Thursday 23-Aug-2007:
My trip for GatFest actually started on Thursday. I had to attend my Grandmothers funeral (almost 90) in St Catherines with my kids in the morning. We picked Chelsea up at the Burlington Go Station on the way back. It was more convenient to do that then drive into Toronto during rush hour. We dropped the kids off in Barrie … one at the YMCA and the other one at her moms place. We did a quick stop for some grocery essentials and then off to my place for dinner and a night of watching chick flick movies. I was too tired to even think of packing up the car. I had all of our paddling and camping gear pre-packed and ready by the door anyway.
Friday 24-Aug-2007:
I got up around 6am and started packing up the car. I had everything loaded up by about 7ish. I then grabbed a quick shower and had breakfast. The Princess was just starting to get moving. We managed to get on the road around 08:30. We weren’t in too much of a hurry as we had the whole day to get there. I finally found my missing IPOD (3 weeks) so it was nice to have a variety of different music to listen to on the way up.
I decided to let Chelsea drive once we got up to Orillia. I knew she had her G1 and was assured by my insurance company that it was ok for her to drive my car. We finally made it to the Tim Hortons in Bancroft where we saw a vehicle with two kayaks on it. It turned out to be Princess Leah and John. They were on there way up to Esprit as Leah is now taking the 3 month WILD program. Goodbyes were said and we were on our way after picking up some goodies.
I got back into the drivers seat for the rest of the day (Chelsea is a fine driver). Next stop was the Paddlers Coop where I dropped off a CD to Sasha with pictures of some of their kayak students from a couple of weekends ago. Next stop was for an hour of shopping at the Foymount Sierra Designs factory store. Chelsea had never been there before. She spent about 90 bucks on stuff she really needed. I ended up being her personal shopper picking out stuff and handing it too her over the change room door. I only ended up spending 30 buck on three fleece hats as I always tend to misplace them and find them months later.
I topped up the gas and bought a lottery ticket at the border before crossing over. Somewhere in the land of no where we caught up to a green Beamer with two yellow open boats. We followed it for a long time before the driver waved back at us in the rear view mirror. I kind of waved back but did not recognize the car. It turned off somewhere south of Maniwaki. I found out later that it was Jon.
We finally made it up to the high school in Maniwaki around 4ish. We decided to stake out some real estate in a semi-secluded area for us and the remainder of the group that would be coming up later. We quickly set up the tents. I knew it was supposed to rain on Saturday so I decided to set up the tarp as well. We taped off a fair size area with rope to try and reserve enough space. We weren’t quite sure at how many would be staying with us. I ran into Peter from the Ottawa Y group and he had a huge area taped off for the others that were showing up late. We got all the paddling gear sorted out for the next day based on the forecast of rain. It was easier to get everything we needed out now then scrambling for it last minute.
I left my boat out in the parking area in a roped off area so the others would find us easily and have somewhere to park. We finally did our official check in around 6pm and then headed off into town for dinner at the Rialto. I had an excellent feast on Greek pork kebabs and Chelsea had the salmon kebabs. We got our desert to go as we were stuffed. We headed over to the local Maxi grocery store to pick up lunch stuff and snacks. It’s pretty amazing that you can buy groceries at one end of the store and a case of beer and wine at the other end. Talk about one stop shopping. I still could not figure out how the Presidents Choice full size dark chocolate bars were a buck less her considering we were in the middle of BF nowhere.
We ran into Greg and Dan back at camp. They had their tents setup in the parking lot and were in the process of setting up this huge tarp. I told them we were on the other side of the tree line. They folded up the tarp and moved their tents. Dan had just spent a week in Temagami with his dad. Greg picked him up somewhere around highway 11 and 60. Dan ended up somehow getting water in his fuel tank for his stove. He spent some time dumping the fuel in a pot lid and lighting it on fire as it was not a very good idea to burn it in the stove. I asked him what the story was on the water in the fuel. It basically came down to him pouring fuels from the bottle onto a fire that was supposedly out which then resulted in a molatov cocktail that ended up in the lake. Dan and Greg decided it was time for a later dinner complete with expresso (see pictures). I was already in partaking in home made grapefruit coolers and I know there were quite a few empty Guiness cans around as well. I am not sure when but at some point in time Keith and Bev showed up. They were going to camp with the Y group but set up shop with us.
I kept checking the parking lot for Neil and AnnaLisa. They were supposed to be up by 10ish. I spent some time talking to the YMCA group and others in the campground I knew. I came back to the car to get something and noticed my GF was gone. I know the kayakers have taking a liking to her but who the hell would actually want to carry her away. I went back to the campsite and asked if anyone had seen her. There was a round of nope .. nope … nope. I then looked over at my tent. Someone had put her in there (see picture). I dragged her out and zipped up the tent doors. The culprit responsible for the incident (Dan) had opened both ends of the tent and pushed her all the way through into the vestibule. My only complaint was I probably now had mosquitos in my tent. I finally went to bed around midnight and there was still no sign of Neil which was to be expected as they are always late for stuff. It rained all night.
Saturday 25-Aug-2007 Water level 7.5 with rain off and on the whole day:
I dragged my butt out of bed around 6am. It was cool and overcast. I did a quick walk around the campground to see if I could find Neil. No luck. It was just a sea of tents and boats. I headed over main tent and waited for breakfast to be served. I managed to be 5th in line. The others started slowly started showing up for breakfast. I finally saw Neil and AnnaLisa and to my surprise Derek managed to show up as well. They were at the opposite end of the campground from us. They said they were going to do a warmup on the Desert River. I told them they were wusses and should just come and from the Gatineau with us.
Greg and I went back to the campsite and noticed that quite a few people were actually putting on drysuits. We had a philosophical discussion on whether we were going to do that as well as this was still august and not October. Greg ended up wearing his drysuit and I wore my shorty drytop and drypants. I dragged my boat over to the shuttle. Chelsea carried her's over afterwards. It is quite amazing to see how many kayaks and open boats get stuffed into a full size transport truck trailer. Keith was still outfitting the airbag into his tandem boat and said we would catch up with him at the river. We got onto the school bus and were headed to the putin. So how does one empty a trailer full of boats you ask. Just imaging a two long lines of people across from each other going from the back of the trailer to the river and playing a big game of hot potato. It was just a big game of pass grab part of the boat from one side of you and pass it off to your neighbour on the other side ntil they are all off and by the river. I did not bring my regular camera gear today as it would have only sat in the boat with all the rain. I brought my small waterproof camera for taking minimal shots or video.
We re-grouped on the water. Low and behold Neil and gang showed up. They missed their shuttle to the other river. Go figure and now we were back to a party of seven boats. We had a brief discussion about safety and what would happen in the event of swimmers and who had the first aid and pin kit. I
t was off to the first set of rapids “Tete des Six”. The scenery is absolutely gorgeous. We played around surfing for a bit. The upstream boat has the right of way rule seemed to have gone out the door. You had people jumping on to features when people were coming down. I could have had a field day with target practice. Chelsea ended up swimming due to a tandem boat cutting her off as she was coming down. We managed to have some fun surfing. I spotted Chelsea for a couple of rolls in her kayak. We slowly made our way down river before getting to Lucifers where we all got out and scouted from river right. Most of us decided to run the big river left wave train. Dan decided to run the right line and threaded the needle with ease. Chelsea and AnnaLisa elected to walk. I walked back up the shoreline to watch the action in Lucifers Anus. On my way back down I slipped and fell on a wedge shaped rock. Don’t worry the rock is fine but I now have a huge bruise on my thigh below where I had the bruise on my a$$ a few weeks ago.
