Paddlefoot
Voyageurs 1
July 1-19 2003
Guides:
Pat Merrett
Kat Papadakos
Sarah Panofsky
Tanya Rowell-Katzemba
Timo Oppermann
Participants:
Erica Kohl-Bradley
Rachel Small
Leila Larson
Catherine Hart
Kris Laurin
Michele Gaucher
Mariane Baillargeon
Shaun Novak
Anne-Catherine Shoiry
Ben Weatherbee
Meghan Jensen
July 1, 2003
The guides rendezvoused with the participants at the St-Laurent Mall
in Ottawa for the start of our trip. After realizing that Ben was nowhere
to be found, we arranged to meet him on route to la Reserve Faunique
de La Vérendrye. After a late lunch in Kazabazua, Ben joined
us and we got on the road once more. Along the way we played riddles
and learned that, combined, we spoke at least 10 languages! We pulled
in to La Domaine to pick up our park permits and then carried on to
the Grand/Barrage campground, at the 260 km mark of our route. Since
we arrived late, we decided to spend the night at the put in rather
than paddle on to Lac Grand, despite the nasty outhouse and fish-gutting
table, which Rachel unknowingly sat on.
July 2, 2003
We began our trip in earnest today, with a long day of lake paddling.
We began on Lac Grand, a long lake with a series of pretty islands running
down the middle. We ate lunch on a small rock island before hitting
the forever-windy Lac Nichcotéa. Lots of awkward silence over
lunch, but we began getting to know each other a bit more. Lac Nichcotéa
was just as windy as predicted, but we made it across and carried on
to Lac Desty, where both campsites we had intended to stay at were taken.
It was getting late and the rain was coming down. Due to an unfortunate
choice of maps, we headed straight into a stagnant marsh after leaving
Lac Desty, rather than taking the right hand turn. We lost about an
hour, but were rewarded by the sight of two moose, who were just as
surprised to see us, as we are to see them. Since it was getting quite
late and the next real campsite was still at least 5 km away, we decided
to renovate an old, grown-in campsite to accommodate us for the night.
We were cramped, but quickly had warm Paddlepasta in our bowls. Still,
we heard comments from the Baker that night about being forced to go
to camp Paddlefoot, or threats to fake a broken leg! Uh-oh! That night
everyone learned the full potential of Kris' snoring.
July 3, 2003
Today, the sun decided to show us its face for the first time, which
was a real treat. We paddled on to Lac Giroux to arrive at our first
portage, an easy 400 meters around a dam and large set of rapids. No
sooner than turning the corner, did we have to negotiate our first lift
over around a nasty ledge. Upon reaching Lac Nelligan, the rain decided
that it wasn't quite through with us, but everyone was in good spirits
and no one had "broken" a leg yet! We pulled in to Pork Rapids
in time for a TLC lunch. We got our first introduction to white water
with the famous hydrology talk. Later, the girls got the infamous girl-talk.
We played name games under the kitchen tarp and watched a few rounds
of Indian Wrestling, where the goal is to touch the opponent's knee
with your index finger. We also learned about what made Timo's left
collarbone the funny shape it is today. Finally, everyone discovered
Sarah's after dinner personality as the guides compare eating games.
We finally got to have our opening campfire with our first sharing circle.
July 4, 2003
We started the day off with a flatwater stroke session. We did a few
easy peel-outs into the current below but there was a little carnage
because everyone forgot the last letter of Pat's name: TILT! We paddled
onto Lac Ward and see a third moose bathing in the middle of the lake.
After being startled by our approach, we were impressed by the size
and power of this beast as it moved through the water and along the
shore before disappearing into the forest. We paddled our first set
of rapids, a fun 1-km long CI tech. After another CI, we hit Lac Pomponne
and left the reserve. We did a short portage around a set of waterfalls
and then hit a fun CII underneath a logging bridge, where Sarah takes
pictures of us from the bridge. After a short flatwater paddle, we pulled
in to our campsite beside a short CI tech. The campsite was on a point
on the right-hand side just after the 200 km mark. After setting up
the site, a large storm started approaching making the kitchen tarp
parachute upwards with each large gust of wind. The storm continued
into the night as a show of thunder and lightning getting within 1 mile
from us. But after our first meal of lazy-P's we were warm and comfy
in our tents that night. We learned that some of the boys didn't know
everyone's name, especially after Kris says: "Who's Pat?"
