Petawawa River, 2010

Journal
Troop 7, Petawawa River, Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario.
July 11-19, 2010
Gary Hochgraf


Cast of characters:
Adults:
Vickie
Nan
Gary

Scouts:
Luke
Xavier
Hukyun
Logan



Sunday July 11, 3pm

Nan and I meet the rest of the crew at the designated parking lot in Ann Arbor, and after sorting out the last of the gear and responsibilities, we're off! We crossed into Canada at the Port Huron/Sarnia bridge, turned North at Toronto, and arrived at Tiffin Centre Conservation Area about 11pm. There's a group camping facility here and they were expecting us around 9 or 10. The gate is closed and there's nobody around! But there's a small parking lot ahead of the gate, so Nan and I pitch our tent and the others sleep in the cars. It's been a long drive with a few wrong turns, but we made it.



Monday July 12

Up at dawn in our parking lot, and there are many ripe red raspberries to be picked and eaten before we hit the road again. North, past Barrie, East at Huntsville, then we enter the southern part of the park. But we can't get our permits here. Onward and into Petawawa for a bite of lunch, then back into the park through it's eastern border along a sometimes paved, sometimes dirt road with construction. At Sand Lake gate we get permits for the vehicles but not for camping. We also meet our shuttle here and transfer our stuff into the truck. We drop the cars off a bit further down the road at Access Point 21, then back to the gate, and the shuttle takes us out of the park, West on 17, the Trans Canada Highway, through rain, to another entry station where we finally get our permits, and to the put-in at Access Point 27.

It's 4:30pm and raining lightly. The plan was to paddle to a campsite across the lake, but it's late and raining and there's a campsite right here. The shuttle takes us to the campsite and we pitch our tents as the rain ends. There are mosquitoes but not too bad.

In the evening we hang the bear bags, try a little fishing, explore the map, and chat until the mosquitoes get worse and drive us to our tents.



Sunday July 13

First day on the water. There is a very light breeze on Cedar Lake as we paddle our laden canoes around some islands and to a dam with a 960m (0.6mi) portage. It's a well worn trail and there is a large Outward Bound group behind us. Back in the canoes we paddle a short section of quiet river to the next portage of 685m (0.4mi). We're brave. We carry our gear to the put-in, the study the river as we walk back. It looks runnable from here, but there are some difficult spots and some places we cannot see. Back to the top of the portage trail, and the OB group is here. They watch us.

Nan and I are paddling my Minnesota II Kevlar tandem canoe, a great flatwater and portaging boat, but lousy in rapids. Xavier and Hukyun have a Langsford Nahani, also in Kevlar, but with more rocker and being shorter it is slightly better in the whitewater. Only slightly. Vickie, her son Logan, and Luke are in the rental Wenonah, a royalex boat with lots of rocker which can handle the whitewater quite well. They weigh 46, 55 and 65 pounds respectively. The OB group has good royalex whitewater boats.

Needless to say we are challenged. The first section is fun, then there's a break, then two more sections. Nan and I get through. Xavier and Hukyun come down next and get hung up sideways on a rock. Vickie and crew comes down, hits and dislodges them from the rock, but hangs up on the same rock. Xavier continues a short distance but gets hung up again, and have quite a time getting the boat free. Vickie's boat fills with water and is well pinned against the rock. Nan and I paddle out, I get out into the rapids, and help free the boat. There's a quiet pool just below here and we get to shore and sort it all out.

The next rapid stars with two powerful Vs and we need to get right immediately after. We can't, and Nan and I fetch upon a ledge. Xavier and Hukyun come down and flip above us. Vickie comes down and manages to get it right, but there's a big rock garden below and no easy way through. Over they go. Xavier and Hukyun free their boat, and, half full of water, comes down toward us on it's own, hits the Minn II and punches a 2” hole in it well above the waterline. I was out of the boat standing on the ledge, but Nan was still in. The impact threw her in. I grabbed both boats and with Nan's help managed to get them both to shore and emptied. Below here is a nasty rock garden so we work the boats along the shore and down to where Vickie is, and decide to not run any more of this.

Nan and I portage through the woods to our gear, while the others continue to work their way along the shore, and paddle over once they reach the pool. We lost two paddles, a tube of chapstick, and a pair of shoes. We recover one paddle, the chapstick, and one shoe. The rental boat came through unscathed. The Minn II got the aforementioned hole, and the Nahani got thoroughly beat-up, cracked the gel-coat in many places, broke some of the wood trim, and leaks. Duct tape to the rescue. It gets the nickname DT (duct tape)

At the next rapids we portage. It's getting late and we're all tired, so we take the first campsite we come to. Its a nice site, and we can see Radiant Lake a short way ahead. Us adults have sore shoulders, and I banged my shin on some rocks in the rapids. We're sore. The guys are a bit tired but have youth on their side.



Wednesday July 14

We're slow to get going this morning, and a group of paddlers goes by paddling upstream. “Who won the Cup?” they call out. “Spain” we reply. Some of them were not pleased with the outcome of the FIFA world Soccer Cup, and there was much noise as they paddled away.

We head out into Radiant Lake, which is quite shallow in many large areas, a sandy bottom with many freshwater mussels. At the end of the lake we pass under a bridge and to our first portage of the day. We have many, from 70m (very short) to 700m (0.4mi) long. The 70 we run instead. Aligning the boat for the shot through the V was tricky, but the rapid was easy.