We headed down to “Du Corbeau”. We all got out on the log jam to scout the run. I ran it first with no problem at all. It was a pretty quick run. Some of the group decided to walk it. I carried back up to run it again. I notice Paul Mason and Mark Scriver on river right as I was making my run. I said hi to them as I was going by and then I realized I was getting kind of close to the river left rock that I really want to be on the right side of or die going down the nasty stuff on the left of it. I tilted the boat on edge and carved to the right and dropped into the hole and punched through. I went back over to get the gear I had left on shore. I noticed that there we lots of people doing the creek run drop. I watched a few people go down and decided to pass on it as my boat was just to long to make it successfully with the skills that I had. Dan, Neil, and Derek ran it a couple of times. Not sure about Greg. We watched some more people run it including Scriver, Mason, Martin, and Scott MacGregor.
We headed down river going through some of the other rapids and finally arrived at “Le Haute Tension”. I did not feel like getting out of my boat and scouting this one. I ran into the Y group and asked Hartley where the line started. He said about five feet out from the rock in the middle. I followed his group down. I did not realize they were going down the chute just to the right of the rock as they were way ahead of me. I went to the right of the hump in the water. I had a fun ride down and had lots of water in the boat by the end of it. Thank goodness I have pumps in my boat. I paddled back up and ferried over to the river right beach to talk to the others as they had just gotten there to scout. I explained the line to them. Neil, Derek, and Greg made their runs. Not sure where Dan was as he was the group Boat HO and paddled with other groups from time to time. I spent some time rescuing boats from other groups. The rescue belt I bought a few weeks ago has had a lot of use since then. There is nothing like towing a 17 foot open boat with minimal flotation in it full of water.
We headed down river through some rapids before arriving at “Des Cedres”. It was basically a 4 foot drop. I did not bother scouting it and just ran it fine. I put my paddle up for Neil and gang to make their runs. Everyone made it fine. We had to rescue a female kayaker. She ended up hitting a rock upside down but luckily she was wearing her helmet as there was a huge piece of missing paint. She seemed really disoriented. Derek grabbed her and was asking the basic whats your name, etc questions. We had to hold her out of the water for a bit until she was ok. I towed her back to shore while others collected her gear. We saw her later on at the bus and she had a really big headache. Apparently there were quite a few injuries there throughout the day which resulted in it being a mandatory portage for the Sunday.
We had long flat water paddle to the last rapid at “Bonnet Rouge”. I had to stand up in my boat and paddle it from the standing position to stretch my legs. Dan decided he was going to try and tip me over. He ended up standing in his boat and wanted to have a jousting match. We started paddling towards each other and then I raised up my paddle and took a huge swing and knocked him out of his boat. I was going to leave him swimming in the middle of the river but decided to rescue him and hold his boat while he climbed back into it.
We finally arrived at Bonnet Rouge. I decided to see how far I could get by running the river right side standing in my boat. I chickened out at the very end and I was started down the first drop. It was steeper than I thought. After that it was get the boats on the truck and jump on the bus and head back to camp.
I was in dire need of shower and headed over to the pool area to find them. After that it was cooler time. I was getting hungry and headed over to the big tent. I was sitting their relaxing when Neil from Dublin, Ireland. I met him the previous August when I was camping for a week with their group and the GBR freestyle team for the pre-worlds freestyle competition. It was nice to catch up and I hung out with him and the others for dinner. They were over for a three week vacation and were heading over to Montreal after the festival was over. I mentioned I probably had some pics of him competing at worlds. I also showed Keith some pics of him and his daughter from the Gull Fun race a few weeks back. I ended up putting some pics on CD’s for Keith and Neil.
After dinner I partaked in another nalgene bottle of coolers. I was feeling pretty good by that point in time. It started raining again and we were under the tarp. They only problem we had was a lack of chairs. We heard a rumour that the Maxi store in town had half decent chairs for like seven bucks. I asked Chelsea if she had anything to drink yet as she was probably the only one who had not started and I was in no shape to drive. We made a quick road trip to pick up three chairs. I decided later on to go over to the party tent to hang out with some other people and catch up. I had my my fugly shirt and pimp-daddy-ho hat. I am quite used to being stared at but I guess I caught quite a few people off guard when I went into the tent. The noise volume dropped and the finger pointed started as I was walking through the tent looking for friends. I finally caught up with them. I know I had my picture taken at least twice.
I spent some time talking to Jeff and Jennifer. They were trying to persuade me to go to Gauley Fest. I am now back to the almost going stage. I spent a while talking to quite a few people. The entertainment was just beginning. There were about 10 people with various types of drums. They were really good. I caught up with Chelsea, Neil, and AnnaLisa in the middle of the tent. Low and behold we see Dan up front dancing up a storm. Chelsea and AnnaLisa joined in. Neil and I grabbed a seat. I have no rhythm and can’t dance worth crap. I ended up leaving a short while later and crashed about 11ish. I got out of bed around 12:30 when I heard Dan and the others make it back. Someone was asking where Sinead from the Ireland crew was and Dan said that I might know. It turned out to be a guy from RiverRun I had previously met. I pointed him off to the right direction. I hung out for a bit before going back to bed.
Sunday 26-Aug-2007 Water Level 8.5 Sunshine for most of the day:
Holy crap 6am came quick. I packed up most of the stuff in my tent and headed off to breakfast. I was the first one in line as most of the campground was probably hung over. I re-organized the crap in the car leaving room for the last minute stuff like hopefully not wet tents, etc to be thrown in at the end of the day. Greg and Neil decided they were going to leave their vehicles at the takeout. I decided to leave mine where it was as I had a shorter drive at the end of the day compared to them. I made sure our two boats were on the truck and got on the bus. Not sure where Chelsea was as she was only going to buy a t-shirt. I had all the paddles and water with me. Neil had the lunch and snacks I prepared with his stuff.
I got off the bus and ran into Gail, Brian, and Jon at the putin. Chelsea ended up getting on a later bus. We unloaded the boats from the truck in similar fashion to the pervious day. Neil and gang almost missed the shuttle from the takeout to the putin. They got the last three seats and they said there had to be at least a busload of people stranded there.
I finally saw Chelsea at the river. She picked up the spare kayak paddle from the car and had it in her hand. I had to deflate my front airbag and shove the paddle under it. It barely fit. I then re-inflated the bag. I know had water for two, a four piece break-down kayak paddle, full kayak paddle, and spare OC1 paddle, and my regular ten pounds of camera gear in my boat. I told Chelsea that I was heading down river to take pictures of the rocks at the first set of rapids and she stayed behind to wait for the others.
I managed to take some great pics of the Y group and some others that I knew. I almost contemplated having a nap as it was at least 45 minutes before the others showed up. Needless to say I did not get too many pics of them during the day as I was always ahead of them or on a different side of the rapid.
I spent some more time taking pictures of other rocks on the way down until we came to Lucifers. I decided I was going to run the right hand thread the needle line. My first run down was fine. I ended up with water in the boat but that’s normal for me. I then decided I was going to drop into Lucifers from above. It took me another four tries and running from above before someone told me I had to be way left of the tongue. I knew I had the right spot when I saw all the finger point and whooo hooos coming from shore. I finally got in and side surfed for about 4 seconds before window shading multiple times, almost rolled up, and then got spit out like a terd. Thanks Keith for helping me get back into my boat in the middle of the river. I know Neil and Derek took a couple of runs. I was not sure what Greg and Dan did as they left just shortly after I got there. We spent quite a bit of time there having lots of fun.
