Sun April 13 2025 Mad River (Whitewater) Creemore to Glencairn. 14 km river 90 min from Toronto

Submitted by HuetonAndy on Tue, 12/12/2023 - 12:46

Whitewater

I plan to run a bunch of whitewater one day trips on the MAD River (Creemore) in the spring of 2025. This is the first one. Signup is now open. Every time I run this river, I scout it from shore from more than eight different road bridges and shoreline access points (because I live local and can do so easily) . Due to the recent ice storms over the past few weeks ,I will need to be more methodical in my scouting, walking a lot more shoreline than usual, before the trip. I have already walked the shoreline once, we are good to go for the lower section (Carruthers to Glencairn). I will inspect for the upper section in the final days before the trip (and subject to water levels)
I was the leader four WCA one day whitewater trips on the MAD River (Creemore) in 2024.

Typically we look for flows of 7-8 cubic meters per second on the upper section (Riverview Drive down) and love to do the full top to bottom at 11 cu M /s, however this spring's ice storm warrant extra caution, so extra scouting will be done by me prior to the day. If high flow conditions are predicted (above 11.5 cu M/s) , the trip may run just the lower section: Avening to Glencairn, at the discretion of the trip leader.

If you need a seat in a boat, contact me and I will pair you up. I also have a spare canoe to lend.

Due to the damage to the trees in the watershed from ice storm and high water levels, I will only be accepting tandem canoe for this first trip on the MAD this season. I will try to add more trips later that take both tandem and solo boats. thanks for understanding.

The Basics

Event Location:

Meeting Place - Carruthers Memorial Park, 3469 County Road 42, Avening

Date(s) & Time:

Sunday, April 13, 2025 - 10:00

Registration Cut Off:

Friday at noon (last minute can be done but please be reasonable)

Event Duration:

one day (five to six hours on water)

Difficulty Rating:

Advanced

Participant Info

Who's Invited:

WCA members and friends of members

Maximum Group Size:

Five boats (tandem)

Minimum Group Size:

2 boats

Itinerary

Itinerary description:

Meet at Carruthers Memorial Park, 3464 County Road 42, Avening at 10am. Drop boats and gear. Shuttle as many cars as we can to Glencairn Conservation Area on Webster Road in Glencairn (parking fee applies ) . Lunch will be somewhere on the river. From Carruthers the river slows down a bit until our take out at Glencairn Conservation . Last spring *2024) It seems that there was lots of interest in all of these trips. : I have drawn the maximum number of canoes to FIVE for the first trip. NO solos this trip, only tandems. Second trip, once I see the full river end to end, I will take solo boats. Just not this trip.

Required Items to Bring:

REQUIRED: Your own canoe (for tandem pairs.) I have an extra canoe to lend. Drysuit or wetsuit , PFD, helmet, close toe shoes (no flip flops) . Painters for both ends of the canoe. Also bring your Whitewater PIN kit - carabiners, pulleys, accessory cord, webbing and throw bag) , in case we wrap a canoe, and a good hand saw if you have one (in case we have to cut a canoe out of a sweeper), Lunch

Please bring canoes that can handle hitting a few rocks (not your fancy kevlar or carbon fiber boats please) . I would prefer no Pac boats (gunnels too low) If Pac boat is all you have, please contact me before booking.