25-Nov-2007
Washago Black
Water Level: 7.75 on Washago Black gauge
I woke up at 05:30am after spending a lovely evening hanging with friends in Ottawa Valley. After checking my email and weather report I decided to hit the road early and head back to the Barrie area. I stopped for a quick breakfast at the Irving Truck stop in Pembroke and planned my route. FYI they have free wireless internet there and the food is excellent.
I decided to go back through Algonquin Park in order to head down highway 11. I was quite surprised when I came around a corner and saw a huge moose on the road. It ran off into the woods before I could get the camera out. I also managed to see a deer.
I decided to meet the group that was paddling later on at the Washago Black. I got there at 10:45. Greg and Gary were quite surprised to see me there. It was basically a WTF. I told them that this was just a pit stop for a couple of hours to stretch my legs and paddle. I also said well who else would be doing the trip report and they laughed.
The others started showing up in dribs and drabs. The paddlers today were Dan, Derek, Greg, Neil, Gary, Peter, Sean, Stephen, Kelly, and myself. Gary and Kelly had never been on this particular river before.
Gary was the token kayaker out of the group. He replaced Val for the day … oh wait a minute no he didn’t as Gary actually wanted to run the river instead of park-n-play. Val was apparently too busy using some excuse about having to put xmas lights up and therefore not coming paddling.
Kelly was from the Complete Paddler (http://www.completepaddler.ca). He brought up a Evergreen Solito ( see http://www.evergreencanoe.com/canoe_solo.html). He graciously allowed others within the group to try the boat through out the trip. This also gave Kelly a chance to try out a wide range of other open boats.
The river was up about four inches from the previous weekend. We all headed down river. Neil, Derek, and I had fun breaking the ice flow with our boats. The ice was about an inch thick in some of the flatwater sections. The higher water did make a difference as it was not as bony as the previous weekend. Everyone seemed to have fun warming up on the first couple of sets.
A lot of time was spent surfing on the waves above the lunch rock. There was actually enough water running over the ledge before the bridge to allow people to run it.
We finally arrived at Bell Ringer after paddling the flat water section. I ran it first and I think Gary and Stephen were just behind me. We then headed up to the centre channel for a quick look. The ledge looked runnable in one spot. The left hand line still looked too boney. The three of us carried up our boats. I then came back to shoot video of them only to see Gary run the ledge. Stephen apparently just put in above and kept paddling. I did my run and ended up swimming after having a lean on my right side and not enough time for a low brace. I felt like an idiot considering I had zero swims paddling the Main Channel of the Ottawa River the day before.
Gary and I carried back up into the main channel. I found out later that Neil had a bonehead swim at Bell Ringer. He apparently went over at the top and swam the whole way down. He was however paddling the Solito and tried to use that as his excuse but a swim is a swim!
We headed down towards Pinkies. I forget who was surfing the wave but Dan yelled upstream boater has the right of way and he did his normal wave hog slide onto the feature move. Well payback is a bitch as I was now the upstream boater and headed right for him. He said bring it on and I pushed him off the wave and paddled like hell so he wouldn’t push me over and make me swim.
I headed down to the last set and played for a bit. I then headed over to the take as I was getting tired.
I think everyone had a great day. I know I did. Dan and I grabbed some dinner in town on our way back to reality land.
Here is a short video
I did not figure out to have music in it yet. Maybe next time.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Ottawa River
Saturday 24-Nov-2007
Ottawa River – Main Channel
Water level: -1.0 according to educated guess
Today was the River Junkies Cold Water Paddle Day
The temperature started out at -12C when I got up at 6am. I am not sure why the hell I would want to go paddling in that temperature but I didn’t drive 370km to wimp out.
The paddlers of the day would be Alex, Bobbie, Bryson, Geoff, Jenny, Laura, Rich, and myself. We stop at the McKoys putin and made a decision to start paddling at the Lorne and avoid the long cold flat water paddle. We started offloading the boats and changing into gear. There was lots of grumbling of whether we were going to paddle or not. It wasn’t a good thing when you could see the ice along the shoreline in the flat water sections. Bobbie, Laura, and Rich did the shuttle which seemed to take forever as the rest of us were shivering waiting. I put on every piece of warm paddle gear I had including the new SealSkinz waterproof socks I bought the day before.Rich decided to sport the 2008 Bob and Doug McKenzie paddle headgear.
We all hopped into our boats and headed off to Garb. Geoff and Alex decided to try some flat water loops and cart wheels. They rest of us basically went holy crap that must be cold. The theme for the day was NO SWIMMING.
My run through Garb was fine. I think I was just to the left of the Garb wave and pulled in behind Moby Dick. I got out to take pictures of Alex, Bobbie, Bryson, and Geoff surfing Garb. It looked really fricking cold. Jen and Rich paddled down to the lunch spot to meet Laura as she did not want to run Garb.
