The three of us .Vin center and Konstantin on your rt.
Me at the "Chutes" .Monster haystacks!
Vin checking out upper Engoulevent. We all ran this RR.
The "beach" campsite day1. We would soon get tired of the sand, which gets into everything..Ashuapmushuan Canoe trip Sept 12-18 , 2010 . Average flow about 300 cms at gauge .
Day 1 .
We start this day in Plattsburgh New York where the three of us met yesterday by agreement and we checked in to the Golden Gate motel where we would spend the night , at least until 1 am since we had to drive a long way to reach our destination at the reserve office in Quebec later in the afternoon .
The three of us are myself, Vin and Konstantin . I paddle a NC Supernova , Vin a Dagger Legend and K. is in an inflatable kayak – my first experience tripping with this kind of craft . This is an official trip of the Mohawk Canoe Club of Philadelphia /Central New Jersey origins, and the Appalachian Mountain Club a big organization in the NE U.S. . I belong to each organization and advertised this trip to get some others to go with me because they don’t let you paddle the Ash with one boat and besides I’m sociable . Vin and I paddled the Petawawa in ’08 so I’m comfortable with that . K. is a complete unknown as well as his method of river transportation so I am a little hesitant but he’s on board so we’re all in it for the duration .
We roll out of Plattsburgh a little groggy and start the long ride into Quebec . Montreal we get through before dawn and the traffic is light . The sun comes up at last and we’re in rural Quebec past La Tuque and heading for the Reserve office in La Dore’ . This is Sunday and the office is closed but I have called ahead and in broken French arranged for our shuttle man Luigi to meet us there . It all works out and we all go to the put-in a mile or so on the left PAST THE BRIDGE off Hwy 167 where all the gear is taken out and we load the boats . Konstantin pulls out his electric air pump and fills his boat’s air tubes and we’re set . Luigi drives off and we’re alone . The river is breezy and the headwinds make the going tough at first . After passing the bridge and some minor rapids we pull over to the “Grand Plage “ campsite and set up camp . The ground is very level here and there is enough room for 50 tents . The sand is a nuisance as it gets in everything . While we are there a flotilla passes us by on the river : 3 tandem boats and a kayaker – so despite the late time of year we’re not alone on the river .
Switching to past tense
Day 2
We got on the river in good time and made it down the first Cl IV uneventfully . We were careful and scouted this rapid from the portage trail on the left . It’s fairly straight forward , just keep to the Rt all the way, avoid the central haystacks at the bottom.. It rained a little . Campsite was on river RR just past the confluence of the Riviere du Chef – a nice little site tucked away in the trees . It decided to rain again .
Day 3 ; This was the “slow” section of the river with no major (IV) rapids . We ended up camping just up stream of the other group rL . The next day would really test our mettle with two “major” rapids to run .
Day 4 . We started earlier than the other group and passed them by as they were getting ready to break camp . Soon we reached the biggest runnable rapid , The “Rapide des Isles “ and everyone did some serious scouting . Vin and K. decided to sneak, line and eddy hop river left while I decided to go for the whole enchilada and run it in one shot from extreme left to far right . The other group arrived at that time and watched us perform . As leader I was the first one to go and everything went just as according to plan . After the first C IV drop at the top(extreme L) of the rapid I worked my way over to center and ran the “highway" in the middle past some big waves and holes ,then worked like mad to get the boat over to the right and avoid the monster 8 foot wall of water in the center at the bottom . This was the most hard slogging cranked up back ferrying I have ever done - but it all went well– just misssed all the bad stuff at the bottom and “coasted” the last Cl III wave train river right . Whew, what a rush!!
Day 1 .
We start this day in Plattsburgh New York where the three of us met yesterday by agreement and we checked in to the Golden Gate motel where we would spend the night , at least until 1 am since we had to drive a long way to reach our destination at the reserve office in Quebec later in the afternoon .
The three of us are myself, Vin and Konstantin . I paddle a NC Supernova , Vin a Dagger Legend and K. is in an inflatable kayak – my first experience tripping with this kind of craft . This is an official trip of the Mohawk Canoe Club of Philadelphia /Central New Jersey origins, and the Appalachian Mountain Club a big organization in the NE U.S. . I belong to each organization and advertised this trip to get some others to go with me because they don’t let you paddle the Ash with one boat and besides I’m sociable . Vin and I paddled the Petawawa in ’08 so I’m comfortable with that . K. is a complete unknown as well as his method of river transportation so I am a little hesitant but he’s on board so we’re all in it for the duration .
We roll out of Plattsburgh a little groggy and start the long ride into Quebec . Montreal we get through before dawn and the traffic is light . The sun comes up at last and we’re in rural Quebec past La Tuque and heading for the Reserve office in La Dore’ . This is Sunday and the office is closed but I have called ahead and in broken French arranged for our shuttle man Luigi to meet us there . It all works out and we all go to the put-in a mile or so on the left PAST THE BRIDGE off Hwy 167 where all the gear is taken out and we load the boats . Konstantin pulls out his electric air pump and fills his boat’s air tubes and we’re set . Luigi drives off and we’re alone . The river is breezy and the headwinds make the going tough at first . After passing the bridge and some minor rapids we pull over to the “Grand Plage “ campsite and set up camp . The ground is very level here and there is enough room for 50 tents . The sand is a nuisance as it gets in everything . While we are there a flotilla passes us by on the river : 3 tandem boats and a kayaker – so despite the late time of year we’re not alone on the river .