We headed down river and ran log jam. No creek runs todays. We had a snack on shore before heading down to the sandy beach lunch spot. I was making my run down to the spot when Alexandra and her boyfriend decided to jump on the wave. I have to swing my boat around them and they she ended sitting in her boat on top of mine just in front of me. I had to quickly grab their boat and push it off. I hung onto the boats until we floated down. After a high five it was lunch time. We had lunch with Gail, Brian, Fiona, Jon, and Steve (I think that’s all of them). We watched these people jump off the 30 foot cliff on the other side of the river. I started yelling out scores and then this guys ended up over rotating on a front flip and did a belly flop. About 50 people all went ewww when he hit. The guy was ok.
After feeling semi-bloated from lunch it was time to run “Le Haute Tension”. I had a really dry run down. Neil and Derek had good first runs. Neil’s second run was a little different. He decided to run AnnaLisa’s boat down as she was walking it. He ended up dropping into the hole and out of his boat for his longest swim so far that I can remember. He managed to get some really good underwater look up at the sun downtime. I rescued the boat and he was being dragged to shore by some bystander. After that I head down river to take some pictures of some really neat rocks.
After that we headed down river. I ran the drop at Cedars even though they said it was a mandatory portage. There were lots of people running it and with all the extra crap in my boat carrying it was not an option. Neil and Derek quickly followed. I started paddling ahead to Bonnet Rouge as I was getting tired and just wanted to get to the takeout. I got farther down the river at Bonnet Rouge while standing up in my boat. I managed to do the river right drop and then made it to the second wave before literally jumping out of my boat. I managed to get back into my boat with the help of a paddler in the eddy. After that It was a ferry across to the takeout and the long process of hauling all the gear to the truck for the shuttle backs. Goodbyes and hugs were exchanged in the parking lot. Chelsea and I head back to takedown camp. I was happy that the tents and tarp were fairly dry. We just rolled them up in a ball and threw in the back seat of the car. We tied on the boats and were off.
We ended up stopping for ice cream along the way. We had lots of snacks to last us for a while as we were going to have a late dinner at my dads place. We ended up stopping at Esprit for a bit. We had a nice chat with Leah. Chelsea managed to talk to a lot of her friends she met there in the spring. She also had some other business to take care of as well. Jim offered us some pizza as well as some of the others who could not finish theirs. I ended up taking some nice pictures of the sunset. We left but ended up stopping a few minutes later to take some pictures. I was commenting on how nice it would be for pictures if the ponds that were on the right side of the road and been on the side where the sun had set. Low and behold we both said at the same time like those ones as we found some coming around the corner. I stopped the car and got out the tripod.
Next stop was to be my dads but we were kind of hungry and ended up going through the Burger King drive through for the after 9pm special. We finally got to my dads where we ended up doing laundry and watching another chick flick. I finally crashed. All I can say is I am glad we did not have to make the long trip back to Barrie that night.
Monday 27-Aug-2007:
Made cheese omelletes for breakfast. We did a quick stop at Tim Horton’s for tea for Chelsea and a big box of TimBits for the MKC gang. I decided to let Chelsea drive. We pulled into MKC around 11ish. We went into the kitchen to say hi to the gang and dropped off the TimBits. I told them I had some chairs and a shelf table for them and offloaded it from the car. Our plan today was to paddle at the Gull but we decided to paddle at MKC instead. We had to wait until 12:30 for the water to flow as they were being affected by the lack of rain. We headed down to the river as Chelsea had never been there before. I ended up getting some nap and suntan time in. Chelsea decided to head down river a bit to find her own rock as she was writing a new song. You could tell she was really into it as her head was bopping all around.
I walked back up to offload the boats and get geared up. My boat was in absolute stripped down mode. No camera, spare paddle, battery. Just water bottles. I decided to forgo the polypro and shirt and went au natural under my pfd in order to get some more suntan time in. We walked up river and started our run down by eddy hopping on river right. Chelsea was starting to get the hang of it. We spent a lot of time at this really sweet spot where you could practice peel outs and eddy catching from shore to rock and back again. We walked back up river and I took another run down trying to catch as many eddys as I could while the Princess was having a snack. Mark was nice enough to come down to help Chelsea with her roll for at least an hour. I was getting as many runs in as possible. I managed to get some sweet side and back surfs in as well.
After that we packed up the paddling gear. I grabbed a quick outdoor shower. Man I love those things at MKC. I thanked Claudia for the river access and said goodbye to the gang as I probably would not see them until next year.
Chelsea drove all the way back through Orillia and down to the McDonalds on highway 11 just before the 400 highway. This was a far a she could legally drive. We made a quick stop at Costco for chicken fingers and salad. We finally got home to my place just after seven. I went to unlock the doors, turn the oven on, and head out in the back yard to open the gate. We offload the boats into the yard and the gear into the house which now looks like a tornado hit it. We finally had dinner. Chelsea had had a craving for chicken fingers since Sunday. In between watching another chick flick and dinner I managed to do two loads of laundry before crashing.
Tuesday 28-Aug-2007:
Holy crap 04:30 comes fast. I got up, showered, had breakfast and woke up the Princess. We left the house at 05:30 to go pick up my car pool buddy. We were able to watch the last half of the lunar eclipse as we drove down to Toronto. I dropped buddy off at work and then drove over to the Kiss-N-Ride to drop Chelsea off. I got my hug and she was off. I now have three days to make sure all the gear is dry and re-pack it before our trip to the Ottawa on Friday.
Link to pictures
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Gull River
Water Level: 8.3 all three days
I will try and be brief in this one.
Friday 17-Aug-2007:
Chelsea and I headed up to Minden and got there around 2:30pm. We setup camp first including a tarp as the sky was getting dark. We headed down to scout the river. This was Chelsea’s first time there. This was also my first time there in two year since the accident that ended my kayaking career. I managed to do a sneak attack with the camera and scare the crap out of Gail Shields. Shortly after that it started to rain and then the thunderstorm and lighting started. We went back to camp and played scrabble and waited out the storm. We managed to get on the river at 5pm for 2.5 hours of excellent play. We met up with a couple of the McMaster WhiteWater club that had come up early as the rest of the gang was coming up Saturday. Chelsea played at the bottom as the current was really zooming. I managed to have some excellent runs from below the falls catching as many eddys as I could. I was very happy with my runs considering I was super nervous about paddling the river. I was able to get on the bottom surf wave once. I managed to get some really excellent side surfs at the ledge below the surf wave. After that it was back to camp to make dinner and then hang out with some of Chelsea’s friends at the McMaster camp. We actually ended up sitting around some others group fire until they finished dinner. I was tired and finally crashed around 10pm.
Saturday 18-Aug-2007:
8am came quick. We had breakfast and walked over to the other side of the river to see if Greg showed up as he was picking up his boat from being repaired. We finally managed to hookup at the lot and then went back to camp to get our boats and gear. Chelsea started carrying her boat down to the bottom while Greg and I ran from below the falls. We caught up to Chelsea in the river right eddy below the footbridge. Greg and I headed down to the left eddy above the Otter Slide. Chelsea started heading down on river right … paused in paddling … and went over. Greg and I both yelled SWIM when we saw her wet exit. She almost made it to river left eddy but ended up swimming the left side of the Otter Slide (see pictures). All I can say is no visit to the hospital today. Everyone she talked to through out the day told her she got off lucky.
My sister and brother in-law showed up to watch. She basically told me I was crazy but I already new that but what she really meant was crazy for paddling white water. She managed to get some pictures of me out of my boat when I tried to eddy out and surf the wave below the Otter Slide. Lets just say my boat knows how to roll back up by itself without me in it (see pictures). Thanks Greg for bringing my boat to me.
The rest of the day was kind of a blur as I could not believe the amount of people I knew that were paddling on the river.
