French River is the first designated Canadian Heritage River. Its 105 kilometer canoe route connects lakes, gorges and rapids from Lake Nipissing to Georgian Bay, offering breathtaking scenery.
We will start at Restoule Provincial Park, travelling Restoule River to French. We will take the Main Channel and finish at Hartley Bay Marina. There are some rapids along the way and all can be portaged.
The trip will take five days. We will car camping at Restoule PP for the first night and launch the next morning. We will shuttle the cars by ourselves. The plan depends on canoes and people signing up.
I will ask for a deposit to cover the park permits when time gets closer and set up a group chat among those who have confirmed the trip for the preparation.
One member of our team of three canoes had to drop out due to a family illness issue. We would like to keep three complete tandem canoes. Otherwise, we will have one solo boat. Contact me, iori miller, if you wish more details. This is to be 'Part III' of the Northwest Wilderness Challenge by Ontario Parks for myself and some participants on this trip. The majority of our group will be traveling to Red Lake by train (with our own canoes) and shuttle from Washago. We will be traveling east to west, beginning at the Lund Lake access point of the Woodland Caribou Park (WCPP), then we will take 5 days to paddle to Artery Lake on the west side of the park. At that point we will leave WCPP (and Ontario!) and enter Atikaki Provincial Park (APP) and travel the Bloodvein River for 7 to 9 days (a Canadian Heritage River) all the way west to Lake Winnipeg. The entire trip is about 300 km. Participants on this trip need to be experienced in Wilderness canoeing, be fit, and be willing to participate in all aspects of the organization and preparation of the trip. You do not need to be an expert white water paddler, but you need to better than a 'beginner'. We will be returning from Winnipeg afterwards, also by Train. A lot of the planning is complete.
Gameti to Yellowknife includes small and large lake paddling; gentle medium size river paddling with a number of short portages and small rapids. This is a part of the traditional Dene Idaa Trail connecting the Great Bear Lake with the Great Slave Lake.
The pace of the trip is moderate. We are cooking on fires. Fishing is great!
I am an experienced wilderness canoeist. I am paddling the Anderson River from July 4th to August 16th. I will be back in Yellowknife on Aug 16th and hope to stay in that area and paddle some more.
I paddled from the Canol Road last year to Gameti so I want to do a bit more of that route - continue to Yellowknife; and next year keep going east.
We paddle from Aumond bay to Griffith with 2 nights of camping
A leisure pace with lots of time to play and socialize
The water is big and cold and the weather can be challenging so intermediate paddlers should have outfitted ww boats and appropriate paddling/camping gear.
Most rapids can however be portaged and 1 at least must.
Our wet spring has handed us a bonus canoeing gift for the upcoming long weekend. We have optimal paddling levels and warm weather. Perfect for a day's relaxed paddle or a good whitewater skills workout. Highly recommended for new paddlers looking to get into moving water paddling.
The Black River empties into Lake Simcoe south of Washago. There is a fun short section from the HWY 169 bridge crossing to the next concession road crossing to the west where the river loops around through a number of small rapids separated by flat sections. The section ends with an optional more challenging technical chute, followed by a Class 2 rollercoaster ride. This is an ideal spot for budding moving water paddlers to get some experience, and practice ferries and eddy turns. I'm happy do give informal pointers, and we're in no rush. The section of river is short enough that if you get cold or wet, you can quickly paddle out. However, if you want to work the section, you can play all afternoon. As a bonus, we meet at 11:00 so you don't have to haul yourself out of bed early to get there. We'll also finish around 3:00, so plenty of time to get back to the family dinner. Bring a lunch and we'll eat on the river.
This year’s wet spring weather gives us another chance to paddle this great whitewater run from Lost Channel to Latta. And the weather will be warmer and the water not so high, giving us lots of opportunities to play and practice our skills.
This is a fine run for good novice moving water paddlers to move up to an intermediate level river. We'll meet at Chisholm's Mill at 9:30, do a car shuttle, and then warm up the easier lower section down to Latta. The rapids are not difficult; just a fun rollercoaster ride, with some surfing waves along the way. We'll go back to Chisholm's for lunch at the cars, and then do a shuttle to run the more technical and challenging Lost Channel section. We should finish up around 4:00, and then we traditionally hit the nearby Maple Dale Cheese store along the highway for ice cream and cheese. (Real Canucks can buy cheese curds here for homemade poutine.)
All canoes must have full flotation, and you are required to have a wetsuit or drysuit as the water will still be cold. If you arrive without these, you will not be able to participate.
The Anderson River originates in lakes northwest of Great Bear Lake, NWT and travels for 1000km to the Beaufort Sea. It empties into the ocean in a well-know bird sanctuary. It is a remote river, with lots of wild-life and some easy to moderate white-water.
You can join the trip for all 7 weeks starting on Great Bear Lake or for 4 weeks starting in Colville Lk.
The 7-weeks option includes upstream travel on a small river and portaging between small lakes south of the source of the Anderson. The 4-week option out of Colville Lake is physically less demanding.
The trip ends by paddling through coastal lakes all the way to Inuvik.
Cost will be depending on number of participants, which part of the trip you will be doing and if you can fly on points between $2000-3000.
