Petawawa River Trip
Day 1 Lake Travers to Crooked Chute
The Petawawa River starts at Butt Lake in northern Algonquin Park and flows east, emptying into the Ottawa River at the Town of Petawawa. The river is 187 kilometers (116 mi) in length with numerous challenging rapids and beautiful views.
The river's name comes from the Algonquian language, meaning "where one hears a noise like this", which refers to its many rapids. From the late 1800s until the 1960s, the river was used for log driving of the timber from the forested areas surrounding the river.
This year's crew welcomed a few new members to the group. The first was Jeff Duffield, a childhood friend of Andy's who traveled back from Calgary to join Andy in his canoe. Two other new members joined us. These were Chris Goldrick who worked at the CBC with Steve and Juan Van Heerden, a Bombardier private jet pilot from Montreal who had recently emigrated to Canada from South Africa where he had flown throughout Africa.
Chris Goldrick
Steve Fischer
With this group the trip promised to be an interesting one and it did not disappoint. Andy, Jimmy, Jeff and I had a relatively uneventful drive up on the Thursday May 22nd. We got to Lake Travers at around 12 midnight and proceeded to look for the Ottawa contingent with no luck and so we pitched our tents on a point near the ruins of an old farm house. It was pretty chilly and I got nestled into my Mummy bag pretty quickly. I slept like a baby until the next morning when Steve dropped by at around 8 am to wake us up.
We were looking forward to a wonderful breakfast since Steve and Jacques were on the hook for breakfast. Instead we were offered some hard boiled eggs and black coffee. This didn't bother us as we were itching to get on the river and to be honest Steve really didn't have enough time to put his culinary skills to the test. At this point we met Chris and Juan and heard about their fishing excitement from the previous evening. Juan was fishing near the camp when he thought he'd snagged his line. Instead he realized that he'd hooked a biggy and after a good fight he pulled in the biggest pike he'd ever seen. Juan who had never been to Algonquinn before was suitably impressed with the quality of the Canadian wildlife.
Juan catches a pike
Andy and Jeff Portaging
We packed up our gear and headed out by about 9:30 as the weather started to warm up a bit from the chilly 0c it was during the evening. It was quite a paddle to the first set of rapids and we seemed to be battling a cross current for a good part of the 8K that it took to get to Big Thompson Rapids. Big Thompson rapids is a class III in high water.
Scouting Big Thompson Rapids
By the time we reached Big Thompson Rapids and were scouting it, Juan and Chris had already succeeded without dumping. This made Juan very happy as this was his first white water canoeing experience. He'd had some white water experience in Africa when he went white water rafting and managed to break his leg when he got his foot caught in between 2 rocks when the raft he was in capsized. My nerves were somewhat on edge as they always are when we start the first serious rapid of the trip. We scouted for a while and portaged the majority of our gear and then headed down the rapid while Juan took some pics from the shoreline. The rapid is long but not super treacherous and after about 250M of fun rapids we all made it through.
Steve and Jacques running Big Thompson Rapids
Alan and Jim running Big Thompson Rapids
Next we came to the sister of Big Thompson Rapids known as Little Thompson Rapids. Don't let the name fool you on this one. It is named little because it is shorter than the Big Thompson rapids but the waves were more ferocious. It was also rated a class III. On this one we had the opportunity to watch a pair of canoeists who were just ahead of us. They were 2 cops from Oshawa. We stood on a point overlooking the rapids as they attempted it. They made it most the way through this rapid before the canoe went side ways and they went swimming. They weren't wearing wet suits but other than that there were no other repercussions to them going in such as exposed rocks. Due to the high water, the chances of us getting rolled around in the rapids were non-existant so this gave us all the courage to try this tough rapid.
Andy and Jeff went first and made it through the rapid before attempting to eddy out with a full canoe. This was their only mistake. As the canoe spun around the water sloshed to one side of the canoe and over they went. Next came Juan and Chris, they suffered a similar fate to Andy and Jeff. Steve and Jacques tried next and they made it through. Lastly Jimmy and I came down and we also made it through with a boat full of water. After the rapids where some succeed and others don't there was the usual trading of insults. Jimmy indicated that he and I would be giving lessons after dinner for those that wanted to join.
