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

Submitted by HuetonAndy on
Outing Type → 
Whitewater

Updated: Friday April 11 Cancelled for Sun April 13.. I will try again next week , with lower water levels. in which case I will take solo canoes is the levels are low enough to run the lower section (Avening to Glencairn) safely. I plan to run a bunch of whitewater one day trips on the MAD River (Creemore) in the spring of 2025. 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, 3464 County Road 42, Avening

Date(s) & Time
Event Duration
one day (five to six hours on water)
Difficulty Rating
Advanced
Registration Cut Off
Friday at noon (last minute can be done but please be reasonable)
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.

Recommended Items to Bring

Extra sweater or layers for lunch.

How to Get There
Event Directions

From Barrie: Take County road 90 (Dunlop ST exit off hwy 400) to Angus. Turn right on County Road 10 (just after Yellow NO FRILLS building) . Continue on County Road 10 and turn left on County Road 9 (for New Lowell and Creemore). Drive through New Lowell, continue to Airport Road (stoplight, marked as Cashtown Corners) Drive a couple of km south to 3464 County Road 42 (Carruthers Memorial Park)
From western Toronto, drive up hwy 410 to hwy 89, right on hwy 89 to Airport Road and turn run left at Cashtown Corners to Riverside Drive. The Creemore RFire Station is at 76F55 County Road 9 in Creemore Ontario, which one minute east of the Riverside Drive put in.

Carpool Info

I live in Stayner, north of the river. If you need car pooling, get in touch, I will send you names and numbers of the others on the trip. contact organizer

Other
Notes

SRT trained paddlers, bring your rescue kit, including favorite compact saw if you have one.
Subject to 36 hour cancellation / reschedule by the organizer if pre scouting or online flow meter shows flow rates that in the opinion of the organizer exceed safe paddling conditions (for me that is 11.0 cubic meters per second on the Environment Canada Avening flow gauge 02ED015.
Every person who registers for this trip is subject to review and acceptance by the trip organizer, which includes having each paddler submit a canoeing / river resume of training and experience on whitewater

Cancellation Policy
Yes you could, but please be sure you can come, please don't cancel.

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