Whitewater

Water levels on the Ottawa are always high enough for a fun time on the river.
We will paddle the Ottawa on Saturday and Sunday, and for intrepid paddlers
Monday is available for rafting the monster channel; or do some hiking or biking.
Camping at River Run which also has a pub restaurant, or cook your own.
Camping cost is $16.50 per person per night. Book immediately

We're going to go to Palmer for the weekend- unless someone turns the river off or the weather is unexpectedly bad. Just a relaxed summer weekend of car camping at a lovely spot. The water won't be that high, but it's still playable. Great location for the family. If you want some informal instruction or help with your roll, I'm happy to oblige you, but basically, it's an informal get-away. We plan to arrive Saturday morning.

Book as soon as possible.

A whitewater skill building weekend for solid intermediate tandem or solo canoeists. We held this for the first time last summer, and it proved to be a great way for intermediates to gain experience on more challenging water. So let’s do it again! Limit of 5 boats. The Minden Wildwater Preserve features a man-modified 800 meter section of the Gull River that ranges in Class II to Class IV in difficulty.

It is a narrow, fast, technical piece of water that resemble an alpine stream. Fully outfitted whitewater boats are required. By Preserve regulations, all paddlers must wear helmet. We will start at the bottom, familiarizing participants with the river, and working with them a step at a time to gain the skills and confidence necessary to run this type of water. To safely enjoy this weekend, participants will need to be able to confidently and consistently control a boat in quickly moving water with ferries and eddy turns.

With the volume cranked up high, this is a formidable run for the world's most skilled paddlers. It has hosted World Cup Slaloms and will be the site of the whitewater events for the upcoming Pan Am Games. Needless to say, we'll be paddling it at more modest levels. Anticipate the lower section we will paddled to be a technical Class II to Class III. If you are currently a solid Class II paddler, you should learn a lot on this weekend.

The Preserve also conatains an attractive campground and training centre. We will camp here for the weekend. Going up Friday would make things more relaxing, but is not necessary.

NOTE: AUTOMATIC REGISTRATIONS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. CONTACT ORGANIZER DIRECTLY BY EMAIL WITH DETAILS OF YOUR WHITEWATER EXPERIENCE AND EQUIPMENT.

Three days on the Ottawa for big water fans. Must be at least strong intermediate whitewater paddler.

Join us for a spring run down the Sand River in Lake Superior Provincial Park close to Wawa. While not large, this river has some technical rapids and demanding portages, as well as beautiful campsites and majestic scenery-nature at it’s best. It is also quite remote and only accessible by train. We will meet on Sunday morning, June 6, at the station for the Agawa Canyon Train in Sault Ste. Marie and load our canoes and most of our gear on the train. We will then drive up to the park and shuttle cars to the take-out before catching the train as it goes by on its way to Sand Lake. We will spend six nights on the river, which will give us plenty of time for bird watching and fishing for speckled trout. Some whitewater experience and bug shirts are required since this is the peak of the black fly season

Book as soon as possible. We are interested in exploring the West Branch of this beautiful wilderness whitewater river. Details to be determined.

Basic whitewater skills are required to enjoy this trip. Some rapids on the West Branch are not runable, so efficient portaging skills are needed. Limit of 4 boats.

Book by June 1. This very popular annual trip seems to be a great draw for all levels of paddlers, including families. Over the last five years we have enjoyed perfect weather, portage free paddling, and a social barbeque that has followed our outing.
This is a wonderful day to enjoy an easy moving river and to socialize with other WCA’ers. The trip will start in south Cambridge, where we will put in, and then paddle to Paris. We will pass through scenic farm country, negotiate some easy Class one water, and stop for lunch along the way.

Those interested are welcome to join us back at our house in Cambridge for some food, beverage, and social time.

Book before April 19. This is the thirteenth year of our clinic, which is designed to help improve your basic skills. We will paddle the Lower Mad on Saturday and practice our basic skills at Palmers Rapids on Sunday.
The emphasis will be on front ferries, eddy-outs, and peel-outs. Your paddle strokes will be critiqued. You will also have an opportunity to practice self-rescue techniques. Open to properly fitted solo and tandem canoes. Tandem boats must have centre air bags. Wetsuits or drysuits will be needed. We will camp at our cottage.

Book as soon as possible. Join us on the classic run from Lake Travers to McManus. There will be a potluck dinner and accommodation at our place on Friday night.

This is a great opportunity to watch expert paddlers take on Rollway- one of Ontario’s wildest whitewater thrills. There are plenty of Class 3 rapids for intermediate paddlers on this run. All the more difficult rapids can be walked around, and there is lots of scenery to enjoy from either the river or the trail on this beautiful river.

Fully outfitted whitewater boats, and completer wetsuits or drysuits are mandatory.

Book as soon as possible. Join us for the 10th annual spring paddle/wine and cheese party and find out first hand why mostly sane, reasonably intelligent and somewhat mature persons subject themselves to the vicissitudes of spring camping. We paddle from above Aumonds Bay to the take-out at Griffith, a distance of only 28 km.

The pace is leisurely with only the Sunday being a full day of paddling and most of that spent on the Snake Rapids section of the river. Lots of time to play, chat and nibble! Rapids will range from Grade 1 to 4 and there are a couple of short portages around falls.

The water will still be cold, and the water levels are likely to be quite high. In the past we have had sun, rain, hail and snow…all on the same day, so participants will need to dress and pack appropriately. Suitable for intermediate level paddlers. Limit six boats. Book early as this trip “sells out” every year.