I finally made it down to Push Button where some of the others spent a little bit of time surfing before I got there. I looked at Rich and he said keep paddling its getting cold. Everyone had no problem with Butchers Knife. We did not even stop to play in the whirl pools.
We headed down to the Norman’s. Laura wanted to get out take pictures and was going to walk around The Norman’s. We waited in a holding pattern until she had the camera out and made our runs. I caught my normal eddy on the right and then made the rest of the run down to where the others were waiting. I got out to give Laura and hand with her boat as she walking down. She decided to get back into her boat and run Coliseum as it was a lot harder to walk on rocks covered with snow.
We ran the rest of the river to the takeout as people were getting cold. There were no swims today. My airbags were frozen and our gear was covered in ice. See pictures.
I really enjoyed my paddle today out with my friends. This would be my coldest ever day of paddling. I am glad I did not wimp out as I would have never heard the end of it from the others.
We ended up having a late lunch at The Middle of Nowhere in La Passe.
See pictures
Ottawa River – Main Channel
Water level: -1.0 according to educated guess
Today was the River Junkies Cold Water Paddle Day
The temperature started out at -12C when I got up at 6am. I am not sure why the hell I would want to go paddling in that temperature but I didn’t drive 370km to wimp out.
The paddlers of the day would be Alex, Bobbie, Bryson, Geoff, Jenny, Laura, Rich, and myself. We stop at the McKoys putin and made a decision to start paddling at the Lorne and avoid the long cold flat water paddle. We started offloading the boats and changing into gear. There was lots of grumbling of whether we were going to paddle or not. It wasn’t a good thing when you could see the ice along the shoreline in the flat water sections. Bobbie, Laura, and Rich did the shuttle which seemed to take forever as the rest of us were shivering waiting. I put on every piece of warm paddle gear I had including the new SealSkinz waterproof socks I bought the day before.Rich decided to sport the 2008 Bob and Doug McKenzie paddle headgear.
We all hopped into our boats and headed off to Garb. Geoff and Alex decided to try some flat water loops and cart wheels. They rest of us basically went holy crap that must be cold. The theme for the day was NO SWIMMING.
My run through Garb was fine. I think I was just to the left of the Garb wave and pulled in behind Moby Dick. I got out to take pictures of Alex, Bobbie, Bryson, and Geoff surfing Garb. It looked really fricking cold. Jen and Rich paddled down to the lunch spot to meet Laura as she did not want to run Garb.
I finally made it down to Push Button where some of the others spent a little bit of time surfing before I got there. I looked at Rich and he said keep paddling its getting cold. Everyone had no problem with Butchers Knife. We did not even stop to play in the whirl pools.
We headed down to the Norman’s. Laura wanted to get out take pictures and was going to walk around The Norman’s. We waited in a holding pattern until she had the camera out and made our runs. I caught my normal eddy on the right and then made the rest of the run down to where the others were waiting. I got out to give Laura and hand with her boat as she walking down. She decided to get back into her boat and run Coliseum as it was a lot harder to walk on rocks covered with snow.
We ran the rest of the river to the takeout as people were getting cold. There were no swims today. My airbags were frozen and our gear was covered in ice. See pictures.
I really enjoyed my paddle today out with my friends. This would be my coldest ever day of paddling. I am glad I did not wimp out as I would have never heard the end of it from the others.
We ended up having a late lunch at The Middle of Nowhere in La Passe.
See pictures
Monday, November 19, 2007
Washago Black River
18-Nov-2007
Washago Black
Water Level: 7.65 on Washago Black gauge
Most of the people were on time for meeting at the putin at 11am. I however was late as I decided to go to a last minute house party in Hamilton the night before. And yes I got picked on for being late. The air temperature was a bit cool today probably around the 0C mark.
We had a huge crowd. More people showed up than expected but hey we are all friendly paddlers and we just ended up being one happy family. Here goes it for names (sorry if I missed anyone). Janice, Blaine, Greg, Neil, Dan, Dan’s friend who was paddling my boat, Doug, Colin (different one), Louis and friend, and myself. Janice and Blaine were the kayakers in the group and everyone else where open boaters. Most of the group had never been on this particular river before.
We probably finally got started around 11:30ish. I was paddling in a different boat today. I borrowed a Esquif Nitro from my fellow paddler Geoff. It is a lot shorter and way narrower than my current boat. It was a bit tippy at the start but I soon was getting the hang of it. We started to head down river. This was the lowest I have ever paddled this river and wasn’t sure what to expect.
The first set of rapids were non-existent.The next set was ok and everyone was starting to get warmed up. We ended up staying at Baby Ender for a while as people seemed to be enjoying themselves. I ended up having my first and only swim of the day after. All I can say is the water was brrrrr.
There were a few surf spots just above the lunch rock. It was really weird to see the rock ledges above the lunch rock for the first time. The ledge after the lunch spot and before the bridge was ok. Some people decided to carry back up and run the ledge again. Dan decided to run it backwards for some reason but hey that’s Dan.
