bowler,

I agree with Salish and food, use a cheap dome tent for the river. When sea kayaking, even alone, I use my old Eureka! 3-man Wind River dome tent and leave my good tents at home. More room and no worries about sand (esp. with a plastic sheet groundcloth).

When I backpacked Utah's gorgeous Paria River canyon with my new TT Contrail I regretted not taking a sheet of plastic groundcloth. Very fine sand got imbedded into the silnylon floor and I had to rinse it several times in my bathtub after the trip to remove all the sand. Now the light plastic groundcloth goes with me every trip.

Eric
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"There are no comfortable backpacks. Some are just less uncomfortable than others."