But some of my memorable moments were:
1. Sneak attack up on Boydo and grab him by the back of his PFD and dunk him and pull him back up. He looked stunned like a dear caught in the headlights. Yes there was a threat of payback.
2. Gonzo aka Martin using a double bladed paddled with a smile on his face. Not sure what possessed him to to that (see pictures).
3. Fiona is now off my xmas card list. First I see her in a C1 which is fine but then she hoped into a real kayak with a double blade in her hand and started paddling. I am really disappointed with her … lol.
4. Watching Suzanne and Seamus run the falls in a tandem boat (see pictures).
5. Watching Dan run the falls for the first time ever (see pictures).
6. Watching Martin run the falls (see pictures).
7. Listening to the loud shriek from Suzanne and her and Seamus both took a forward stroke and blew there angle for surfing below the Otter Slide and ended up running into the big river left rock at the surfwave. Suzanne was basically in a rock splat position and basically yelled back to Seamus I can’t do anything.
8. Side surfing my a$$ off at the ledge.
9. Campfire at the McMaster site.
10. Butter tarts from TimmY Who’s. And yes I made sure Boydo got one.
After a long day of paddling it was off to make dinner. I did up the rice and showed Chelsea how to do the curry, raisin, and chickpea combo. We had extra so I invited Martin and Scott to join us for dinner. I had not really talked to Scott much before but it was nice to get to know him better. After that it was a nice relaxing drink social at the McMaster site around the fire and then bed by 10pm.
Sunday 19-Aug-2007:
Crap … 8am again … had sausages, eggs, and toast for breakfast. We finally go our butts down to the river around 10ish. I dropped Chelsea off at the bottom and went back to do my run from below the falls. Man I wanted to run the falls bad but I just did not have it in me to do it yet. Today was more of a repeat of Saturday except I ran into more people I knew. I spent quite a bit of time taking pictures from river left when I notice my boat mysteriously disappeared and was sitting on the river right shore. Boydo decided that I needed the exercise and had to swim to get it. I wish he would have at least left my helmet but I had to swim over without it. Don’t worry .. I paid back the favour when he wasn’t looking.
The most memorable moment of the day was this dog named Foster. He would follow his owner anywhere and everywhere in the river.
Foster's Pictures
I had some excellent runs from cave eddy with Laura from the McMaster group. We played follow the leader with me in front. I end out of my boat for about 20 seconds when I tried to ferry from a river left eddy above a rock and slide into the eddy behind a bigger rock in the middle that was a few feet over from it. I nailed that move on my next trip down the river.
I was totally wiped after a few more runs. We headed up to the campground around 3pm and were on our way home by 4pm.
Here are some of the selected pictures
I will try and be brief in this one.
Friday 17-Aug-2007:
Chelsea and I headed up to Minden and got there around 2:30pm. We setup camp first including a tarp as the sky was getting dark. We headed down to scout the river. This was Chelsea’s first time there. This was also my first time there in two year since the accident that ended my kayaking career. I managed to do a sneak attack with the camera and scare the crap out of Gail Shields. Shortly after that it started to rain and then the thunderstorm and lighting started. We went back to camp and played scrabble and waited out the storm. We managed to get on the river at 5pm for 2.5 hours of excellent play. We met up with a couple of the McMaster WhiteWater club that had come up early as the rest of the gang was coming up Saturday. Chelsea played at the bottom as the current was really zooming. I managed to have some excellent runs from below the falls catching as many eddys as I could. I was very happy with my runs considering I was super nervous about paddling the river. I was able to get on the bottom surf wave once. I managed to get some really excellent side surfs at the ledge below the surf wave. After that it was back to camp to make dinner and then hang out with some of Chelsea’s friends at the McMaster camp. We actually ended up sitting around some others group fire until they finished dinner. I was tired and finally crashed around 10pm.
Saturday 18-Aug-2007:
8am came quick. We had breakfast and walked over to the other side of the river to see if Greg showed up as he was picking up his boat from being repaired. We finally managed to hookup at the lot and then went back to camp to get our boats and gear. Chelsea started carrying her boat down to the bottom while Greg and I ran from below the falls. We caught up to Chelsea in the river right eddy below the footbridge. Greg and I headed down to the left eddy above the Otter Slide. Chelsea started heading down on river right … paused in paddling … and went over. Greg and I both yelled SWIM when we saw her wet exit. She almost made it to river left eddy but ended up swimming the left side of the Otter Slide (see pictures). All I can say is no visit to the hospital today. Everyone she talked to through out the day told her she got off lucky.
My sister and brother in-law showed up to watch. She basically told me I was crazy but I already new that but what she really meant was crazy for paddling white water. She managed to get some pictures of me out of my boat when I tried to eddy out and surf the wave below the Otter Slide. Lets just say my boat knows how to roll back up by itself without me in it (see pictures). Thanks Greg for bringing my boat to me.
The rest of the day was kind of a blur as I could not believe the amount of people I knew that were paddling on the river.
But some of my memorable moments were:
1. Sneak attack up on Boydo and grab him by the back of his PFD and dunk him and pull him back up. He looked stunned like a dear caught in the headlights. Yes there was a threat of payback.
2. Gonzo aka Martin using a double bladed paddled with a smile on his face. Not sure what possessed him to to that (see pictures).
3. Fiona is now off my xmas card list. First I see her in a C1 which is fine but then she hoped into a real kayak with a double blade in her hand and started paddling. I am really disappointed with her … lol.
4. Watching Suzanne and Seamus run the falls in a tandem boat (see pictures).
5. Watching Dan run the falls for the first time ever (see pictures).
6. Watching Martin run the falls (see pictures).
7. Listening to the loud shriek from Suzanne and her and Seamus both took a forward stroke and blew there angle for surfing below the Otter Slide and ended up running into the big river left rock at the surfwave. Suzanne was basically in a rock splat position and basically yelled back to Seamus I can’t do anything.
8. Side surfing my a$$ off at the ledge.
9. Campfire at the McMaster site.
10. Butter tarts from TimmY Who’s. And yes I made sure Boydo got one.
After a long day of paddling it was off to make dinner. I did up the rice and showed Chelsea how to do the curry, raisin, and chickpea combo. We had extra so I invited Martin and Scott to join us for dinner. I had not really talked to Scott much before but it was nice to get to know him better. After that it was a nice relaxing drink social at the McMaster site around the fire and then bed by 10pm.
Sunday 19-Aug-2007:
Crap … 8am again … had sausages, eggs, and toast for breakfast. We finally go our butts down to the river around 10ish. I dropped Chelsea off at the bottom and went back to do my run from below the falls. Man I wanted to run the falls bad but I just did not have it in me to do it yet. Today was more of a repeat of Saturday except I ran into more people I knew. I spent quite a bit of time taking pictures from river left when I notice my boat mysteriously disappeared and was sitting on the river right shore. Boydo decided that I needed the exercise and had to swim to get it. I wish he would have at least left my helmet but I had to swim over without it. Don’t worry .. I paid back the favour when he wasn’t looking.
The most memorable moment of the day was this dog named Foster. He would follow his owner anywhere and everywhere in the river.
Foster's Pictures
I had some excellent runs from cave eddy with Laura from the McMaster group. We played follow the leader with me in front. I end out of my boat for about 20 seconds when I tried to ferry from a river left eddy above a rock and slide into the eddy behind a bigger rock in the middle that was a few feet over from it. I nailed that move on my next trip down the river.
I was totally wiped after a few more runs. We headed up to the campground around 3pm and were on our way home by 4pm.
Here are some of the selected pictures
Monday, August 13, 2007
Ottawa River
Well here goes another trip report and it is a long one.