We paddled down the long flatwater stretch. Everyone played for a bit on this one wave where we ended up having swimmer number two of the day. We then headed down river since everyone was done. I ended up playing icebreaker to see if we could make it through the channel but it was too low. Greg came in to break up the ice as well. We had to make the run around the bend before getting to Bell Ringer. I opted not to run Bell Ringer as it was too low for me and I did not want to put a gouge in Geoff’s boat. Janice, Greg, Neil, Dan, Doug and Colin ran it. They all carried back up from the other side of the island and we all headed down to the Cottage Rapids.
There ended up being a sweet surf wave at Pinkies. Dan was on there forever. Neil managed to get on for the same ride. Some of the others were on for a bit but not as much as the two wave hogs did. My feet were getting a bit cold and I decided to head down to the take out. The was a bump and grind at the bottom of Cottage Rapids as we had about three boats stuck in one place at the same time.
I got to the takeout first and Janice was right behind me followed by Colin and Doug. The others were still playing on the river. I decided to borrow Neils truck in order to get the rest of the vehicles for us that were finished for the day. I was glad we did that as the others were still playing on the river when we came back.
All in all it was a nice day to be out paddling. There was way more water here than the Lower Head and I am glad we came hear instead. Thanks to Val for scoping out the river the day before and posting the recommendation.
Video Clip
Washago Black
Water Level: 7.65 on Washago Black gauge
Most of the people were on time for meeting at the putin at 11am. I however was late as I decided to go to a last minute house party in Hamilton the night before. And yes I got picked on for being late. The air temperature was a bit cool today probably around the 0C mark.
We had a huge crowd. More people showed up than expected but hey we are all friendly paddlers and we just ended up being one happy family. Here goes it for names (sorry if I missed anyone). Janice, Blaine, Greg, Neil, Dan, Dan’s friend who was paddling my boat, Doug, Colin (different one), Louis and friend, and myself. Janice and Blaine were the kayakers in the group and everyone else where open boaters. Most of the group had never been on this particular river before.
We probably finally got started around 11:30ish. I was paddling in a different boat today. I borrowed a Esquif Nitro from my fellow paddler Geoff. It is a lot shorter and way narrower than my current boat. It was a bit tippy at the start but I soon was getting the hang of it. We started to head down river. This was the lowest I have ever paddled this river and wasn’t sure what to expect.
The first set of rapids were non-existent.The next set was ok and everyone was starting to get warmed up. We ended up staying at Baby Ender for a while as people seemed to be enjoying themselves. I ended up having my first and only swim of the day after. All I can say is the water was brrrrr.
There were a few surf spots just above the lunch rock. It was really weird to see the rock ledges above the lunch rock for the first time. The ledge after the lunch spot and before the bridge was ok. Some people decided to carry back up and run the ledge again. Dan decided to run it backwards for some reason but hey that’s Dan.
We paddled down the long flatwater stretch. Everyone played for a bit on this one wave where we ended up having swimmer number two of the day. We then headed down river since everyone was done. I ended up playing icebreaker to see if we could make it through the channel but it was too low. Greg came in to break up the ice as well. We had to make the run around the bend before getting to Bell Ringer. I opted not to run Bell Ringer as it was too low for me and I did not want to put a gouge in Geoff’s boat. Janice, Greg, Neil, Dan, Doug and Colin ran it. They all carried back up from the other side of the island and we all headed down to the Cottage Rapids.
There ended up being a sweet surf wave at Pinkies. Dan was on there forever. Neil managed to get on for the same ride. Some of the others were on for a bit but not as much as the two wave hogs did. My feet were getting a bit cold and I decided to head down to the take out. The was a bump and grind at the bottom of Cottage Rapids as we had about three boats stuck in one place at the same time.
I got to the takeout first and Janice was right behind me followed by Colin and Doug. The others were still playing on the river. I decided to borrow Neils truck in order to get the rest of the vehicles for us that were finished for the day. I was glad we did that as the others were still playing on the river when we came back.
All in all it was a nice day to be out paddling. There was way more water here than the Lower Head and I am glad we came hear instead. Thanks to Val for scoping out the river the day before and posting the recommendation.
Video Clip
Lower Head River
We put on the river around 11:30ish.
All I can say is the water is about 4 inches lower than last weekend.
It was a bump and grind.
Neil and I ran the river today and did a cleanup of logs, etc on the way.
We took apart the beaver dam above sucker chute. We have found out there is about a two foot undercut on the river right rock wall.
After that we headed down to triple drop. We spent about 3.5 hours there alone.
I am glad he had his drysuit on. He spent quite a bit of time up to his waist in water. At one point he slipped face first and said some non-family rated statements.
We cleaned out all the logs at the first drop. We took a break for lunch. I made pasta with butter chicken sauce and hot chocolate. We finished up the first drop and head off to second drop.