Andy and Jeff Go For a Swim
Next rapid up was Crooked Chute. This is a nasty class 5 rapid in high water. Steve indicated that there were 3 separate take outs prior to the chute. Each takeout offering a trade off between increasing the level of risk and decreasing the amount of sweat on the portage. We assessed the risk of getting to the 3rd and final takeout before heading over the chute. The river was moving fast and if you didn't manage to get out at the 3rd takeout you likely would be running (or swimming) the chute. The approach to the 3rd takeout was tricky because you had to keep your stern to the shore in order to avoid being pushed out into the faster flowing water. Then had to execute a perfectly timed eddy out. We had picked up some gear and portaged it to takeout 3. At this point I see Juan and Chris coming down the shoreline with Steve sprinting down the trail beside them. Steve had advised Chris and Juan that he was going for the 3rd takeout and so they decided to go for this one. Steve the caretaker of the group had wanted to make sure that they didn't have any troubles getting out at the 3rd takeout remembering what had happened on the Coulange just 2 years earlier. Chris and Juan managed to eddy out at the 3rd takeout but it did look tricky.
Andy and Jeff also managed to pull in at takeout 3 with no mishaps. Then Steve and Jacques pulled in a little earlier than takeout 3 just in case they missed they didn't want to have no other option. Jimmy and I decided to follow Steve and Jacques lead. Next came the Crooked Chute portage. This was a long one. As we were portaging our gear I was reminded of the last time that we'd done the Petawawa in 2003. We had a campsite up on the bluff above the Crooked Chute. I remember it being sooo cold when I woke up the next morning the remaining tea from the night before was frozen solid. As we portaged the canoe and gear to the end I noticed Steve, Jacques, Juan and Chris with their canoes parked about 100 M before the end of Crooked Chute. I couldn't believe that they were planning to do it. This part of the rapid while doable was still very treacherous.
Chris and Juan attempted this one but went in very early on. They were in a precarious position of having the canoe upstream of them. Since canoes move faster in rapids than people, Chris and Juan had to avoid the canoe at all costs. At the same time they were getting hammered against some sharp rocks. After a rough ride, both Chris and Juan were luckily not injured. Jimmy and I picked up Juan after he'd finished rolling down the rapids. He was pretty shaken up with some bruises. If not for his wetsuit he would have had more cuts and bumps. We paddled with our gear and Juan to our campsite where Chris had gotten back into the canoe after the rapid and paddled over to a campsite at the bottom of the Crooked Chute. He was okay as well. This disuaded Jacques and Steve from trying this part of the Crooked Chute.
We setup camp that at about 4:30 that evening. Jacques prepared an Indian Chicken dish with rice for dinner and we all enjoyed this very much.
Jacques Resting
Day 2 Rollaway rapids to 5 mile rapids
The next morning we awoke to a wonderful breakfast of some rolled up feta cheese pancakes made by Andy and Jeff. We packed up our bags and headed on our way.
First up was Rollaway rapids. Beside this rapid is a memorial for Blair Fraser who was a MacLeans writer who drowned on this rapid in May 1968. The rapid is rated class IV with a class II down the middle if you can find it. It looked pretty treacherous to us. Chris had made it through this rapid on a previous canoe trip running part of the rapid backwards. This year with the water levels higher, it looked pretty difficult so we all portaged it.
Bottom of Rollaway Rapids
Next up were the upper and lower Natch Rapids. The upper Natch is rated a Class 3 and the lower Natch is a Class 2. The Natch portages are very rough so we didn't want to portage the whole way. The first part of the Upper Natch was a ledge which looked pretty tricky. Jeff and Andy managed to run this one perfectly. Chris and Juan ran it as well but dumped and went swimming and managed to get out before hitting the second part of the Upper Natch. We studied the second part of the upper Natch. There was a large rock that we had to keep just to the left of and avoid some rather turbulent water on the right side. We all made it through the second part of the upper Natch rapid.
At this point we stopped at a beautiful campsite before the lower Natch rapids for lunch. The river meandered through some steep rock banks and we had our lunch at a campsite overlooking the water.
Parking For Lunch
Lunch At Lower Natch Rapids
The lower Natch Rapid’s ledge ended up being nothing to speak of, we had swifts harder than this. We got waved right through by Steve and Chris so we ran it fully loaded.
Juan and Chris Conquer the Natch Rapids
The landscape at the bottom Natch Rapids is breathtaking, 100m cliffs loomed ahead of us as we wound though this twisting portion of the river, absolutely spectacular. I think the rapids get their name from the cliffs which are known as the Natch. As we were looking at the cliffs Andy suggested we climb it. I figured this would be an exercise in futility but in true Fischer Fashion Steve and Andy managed to find a route up to the top of the Natch. This involved clambering up some very steep portions on all fours.
