The Lower Coulonge River
Trip Album
July 10 to 17, 1998
Click on any "thumbnail" photo for the full-sized image.
Put-in
The ride up, over Jim's Lake road, is an adventure in itself -- a grueling and bone-jarring trip which oughtn't to be lightly undertaken, or undertaken without thought to one's vehicle. We arrived at the put-in around 4:30pm, just ahead of a storm front. As we were about to put in, the lightning started, and continued, for what seemed like hours till we finally bit the bullet and paddled out toward our fate. We timed it right, 'cause the storm gave way to drizzle, then a pleasing sunset as we pulled in for our first night of sleep by the river ...
Paddling in a light rain is one of those sensual experiences which defy description . The way your shaft hand penetrates the warm, slick surface of the river while the gentle drizzle caresses your skin and ... well, as I said, it defies description.
After the
Rain
Morning, First Campsite
The Coulonge offers hundreds of sandy sites like this along it's meandering course. Plenty of space, minimal impact on the fragile riverbank ecology, and that sweet lullaby of rippling water at night. A little grit in the breakfast, and most everything else, is a small price to pay.
We setup here about an hour before sunset on the first night and enjoyed a hearty Swiss Fondue (on french baguettes) with a modest Cabernet Sauvignon.
We took a lunch break in an eddy on one of the river's many meanders and discovered several sets of tracks -- the most prominent being this wolf track planted between those of a deer. Just a minutes later, we noticed a pair of moose 50 yards or so upriver. We paddled out in their general direction and took a few photos -- "Look. there they are! Those brown smudges near the green trees!" Next time, somebody brings an SLR with a long lens!
Perfect Print
(Wolf Track)
Chutes Gauthier (the bottom falls)
For six of eight nights on the river, we slept in the soothing drone of whitewater -- rapids and falls dragging us off to sleep. There's nothing I can think of -- no trendy psycho-babble, no pill, no drug -- to sooth a disquieted soul like that primal sound ...
This trip wasn't about rapids or whitewater -- that was just a little spice in the meat of the experience. Class II+ only, we'd promised ourselves (and our wives and kids) and we kept to the promise, more or less. Minimizing risks, however, certainly doesn't kill the thrill -- plenty of "safe" spray to play about in up here. And plenty more for the more extreme practitioners of this pastime ...
Peel-Out -- JP (stern) Ralph
Shane, the River Warrior
(Die Hard Rapids)
Die Hard was one of those "more or less" situations. To look at Shane, you'd think we were shooting Niagara! Actually, that's a hockey helmet (the closest sub to a dedicated whitewater bean-plate), a very comfy PFD, and the ubiquitous gaggle of Nalgenes hanging there, with our lunch, in the Cascade Designs Sealine Bag.
(Gear head? Me? What tipped you off?)
Not being of the macho, miles-before-amusement school of tripping, we're never averse to spending a little time or mental energy on ways to avoid physical effort. Here's a particularly lame attempt by Shane & Jordan to snag a few kph from the wind during one of our many "floating" breaks. Ralph diligently watches for turtles and such ...
Sailing
Breakfast
For some people, breakfast can make or break a borderline day. Jordan and Shane are definitely of that school, while Ralph and I tend to discount the significance of anything that occurs before noon. Here's Jord preparing brekkie on a battered Royalex tabletop. Notice the white gas Coleman Apex stove amongst the stainless steel pots. We also carried the new Peak 1 Xpedition 2-burner butane stove with us -- a "trick" little gizmo which performed admirably.
There's an excellent campsite on the promontory jutting out from the west bank about halfway through Rapides Guinette. Nailed to a white pine, facing out on the whitewater that took his life, is Alex Guenettes' crudely carved memorial plaque. It reads " Alex Guenette , Maniwaki, Noye ici, 10 Mai 1952". (Alex Guenette, Maniwaki, Drowned Here, May 10, 1952). Great campsite, somber warning, and an irreplaceable bit of history. Please respect this site as you do the entire river.
Memorial Marker
(Rapides Guinette)
The Coulonge
comes to town
The last day of a good trip is always a weird emotional ride ... an exhilarating bummer. Everything comes together as you reach your destination but suddenly the signs of civilization begin nudging you back into the drudgery of everyday life. No way around it though -- every trip comes to an end and, regardless, it's always worthy of some kind of celebration. Ten minutes after this photo was shot we were downing cold brew at the golf course clubhouse and planning the next trip.
An old log slide through the gorge below Grandes Chutes Coulonges, a Class IV+ ride which eventually empties into the Ottawa River. Can't help wondering what it would be like to paddle a kayak down one of these! Talk about extreme ...