It took a while but we managed to get the big a$$ tree out at second drop. It took all of our biners and pulleys between our two pin kits to get the bugger to move after it was cut into two sections.
After that we ran the rest of the river and ended up getting off in the dark at 5pm. Mark at Timmy Who's stayed open for us. He thought we might have drowned as it was getting late. We got a couple of fruit tarts before going back to get the boats.
Here is the video from the day
All I can say is the water is about 4 inches lower than last weekend.
It was a bump and grind.
Neil and I ran the river today and did a cleanup of logs, etc on the way.
We took apart the beaver dam above sucker chute. We have found out there is about a two foot undercut on the river right rock wall.
After that we headed down to triple drop. We spent about 3.5 hours there alone.
I am glad he had his drysuit on. He spent quite a bit of time up to his waist in water. At one point he slipped face first and said some non-family rated statements.
We cleaned out all the logs at the first drop. We took a break for lunch. I made pasta with butter chicken sauce and hot chocolate. We finished up the first drop and head off to second drop.
It took a while but we managed to get the big a$$ tree out at second drop. It took all of our biners and pulleys between our two pin kits to get the bugger to move after it was cut into two sections.
After that we ran the rest of the river and ended up getting off in the dark at 5pm. Mark at Timmy Who's stayed open for us. He thought we might have drowned as it was getting late. We got a couple of fruit tarts before going back to get the boats.
Here is the video from the day
Monday, November 12, 2007
Lower Head River
Saturday 10-Nov-2007
Lower Head River
Water Level: 7.76 on Washago Black gauge
Brent drove up to my place from Hamilton as he was desperate to get out and paddle. We left my place at noon and met up with Neil at Timmy Who’s just across from the putin. I went in a pre-ordered a half dozen fruit tarts for later. The weather was nice and zero wind. The flat water spots on the river looked like glass. Great possibility for reflection shots but my SLR camera was in the shop being repaired.
Dan and Erin showed up about 20 minutes later. Neil lent her AnnaLisa’s drysuit as she wasn’t paddling that day. Erin had a big smile on her face when she saw the suit as she thought she would be wearing cold neoprene gear. This would be Erin’s third day ever solo whitewater paddling in a open boat. We got suited up and did a quick shuttle and hit the river. Neil went holy crap its low. I told him that it was up at least four inches from two weekends ago.
Dan decided to check if Erin’s drysuit would keep her dry and decided to dunk her in the river like it was a religious experience.
We paddled up river towards Stonewall rapids. Neil went up above while the rest of us were just hanging out. He ended up taking some built up sticks and stuff out of the river in order to run the rapids. He asked us if the river went up at all after he came back down to where we were and told us about how he cleaned out some crap to make his run.
After that we headed down to Husky rapids. I got out to shoot some video as every ran the left side. Erin had the best clean runout of the group as she did not ground out or hit any rocks. Neil also ran the right side but had to do a extreme bump and grind bounce up ad down move to get over the ledge.
Our run down Second chute was fine. Some of us managed to get a little surf time in below the drop. Everyone was able to run the left run down the next set of rapids. It was definitely not runnable two weeks before.
We ended up doing some river cleanup at Triple Drop. Neil removed some logs at the first drop of triple drop. Neil and I removed a big plastic floating frame from the eddy below the first drop. Everyone but Erin ran the First drop. Everyone ran the Second drop. Someone took a chainsaw to the big tree at the second drop and most of it is now submerged. It loooks like someone went down the river with the chainsaw as there was trees in other areas that were freshly cut up. Everyone ran the Third drop and headed down river only to hit the bump and grind on the corner run.
At some point during the trip Dan’s hands were getting cold and asked me if I had my gloves with me. I pulled them out of my drytop pocket already pre-warmed and lent them to him. The rest of the river was fine. I did my most bonehead move of the day after the last set as we were paddling on the flatwater. I decided to try tag a free ride on Dans boat by hooking his grab loop with a paddle only to get pulled over sideways into the river and swim. Everyone had a good laugh on my swim.
Later on Dan bet me 50 bucks that I could not paddle his Zephyr into the middle of the river, standup in it for 10 seconds, and get back down into the boat without tipping over. I fell pretty fast into the water on try number one. Dan said he could have two more tries but would reduce the bet by 10 bucks on each try. Dan is not quite sure how but I managed to pull it off on the second try but his comment was basically “Holy $h1t ….”.
We finally made it to the takeout around 4:30. We headed up to pick up the other vehicles. Rodney passed us on the road and was pointing towards the bridge. Neil thought he was pointing to the porcupine he had seen on the road. I picked up my freshly baked tarts and a load of bread from Timmy Who’s. We found out when we came back to the takeout that a black bear had crossed the road about 100 feet on the south side of the bridge. It was getting pretty cold. Neil already had ice forming in his boat and my deflated airbags were starting to freeze.