The Natch From Canoe
Andy Climbing the Natch
On Top of the Natch
View From the Natch
Another View From the Natch
We were rewarded for our efforts when we got to the top. From the top was a panoramic view of the river. Especially from the top of the rock wall where there was a boulder overhanging the cliff itself. As we got closer to the tip of this boulder my morbid fear of heights seemed to kick in. Jacques and I stayed well back of the boulder while both Fischers looked out over the edge. The video below is from the top of the Natch.
For the trip down, we were lucky enough to find a path that must have come from a campsite just before the Natch. This path made it much easier to get back down to the bottom.
We continued from here through Schooner rapids which were fun and a long stretch of very runnable rapids. We stopped at a beautiful campsite about 2.5 miles into 5 mile rapids. After setting up camp, Jim heated up his beef stew and we all had a well-deserved meal.
Jim's Stew
Sunset At 5 Mile Rapids
After dinner we played a Jeff Duffield drinking game where the penalty for missing was to drink some Tequila straight. We finished the bottle in record time and then someone brought out a second bottle. This could have gone on all evening but thankfully Chris diverted the group towards having a sauna. The idea was to prop a tarp up with a paddle and have 3 guys get under the tarp while the others brought in a hot rock from the fire. Steam was generated by pooring water on the hot rock. After thoroughly heating up we ran out into the nearby river for a shockingly cold swim. This got the body just tingling and managed to soothe some of the bug bites that we'd aquired. Thanks for the idea Chris!
Heating Rocks For The Sauna
The Sauna
Campsites At 5 Mile Rapids
Day 3 - 5 mile rapids to takeout at McManus Lake
Day 1 Lake Travers to Crooked Chute
The Petawawa River starts at Butt Lake in northern Algonquin Park and flows east, emptying into the Ottawa River at the Town of Petawawa. The river is 187 kilometers (116 mi) in length with numerous challenging rapids and beautiful views.
The river's name comes from the Algonquian language, meaning "where one hears a noise like this", which refers to its many rapids. From the late 1800s until the 1960s, the river was used for log driving of the timber from the forested areas surrounding the river.
This year's crew welcomed a few new members to the group. The first was Jeff Duffield, a childhood friend of Andy's who traveled back from Calgary to join Andy in his canoe. Two other new members joined us. These were Chris Goldrick who worked at the CBC with Steve and Juan Van Heerden, a Bombardier private jet pilot from Montreal who had recently emigrated to Canada from South Africa where he had flown throughout Africa.
Chris Goldrick
Steve Fischer
With this group the trip promised to be an interesting one and it did not disappoint. Andy, Jimmy, Jeff and I had a relatively uneventful drive up on the Thursday May 22nd. We got to Lake Travers at around 12 midnight and proceeded to look for the Ottawa contingent with no luck and so we pitched our tents on a point near the ruins of an old farm house. It was pretty chilly and I got nestled into my Mummy bag pretty quickly. I slept like a baby until the next morning when Steve dropped by at around 8 am to wake us up.
We were looking forward to a wonderful breakfast since Steve and Jacques were on the hook for breakfast. Instead we were offered some hard boiled eggs and black coffee. This didn't bother us as we were itching to get on the river and to be honest Steve really didn't have enough time to put his culinary skills to the test. At this point we met Chris and Juan and heard about their fishing excitement from the previous evening. Juan was fishing near the camp when he thought he'd snagged his line. Instead he realized that he'd hooked a biggy and after a good fight he pulled in the biggest pike he'd ever seen. Juan who had never been to Algonquinn before was suitably impressed with the quality of the Canadian wildlife.
Juan catches a pike
Andy and Jeff Portaging
We packed up our gear and headed out by about 9:30 as the weather started to warm up a bit from the chilly 0c it was during the evening. It was quite a paddle to the first set of rapids and we seemed to be battling a cross current for a good part of the 8K that it took to get to Big Thompson Rapids. Big Thompson rapids is a class III in high water.
Scouting Big Thompson Rapids
By the time we reached Big Thompson Rapids and were scouting it, Juan and Chris had already succeeded without dumping. This made Juan very happy as this was his first white water canoeing experience. He'd had some white water experience in Africa when he went white water rafting and managed to break his leg when he got his foot caught in between 2 rocks when the raft he was in capsized. My nerves were somewhat on edge as they always are when we start the first serious rapid of the trip. We scouted for a while and portaged the majority of our gear and then headed down the rapid while Juan took some pics from the shoreline. The rapid is long but not super treacherous and after about 250M of fun rapids we all made it through.
