura Ditto

This intensive definitely has its highs and lows, but is for sure worth the experience. If you want to do it, you should bring a lot of extra bags. Also bring an extra pair of almost everything. Once something gets wet, it stays wet for the rest of the trip. And everything gets wet, even if you try your hardest to keep it dry. Like my phone for example. I put it inside of a ziploc bag inside another bag that I left in my kayak overnight so it wouldn't get wet. When I checked the next morning, there was a foot of water in the compartment where I had left my bag, and the ziploc bag had broken. My phone was drenched. When I picked it up water started flowing out of all the ports and the buttons. You should definitely bring some real food, because the freeze dried food gets old really quickly. I definitely do recommend this trip to anyone who wants a crazy once in a lifetime experience.
​-Peter Bradshaw

Bring snacks, expect to get wet, line your dry bags and stuff sacks with trash or ziploc bags, keep your toilet paper dry, bring wet wipes, manage to keep the inside of your tent dry.
-Carson Nakoa

Make sure to bring things that keep you happy and warm and dry.
​Be sure to enjoy the different moments in the environment.
​-Liam Boonstra