Switching to past tense
Day 2
We got on the river in good time and made it down the first Cl IV uneventfully . We were careful and scouted this rapid from the portage trail on the left . It’s fairly straight forward , just keep to the Rt all the way, avoid the central haystacks at the bottom.. It rained a little . Campsite was on river RR just past the confluence of the Riviere du Chef – a nice little site tucked away in the trees . It decided to rain again .
Day 3 ; This was the “slow” section of the river with no major (IV) rapids . We ended up camping just up stream of the other group rL . The next day would really test our mettle with two “major” rapids to run .
Day 4 . We started earlier than the other group and passed them by as they were getting ready to break camp . Soon we reached the biggest runnable rapid , The “Rapide des Isles “ and everyone did some serious scouting . Vin and K. decided to sneak, line and eddy hop river left while I decided to go for the whole enchilada and run it in one shot from extreme left to far right . The other group arrived at that time and watched us perform . As leader I was the first one to go and everything went just as according to plan . After the first C IV drop at the top(extreme L) of the rapid I worked my way over to center and ran the “highway" in the middle past some big waves and holes ,then worked like mad to get the boat over to the right and avoid the monster 8 foot wall of water in the center at the bottom . This was the most hard slogging cranked up back ferrying I have ever done - but it all went well– just misssed all the bad stuff at the bottom and “coasted” the last Cl III wave train river right . Whew, what a rush!!
I watched as the rest of my crew made it successfully down their chosen routes – K did a little flippy-do but clambered back in unassisted and we all assembled on a rock down river where we could look up at the rapid . The other group started out with their kayaker who ran it successfully but the next boat dumped and sent its crew on a long bumpy swim . They made it to shore just above us and we left the scene to continue our day’s journey .
The next big rapid was “Rapide de L’Engoulement “ . The top we all ran on the right then worked our way over to the left and scouted the bottom drop . Konstantin and I did the lower drop on rL then manouvered to center left running between the center monster haystacks and the diagonals coming off the bank. Vin decided to ferry over to rR and capsized right at the bottom on the last Cl IV but we got him out in the quiet water and immediately started to look for a campsite . The one we chose was on the left bank about a mile downstream from the rapid , across from an island where we also could have camped – finally no sand under us !
Day 5 . We arrived at the portage trail of the “Chutes de La Chaudiere “ in good time and spent a good part of the day doing the long I mile portage .The campsite we chose was right at the Chutes in the little park area so we had the luxury of a picnic table to dine on . The chutes are an awesome spectacle .
Day 6
We got the boats down into the water and proceeded on our way . It was a nice day and relaxing as we new the toughest rapids were behind us . Our last campsite was a real palace with dining pavilion and two picnic tables . We got a roaring fire going and everyone was happy .
Day 7
Our last day on the river was relaxing and fun . The sun shone and after the last Cl III the water slowed down and we paddled to the takeout . The truck was right there . While we were loading up the other group paddle dup and we all said hello and shook hands . After spending asome time trying to find the key to the back of the truckcap we loaded up and were off. Great River !
Stats : when we started the trip the river was running about 375 cms …the day at the Rapides des Isles it was probably doing about the low 300's cms …at the end of the trip it was maybe 260 ....good levels. We finished on day 7 around noon . That's about the right amount of time for this river . I used a spray deck for the first time ever on this trip and thought it was useful in keeping things drier in the big water sections...saved me some bailing for sure .
The next big rapid was “Rapide de L’Engoulement “ . The top we all ran on the right then worked our way over to the left and scouted the bottom drop . Konstantin and I did the lower drop on rL then manouvered to center left running between the center monster haystacks and the diagonals coming off the bank. Vin decided to ferry over to rR and capsized right at the bottom on the last Cl IV but we got him out in the quiet water and immediately started to look for a campsite . The one we chose was on the left bank about a mile downstream from the rapid , across from an island where we also could have camped – finally no sand under us !
Day 5 . We arrived at the portage trail of the “Chutes de La Chaudiere “ in good time and spent a good part of the day doing the long I mile portage .The campsite we chose was right at the Chutes in the little park area so we had the luxury of a picnic table to dine on . The chutes are an awesome spectacle .
Day 6
We got the boats down into the water and proceeded on our way . It was a nice day and relaxing as we new the toughest rapids were behind us . Our last campsite was a real palace with dining pavilion and two picnic tables . We got a roaring fire going and everyone was happy .
Day 7
Our last day on the river was relaxing and fun . The sun shone and after the last Cl III the water slowed down and we paddled to the takeout . The truck was right there . While we were loading up the other group paddle dup and we all said hello and shook hands . After spending asome time trying to find the key to the back of the truckcap we loaded up and were off. Great River !
Stats : when we started the trip the river was running about 375 cms …the day at the Rapides des Isles it was probably doing about the low 300's cms …at the end of the trip it was maybe 260 ....good levels. We finished on day 7 around noon . That's about the right amount of time for this river . I used a spray deck for the first time ever on this trip and thought it was useful in keeping things drier in the big water sections...saved me some bailing for sure .
worth doing again, for sure .
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