Steve and Jacques running Big Thompson Rapids
Alan and Jim running Big Thompson Rapids
Next we came to the sister of Big Thompson Rapids known as Little Thompson Rapids. Don't let the name fool you on this one. It is named little because it is shorter than the Big Thompson rapids but the waves were more ferocious. It was also rated a class III. On this one we had the opportunity to watch a pair of canoeists who were just ahead of us. They were 2 cops from Oshawa. We stood on a point overlooking the rapids as they attempted it. They made it most the way through this rapid before the canoe went side ways and they went swimming. They weren't wearing wet suits but other than that there were no other repercussions to them going in such as exposed rocks. Due to the high water, the chances of us getting rolled around in the rapids were non-existant so this gave us all the courage to try this tough rapid.
Andy and Jeff went first and made it through the rapid before attempting to eddy out with a full canoe. This was their only mistake. As the canoe spun around the water sloshed to one side of the canoe and over they went. Next came Juan and Chris, they suffered a similar fate to Andy and Jeff. Steve and Jacques tried next and they made it through. Lastly Jimmy and I came down and we also made it through with a boat full of water. After the rapids where some succeed and others don't there was the usual trading of insults. Jimmy indicated that he and I would be giving lessons after dinner for those that wanted to join.
Andy and Jeff Go For a Swim
Next rapid up was Crooked Chute. This is a nasty class 5 rapid in high water. Steve indicated that there were 3 separate take outs prior to the chute. Each takeout offering a trade off between increasing the level of risk and decreasing the amount of sweat on the portage. We assessed the risk of getting to the 3rd and final takeout before heading over the chute. The river was moving fast and if you didn't manage to get out at the 3rd takeout you likely would be running (or swimming) the chute. The approach to the 3rd takeout was tricky because you had to keep your stern to the shore in order to avoid being pushed out into the faster flowing water. Then had to execute a perfectly timed eddy out. We had picked up some gear and portaged it to takeout 3. At this point I see Juan and Chris coming down the shoreline with Steve sprinting down the trail beside them. Steve had advised Chris and Juan that he was going for the 3rd takeout and so they decided to go for this one. Steve the caretaker of the group had wanted to make sure that they didn't have any troubles getting out at the 3rd takeout remembering what had happened on the Coulange just 2 years earlier. Chris and Juan managed to eddy out at the 3rd takeout but it did look tricky.
Andy and Jeff also managed to pull in at takeout 3 with no mishaps. Then Steve and Jacques pulled in a little earlier than takeout 3 just in case they missed they didn't want to have no other option. Jimmy and I decided to follow Steve and Jacques lead. Next came the Crooked Chute portage. This was a long one. As we were portaging our gear I was reminded of the last time that we'd done the Petawawa in 2003. We had a campsite up on the bluff above the Crooked Chute. I remember it being sooo cold when I woke up the next morning the remaining tea from the night before was frozen solid. As we portaged the canoe and gear to the end I noticed Steve, Jacques, Juan and Chris with their canoes parked about 100 M before the end of Crooked Chute. I couldn't believe that they were planning to do it. This part of the rapid while doable was still very treacherous.
Chris and Juan attempted this one but went in very early on. They were in a precarious position of having the canoe upstream of them. Since canoes move faster in rapids than people, Chris and Juan had to avoid the canoe at all costs. At the same time they were getting hammered against some sharp rocks. After a rough ride, both Chris and Juan were luckily not injured. Jimmy and I picked up Juan after he'd finished rolling down the rapids. He was pretty shaken up with some bruises. If not for his wetsuit he would have had more cuts and bumps. We paddled with our gear and Juan to our campsite where Chris had gotten back into the canoe after the rapid and paddled over to a campsite at the bottom of the Crooked Chute. He was okay as well. This disuaded Jacques and Steve from trying this part of the Crooked Chute.
We setup camp that at about 4:30 that evening. Jacques prepared an Indian Chicken dish with rice for dinner and we all enjoyed this very much.
Jacques Resting
Day 2 Rollaway rapids to 5 mile rapids
The next morning we awoke to a wonderful breakfast of some rolled up feta cheese pancakes made by Andy and Jeff. We packed up our bags and headed on our way.
