Whitewater

Join me on this classic early spring favourite of Toronto area paddlers. We’ll catch the Credit in Streetsville and run down to the mouth at Port Credit. The river is a delightful continuous class 1 to 2 with lots of play spots. However, downed trees over the winter can create sweepers, and participants need to be able to manoeuvre a canoe in moving water to avoid them. As well, the water will be cold. You should have solid basic moving water skills, and wear a wetsuit or drysuit. Boats should have air bags in them. We'll have lunch on the river at a park near Dundas Street, so bring something to eat. We usually finish the trip around 3 PM.

If the weather is unfavourable on the Saturday, we'll move the trip to the Sunday. It's not much fun paddling in cold rain.

Between Bolton and Weston, where rains brought by Hurricane Hazel washed away 14 homes in October 1954, the Humber River is now carefully flood controlled by the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority. Though this stretch is completely open and accessible, the two dam projects along its length have successfully reduced the river to mainly a fast flowing stream. Passage requires the highest water levels, but this means several hours of nearly uninterrupted swifts and rock gardens with no actual classified rapids.

The past two Aprils we tackled the section between Kleinburg and Weston. This year we are starting farther upstream at Bolton, Dick's Dam Park, and the intersection of Sackville St. with Hickman St. The takeout is at Humber Bridge Trail (road) off of Highway 27, north of Major Mackenzie Drive.

Directions here.

There are a couple of short portages/mandatory wading around the McFall dam, cataract, and diversion project in the original Bolton village. After this there are no other man made obstacles for the duration, and it is 27 kilometres to Kleinburg. The last occasion took 6 hours including an hour on shore for lunch.

Bring some lunch and water, hot thermos works well too as we stop along the bank for breaks and photos. Bring foul weather gear, we wore drysuits, gloves, hats, helmets, & PFD. We had sun, rain, wind, and snow in past years. Bring some warm dry clothing just in case. Leave some extras in your car too.

By signing up for this trip you also agree to the conditions in the WCA liability waiver. Please locate it on the WCA website or I can send you one.

Canoes and Kayaks are welcome.

The Missinaibi River is a heritage river used to access Hudson's Bay. Voyageur canoes would travel from the St Lawrence to North Bay via the Mattawa and then down the French to Georgian Bay and then through the Sault to Lake Superior where you portaged up the Michipicoten to Missinaibi Lake and its river that drains into James Bay. This is a leisurely long northbound river trip of about 260 km from the hamlet of Missanabie, just below Missinaibi Lake, to Mattice with sections of challenging rapids (mostly CI-CII Tech) and portages (most <360m, one is 1.4 km). Start and finish times are from Barrie.. A 2.5 tandem canoes are looking to fill the third canoe.

It's definitely for BEGINNERS.- You can think of it as a flatwater trip with a current

Walkerton to South Hampton - it is river - it has a current, but very low, depending on the amount of rain that falls days before the trip - there are 2 very small rapids -
It's fun and we will have a great time.
The goal is to relax and enjoy the trip and the surroundings,
It is not meant as a race or how fast we can do it.
It is a rural river, with lots of access points.
It is about 90 km and we'll do it in 3 days.
Day 1 we meet in Walkerton, where we unload, do the shuttle, have lunch, there is one rapid level 1,
Day 2 we have lunch in Paisley, the best ice cream ever there
we camp at Saugeen Bluffs Conservation Area.
Day 3 is fun as the river meanders in a lot of side arms.
We will also hope that day to see the Bald Eagle's nest again.
We share food, everybody decides upon a meal.
More information closer to the date.

if you need a canoe - let me know - so that we can book those or share a canoe with a fellow paddler

Leisurely three night - four day trip on the Petawawa from Lake traverse to McManus Lake.

Just another relaxing summer weekend at Palmer Rapids on the Madawaska River. We stay at local farmer Harold Jessup's campsite right on the river at the rapids. This is an enjoyable weekend for novice or better moving water paddlers. Probably more people have had their first taste of moving water here than in any other spot in Ontario. There are a couple of sets of Class 1-2 rapids almost outside your tent door. I'm happy to give some informal paddling pointers to new river runners. If people are interested in something a little different, we can do short basic river safety and rescue clinic- moving water swimming, rope work, recovering pinned canoes, etc. If the water levels are good, more adventurous types might want to get together to take a run down the Lower Madawaska on Saturday.

For families, there's a sandy beach where the kids can play or swim. For those who aren't into paddling, there are restaurants and interesting shops nearby in Wilno and Barry's Bay.

We're going to be there from Thursday afternoon to Sunday, but you can come & camp or go at any time.

You will need a whitewater canoe with flotation, and a helmet, along with the usual PFD and paddle. Canoes can be rented nearby at Paddler Co-op (see their website www.paddlerco-op.com), or from Madawaska River Rentals (see their website www.MadRiverRentals.ca ), or from Don Adams in Griffith, who will even deliver to Jessup's for a fee (613-333-2240). If renting, tell them you want thigh straps in the canoe. It will make a huge amount of difference to your control.

For those looking to escape camp cookery, try the famous Wilno Tavern: http://www.wilnotavern.com/index.php

 The Wilno has a Polish buffet Saturday nights that will fill any hungry paddler. There are also some other good restaurants in Barry's Bay.



Please register as soon as possible so I can reserve a group camping area.



By signing up for this trip you also agree to the conditions in the WCA liability waiver. Please locate it on the WCA website under the Outings tab. 

We are looking for people to join us on this 6 day canoe trip down the West Branch of the Spanish River. Basic whitewater skills are required to enjoy this trip. We have the group gear and will be looking to share meals as a group. The Spanish River is known as one of the best beginner/ intermediate level whitewater trips , with great scenery, and many runnable Class 1-2 rapids and the odd Class 3. Contact organizer as soon as possible.

The Dumoine is known as one of the best intermediate level whitewater trips in the Ottawa Valley, with outstanding scenery, and many runnable Class 1-3 rapids. It is runnable all season. We will do the classic 3-4 day Dumoine trip from the north end of Lac Benoit, travelling 62 km to its mouth near Rolphton on the Ottawa. We will access the river by pre-arranged hired shuttle on Sunday August 14, and should finish by Thursday the 18th at the latest. By signing up for this trip you also agree to the conditions in the WCA liability waiver. Please locate it on the WCA website under the Outings tab.

Please join me on a spring warm-up white-water trip on the Black River between #118 and #6.

Be ready for class 1 and 2 rapids, a few portages, no bugs. We camp on the river on Saturday night. We will need to shuttle - hopefully only on Sunday. The shuttle is 40km one-way.

Put in: Vancoughnet (south of #118 where Vancoughnet Rd turns into Lambert Rd and Old Victoria Rd) Saturday 9:30am.
Take out: where #6 Black River Rd and Chisholm Trail meet (east of Severn Bridge) - Sunday around 4pm.

The Mad River is small and has a nice but not overwhelming flow to it. You do need to be able to manoeuvre confidently mostly in tight turns and on a few occasions under a branch of an overhanging tree or a sweeper on a side of the river. You need the ability to paddle class 2 rapid though there are no class 2 rapids on the river.

We can meet at York Mills and Yonge - NW parking lot at 8am for carpooling and then at Riverside Dr at 9:30am (west of Creemore, just north of #9 where you can see the river). We will shuttle to concession 3 (via #9, Centre Line, Webster Rd). We will be finished around 3pm. Bring lunch.