July 5, 2003
Today was a big white-water day with several CI's, some CI techs and
even a CII tech, which we lined the top part. We had a floating lunch,
but didn't really go downstream as hoped. We had our first round of
extra-cheese trivia, followed by a discussion on the lovely details
of Giardia, or beaver-fever. We did a short lift over and paddle to
the portage trail leading to our duff-day campsite, Tall Pine. We discovered
that Kat has a secret life as a snake charmer on the lift over. We ate
marshmallows after dinner and fall asleep in comfort, even Erica and
Leila, who slept outside.
July 6, 2003
SLEEP-IN! We woke up slowly and gather around the fire to begin our
long pancake breakfast. We took the morning off to relax and sun bathe,
as we were introduced to Team String-Bikini! After lunch, we paddled
down Tall Pine rapids without a single dump, although Mimi did get leached.
Thankfully, Mariane was there to save the day and promptly ripped it
off, ouch! The rest of the day was spent playing therm-a-rest chess,
jumping off a rock into the water, doing hair wraps and woodcarving.
Also, the fighting over who got to read Harry Potter began. We ate quesadillas
for dinner.
July 7, 2003
Today, we paddled a bunch of fun CI's and CI techs. We portaged around
Batardeau Falls, paddle some more rapids and camp at the site just after
the portage around the next set of falls, just before the 170 km mark.
Since we arrived early, we all swam in the washout of the waterfalls
and got towed in to shore with throw bags. While waiting for the falafel
supper to be made, Shaun ate a spoonful of Dijon on a dare, yuck! We
also found a baby bird that got lost from its nest and thought that
we were its parents. After much coercing by its mother, it finally found
its way home. After reading the Hap Wilson maps carefully, we discovered
that the Baker was set up on a couple loggers grave. Fortunately, we
were not visited by any ghosts that night.
July 8, 2003
We started the day with a quick portage, some more swifts and CI's.
While waiting for the guides to decide how to get around the 2 large
ledges, we spotted a large turtle next to the canoes. Finally, we decided
to portage the two ledges, using a steep, but good portage trail on
river left. The rest of the day blessed us with continuous swifts and
current. We stopped to have hearty soup on a bank, but not before swimming
and running against the current. We flew through the rest of the day
to arrive at a campsite on the site of an old bridge on river left,
at the 155 km mark. We played cricket that evening with Pat's already
broken spare paddle, which only got more broken as the game carried
on. The poker table came out for the first time that evening. Dinner
was a filling Mac and cheese, which we had trouble finishing: EAT IT!
July 9, 2003
We paddled the entire length of the meanders, reaching the confluence
site, just before the 120 km mark. We had a long floating sugar lunch,
with a long jog in the water ahead of the boats for some of us. Kat
found a purple balloon along the shore with "Thinking of you because
you're special" written on it. We saw a Canada Goose along the
way, also. After dinner that night, we did a long evening sit followed
by a surprise banana crème pudding with graham cracker crumbs.
Later, we were introduced to the dance routine for "Que Sera?"
We also got a break dancing lesson from Shaun.
July 10, 2003
We had another sleep-in and stayed at the confluence site for our second
duff day. We gathered around for another long pancake breakfast, followed
by a relaxing morning. After a filling lunch of quesadillas, stuffed
with cheese and salsa, we went off with Kat to learn how to build improvised
shelters. The first group had a falling out over whether or not to use
moss as an insulator for their shelter, getting them pretty much nowhere.
The second group built an A-frame shelter large enough for 3 people.
That afternoon, the guides were busy sanitizing the dishes and baking
raisin bread for breakfast the next morning and Mac salad for lunch.
Other highlights of the day included the cosmic connection card game
between Sarah and Tanya that Rachel figured out. Also, Timo was busy
at work carving us a real cricket bat, since half of the blade of the
cricket paddle had broken off.
July 11, 2003
This morning was definitely our fastest ever, since breakfast was already
cooked and we had few dishes to wash. We blessed the gods of the Coulonge
River with a ceremonial log that we tossed into the current. As it turned
out this was not such a good idea, since this seemed to insult the gods,
who took vengeance upon us throughout the length of the crossover, until
we were safe on the Noire River. Nevertheless, we did not know the consequences
of our actions at that point and we trudged upstream, trekking and paddling
up current, until we reached the creek that connected us to Lac Bryson.
Mimi and Tanya were the last to reach the creek and we all gave Mimi
a rousing "Mimi, you complete me!" The going was fairly easy
along the creek and we only had a short portage to put us onto Lac Bryson,
where we were met with the fiercest head wind ever imaginable. We pulled
over onto the dock of a hunting cabin, where we enjoyed our Mac salad
lunch. We carried on at a snail's pace against the wind, and later driving
rain. Along the way, we couldn't help noticing how much Ben's black
rain poncho looked like Harry Potter's cape as it blew around in the
wind. We finally reached our exit from the lake, which was a reasonable
portage, where some of us gave Lac Bryson a ceremonial spit. After setting
off on the other side, we approached the creek that was supposed to
be a trek in high water. Unfortunately, the water was not high enough
to keep us from portaging up the slippery creek bed to the next lake.
