Rivers of Algonquin 4- Trip Journal 2001

OUR MISSION - Should we choose to accept it, to paddle 45 km from Lake Travers to Lake McManus - fun whitewater, beautiful gorge scenery, and more chipmunks per capita than anywhere in the world!

THE GUIDES Al and Kat

THE GROUP - Eric, Eva, Elza, Jerome and Robin

THE DRIVERS - Sue and Tim

DAY 1 BASECAMP TO LAKE TRAVERS
With the trip packed Kat and I waited at PaddleFoot Basecamp for our kids to arrive, nervous but excited as always before a trip begins, wondering if we have forgotten anything, TP, food, paddles are good, things like that. We can't think of anything, but there's always the doubt…… First in was Robin, from North Bay, very little paddling experience, but looking forward to the trip. Then Eva and Eric arrived, on the Toronto shuttle. Finding out that Eva is a kickboxing instructor was an early sign that the trip would be an interesting one!

The last to arrive, Elza and Jerome, both from Montreal, tired from a long Van drive, but happy to finally be at Basecamp.

After introductions all round, including myself, an Aussie outdoor guide from Hobart, Tasmania, and Kat, a great guide from Toronto, we breezed through trip intro, food likes and dislikes, swimming abilities, (all good swimmers, which is great), the usual pre-trip paperwork. Then it was time to make myself popular by announcing that it was time to get back in the van, thankfully only for a two hour drive to put-in at Lake Travers.

Saw a baby bear on the drive in to Lake Travers., hopefully a lucky sign of wildlife to come, although we were happy not to meet mummy bear as well!

Finally we arrived at our put in, and unloaded all our gear - four canoes, a dozen paddles, PFD's and helmets for all, four barrels, two packs and assorted dry bags, ropes and throw bags made for a huge pile. First things first though - we all hit the water for a swim - so good! Finally the driving was over, and we were about to depart. The boats were loaded, and it was time for the photos - would we ever be seen again? Then Sue drove away, and finally, we were on trip! If we don't have it, we won't have it…….
As we all just wanted to paddle, I gave a quick canoe lesson - "This is a paddle, and this is a canoe - lets go!" - well not quite, but close. We paddled toward the other end of Lake Travers, to a great island site, some found it hard going at first but under clear and sunny skies, with a tailwind, it was easy for us to enjoy the late afternoon paddle with the promise - sleep on it tonight, and it will be easier tomorrow.

Finally we pulled into camp, and got going, tents up, cooking dinner - mac'n'cheese, exactly what we all needed. The island seemed quiet, but little did we know…..Over dinner we overcame a toilet paper crisis, and got to know quite a lot about each other. The group was already getting along really well - awesome! Everybody has a strong commitment to the environment, which is exactly what PaddleFoot is all about, and we were all excited to be out in Algonquin park, with a beautiful sunset, and six days of adventure ahead of us.

DAY 2 LAKE TRAVERS TO BELOW LITTLE THOMPSON RAPIDS

6:00 AM! After a wonderful night sleeping under the stars, I was awoken by the sound of fury - chipmunk fury! Some time in the night a band of chipmunks had swum out to our island paradise, and were now screaming around the campsite, chasing each other, running over, around and seemingly underneath Kat and I as we lay in our sleeping bags - had we left the red cordial out? On a previous stay at this campsite I had accidentally dropped a bag of chocolate chips all over the ground, and the chipmunks had formed a conga line on the hill and sung "Happy Days are here again" - did they remember me?

After a warm muffin breakfast, we were off, paddling down the river to our first rapids - Big and Little Thompson. We did a full-on paddling lesson on the way - draw, cross bow draw, sweep, pry, J-stroke, back sweep - so many strokes, and only one paddle!

Arriving at Big Thompson, we had already learned of an exposed metal pipe hazard that had punctured another party's canoe, so after a discussion on water safety, river signals and hydrology, it was decided to line the boats down - another important whitewater technique. This was also our introduction to "wet rocks are slippery" as we made our way down- paddling when there was enough water, lining when not. The long hot summer had made water levels very low, as we would find further down. Little Thomson proved to be ok, and the group ran it really well - awesome! As it was mid-afternoon, we decided to head for a really nice campsite, which we found a little way down the river.