But I'm not doing well. In addition to the banged shin from yesterday, I seem to have picked up a GI bug, complete with headache and low energy. There's also the soreness from paddling and portaging. Nan and I are packed light, and we get through the portages with me carrying the canoe then resting (and picking blueberries) while she takes two trips with the packs.

Camp tonight is at the bottom of Wagtail Rapids. The guys play in the rushing water and discover that leaches live there. There is much hooting and hollering as they try picking them off.

Nan and I awoke in the middle of the night and walked out onto the rocks jutting out from camp and enjoyed a fabulous show of stars, late summer/early fall constellations, and a few meteors.



Thursday July 15

The two words for today are Portage and Blueberries. Most of today we hike. The first portage is 1400m (0.9mi) past some falls and rapids. But we miss the sign for the beginning. Up ahead I see the river drop away. Yikes! The trail is an old railroad bed adjacent to the river, so we manage to beat the current and make it to shore, drag the boats and gear up the steep embankment, and begin the walk. We skip the next portage but are in and out of the boats all day. Sometimes we load the boats just to cross the river and resume portaging.

We're camped at the end of the next to last portage in the long series. We've had some light drizzle occasionally, and while hiking back to help with the second trip, my foot slips on a sloping rock and I fall on my already injured leg. Ouch!

Tacos for dinner for the three adults plus Logan. A big hit, but messy. The guys have instant pre-packaged backpacking food for all their breakfasts and dinners. But today Hukyun and Xavier have each caught a large mouth bass, so a fire is lit, the fish gutted and filleted, and cooked on a grate we found.

We had found a few blueberries earlier, but today Nan and I and Logan picked more than a full liter bottle of the tiny morsels. They'll be good with breakfast.



Friday July 16

Beautiful day. Our injuries are healing. Spirits are high.

One portage this morning, and we pass Access Point 23, and into Lake Traverse with a tail wind! Its odd to see people after a day and a half of having the whole world to ourselves. It's warm and sunny and we find a nice sandy beach for a swim and lunch. One side of the spit is deep and cool, the other shallow and warm.

The river continues wide and slow with more tailwinds. Nan spots a spring in the river bank and we gleefully fill all our waterbottles with very cold fresh delicious water. Two portages take us past Thompson rapids, and we're back into the river. At the next portage we carry all the gear and the two Kevlar boats, then Nan and I run them in Vickie's boat. Fun!

It's getting late by the time we reach Crooked Chute rapids with 1580m (1 mile) portage. So we leave the boats and carry our gear to the campsite about two thirds of the way. We'll get them tomorrow. The wind helps keep the bugs down until it stops around dusk. But we have brownies baking, so we stay up slapping until they're done.



Saturday July 17

We start by taking our gear to the end of the portage. There are people across the river! Then we hike up to the top, get the canoes, and shoot the first third. Here the two Kevlar boats get carried, while Nan and I with Luke in the middle run the Royalex boat down one more third before portaging it too. We meet a group of four portaging through, and leapfrog them a few times until they pass us at lunch and disappear ahead. They're packed very light and are doing each portage in one trip. We are carrying our packs through on one trip, then return (while picking blueberries) to bring the boats through.

On down the river, some paddling, some portaging. We have lunch on a high rock over the river with rapids beneath. They look runnable for a wild ride with a big standing wave at the end. We take the royalex canoe through first and get a nice splash as we go through. Next is the Minn II. I'm in the bow, Xavier in the middle, and Nan paddles the stern. The sharp bow of this boat (great for flatwater) slices into the roiling water, rolls, fills, and dumps us out. We swim.

At a section called The Natch we look up to 300m (985ft) cliffs on both sides of the river with turkey vultures riding the orographic lifts.

Camp is along Schooner rapids, and again we leave the boats at the top to fetch in the morning. We're in camp earlier than other nights. Dinner for us four is pizza cooked over an outback oven. Hukyun drools.



Sunday July 18

My leg is feeling worse, but today is mostly paddling. We walk back to the boats and paddle the rapids to camp, load them, and continue down the river. We run lots of rapids today and portage none of them. The crew has learned to read the river. They can tell the difference between standing waves and waves with rocks in them. Mostly. Even Nan and I get hung up once and finish the rapids backwards. Xavier and Hukyun swamp their boat once. We take a break for lunch and let the boat dry so we can put more duct tape on it. The river is also getting bigger and the rapids easier.

After Five Mile Rapids we enter Whitson Lake, and there are two moose! They're standing belly-deep in the lake munching on the lily pads. We stop and take many photos. One of them doesn't mind our presence, but the other swims to a farther spot to graze.

On a sand bar in the middle of the river, Xavier gets out to collect a few mussels, and Hukyun paddles the boat just out of reach so he has to swim out into deep water. He manages to board without upset.

One last short set of rapids, and we make camp on a sandy spit. It's a nice camp with blueberries and cranberries (the latter not ripe), a nice beach and a view. Nan, Logan and I paddle out into the lake for a bath, jump out of the canoe, and climb back in. As dusk settles the mosquitoes drive us into our tents.



Monday July 19

The end is in sight. We can see the final take-out from our campsite. Vickie has her bath early, but Xavier, Luke and Hukyun paddle a canoe out later, soap-up, then Xavier jumps out. When he tries to climb back in, the canoe capsizes and they're all swimming. It takes forever for them to figure out what to do about it, 'till finally Hukyun takes the bow rope and swims it in.

In an hour of paddling we're at the access point. We load the cars and head out. A great trip and we're a day early.

The end.