Thursday 09-Aug-2007:
I met Chelsea a couple weeks ago at the Ottawa from Geoff Boyd’s McMaster White Water Club course. We have kept in touch and she expressed a great interest in coming paddling with us this weekend at the Ottawa. The only problem she had was no boat and doesn’t have a car. No problem … Colin to the rescue. I was on my way back from St Kits and had some shopping to do at MEC. I picked her up Thursday afternoon in downtown Toronto and it was off to my place for the evening. Chelsea fit perfectly into my Liquid Logic Hoss. After a few float tests in the pool we had the trim in the boat set up right. She attempted a few rolls but it wasn’t quite happening yet. A short while later my day and step-mom stopped by with some extra furniture from Grandmas place. They knew I would be donating some of it to other but it was better to recycle it than landfill. After that is was pre-pack the car for our road trip.
Friday 10-Aug-2007:
Our first and second stops of the day were in Bancroft at the LCBO to pick up party drinks for us and Tim Horton’s to pickup some Tim Bits for the MKC staff as that is basically the closest one to them. We stopped of to donate some furniture such as end tables, drawers, etc. The staff basically live on roofed platforms with walls made of tarps, etc. They are very creative at making furniture out of milk crates and are always seeking donations. So if you have any old lawns chairs, small tables, etc that you want to get rid of … drop them off and they will be recycled and put to good use. We ended up having a lovely lunch with the MKC staff and they were glad we dropped of the Tim Bits.
After that we headed off to River Run to setup camp. We had to pick a spot and save some space for the others that were coming up Saturday morning.
We ended up spending about three hours playing at Push Button. It was really hard for me to get on in my open boat this time as the water was really boily on the eddy line. I helped Chelsea out with her roll. She finally managed to get. After that it was a late night dinner at the Irving truck stop in Pembroke. I checked my email and found out that Greg was coming up for a day of paddling on Saturday and would meet us at the putin around 1pm.
Saturday 11-Aug-2007: Water Level: -1.25
The plan was for Neil, AnnaLisa, and Angela to show up around 1pm or so. But as we all know plans changed. They actually showed up around midnightish and started setting up camp beside us without realizing we were actually in the same spot. I got up to talk to Neil to figure out the new game plan before going back to sleep which was kind of hard as the raccoons were just annoying the hell out of the rafters that left food out. It was actually quite entertaining to listening to all the screams.
Neil and I were up first. We figured out a plan and he had to run it by the boss for approval. Angela and AnnaLisa decide to stay behind for the morning and paddle at the beach front. This would be Angela’s first time paddling a kayak in moving water. Chelsea, Neil, and I decided to do a quick run down the main channel starting at Grab with the plan of being back to meet Greg at the putin for 1pm.
We loaded up the boats and headed off. Chelsea and Neil had never paddled the main before. Well not exactly true. Chelsea had paddled it lots in a raft at various levels during her six week course at Esprit but never in a kayak. We put on the water and headed over to scout the Lorne. The rafts were there making there runs. I ran down through Garb first. I caught the top right of the wave and ended up doing a neat hip flick action with the boat to bring it around to the back side of the wave before heading down the rest through Waikiki and paddling into shore to check on Chelsea. I saw Martin from Shaggy Designs on my way up to the top. He was quite impressed with my run through Garb. I watched Neil make his run through Garb clean and he pulled in behind Moby Dick. He was quite surprised at the how fast and steep it was. I told him to stay there for extra safety. I went up to see Chelsea and gave her three options … walk it … run it … or paddle over the island on river left and walk it to put in at the eddy by Moby Dick. She decided to run it. I gave Neil the sign that Chelsea was going to run it and ran back down to my boat for extra safety. She started her run fine but ended up swimming. I managed to grab her paddle and saw the boat was being followed by Tanya MacGregor and her paddling group of ladies. I got her boat back from the ladies and towed it back to shore.
After a quick empty and a few more roll practices we headed off through Push Button and Butchers Knife. We got out to scout on river left. I told both of them do NOT swim on river right if your out of your boat. Neil went first and ended upside down after going through part of the hole. He did three attempts at rolling his boat before he realized he was head to the sharp rocks and then decided to swim. I went next by going left of the hole and Chelsea made a clean run by going left as well. Neil was quite surprised at how strong the hole was.
After that it was a quick paddle to the top of the Normans. We were pressed for time as I did not want to leave Greg hanging around the putin too long. We did a quick scout before heading off. Neil went first through the big stuff. I caught the first eddy on the right and waited for Chelsea. She managed to make the eddy fine. We continued our journey only for Chelsea to end up out of her boat in the boils. After a quick rescue and boat empty Chelsea decide to walk Coliseum. I told Neil to take the line on the left and we ran it without scouting. It was now just after 12:30. I told Neil that I would paddle to the takeout by myself to meet Greg and gave him the lines for the remaining set of rapids. I ripped down the rest of the river and left my boat at the beach. AnnaLisa gave me a ride to get my car and I went up to the putin. Greg was sitting in a very relaxed position on the back of his vehicle. I can’t even remember if I said hi or not. It turned out he got there at noon. We locked his boat to the closet tree and head to RiverRun to get the others. Neil and Chelsea were just getting there and I had been back at least 30 minutes. After a quick lunch of veggies, dip, and whatever and not it was time to get this party started.
We ended up putting on around 2ish. We headed off to scout McKoys. I was not sure about running it this time as I am booked and paid in full for GatFest and did not want to miss it by getting hurt. Chelsea and Angela opted to walk. Neil and AnnaLisa ended up taking the sneak on the left and I think AnnaLisa swam. Greg did the thread the needle but ended up out of his boat on river left. I was still sitting on the fence post. I had been staring at the tongue on Phil’s for 20 minutes now and still wasn’t sure. I walked back up to my boat and started heading down river and still wasn’t sure of where I was going. Well let’s just say I made my quickest and most driest run ever through the tongue on Phil’s. I had less than an inch of water in my boat. Hartley if your reading this I once again proven you wrong. I eddied in just below corner wave. After that I punched through rightside Horsehoe and headed over to BabyFace where I managed to get only one half-a$$ side surf going.
Greg had the best move for styling it of the day. He was coming down from river left and ended up coming towards leftside Horseshoe. All I heard from one of the raft guides was holy $h1t as Greg was just at the top heading towards the hole. He managed to do a couple of quick moves and ended up making it. There was a lot of cheering going on when he was starting to get sucked back into the hole but kept paddling. I would have been trashed for sure if it was me.
We decided to scout all the rapids on this trip as we had some newcomers and the water level was lower than what the others had ever paddled it.
Everyone basically made it through Iron Ring fine. Angela ended getting knocked over in the boils but she did very well considering first time paddling white water. We spent a while playing at S-Bend hole. Everyone was having lots of fun surfing, tanning, and swimming as it was really hot out. Butterfly was a blast.
But the most interesting and fun spot of the day was hanging out at Elevator Shaft. Neil realized that you could sit under the water flowing over it. Everyone was taking turns and I took some great shots of the group. It was definitely a refreshing cool down.
Upper NoName was fun. Neil and I decide to raft up and see how far we could get. We managed to catch the last eddy on river right before the hole. I believe everyone made it through fine. Events kind of get blurred late at the end of the day.
I ran Lower NoName without scouting it. I ran down the center tongue and moved over to catch the river right tongue. I made it clean which means I ran both channels in one day clean without swimming which is a record for me. The only time I swam was playing on some of the features after I ran them first. Neil made his run clean. Chelsea somehow managed to win the award for taking the most river left line I have ever saw in my life but she did it with style. Not bad for a rafting chick who decided to take up kayaking (mental note get her into open boating). Angela and AnnaLisa decided to walk around and put in below the nasty stuff before running the rest of it.
