I'm starting to think about planning for some longer trips and I have a Trinidadian chickpea curry recipe that I think will dehydrate really well. I'd like to stick to one pot cooking if at all possible. 

Anyone ever mix cooked rice in with the rest of your dish and dehydrate it all in one go? 

Any tips? Should I maybe only half cook the rice?
 

I've never been a fan of canoe packs for this exact reason. I find that without the frame of a more traditional hiking backpack, my shoulders and neck feel terrible. 

Are you a die hard canoe pack packer or would you consider a more traditional hiking pack? I always have my food, clothes and sleeping bag in dry sacks anyway so the added benefit of a completely waterproof pack has never been a big draw for me. 

If you are going to explore new packs, I'd go to a store with a good sales rep (I like Adventure Guide in Waterloo and some MECs have really good people) and have them fit the pack to you specifically. Pay close attention to how to position the load lifter straps. Those are the straps that go from the top of your shoulder to the top of the pack. I find when my load lifters or my chest strap get wonky, my neck gets sore. I also look for a sturdy hip belt and moves with me. This may be an issue more specific to hippy women so it may not be a high priority for you. 

As requested on the Fall Colours/Fall Tripping thread, here's my Turkey Pot Pie Recipe
Makes 4 servings
* Dehydrator required

At Home:
1. Dice and fry the following: 3/4 of an onion, 2 large carrots, 2 stalks of celery, 2-4 cloves of garlic in butter or oil until soft. Use less oil than you'd typically use to improve dehydrating process. Season with salt, pepper and thyme. (Optional additions: parsnips, zucchini, literally any other veg you've got in your fridge!)
2. Sprinkle on 1 tbsp-ish of flour and mix well.
3. Add chicken broth (maybe 2 cups, add enough to cover the veg) and cook until a stew-like consistency. Since you're making it to dehydrate, it's good to cook off some more moisture than you would if you were eating right away (less dehydration time!). 
OPTIONAL 4: Add in 2 cooked, shredded turkey breasts.*
5. Spread out your stew on parchment paper in your dehydrator. Set it and forget it! I think it usually takes 8-12 hours to fully dehydrate. It will come off in crumbly sheets. Store in a zip-top bag.

INSTEAD OF STEP 4: Cook 2 turkey breasts, seasoned to your liking. Dice it up and freeze it. Obvs this only works if you're going to eat it within 1-2 days of leaving the freezer. 

6. Prepare your biscuit topping. Mix 1 & 1/3 c. flour, 1 & 1/3 tbsp baking powder, 5 tbsps + an extra dash of powdered milk, dash of salt in a zip loc bag. I like to add some dried rosemary too. 

* I haven't dehydrated turkey before. I know canned chicken dehydrates best of all types of chicken (because it's been pressure cooked, I think) and it's absolutely critical that you shred it thoroughly to ensure good re-hydration. 

At Camp:
1. Rehydrate and heat your stew. Some people measure how much water was removed during dehydration, I just cover it with water, warm it up and add water as needed. Add your hopefully-thawed turkey at this point if you went that route. 

2. Add water to your bannock mix. Add much less water than you think it needs. Kneed it in the bag and ad

Anyone have any experience with traffic during peak colours? I like to trip on Thanksgiving wknd and find this a good time to use Access points that I typically avoid in the summer due to crowds (Canoe, Smoke). We did Canoe lake access a few thanksgivings ago and saw barely anyone after the first portage. 

But last year I heard there were 2 hr+ wait times on HWY 60 because of the traffic that weekend and now I'm second guessing this choice. 

I know it won't be busy past a portage or two but I don't want to sit in stressful traffic before or after the trip. Any insight?

Not a current report but we did this route 2 years ago at Thanksgiving and it was navigable. 

There were a few beaver dams we had to lift over and it wasn't a speedy journey but it's a cool section. 

We've had some pretty good rains this year so I can't imagine it's impassable. Hopefully someone has some more current info for you. 

This is neither a fire starter nor a first aid trick, but winter green is always a nice bonus on campsites. I like to chew a leaf for a bit to cool down. Some leaves can be more astringent than others so it can be a bit hit and miss but it's a legitimately nice way to cool off when the water your drinking isn't exactly cold.