Dan walked up with a fist full of cash in his hand to pay off his bet. I took 15 bucks out of his hand and told him to keep the rest. I told him he just paid for the tarts. I shared the tarts with everyone. We then said our goodbyes and departed ways.
Brent and I were heading back to my place when I got cut off by Dan in Barrie. He asked us what we were doing for dinner as Erin and him were heading to the family cottage a few minutes away from my house. Brent said he had to head back home. I told them I would come after drop Brent of to get his car from my place. I enjoyed a lovely dinner with Erin and Dan. Thanks!
Dan don’t forget to get your air pump fixed!
Here is a link to a video I pieced together. Nothing fancy but you get the point.
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=dlMY9XbhNfc
Lower Head River
Water Level: 7.76 on Washago Black gauge
Brent drove up to my place from Hamilton as he was desperate to get out and paddle. We left my place at noon and met up with Neil at Timmy Who’s just across from the putin. I went in a pre-ordered a half dozen fruit tarts for later. The weather was nice and zero wind. The flat water spots on the river looked like glass. Great possibility for reflection shots but my SLR camera was in the shop being repaired.
Dan and Erin showed up about 20 minutes later. Neil lent her AnnaLisa’s drysuit as she wasn’t paddling that day. Erin had a big smile on her face when she saw the suit as she thought she would be wearing cold neoprene gear. This would be Erin’s third day ever solo whitewater paddling in a open boat. We got suited up and did a quick shuttle and hit the river. Neil went holy crap its low. I told him that it was up at least four inches from two weekends ago.
Dan decided to check if Erin’s drysuit would keep her dry and decided to dunk her in the river like it was a religious experience.
We paddled up river towards Stonewall rapids. Neil went up above while the rest of us were just hanging out. He ended up taking some built up sticks and stuff out of the river in order to run the rapids. He asked us if the river went up at all after he came back down to where we were and told us about how he cleaned out some crap to make his run.
After that we headed down to Husky rapids. I got out to shoot some video as every ran the left side. Erin had the best clean runout of the group as she did not ground out or hit any rocks. Neil also ran the right side but had to do a extreme bump and grind bounce up ad down move to get over the ledge.
Our run down Second chute was fine. Some of us managed to get a little surf time in below the drop. Everyone was able to run the left run down the next set of rapids. It was definitely not runnable two weeks before.
We ended up doing some river cleanup at Triple Drop. Neil removed some logs at the first drop of triple drop. Neil and I removed a big plastic floating frame from the eddy below the first drop. Everyone but Erin ran the First drop. Everyone ran the Second drop. Someone took a chainsaw to the big tree at the second drop and most of it is now submerged. It loooks like someone went down the river with the chainsaw as there was trees in other areas that were freshly cut up. Everyone ran the Third drop and headed down river only to hit the bump and grind on the corner run.
At some point during the trip Dan’s hands were getting cold and asked me if I had my gloves with me. I pulled them out of my drytop pocket already pre-warmed and lent them to him. The rest of the river was fine. I did my most bonehead move of the day after the last set as we were paddling on the flatwater. I decided to try tag a free ride on Dans boat by hooking his grab loop with a paddle only to get pulled over sideways into the river and swim. Everyone had a good laugh on my swim.
Later on Dan bet me 50 bucks that I could not paddle his Zephyr into the middle of the river, standup in it for 10 seconds, and get back down into the boat without tipping over. I fell pretty fast into the water on try number one. Dan said he could have two more tries but would reduce the bet by 10 bucks on each try. Dan is not quite sure how but I managed to pull it off on the second try but his comment was basically “Holy $h1t ….”.
We finally made it to the takeout around 4:30. We headed up to pick up the other vehicles. Rodney passed us on the road and was pointing towards the bridge. Neil thought he was pointing to the porcupine he had seen on the road. I picked up my freshly baked tarts and a load of bread from Timmy Who’s. We found out when we came back to the takeout that a black bear had crossed the road about 100 feet on the south side of the bridge. It was getting pretty cold. Neil already had ice forming in his boat and my deflated airbags were starting to freeze.
Dan walked up with a fist full of cash in his hand to pay off his bet. I took 15 bucks out of his hand and told him to keep the rest. I told him he just paid for the tarts. I shared the tarts with everyone. We then said our goodbyes and departed ways.
Brent and I were heading back to my place when I got cut off by Dan in Barrie. He asked us what we were doing for dinner as Erin and him were heading to the family cottage a few minutes away from my house. Brent said he had to head back home. I told them I would come after drop Brent of to get his car from my place. I enjoyed a lovely dinner with Erin and Dan. Thanks!
Dan don’t forget to get your air pump fixed!
Here is a link to a video I pieced together. Nothing fancy but you get the point.
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=dlMY9XbhNfc
Monday, November 5, 2007
Madawask River
Friday 02-Nov-2007
Madawaska River – Middle, Palmer Rapids, Lower
Water Level: unknown
I headed up to the Palmer Rapids mid-afternoon and made a quick stop to talk with Scott at Rapid Media. After that is was a shopping trip to Foymount.