First up was Rollaway rapids. Beside this rapid is a memorial for Blair Fraser who was a MacLeans writer who drowned on this rapid in May 1968. The rapid is rated class IV with a class II down the middle if you can find it. It looked pretty treacherous to us. Chris had made it through this rapid on a previous canoe trip running part of the rapid backwards. This year with the water levels higher, it looked pretty difficult so we all portaged it.
Bottom of Rollaway Rapids
Next up were the upper and lower Natch Rapids. The upper Natch is rated a Class 3 and the lower Natch is a Class 2. The Natch portages are very rough so we didn't want to portage the whole way. The first part of the Upper Natch was a ledge which looked pretty tricky. Jeff and Andy managed to run this one perfectly. Chris and Juan ran it as well but dumped and went swimming and managed to get out before hitting the second part of the Upper Natch. We studied the second part of the upper Natch. There was a large rock that we had to keep just to the left of and avoid some rather turbulent water on the right side. We all made it through the second part of the upper Natch rapid.
At this point we stopped at a beautiful campsite before the lower Natch rapids for lunch. The river meandered through some steep rock banks and we had our lunch at a campsite overlooking the water.
Parking For Lunch
Lunch At Lower Natch Rapids
The lower Natch Rapid’s ledge ended up being nothing to speak of, we had swifts harder than this. We got waved right through by Steve and Chris so we ran it fully loaded.
Juan and Chris Conquer the Natch Rapids
The landscape at the bottom Natch Rapids is breathtaking, 100m cliffs loomed ahead of us as we wound though this twisting portion of the river, absolutely spectacular. I think the rapids get their name from the cliffs which are known as the Natch. As we were looking at the cliffs Andy suggested we climb it. I figured this would be an exercise in futility but in true Fischer Fashion Steve and Andy managed to find a route up to the top of the Natch. This involved clambering up some very steep portions on all fours.
The Natch From Canoe
Andy Climbing the Natch
On Top of the Natch
View From the Natch
Another View From the Natch
We were rewarded for our efforts when we got to the top. From the top was a panoramic view of the river. Especially from the top of the rock wall where there was a boulder overhanging the cliff itself. As we got closer to the tip of this boulder my morbid fear of heights seemed to kick in. Jacques and I stayed well back of the boulder while both Fischers looked out over the edge. The video below is from the top of the Natch.
For the trip down, we were lucky enough to find a path that must have come from a campsite just before the Natch. This path made it much easier to get back down to the bottom.
We continued from here through Schooner rapids which were fun and a long stretch of very runnable rapids. We stopped at a beautiful campsite about 2.5 miles into 5 mile rapids. After setting up camp, Jim heated up his beef stew and we all had a well-deserved meal.
Jim's Stew
Sunset At 5 Mile Rapids
After dinner we played a Jeff Duffield drinking game where the penalty for missing was to drink some Tequila straight. We finished the bottle in record time and then someone brought out a second bottle. This could have gone on all evening but thankfully Chris diverted the group towards having a sauna. The idea was to prop a tarp up with a paddle and have 3 guys get under the tarp while the others brought in a hot rock from the fire. Steam was generated by pooring water on the hot rock. After thoroughly heating up we ran out into the nearby river for a shockingly cold swim. This got the body just tingling and managed to soothe some of the bug bites that we'd aquired. Thanks for the idea Chris!
Heating Rocks For The Sauna
The Sauna
Campsites At 5 Mile Rapids
Day 3 - 5 mile rapids to takeout at McManus Lake
We awoke the next morning bright and early. We had to make it to McManus Lake takeout in time to shuttle the cars and get Jeff to the airport by 6:30 pm. It was a beautiful morning after a nice cold evening for sleeping. We had a brief breakfast and were on our way. The first part of the paddling was about 2.5 miles of the remainder of the 5 mile rapids. We paddled fairly steadily towards McManus Lake. I kept thinking that I'd seen our campsite from 2003. It was marked by the foliage which had been destroyed shortly before 2003 by a tornado. The paddle seemed to take much longer than I thought it would to get to McManus lake. It turned out that this was because we'd overshot the takeout point.
We ended up getting out at the Petawawa military area and realizing our mistake. So we got in the canoes to paddle back. This time we had to go upstream which was a real challenge in some parts. We ended up making it to the proper takeout location. Juan prepared lunch as a few of the group shuttled cars. It was an incredible weekend weather-wise and even bug-wise. We had warm days and cool nights which seem to freeze the bugs. I can't wait for next year's trip already!
The Last Supper
Tall Pines on the Petawawa
Water Cascades over Rock
Trillium
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