This repeated itself once more to our displeasure on the creek connecting
us to the next lake. As we negotiated the %$@# creek portages, some
of our members reported hallucinations and Catherine even walked straight
into a tree! Thoroughly exhausted, we reached the lake with our campsite
late in the day. We split Mars bars in half to motivate us to paddle
to our site. More motivating than Mars bars, however, was the sun that
decided to make an appearance for an hour or so on the way to the site.
The campsite was basically the front lawn of someone's hunting cabin
and was adequate, but not very comfortable. There was a clean outhouse
with a padded seat that would lock you in if you weren't careful.
July 12, 2003
We set off on a short paddle before reaching our longest portage of
the trip. It was supposed to be 1km but, for some of us, it approached
2km, maybe more. The first half was the hardest, with many sections
of muddy marshes, otherwise known as moose kak. We almost lost Timo
and Ben as they sank in to their waists. We had to resort to laying
down three canoes to step through to avoid being sucked down by the
mud. We took a break at the mid-point to enjoy a nutri-grain bar. When
we set off to finish the portage, most of the group decided the road
looked easier than the trail and went off for at least 500 meters before
realizing that this was probably the wrong way. As it turned out, the
actual portage was pretty short and painless, but the morale had already
been lost. At the end, Mariane nearly twisted her ankle, but not badly,
being able to continue carrying the wannigan. At the end of the portage,
we let out a loud scream in unison to relieve our frustration. We also
finished up the other half of the Mars bars. Shortly after, we encountered
another portage, but this ended up being short and easy. We reached
Lac Lynch and paddled around the corner to eat lunch in a protected
bay. It was another meal of GORP, but this time the mix had acquired
the distinct flavor of Dijon mustard, which appealed to nobody, not
even Shaun. We reached our next obstacle, a lift over around a dam,
which we noticed was closed but we didn't really think twice about it.
It started raining again during the lift over, and our backs strain
under the weight of the loaded canoes. We soon realized the consequence
of the dam being closed just upstream: what were supposed to be two
easy creek paddles turned into nasty lift overs as the creeks were all
dried up. To make it worse, beaver's had built their own dams at the
openings of both creeks, further making them shallower. Hence we coined
our motto of the day: "save a tree, eat a beaver!" We finally
made it to Lac Resolin late in the day and paddled to the other end,
where we decided to camp next to the dam. The site was very spacious,
and not even that ugly considering a road ran through it. We had cinnamon
pitas after dinner, which was a nice treat.
July 13, 2003
T-MO's birthday! That morning those sleeping in the Baker discovered
a whole entire mosquito colony when they woke up. A massacre ensued…
We ate scrambled muffins for breakfast and Mimi had the embarrassment
of her life! We finally had sun again as we paddled down the creek on
our way to Lac Forant. We had to pull our boats over felled trees and
small beaver dams, but all-in-all the going was easy. We portaged around
the Barrage Forant where some of the campers got to carry canoes. We
unloaded some garbage, got some fresh oranges and used the segregated
boy/girl outhouses. After paddling a few mini-rapids along the Ruisseau
Forant we finally reached the Noire. We paddled the upper rapids of
"The Wall" and portage the CII tech section, which would have
dumped most of us given the high water levels. We made it to Targie
and stayed at the campsite at the beginning of the portage, where we
have a view of the CIII "Toilet Bowl." Sarah and Tanya were
feeling "sick", so they had to excuse themselves for a little
while, along with the stove, oven, cake mix and oranges. After dinner,
they came back with a vanilla cake topped with fresh oranges to celebrate
Timo's birthday. In other news, Mimi lost her bowl to the rapids, but
her hero Harry Potter (Ben) was there to save the day, even without
his cape.