I stopped at MKC just before dark to scope out the river from Staircase down to Chalet rapids. It was low but very runnable.
I finally made it over to the Paddler Coop around 6:30ish and set up the tent, started the fire, and made dinner. Greg was the next to show up around 7:30ish. Neil and AnnaLisa showed up around 9:30ish which is way early than Greg and I thought as they normally have some lame excuse for pulling in at midnight. Beverages of various types were consumed around the fire.
Saturday 03-Nov-2007
The temperature probably hit around -8C on Friday night. I was toasty warm but the others complained they were cold. After breakfast, the plan was for those that were there to get some time on the river at Palmers until the others showed up at 11:30 and then run the Lower Mad in the afternoon. Well that didn’t quite happened as Greg had the fire going and it was hard to get motivated.
Dan and Erin showed up a little while later. Greg and decided to go paddling. We were still waiting for Ryan and Val. Blaine showed up with his kayaker. He was the new comer and asked if he could come out and paddle with us. Ryan was the next to show up followed by Val-park-n-play kayaker who we thought was coming alone. He ended up bringing the Fun Sherrif and the two deputies. He only wanted to park-n-play at Palmer and not run the Lower Mad (typical lazy kayaker).
So plans changed. Blaine and Ryan had never been on the Middle Mad over at MKC. The three of us went there. Neil and AnnaLisa joined Val and kept him company at Palmer.
Out group did the 32km drive over to MKC. We dropped the boats off at the putin at the bridge and did the quick 1.2km shuttle. We did a warm up paddle on the flatwater. Ryan was just about to leave the bridge when someone yelled at him and asked if they could tag along. It turned out to be Greg and we waited a few minutes in an eddy until he caught up to us.
We all got out of our boats and scouted Staircase before making our runs. Everyone basically made it through unscathed except for Blaine who had a minor swim. We headed down to Chalet for some eddy catching and ferry practice. Every seemed to have fun. I did my normal photo duties but screwed up on the camera setting as I unknowingly pressed some button while walking with the camera and over exposed some of the shots. Hey crap happens. After what seemed like a couple of hours we packed up and headed back to Palmer Rapids.
Blaine, Ryan, and I put in on the river and paddled up to the upper chutes. Blaine and I ran the river right chute. I managed to catch and eddy that I have missed all year and I was happy with the progress I have made.
We then headed down river and played at the first set. We practiced ferrying back and forth from each side of the river using all the eddys. The rest of the run down the river was spent catching as many eddies as possible on both sides of the river before taking out at the bottom.
We packed up and head back to camp to change into dry clothes. We still had a few hours to kill as we had dinner reservations at the Wilno Tavern. Dan was zonked out in his tent. He was totally screwed up in his sleep as he was away on business overseas and was just coming back from a 12 hour time zone change. He was all cuddled up in his brand new sleeping bag complete with tags still attached (see pictures). Beverages were being consumed by the fire while passing the time away. A beverage run was made as some people seemed to be running low. Soon it was time to wake up the Dan from his nap. Erin, AnnaLisa, and Neil piled on top of him in the tent (see pictures) to wake him up.
Well it was time to go off to the Wilno. Erin and I had to drive as the others couldn’t for some strange reason. I am glad I made a reservation. The place was packed and it wasn’t even buffet night as that was finished for the season. We spent a couple of hours there before heading back. We stopped in Barrys Bay to pick up a couple of pies for dessert. We re-stoked the fire and warmed the pies up near them and consumed more beverages. Some people decided to make up some hot water bottles for their sleeping bags (wusses). I went to bed around 10:30. Not sure about the others.
Pictures from saturday part 1
Pictures from saturday part 2
Sunday 04-Nov-2007
Most people started stirring around 7am or so and we were lucky to get that extra hour of sleep due to the time change. Some of us went into town for a number 5 or 6 and a flushy for breakfast. Blaine decided to join us for another day of paddling. I guess he did not think our group was that dysfunctional.
We head a new plan for the day. It seemed the river rose about 1.5 feet during the night. The dilemma now became do we run the Lower Mad or just be lazy and park-n-play at Hass Hole as the level would be at an optimum level. We decided to pull a Val and spent 5 hours at Hass. We had the place to ourselves the whole time. To bad for you Val you missed a great day.
Oh wait a minute that must have been a dream … the river was still the same level and we ran the Lower Mad. We finally got on the water around 10:30. I paddled ahead of the group to Hass to get setup for pictures. The rest were only about 10-15 minutes behind me.
I took pictures of everyones run. Neil took some of me. I was really happy when I caught the eddy on the right considering it did not fit into it. Dan said I was really learning how to work my boat with that move. Swimming throughout the day was minimal and I managed to have no swims at all.
