Rivière du Lièvre Day Two

Day 2—Monday, July 19, 2010
Long (and only real) portage in difficult mud around a Class IV ledge, rainy lunch, Lac Adonis, A-rated campsite, swimming in rapids.

Woke early to the sound of the white-throated sparrow. Usual morning prep but skipped the fire and used camp stoves instead. Came upon rapids on the river right away. Scouted a few and lined two. Ran the rest; some good whitewater. Scouted part of a series that was to be Class II, III and a IV ledge. Took the portage trail to try and see the bottom of the series. Trail was long, boggy and muddy. When we got to end with one trip of gear saw a true IV ledge (falls) with very very fast water and not at all runable. Finished the portage, during which it rained heavily. Took shelter under a cedar tree with a moss floor for lunch of soup and cheese and crackers (our usual mid-day sustenance). Some fishermen were tryig their luch at the bottom of the ledge and then a grandpa and kids and poodle with a powerboat. With the river going into and out of lakes, we saw more civilization that usual or than we would later in the trip where it was all river-only access.

Finished the day with two hours on Lac Adonis, a little headwind but an early day into camp and a beautiful A campsite (our rating) on top a ridge with good water access and great swimming in the nearby shallow rapids. Later that night, around 8 p.m., we heard a ruckus on the lake side of the camp, just before the rapids. Two guys had anchored and were yelling in French to other boaters. One guy held up a huge lake trout, three feet long, possibly 25 pounds, showing off his catch before releasing it back into the lake. Before long a few more boats joined the festivities, fishermen talking loudly and casting lines every which way. As sun set, they left around 9. It got quite cold overnight and we slept in caps. A couple degrees cooler and we would have wanted to have 35 degree bags instead of our 45 degree ones.