July 14, 2003
Erica's birthday! We had a huge day of rapids, even though we only paddled
10 km. We portaged Canyon Staircase and ran the bottom half with unloaded
boats. After a few more rapids, we reached the dreaded Mountain Chutes
portage. We fueled ourselves up with another TLC lunch (without the
L). We lined our boats down to the portage trailhead and set off up
the steep slope. We left our gear at the top of the long, steep rockslide
that was the put-in. We then handed each canoe, pack and barrel down
hand over hand to reach the pool way below. The teamwork was great and
we finished quickly. We were rewarded by the sight of Mountain Chutes
crashing into a pool of current, surrounded by steep walls, hundreds
of feet high. Rachel lost her paddle to the fierce eddy current, but
it turned up the next morning waiting for her at the bottom of our next
campsite. We paddled the rest of the Mountain Chute rapids, CI and CII
wave trains through steep canyon walls, so much fun! We camped at Rapides
de l'Islet, where we had baths (without the soap) in the pools of water
next to the site. Strangely, Sarah was feeling "sick" again,
and this time Kat seemed to have caught the bug, so they excused themselves
with the stove, oven and cake mix. After dinner, we dug into a delicious
black forest cake, complete with cherries. We created a fantasy for
Erica, who couldn't believe what we thought up for her! I mean, 50 people
on a table! That night, AC, Erica and Meghan slept outside, although
Meghan gave up and returned to the Baker.
July 15, 2003
Pat did the wake up with "Good Morning, Good Morning" from
Singing in the Rain, but apparently, it was better known as the Viagra
song. After breakfast, we picked names for the gift exchange. We ran
the bottom of Islet and portage Chutes de l'Ours. After most of us bumped
and scraped through the rock garden at the bottom, Timo and AC swamped
and got their boat pinned on some rocks, full of water. After an hour-and-a-half
of skilled SRT action, the boat came off, but was warped beyond recognition.
Not to worry: Pat gave the boat one confident stomp and it popped back
to its original shape, much to the relief of the guides. The rest of
the day seemed to carry on forever. We paddled meanders until we were
blue in the face, with only 3 more sets of rapids. We were amused to
come around a corner and encounter a random skinny-dipper man, who seemed
to come out of nowhere and was not shy about exposing himself to Pat
and Mimi. After a long 40 km day, we finally reached 50:50, where some
of the campers got a taste of cooking. On the menu: Perogies al Pomodoro.
Chef: Kat, Sous-chef: Mimi, Assistant sous-chef: Leila, and Sous assistant
sous-chef: Ben. Very tasty, except for the sun-dried tomatoes.
July 16, 2003
Our third sleep in! We had scrambled muffins again, followed by a relaxing
morning of gift making and poker. Later, we paddled the CIII 50:50 many
times. Everyone got a chance to stern and Kris, Leila and Shaun tried
their hand at soloing! We even did a little surfing at the bottom. After
dinner, we had a little visit from a Kandalore group, who had planned
to stay at our campsite, but stayed on a sandy island just downstream.
They were all girls, so Mimi tried to set some of them up with Shaun.
Later, we had brownies and exchanged gifts.
Sarah gave Kat the Katmandu story
Erica gave Tanya the little wooden man
Leila gave Sarah a dog marionette
Mariane gave Timo a mobile with the German flag
Catherine gave Shaun the dream catcher and log with the warning
AC gave Megan a necklace
Mimi gave Erica a vase and a card
Ben gave Rachel a wooden pen and eraser
Tanya gave Kris a wooden spoon
Rachel gave Leila a poem
Kat gave AC a picture and picture frame
Shaun gave Catherine the candleholder/spit pot
Kris gave Mimi the Mimi, you complete me necklace
Pat gave Ben the mobile and limerick
Afterwards, we had our closing campfire, with sharing circle, otherwise
known as the sob fest, where everyone was crying, even Ben! (Just kidding,
Ben). Finally, before packing it in for the night, everyone got trip
bracelets.
July 17, 2003
We paddled Tight Right and Manitou Rapids; we lined Jam Rock, and then
floated the rest of the way to our pick up, a full 15 km of swifts known
as Boulder Alley. Ben and Erica stopped to pick up what looked like
a carved canoe, but what turned out to be a melon rind. We got to the
Black River Inn with a couple hours to spare, so we played cricket,
hacky-sack and card games. There was a big German shepherd who thought
it would be fun to chase our cricket ball while we played. Eventually,
the van showed up and we had a short drive back to basecamp where we
had showers and an amazing eggplant parmesan dinner. We played volleyball
with the Huontario boys and had a campfire to finish up the trip log.
July 18, 2003
We got up extra early to head out for a day of Rafting with Esprit on
the Ottawa River. We ran the middle channel in the morning, with Iron
Ring, Butterfly, the Elevator Shaft, a 5-meter waterfall, and Upper
and Lower Ostrom. After lunch, we ran the main channel, where we got
to do Coliseum, a huge CV wave that knocked a few of us out of the rafts.
We had another great dinner that night, and then wrote blues notes to
everybody before going to bed.
July 19, 2003
Today, we set off for the Petawawa River for a picnic and river boarding
where we met all of the other trips that were just returning, like the
Dumoine and the Petawawa. We played "guess the trip moment"
charades. After saying our goodbyes, the campers left for their respective
homes.
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