This was the lowest that most of our group had run the Lower Mad. A lot of the bigger rapids ended up being a float through for the most part with minimal consequences. We were especially surprised at Rifle Chute which ended up losing all of its nastyness.
Dan, Greg, and I had fun there. I caught the same eddy they were in on river right. We then did a ferry over to the center eddy, followed by a move upstream ferry around the big rock pile in the middle over to another eddy at river left. I made it all the way across but ended up being a little to low on the last eddy but it was still and accomplishment for me. We ended up finding a nice undercut on the river left side of the run through Rifle just jet of the rock that would normally rip boats apart in higher water. Mental note for potential swimmers next year.
My best move of the day had to be at the second or third last rapid. Some of us took the right channel and some the left channel. We saw a boat upside after we finished the right channel. Neil went like a bat out of hell over to see what was going on. He did the left move around the big rock and made the drop. It turns out that AnnaLisa ended out of her boat and bumped her knee but she was fine.
I made my run down towards the same place that Neil went. I decided to take the drop to the right of the rock. Which would have been an easy move until after starting down the drop there was another fair size rock just below it an to the right. I ended up going vertical stern up and then dropped into the hole sideways, did two power strokes, and a brace in order to get out of it. Dan told me later he thought I was going to get munched for sure and he was glad he saw my run as he was going to boof the rock I went beside and would have ultimately landed on the second one. Blaine told me he saw almost all of the bottom of my boat when I was vertical and would have made a cool picture. Too bad I had the camera.
Raquette was low but runnable. All of us except for Dan took the left channel around the island with no consequences. Dan took the right channel. He said it was a pretty sketchy and hairy run. After that is was one run through the last and off to the takeout. We took a vote at the takeout. Blaine is now officially part of our crew now. We had to bring the kayak numbers up by one so Val would not be lonely. But we really only let him into the group as he is normally an open boater but still likes to run the river in a kayak as well.
The takeout road sucked big time. I am glad my car stayed at the putin as I would have been shopping for a new one for sure. Neil is the king of shuttling open boats. He had four of them on his vehicle. The passed some hunters at the hunt camp. They were probably going WTF are they doing.
Goodbyes were said to those leaving from the putin. The rest of us head back to the Coop to get our tents and other gear.
It was a fun day on the river but if we ever plan on doing this type of weekend again, we will be running the Lower Mad on the first day and play at Palmers the second day in order to make it convenient for others driving a long distance to leave when ever suits them.
Pictures from sunday
Madawaska River – Middle, Palmer Rapids, Lower
Water Level: unknown
I headed up to the Palmer Rapids mid-afternoon and made a quick stop to talk with Scott at Rapid Media. After that is was a shopping trip to Foymount.
I stopped at MKC just before dark to scope out the river from Staircase down to Chalet rapids. It was low but very runnable.
I finally made it over to the Paddler Coop around 6:30ish and set up the tent, started the fire, and made dinner. Greg was the next to show up around 7:30ish. Neil and AnnaLisa showed up around 9:30ish which is way early than Greg and I thought as they normally have some lame excuse for pulling in at midnight. Beverages of various types were consumed around the fire.
Saturday 03-Nov-2007
The temperature probably hit around -8C on Friday night. I was toasty warm but the others complained they were cold. After breakfast, the plan was for those that were there to get some time on the river at Palmers until the others showed up at 11:30 and then run the Lower Mad in the afternoon. Well that didn’t quite happened as Greg had the fire going and it was hard to get motivated.
Dan and Erin showed up a little while later. Greg and decided to go paddling. We were still waiting for Ryan and Val. Blaine showed up with his kayaker. He was the new comer and asked if he could come out and paddle with us. Ryan was the next to show up followed by Val-park-n-play kayaker who we thought was coming alone. He ended up bringing the Fun Sherrif and the two deputies. He only wanted to park-n-play at Palmer and not run the Lower Mad (typical lazy kayaker).
So plans changed. Blaine and Ryan had never been on the Middle Mad over at MKC. The three of us went there. Neil and AnnaLisa joined Val and kept him company at Palmer.
Out group did the 32km drive over to MKC. We dropped the boats off at the putin at the bridge and did the quick 1.2km shuttle. We did a warm up paddle on the flatwater. Ryan was just about to leave the bridge when someone yelled at him and asked if they could tag along. It turned out to be Greg and we waited a few minutes in an eddy until he caught up to us.
We all got out of our boats and scouted Staircase before making our runs. Everyone basically made it through unscathed except for Blaine who had a minor swim. We headed down to Chalet for some eddy catching and ferry practice. Every seemed to have fun. I did my normal photo duties but screwed up on the camera setting as I unknowingly pressed some button while walking with the camera and over exposed some of the shots. Hey crap happens. After what seemed like a couple of hours we packed up and headed back to Palmer Rapids.
Blaine, Ryan, and I put in on the river and paddled up to the upper chutes. Blaine and I ran the river right chute. I managed to catch and eddy that I have missed all year and I was happy with the progress I have made.