After that it was down Black Velvet and off to the take out. Neil decided to try and make me swim out of my boat before getting to the corner at the takeout. It was quite hilarious as my boat is really stable and he has very little body weight. I ended up beating on his helmet and hands trying to get him off my boat (the rafters watching this were kind of shocked). It wasn’t until Greg helped that I ended up going over. Lets just say I emptied my boat and started chasing Greg. I almost caught up to him by narrowing a 100 foot gap before he beat me to shore.
It was 7pm by the time we got off the river. I was getting concerned as I did not want to cook in the dark as it was my turn to cook for the group. We had a fabulous dinner of chickpea and raisins in curry sauce on basmati rice with fresh chilled pineapple chunks for desert. There was also a variety of party beverages being consumed. The highlight of dinner for me was when Valeri Popov tracked us down at our campsite and gave me a box of four ice cream cones. He had read on BoatWerks that we were going to be there and had a tough choice to make. Go and paddle the Gatineau or come to the Ottawa and pay off his debt (I guess he was feeling guilty). I told him a few months ago after sending him a DVD with pics on it in the mail that he owed me an ice cream cone. Well let’s just say he is paid in full.
After dinner and cleanup we headed down to the fire fore more drinks. It was nice to see Geoff, Jess, and Randell again. I was making my own coolers of Presidents Choice lemon pop, vodka, and ice in a nalgene bottle (a lot cheaper than buying the real ones). Let’s just say I was feeling ok. I went up and crashed around midnight. I am not sure what time the others went to bed but I am sure it was quite late.
Sunday 12-Aug-2007: Water Level: -1.25
I woke up at 4:30 am. I could not sleep anymore as my shoulder was bugging me. I think it was from trying to catch up to Greg the day before. Greg got up and started packing up his stuff as he had to head back home. I sat in a lawn chair with my blankie and watch the sun come up. It was beautiful. Neil finally got out of bed at 7am. I was hoping to be on the water early but no chance of that. I started cooking breakfast. Veggie omelletes and ham steaks. Yum. Angela and AnnaLisa finally got up. I finally had to go kick Chelsea out of her tent. After breakfast and many discussions we finally got to the river around 10:30. Bryan and Denis decided to join our group.
We decided to put in at Little Picky and avoid running McKoys as nobody really felt up to it. After that we just headed down to Iron Ring and then onto S-Bend for some sweet play time. This was probably my best day for front, side, and back surfing. I managed to do a 360 flat spin. It took a lot but I got it done. Bryan and Denis decided to take my girlfriend out for a spin. I don’t know what it is but people are really attracted to her. It must be the blue eyes, fine lines, and the boob job she had back in the spring. Neil hopped into a kayak for a few rides before swimming. I don’t know what possessed me but I hopped into my old kayak and got a half-a$$ front surf on the first try and swam on the second try. I know remember why I went back to open boating.
Butterfly was kind of a blur as I was tired. I had a clean run down as did Neil. AnnaLisa surprised us both as she nailed the top river right eddy with ease. I gave it a couple of tries but ended up swimming every time. After I went and passed out on a rock for twenty minutes as I was wiped. All I know is there were a crap load of extra pictures on my camera of various runs on leftside and rightside butterfly.
After that is was off to Elevator Shaft for a refreshing showers and snacks. We were hoping to have lunch back at the campground but it was late. Bryan and Denis shared their bagels with the group. I shared the granola bar I had in my PFD. As some group shot pictures it was off to Upper NoName.
I bombed down through LowerName taking the same line as the day before. Denis ended up swimming and I picked up the floating gear. Bryan made his run as was closely followed by Angela who made it all the way down through all the big stuff like a trooper. Chelsea and AnnaLisa took their same lines as the day before.
I was getting tired and just bombed down to the takeout. I just wanted to get my car and pack up and go home as I still had a long drive ahead of me. I was quite happy with my three runs down the river with no swims (swimming while playing does not count).
I filled up in Cobden at 5:15 and was home by 9:15. Not bad considering we had one stop for ice cream in QuadVille and one potty break. Chelsea and I offloaded the car real quick. Boats went into the back yard and everything else into the basement dungeon. She grabbed the shower first while I got the laundry sorted out. Holy crap talk about stinky paddling gear. I grabbed a quick shower and then it was a late dinner of re-heated left over Chinese from our Thursday night dinner. After that it was watching the first Harry Potter movie while offloading pictures from the memory cards. I finally crashed just before 11. I was totally wiped.
Monday 13-Aug-2007:
All I can say is holy crap as 4:30AM came quick. It was hard to get moving. I packed up my crap for work and told the princess it was time to get up as she still had to re-pack her stuff complete with clean clothes before my car pool buddy came at 5:30. After that it was hugs goodbye as we dropped her off at the subway near my work. Chelsea says she wants to come out with us more so at least we have another person to add to the group. She will most likely come out paddling with us more than Derek does (poke … jab … inside joke).
Here are some of the selected pictures
Thursday 09-Aug-2007:
I met Chelsea a couple weeks ago at the Ottawa from Geoff Boyd’s McMaster White Water Club course. We have kept in touch and she expressed a great interest in coming paddling with us this weekend at the Ottawa. The only problem she had was no boat and doesn’t have a car. No problem … Colin to the rescue. I was on my way back from St Kits and had some shopping to do at MEC. I picked her up Thursday afternoon in downtown Toronto and it was off to my place for the evening. Chelsea fit perfectly into my Liquid Logic Hoss. After a few float tests in the pool we had the trim in the boat set up right. She attempted a few rolls but it wasn’t quite happening yet. A short while later my day and step-mom stopped by with some extra furniture from Grandmas place. They knew I would be donating some of it to other but it was better to recycle it than landfill. After that is was pre-pack the car for our road trip.
Friday 10-Aug-2007:
Our first and second stops of the day were in Bancroft at the LCBO to pick up party drinks for us and Tim Horton’s to pickup some Tim Bits for the MKC staff as that is basically the closest one to them. We stopped of to donate some furniture such as end tables, drawers, etc. The staff basically live on roofed platforms with walls made of tarps, etc. They are very creative at making furniture out of milk crates and are always seeking donations. So if you have any old lawns chairs, small tables, etc that you want to get rid of … drop them off and they will be recycled and put to good use. We ended up having a lovely lunch with the MKC staff and they were glad we dropped of the Tim Bits.
After that we headed off to River Run to setup camp. We had to pick a spot and save some space for the others that were coming up Saturday morning.
We ended up spending about three hours playing at Push Button. It was really hard for me to get on in my open boat this time as the water was really boily on the eddy line. I helped Chelsea out with her roll. She finally managed to get. After that it was a late night dinner at the Irving truck stop in Pembroke. I checked my email and found out that Greg was coming up for a day of paddling on Saturday and would meet us at the putin around 1pm.
Saturday 11-Aug-2007: Water Level: -1.25
The plan was for Neil, AnnaLisa, and Angela to show up around 1pm or so. But as we all know plans changed. They actually showed up around midnightish and started setting up camp beside us without realizing we were actually in the same spot. I got up to talk to Neil to figure out the new game plan before going back to sleep which was kind of hard as the raccoons were just annoying the hell out of the rafters that left food out. It was actually quite entertaining to listening to all the screams.
Neil and I were up first. We figured out a plan and he had to run it by the boss for approval. Angela and AnnaLisa decide to stay behind for the morning and paddle at the beach front. This would be Angela’s first time paddling a kayak in moving water. Chelsea, Neil, and I decided to do a quick run down the main channel starting at Grab with the plan of being back to meet Greg at the putin for 1pm.
