Haven Tent experiences?

[matted]

Oh my doG! What a wonderful offer, thank you! I don’t know anyone around the Lake so it would be great to have a back up crash pad and also include you on my emergency contact list (if that’s OK) if I need to pull the plug because of weather or equipment problems. I’m launching from Brimley in Whitefish Bay in late May and paddling clockwise around. I’m hoping the early start will improve my chances of finding campgrounds that aren’t booked solid.

Sounds like a great trip and I'm jealous! I'm heading up for my first Lake Superior adventure in early May to beat the black flies and skeeters, also a solo kayak trip. I only have time for the Lake Superior Provincial Park portion of the coast this year, but I'm hoping to go back and do Pukaskwa National Park (Hattie Cove to Michipicoten River) next year. The designated sites in Lake Superior PP seem to be mostly beaches to I'm not planning on bringing a backup tent or a pad for a GTG option, just a Tensa solo pole to help ensure I have a viable hang. Hopefully I don't regret this but I'd rather fill the valuable hatch space with cooking, camping, and photographic luxury items .

[KayakerBee]

Early May in the PPP? You’re a hardy sole indeed! There was snow on the ground and still some ice this past May at my intended launch point.

So you have a lot of experience with the Tensa pole? I’m curious if you think they’ll hold the pebble beaches and which anchor you’re packing. I’d love not to bring a backup tent for the reasons you said. My expedition kayak is 18’ but that fills up fast when you are carrying a month’s worth of food and photog gear. I’m hoping to document the trip to show others that you don’t have to be an extreme athlete in pursuit of FKTs to have an amazing adventure.

Cheers,
B

[matted]

Early May in the PPP? You’re a hardy sole indeed! There was snow on the ground and still some ice this past May at my intended launch point.

So you have a lot of experience with the Tensa pole? I’m curious if you think they’ll hold the pebble beaches and which anchor you’re packing. I’d love not to bring a backup tent for the reasons you said. My expedition kayak is 18’ but that fills up fast when you are carrying a month’s worth of food and photog gear. I’m hoping to document the trip to show others that you don’t have to be an extreme athlete in pursuit of FKTs to have an amazing adventure.

Cheers,
B

Or maybe I'm just foolish? What time did you try to put in last year? Late May, or did you go earlier? If there are signs that there is still ice I will likely delay my trip by a week or two.

I don't have a ton of experience with the Tensa pole, and I've never tried to anchor it on a beach (either pebble or sand). I will be carrying both the boom stake and big orange screw anchors, and I am going to hunt for a couple of bags or something that I can bury in the sand/pebbles and use as a "dead man's anchor" if the regular anchors don't hold.

For LSPP I am mainly going on reports from hikers that said they had no problems with hammocks; many of the paddling and hiking sites look to be adjacent so I expect this area to be fine if I'm willing to head into the forest a bit. Weather allowing, I would really like to pitch on or near the beach for the views.

I can appreciate how space-challenged you will be, even with an 18' boat! Mine is "only" 17' but is basically a transport truck and I still struggle for space even for weekend adventures. I am against bringing a backup tent or a sleeping pad because one of the reasons I got into hammock camping (aside from it being incredibly comfortable and awesome, of course) was to save space in my hatches

Bringing this thread back around to the Haven, I'm not sure it would be different enough from a hammock bivy to be worth the cost, at least for me. Although I have a Ridgerunner so I guess it's closer to a Haven when pitched on the ground than your Blackbird is. I am unfamiliar with the bulk of the Lake Superior Coast; most of my kayak camping experience has been on Lake Huron/Georgian Bay. The big challenge on Georgian Bay with backpacking tarps/tents and anchoring anything is that anything that isn't bare rock has rock 2-3" down, making most pegs and anchors useless. The winners here are either free standing tents (which only need to be anchored enough to not blow away) or hammocks, provided you have two trees of course. Anything in between the two (i.e. most backpacking friendly tents, ground tarps, hammock G2G setups, etc) can be quite a challenge to pitch but it is doable, especially as a last resort.

If you anticipate that there will be a large number of nights without suitable trees around, I think a freestanding tent may be worth bringing for ease of setup pretty much anywhere. I'm not sure how big your tent is packed, but a Tensa4 stand might be worth considering as well to pretty much guarantee you will be hanging in all conditions.

Whichever path you take, I'm looking forward to seeing your trip report, especially the Pukaskwa coast from the perspective of a hammocker! I'll be sure to let you know how I fare, at least for the paltry 85 KM that I will be seeing.

[KayakerBee]

I pushed my aborted launch date back by a week this year because there was still snow on the ground and a bit of shoreline ice in Michigan. I’m still launching from Brimley, MI on Whitefish Bay this year but haven’t picked an absolute date. Last stats I saw there’s only 0.03% ice cover on the Lake right now. That may mean both of us can get a good early start! Knowing that the weather starts to turn in August at the LSPP end of the Lake I’d like to finish up earlier rather than push into September.