We then headed down river and played at the first set. We practiced ferrying back and forth from each side of the river using all the eddys. The rest of the run down the river was spent catching as many eddies as possible on both sides of the river before taking out at the bottom.
We packed up and head back to camp to change into dry clothes. We still had a few hours to kill as we had dinner reservations at the Wilno Tavern. Dan was zonked out in his tent. He was totally screwed up in his sleep as he was away on business overseas and was just coming back from a 12 hour time zone change. He was all cuddled up in his brand new sleeping bag complete with tags still attached (see pictures). Beverages were being consumed by the fire while passing the time away. A beverage run was made as some people seemed to be running low. Soon it was time to wake up the Dan from his nap. Erin, AnnaLisa, and Neil piled on top of him in the tent (see pictures) to wake him up.
Well it was time to go off to the Wilno. Erin and I had to drive as the others couldn’t for some strange reason. I am glad I made a reservation. The place was packed and it wasn’t even buffet night as that was finished for the season. We spent a couple of hours there before heading back. We stopped in Barrys Bay to pick up a couple of pies for dessert. We re-stoked the fire and warmed the pies up near them and consumed more beverages. Some people decided to make up some hot water bottles for their sleeping bags (wusses). I went to bed around 10:30. Not sure about the others.
Pictures from saturday part 1
Pictures from saturday part 2
Sunday 04-Nov-2007
Most people started stirring around 7am or so and we were lucky to get that extra hour of sleep due to the time change. Some of us went into town for a number 5 or 6 and a flushy for breakfast. Blaine decided to join us for another day of paddling. I guess he did not think our group was that dysfunctional.
We head a new plan for the day. It seemed the river rose about 1.5 feet during the night. The dilemma now became do we run the Lower Mad or just be lazy and park-n-play at Hass Hole as the level would be at an optimum level. We decided to pull a Val and spent 5 hours at Hass. We had the place to ourselves the whole time. To bad for you Val you missed a great day.
Oh wait a minute that must have been a dream … the river was still the same level and we ran the Lower Mad. We finally got on the water around 10:30. I paddled ahead of the group to Hass to get setup for pictures. The rest were only about 10-15 minutes behind me.
I took pictures of everyones run. Neil took some of me. I was really happy when I caught the eddy on the right considering it did not fit into it. Dan said I was really learning how to work my boat with that move. Swimming throughout the day was minimal and I managed to have no swims at all.
This was the lowest that most of our group had run the Lower Mad. A lot of the bigger rapids ended up being a float through for the most part with minimal consequences. We were especially surprised at Rifle Chute which ended up losing all of its nastyness.
Dan, Greg, and I had fun there. I caught the same eddy they were in on river right. We then did a ferry over to the center eddy, followed by a move upstream ferry around the big rock pile in the middle over to another eddy at river left. I made it all the way across but ended up being a little to low on the last eddy but it was still and accomplishment for me. We ended up finding a nice undercut on the river left side of the run through Rifle just jet of the rock that would normally rip boats apart in higher water. Mental note for potential swimmers next year.
My best move of the day had to be at the second or third last rapid. Some of us took the right channel and some the left channel. We saw a boat upside after we finished the right channel. Neil went like a bat out of hell over to see what was going on. He did the left move around the big rock and made the drop. It turns out that AnnaLisa ended out of her boat and bumped her knee but she was fine.
I made my run down towards the same place that Neil went. I decided to take the drop to the right of the rock. Which would have been an easy move until after starting down the drop there was another fair size rock just below it an to the right. I ended up going vertical stern up and then dropped into the hole sideways, did two power strokes, and a brace in order to get out of it. Dan told me later he thought I was going to get munched for sure and he was glad he saw my run as he was going to boof the rock I went beside and would have ultimately landed on the second one. Blaine told me he saw almost all of the bottom of my boat when I was vertical and would have made a cool picture. Too bad I had the camera.
Raquette was low but runnable. All of us except for Dan took the left channel around the island with no consequences. Dan took the right channel. He said it was a pretty sketchy and hairy run. After that is was one run through the last and off to the takeout. We took a vote at the takeout. Blaine is now officially part of our crew now. We had to bring the kayak numbers up by one so Val would not be lonely. But we really only let him into the group as he is normally an open boater but still likes to run the river in a kayak as well.
The takeout road sucked big time. I am glad my car stayed at the putin as I would have been shopping for a new one for sure. Neil is the king of shuttling open boats. He had four of them on his vehicle. The passed some hunters at the hunt camp. They were probably going WTF are they doing.
Goodbyes were said to those leaving from the putin. The rest of us head back to the Coop to get our tents and other gear.
It was a fun day on the river but if we ever plan on doing this type of weekend again, we will be running the Lower Mad on the first day and play at Palmers the second day in order to make it convenient for others driving a long distance to leave when ever suits them.
Pictures from sunday
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