Taking advantage of an early finish to the day, we took to the flat water to practice our bracing, and to get more comfortable with the "tippiness" of our boats. The group got so comfortable at putting one gunwale in the water and bracing the boat, I was forced to issue the challenge - stand up, face the middle and change places with the person in the other seat! NOT easy! Robin and I were the first to go, I thoughts we had made it, we were past each other and heading to our seats when one mis-step too many saw us going for a swim! Eva and Jerome successfully completed the challenge, but on having to do it backwards, finally went splash - Eric and Elza tried to paddle away but were too slow, and in they went, resulting in three canoes in the water! Kat watched with amusement from the shore as we repeatedly tried and failed to do canoe over canoe rescue with no floating canoes! We finally swam, laughing and dripping to shore and emptied the boats of a lot of water. After changing into dry clothes, and while awaiting dinner, Eva gave a brief kickboxing class, using the campsite as a classroom and showing us how to defend ourselves and strike back at the same time. The uneven ground made standing on one foot difficult, and added to the challenge for everybody.

Over dinner of lazy perogies, a trip favorite, we discussed whether "university is the biggest scam ever", the Crocodile Hunter is a good ambassador for Australia, which I thought he's not, (anyone who seeks out the worlds deadliest animals in order to give them a kiss is clearly insane), and how to play "knifey-spooney" a la the Simpsons. I'm still yet to meet anyone who hasn't seen Crocodile Dundee One, and/or the Simpsons episode on Australia - thankfully hardly anyone had seen CD 3, which is great, as it wasn't.

DAY 3 BELOW LITTLE THOMPSON TO THE NATCH

Waking to another clear morning, we hit the water to paddle down to Crooked Chutes. After winding our way down a long class 1 rapid, we came to the chute itself, where the river narrow, drops and then turns hard right - not an easy run! After a careful scout Kat and I ran the rapid without incident, so we decided to run down the next boat with myself in the stern, and Eric in the bow. We had a great run till just before the bottom, then a wave caught us and we tipped - it was swim time! We watched the gear float away, righted the boat and finished off - all caught on film by Elza from above the chute! Our first tip of the trip!
Next to go were Jerome and I, and we also tipped - I was having a tough day at the office! As we went over I heard a nasty CRACK - oh no! But Jerome quickly gave me the ok signal, and it was only when I retrieved my paddle that the first casualty of the trip was revealed - my paddle had snapped in half! Caught between a rock and the canoe, it was no more. Again Jerome and I righted the boat, and paddled down, chasing Elza's drybag, which had taken the scenic route, down the chutes and onto the lake! But we caught it eventually, and walked up to run the last boat down and have lunch. Nutella was popular as always, as we feasted in the sun.
The paddle out below the Chutes was rocky, and Kat and Eva went for a couple of swims, Eva going under the canoe upside down at one stage, and my heart was in my mouth until she quickly surfaced and gave us the ok. Now it was on to Rollway - 800m of continuous challenging whitewater!
Arriving at Rollway, we were becoming tired, it had been a big day already. Eva chose to walk around the rapid - the rest of us worked our away through - running from eddy to eddy, looking for deep water - it was a long boulder garden, and we needed to concentrate hard. We lined a ledge, and continued - everybody was doing super well. Finally with the end in sight, Robin and Eric tipped - so close! They were both fine, although Eric donated his hat to the river gods, and Robin her water bottle, joining mine that I'd lost on another trip!
That night we camped at the Natch, at a wonderful sheltered site with a rock patio, and ate a massive pot of pasta and sauce -it had been a long day for us all! We debriefed the day, and all agreed that it had been fun, challenging, exciting and exhilarating - just what whitewater is all about. A few cuts and bruises between us, nothing too serious! After solving some minute mysteries and agreeing to sleep in the next day (unanimous), it was off to bed.