We loaded up the boats and headed off. Chelsea and Neil had never paddled the main before. Well not exactly true. Chelsea had paddled it lots in a raft at various levels during her six week course at Esprit but never in a kayak. We put on the water and headed over to scout the Lorne. The rafts were there making there runs. I ran down through Garb first. I caught the top right of the wave and ended up doing a neat hip flick action with the boat to bring it around to the back side of the wave before heading down the rest through Waikiki and paddling into shore to check on Chelsea. I saw Martin from Shaggy Designs on my way up to the top. He was quite impressed with my run through Garb. I watched Neil make his run through Garb clean and he pulled in behind Moby Dick. He was quite surprised at the how fast and steep it was. I told him to stay there for extra safety. I went up to see Chelsea and gave her three options … walk it … run it … or paddle over the island on river left and walk it to put in at the eddy by Moby Dick. She decided to run it. I gave Neil the sign that Chelsea was going to run it and ran back down to my boat for extra safety. She started her run fine but ended up swimming. I managed to grab her paddle and saw the boat was being followed by Tanya MacGregor and her paddling group of ladies. I got her boat back from the ladies and towed it back to shore.
After a quick empty and a few more roll practices we headed off through Push Button and Butchers Knife. We got out to scout on river left. I told both of them do NOT swim on river right if your out of your boat. Neil went first and ended upside down after going through part of the hole. He did three attempts at rolling his boat before he realized he was head to the sharp rocks and then decided to swim. I went next by going left of the hole and Chelsea made a clean run by going left as well. Neil was quite surprised at how strong the hole was.
After that it was a quick paddle to the top of the Normans. We were pressed for time as I did not want to leave Greg hanging around the putin too long. We did a quick scout before heading off. Neil went first through the big stuff. I caught the first eddy on the right and waited for Chelsea. She managed to make the eddy fine. We continued our journey only for Chelsea to end up out of her boat in the boils. After a quick rescue and boat empty Chelsea decide to walk Coliseum. I told Neil to take the line on the left and we ran it without scouting. It was now just after 12:30. I told Neil that I would paddle to the takeout by myself to meet Greg and gave him the lines for the remaining set of rapids. I ripped down the rest of the river and left my boat at the beach. AnnaLisa gave me a ride to get my car and I went up to the putin. Greg was sitting in a very relaxed position on the back of his vehicle. I can’t even remember if I said hi or not. It turned out he got there at noon. We locked his boat to the closet tree and head to RiverRun to get the others. Neil and Chelsea were just getting there and I had been back at least 30 minutes. After a quick lunch of veggies, dip, and whatever and not it was time to get this party started.
We ended up putting on around 2ish. We headed off to scout McKoys. I was not sure about running it this time as I am booked and paid in full for GatFest and did not want to miss it by getting hurt. Chelsea and Angela opted to walk. Neil and AnnaLisa ended up taking the sneak on the left and I think AnnaLisa swam. Greg did the thread the needle but ended up out of his boat on river left. I was still sitting on the fence post. I had been staring at the tongue on Phil’s for 20 minutes now and still wasn’t sure. I walked back up to my boat and started heading down river and still wasn’t sure of where I was going. Well let’s just say I made my quickest and most driest run ever through the tongue on Phil’s. I had less than an inch of water in my boat. Hartley if your reading this I once again proven you wrong. I eddied in just below corner wave. After that I punched through rightside Horsehoe and headed over to BabyFace where I managed to get only one half-a$$ side surf going.
Greg had the best move for styling it of the day. He was coming down from river left and ended up coming towards leftside Horseshoe. All I heard from one of the raft guides was holy $h1t as Greg was just at the top heading towards the hole. He managed to do a couple of quick moves and ended up making it. There was a lot of cheering going on when he was starting to get sucked back into the hole but kept paddling. I would have been trashed for sure if it was me.
We decided to scout all the rapids on this trip as we had some newcomers and the water level was lower than what the others had ever paddled it.
Everyone basically made it through Iron Ring fine. Angela ended getting knocked over in the boils but she did very well considering first time paddling white water. We spent a while playing at S-Bend hole. Everyone was having lots of fun surfing, tanning, and swimming as it was really hot out. Butterfly was a blast.
But the most interesting and fun spot of the day was hanging out at Elevator Shaft. Neil realized that you could sit under the water flowing over it. Everyone was taking turns and I took some great shots of the group. It was definitely a refreshing cool down.
Upper NoName was fun. Neil and I decide to raft up and see how far we could get. We managed to catch the last eddy on river right before the hole. I believe everyone made it through fine. Events kind of get blurred late at the end of the day.
I ran Lower NoName without scouting it. I ran down the center tongue and moved over to catch the river right tongue. I made it clean which means I ran both channels in one day clean without swimming which is a record for me. The only time I swam was playing on some of the features after I ran them first. Neil made his run clean. Chelsea somehow managed to win the award for taking the most river left line I have ever saw in my life but she did it with style. Not bad for a rafting chick who decided to take up kayaking (mental note get her into open boating). Angela and AnnaLisa decided to walk around and put in below the nasty stuff before running the rest of it.
After that it was down Black Velvet and off to the take out. Neil decided to try and make me swim out of my boat before getting to the corner at the takeout. It was quite hilarious as my boat is really stable and he has very little body weight. I ended up beating on his helmet and hands trying to get him off my boat (the rafters watching this were kind of shocked). It wasn’t until Greg helped that I ended up going over. Lets just say I emptied my boat and started chasing Greg. I almost caught up to him by narrowing a 100 foot gap before he beat me to shore.
It was 7pm by the time we got off the river. I was getting concerned as I did not want to cook in the dark as it was my turn to cook for the group. We had a fabulous dinner of chickpea and raisins in curry sauce on basmati rice with fresh chilled pineapple chunks for desert. There was also a variety of party beverages being consumed. The highlight of dinner for me was when Valeri Popov tracked us down at our campsite and gave me a box of four ice cream cones. He had read on BoatWerks that we were going to be there and had a tough choice to make. Go and paddle the Gatineau or come to the Ottawa and pay off his debt (I guess he was feeling guilty). I told him a few months ago after sending him a DVD with pics on it in the mail that he owed me an ice cream cone. Well let’s just say he is paid in full.
After dinner and cleanup we headed down to the fire fore more drinks. It was nice to see Geoff, Jess, and Randell again. I was making my own coolers of Presidents Choice lemon pop, vodka, and ice in a nalgene bottle (a lot cheaper than buying the real ones). Let’s just say I was feeling ok. I went up and crashed around midnight. I am not sure what time the others went to bed but I am sure it was quite late.
Sunday 12-Aug-2007: Water Level: -1.25
I woke up at 4:30 am. I could not sleep anymore as my shoulder was bugging me. I think it was from trying to catch up to Greg the day before. Greg got up and started packing up his stuff as he had to head back home. I sat in a lawn chair with my blankie and watch the sun come up. It was beautiful. Neil finally got out of bed at 7am. I was hoping to be on the water early but no chance of that. I started cooking breakfast. Veggie omelletes and ham steaks. Yum. Angela and AnnaLisa finally got up. I finally had to go kick Chelsea out of her tent. After breakfast and many discussions we finally got to the river around 10:30. Bryan and Denis decided to join our group.
We decided to put in at Little Picky and avoid running McKoys as nobody really felt up to it. After that we just headed down to Iron Ring and then onto S-Bend for some sweet play time. This was probably my best day for front, side, and back surfing. I managed to do a 360 flat spin. It took a lot but I got it done. Bryan and Denis decided to take my girlfriend out for a spin. I don’t know what it is but people are really attracted to her. It must be the blue eyes, fine lines, and the boob job she had back in the spring. Neil hopped into a kayak for a few rides before swimming. I don’t know what possessed me but I hopped into my old kayak and got a half-a$$ front surf on the first try and swam on the second try. I know remember why I went back to open boating.