Lake Superior coastline is diverse - sand beaches, pebble beaches (great for agate hunting!) or bare rock depending upon where you are. Often the beach will have an evergreen tree-line, sometimes just cliffs. Some reports have said the problem is the trees are too dense and you can’t get the distance you need to hang. That’s where the Tensa pole might help or you need to GtoG.

I do have a free standing tent - BA Copper Spur 1P - that’s about the size of my packed hammock. But that’s why I was curious about the Haven. GtoG or hang it does it all in one kit. I just don’t want to be cold when I’m hanging.

Also packing a set of the MSR snow/sand fabric anchors. They take up very little room but I don't think they make them anymore. Driftwood is a good anchor, too. I did that kayak camping the Keweenaw Peninsula a couple years ago. It worked great for the tarp when the stakes wouldn’t go past that pebble layer, even though I dug down to what I thought was dirt. There’s almost always driftwood - which is why I’m tempted to buy a Tensa pole and hope for a single tree so I can ditch the tent.

Tensa pole or Haven. Both an investment but very different solutions. Hmm.. My tent is looking pretty good right now.

You’re likely familiar with the resources, but the Chrismar Adventure Map of LSPP is good (and water proof); the following link has some tidbits: https://www.ontarioparks.com/park/lakesuperior

I am making certain my permits are all straight, though. I sure don’t want to get crosswise of the authorities, what with the recent screw up by the Arctic Cowboys during their NW Passage expedition. Seems Parks Canada is pretty stern if you lack the proper permits but the process isn’t easy to work out for a non-Canadian.

I would love to hear about your trip! 85km or 1800, it will be an adventure! I think the Pukaskwa will be easier than the LSPP coast. Lots of sand beaches and remote places to stealth camp. I’m documenting mine on ChickAndAStick.com, posting as I find internet service. There’s not much on the site right now, but I’ll be starting back up again soon. Thought I might start documenting some of the prep work, like dehydrating my food.

Cheers,
B

[LowTech]

I have a lot of pole stand experience but have not gotten to experiment w/ pebble beaches. Never the less my first thought was that I'd want make up a version of sand stakes using aluminum angle, maybe 2"×12", and heavy enough gauge that I could hammer them in w/o having them want to fold. Then I'd drill a series of holes down them so that I could could attach my lines sub-surface (w/ a guyline trench) or bury them sideways deadman style.

I would also carry something to put under the foot of the pole. Something like a piece of tire tread from the side of the road or maybe a piece of thick mud flap rubber. I have used a soup can before and that worked well. I've also seen where someone recommended using a PVC clean out cap and the foot of the Solo fit nicely into the little square in the middle, just not sure I'd want to give space for it in my yak if I was packing for a long trip. Of course there is always the option of just counting on what you can find on site, big piece of bark, flat piece of driftwood, etc.

"Sent w/o me knowing"

[cougarmeat]

Tensa Pole on a pebble beach. Driftwood log anchor, braced by the log in front. Note - if the anchor log is below high tide line, it will float and alter the tension on the support.

PBBBS.jpg

[KayakerBee]

Any reason you didn’t use the tree in the background by the boulder? Luckily Lake Superior doesn’t have tides, although a rogue wave could spell trouble!

[KayakerBee]

Motorcyclists usually carry an old paint can lid to put down on hot parking lot asphalt so kick stand doesn’t sink into the pavement. That would be pretty easy to tuck into a hatch, but it might slide.

[dwighop]

Motorcyclists usually carry an old paint can lid to put down on hot parking lot asphalt so kick stand doesn’t sink into the pavement. That would be pretty easy to tuck into a hatch, but it might slide.

I started carrying a nice river rock in my saddlebag. Double duty for my tensa pole and side stand.

[cougarmeat]

KayakerBee - Good eye! Yes, there was a reason. I looked at that tree, but I also looked at the ground below it. Though it appears to be the same elevation as the driftwood I used for the non-pole end, the moisture on the pebbles assured me the ground around there would be underwater at high tide. If I had to get up at night/early morning, I'd be stepping into ankle-deep, or higher, water. The anchor log was originally in front of the larger log next to it. I lifted it to the opposite side for more security - no chance of it rolling. But I forgot about floating. It was a little unnerving at first, feeling the hammock body rise and fall a little with the lapping tide. But there was no danger of the log making its way over the larger one ... wait a minute, that's where I found it in the first place ... I'm sure that the larger log found its way to shore AFTER the smaller one.

For more photos of the Tensa Pole in action, see my "Around Orcas in 8 Days" report in the Trip Reports, 9/25/22