DAY 4 THE NATCH TO SCHOONER RAPIDS, 6KM

We arose around ten, well rested and after demolishing 5 or 6 crepes each - delicious - we relaxed for a while. Watching another group run the Natch - despite little training or experience, and with much "gunwale grabbing" somehow they made it through without incident, although one boat bore the tell-tale sign of a wrap - it was no longer symmetrical. After doing some current and eddy swimming it was time to head out again, everybody easily running the Natch part 2, and heading out past beautiful cliffs, looking for our next site. At the top of Schooner rapids we found one - and it was hideous - we moved on and further into the rapid found a rocky looking site with poison ivy - perfect! Somehow we squeezed three tents into the site, and sat down to a wonderful meal - Al's Fredo, with fresh garlic bread! I didn't actually make the fredo, but I did bake the bread.
Highlight of the evening was the group threatening to take over the trip from the guides, Eric vowing mutiny, and Robin announcing herself as an anarchist - until they learned they'd have to do the dishes….sunset at the site was gorgeous - truly it was a diamond in the rough - and it was rough!
It was also reveled that I overuse the word awesome - which I didn't find to be awesome, so I offered "craptacular", which means: not as good as it should be……still no luck.

Day 5 SCHOONER RAPIDS TO LAKE MCMANUS, 18KM. We knew today would be long, so we were all up early to pack and eat a warm cranberry muffin breakfast. We spent the morning running down class 1 rapids, running around, and aground on various rocks as we chose out own adventure, taking a break half-way to discuss the girls ideal partner, with some surprising results! Then we were off again, seeking different routes through the rocky mazes. At times there wasn't enough water to go round, at others we held our breath as we floated through seemingly inch-deep water without so much as a scrape. "The more we eat the less we carry", finally paying off as we pushed and pulled our way to the beginning of the lakes. Coming on to Lake Whitson was a relief as we finally found deep water, and a great campsite for lunch.

Now it was the guys turn to discuss true love, and some hard questions were asked and answered on both sides. Kids or no, married or no, straight or no, no stone was left unturned as we sought Mr and Mrs right. Robin the anarchist tried to knock off Jerome by offering him some gorp - he has a severe nut allergy, but was stopped by the rest of us.
Amid some sadness that the whitewater was over, we pressed on to our beach campsite, driving hard into the unpredictable weather. We fought the headwinds, floated with the tailwinds, Kat and Elza going bog hopping for a while after going the wrong side of an island, to the amusement of the rest of the group.
After what seemed and felt like forever, we made camp on a beautiful beach site, with a nice drop off for swimming in the clear but cold water, content to chill out and relax, the hard work behind us, the end literally in sight. It seemed to good to be true, and was…. After everybody had bonded so well, a riot suddenly broke out, along classic gender lines, forcing me to step in and break it up - "ok guys, there are enough tent pegs for us all" - and that tension was eased.
That nights dinner of salsa and rice, followed by warm fruit loaf, kept us going, and we played campfire games, which mostly consisted of Eric and I being laughed at as we completely failed to get "Milk and Water", "nine squares" and others.

Day 6 TAKE OUT ON LAKE TRAVERS
Last night we decided to sleep out as a group on the sand, despite an overcast sky. An hour and a half in, I awoke to the first warm drops of rain, and despite my hope that they would only be a few, there were enough to send everybody to their tents. I stayed out under a tarp, and was showered repeatedly for my troubles. In the morning I had one final shower at 6am, then I arose and began trying to dry out. By eight we were all up, and after a great wet weather breakfast of fruit loaf and raisin muffins, fresh baked, we were ready to load and go.
We paddled to take out, and soaked up alternate shots of sun and rain in equal measure, awaiting out handsome prince, in the form of Tim, who drove us to another section of the Petawawa where we had an excellent lunch and taught Tim milk and water, and nine squares, which I STILL don't get!
Now it was back to Basecamp for the final van shuffle and farewells all around, we vowed to return next year and do it all again - maybe the Coulonge, or Noire, or Dumoine? A final group photo, and we were off, vanishing in different directions, gone but definitely not forgotten. Kat and I wandered off to take down the trip and agreed that it had been awesome - NOT craptacular.

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