Butterfly was kind of a blur as I was tired. I had a clean run down as did Neil. AnnaLisa surprised us both as she nailed the top river right eddy with ease. I gave it a couple of tries but ended up swimming every time. After I went and passed out on a rock for twenty minutes as I was wiped. All I know is there were a crap load of extra pictures on my camera of various runs on leftside and rightside butterfly.
After that is was off to Elevator Shaft for a refreshing showers and snacks. We were hoping to have lunch back at the campground but it was late. Bryan and Denis shared their bagels with the group. I shared the granola bar I had in my PFD. As some group shot pictures it was off to Upper NoName.
I bombed down through LowerName taking the same line as the day before. Denis ended up swimming and I picked up the floating gear. Bryan made his run as was closely followed by Angela who made it all the way down through all the big stuff like a trooper. Chelsea and AnnaLisa took their same lines as the day before.
I was getting tired and just bombed down to the takeout. I just wanted to get my car and pack up and go home as I still had a long drive ahead of me. I was quite happy with my three runs down the river with no swims (swimming while playing does not count).
I filled up in Cobden at 5:15 and was home by 9:15. Not bad considering we had one stop for ice cream in QuadVille and one potty break. Chelsea and I offloaded the car real quick. Boats went into the back yard and everything else into the basement dungeon. She grabbed the shower first while I got the laundry sorted out. Holy crap talk about stinky paddling gear. I grabbed a quick shower and then it was a late dinner of re-heated left over Chinese from our Thursday night dinner. After that it was watching the first Harry Potter movie while offloading pictures from the memory cards. I finally crashed just before 11. I was totally wiped.
Monday 13-Aug-2007:
All I can say is holy crap as 4:30AM came quick. It was hard to get moving. I packed up my crap for work and told the princess it was time to get up as she still had to re-pack her stuff complete with clean clothes before my car pool buddy came at 5:30. After that it was hugs goodbye as we dropped her off at the subway near my work. Chelsea says she wants to come out with us more so at least we have another person to add to the group. She will most likely come out paddling with us more than Derek does (poke … jab … inside joke).
Here are some of the selected pictures
Sunday, August 5, 2007
Palmer Rapids
05-Aug-2007
Water Level:12 – real frickin low
Saturday 04-Aug-2007:
Well I had to work today. This is the only weekend my co-worker or I have to work each year. He did it last year and therefore it was my turn which kind of sucks as I had offers to paddle the Ottawa or Gatineau rivers this weekend.
I showed up at work with my boat on my car at 04:30. The plan was to drive up to Palmer Rapids if I was out of work by 6pm. I stopped for a nap at a picnic area on the 401. I had the crap scared out of me when I awoke all of a sudden as I thought I had fallen asleep and immediately went for the brake peddle as I thought I was going to crash into a tree to only realized that I was in park with the engine off. Talk about losing a few years of my life span.
I also stopped a few times on the way up to take some really nice reflection shots. I managed to leave at 5:30pm and rolled into the Coop around 9:30ish pm. Alex was nice enough to give me a cooler after a long day. We hung out at the fire for a while but I was toast and went to bed around midnight.
Sunday 05-Aug-2007
The weather was gorgeous.
I ended up going for a number 5 and a flushy at the local reataurant. I could not handle eating the oatmeal crap for breakfast.
I headed over to the portage spot by the river and started outfitting my girlfriend. Low an behold I had to wait like an hour for the others to show up. I thought they were going to paddle up and low and behold they drive into the parking lot.
We had a blast up at the top river right chute. We kept running it over and over trying to catch as many eddys as we could. It was amazing to see how many people were actually at the river. The Coop and MKC had some courses. I know there was a kids camp from Kingston way plus the regulars. Our group turned out to be AnnaLisa, Neil, Derek, and myself. Derek’s wife Julie was taking a dark side of the force course with the Coop.
We played around at the top for ever before heading down river for lunch. I have never seen the river so low. There were lots of eddys to catch and it was amazing to see how many rocks and logs are in the river. After lunch we headed back up to the top for some more fun. I decided to hang back a bit and take some close up pics of Ashley and Suzanne as they both had reflective sunglasses on.
I joined the gang back up at the chute and we ran it a few times while Derek was shooting video. I was only paddling with bare skin with my PFD on (yes I had shorts on). I asked Derek if the camera really made you look like you gained weight only to have Neil yell out it did not make a difference in my case. Thanks buddy.
After that it was swim time. We were trying to swim from river left to the eddy in front of Piano rock. Derek and Neil finally made it. I kept missing it by a hair. After a refreshing swim we all headed back down river. For a final run. I then went loaded the boat on the car and head off to pack up my tent and stuff. The others showed up a little while later. Good byes were said and that’s all she wrote.
Pretty small trip report this time.
Here are some of the pictures I took today (except for the ones of me of course).
Links to pics
Water Level:12 – real frickin low
Saturday 04-Aug-2007:
Well I had to work today. This is the only weekend my co-worker or I have to work each year. He did it last year and therefore it was my turn which kind of sucks as I had offers to paddle the Ottawa or Gatineau rivers this weekend.
I showed up at work with my boat on my car at 04:30. The plan was to drive up to Palmer Rapids if I was out of work by 6pm. I stopped for a nap at a picnic area on the 401. I had the crap scared out of me when I awoke all of a sudden as I thought I had fallen asleep and immediately went for the brake peddle as I thought I was going to crash into a tree to only realized that I was in park with the engine off. Talk about losing a few years of my life span.
I also stopped a few times on the way up to take some really nice reflection shots. I managed to leave at 5:30pm and rolled into the Coop around 9:30ish pm. Alex was nice enough to give me a cooler after a long day. We hung out at the fire for a while but I was toast and went to bed around midnight.
Sunday 05-Aug-2007
The weather was gorgeous.
I ended up going for a number 5 and a flushy at the local reataurant. I could not handle eating the oatmeal crap for breakfast.
I headed over to the portage spot by the river and started outfitting my girlfriend. Low an behold I had to wait like an hour for the others to show up. I thought they were going to paddle up and low and behold they drive into the parking lot.
We had a blast up at the top river right chute. We kept running it over and over trying to catch as many eddys as we could. It was amazing to see how many people were actually at the river. The Coop and MKC had some courses. I know there was a kids camp from Kingston way plus the regulars. Our group turned out to be AnnaLisa, Neil, Derek, and myself. Derek’s wife Julie was taking a dark side of the force course with the Coop.
We played around at the top for ever before heading down river for lunch. I have never seen the river so low. There were lots of eddys to catch and it was amazing to see how many rocks and logs are in the river. After lunch we headed back up to the top for some more fun. I decided to hang back a bit and take some close up pics of Ashley and Suzanne as they both had reflective sunglasses on.
I joined the gang back up at the chute and we ran it a few times while Derek was shooting video. I was only paddling with bare skin with my PFD on (yes I had shorts on). I asked Derek if the camera really made you look like you gained weight only to have Neil yell out it did not make a difference in my case. Thanks buddy.
After that it was swim time. We were trying to swim from river left to the eddy in front of Piano rock. Derek and Neil finally made it. I kept missing it by a hair. After a refreshing swim we all headed back down river. For a final run. I then went loaded the boat on the car and head off to pack up my tent and stuff. The others showed up a little while later. Good byes were said and that’s all she wrote.
Pretty small trip report this time.
Here are some of the pictures I took today (except for the ones of me of course).
Links to pics
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