Sept. 4th, 2019 Day 5 Petawawa - Five-Mile Rapids to Lake McManus

Day-3: Upper Natch

Day 2: Below Big Thompson

Day 2: Lining Little Thompson

We took our time after this wet night and spent time to let our tents, and everything else that needed it, dry somewhat. We also had our last breakfast of this paddle tour (at least we were pretty sure that this would be our last day). Then we packed everything up and paddled the remainder of the Five-Mile Rapids. I had to hop a few more times into the water to navigate some stones, but so what.

I had to steer the canoe through a rocky section of Five-Mile Rapids.

Somewhere on Five-Mile Rapids

Exiting Five-Mile Rapids.

We did have a decent break in the middle of Lake Whitson. My very first paddle in Algonquin with Steve and Zandra was actually a Petawawa upstream paddle to Lake Whitson. We had seen this area before. Lake Whitson is very boggy and very scenic and totally different from what we had seen before on the Petawawa.

Having a break on Lake Whitson

Lake Whitson near the island.

Pulling the canoes along a flat section of Lake Whitson

After Lake Whitson we leisurely paddled all the way downstream to Lake McManus. We paddled some swifts and we even doused a smoldering fire that prior folks had left burning (we noticed some smoke and investigated). We were not able to douse everything. So we called up the Provincial Park folks 2 hours later when Steve had cell phone coverage and I observed their helicopter doing the rounds and dousing the fire further from Lake McManus when waiting for Steve to come back with the car.

Lake McManus: Our end point.

Some of our luggage is waiting for the car ...

Misc: No portaging today.

What else?

We had a super trip and I hope I (or better some of us) will paddle this section of the Petawawa again (maybe when the water levels are a bit higher). Something I greatly enjoyed was the frequent change of scenery. We pretty much saw everything that back-country canoeing has to offer: Nice swimming lakes (Lake Travers and Lake McManus have some nice campgrounds), narrow rocky valleys, eskers, boggy river valleys and boggy lakes, the Natch, and plenty of white water stretches. It still feels good having done this section of the Petawawa. Everything went relatively speaking well. The only major inconvenience was the flooding event the prior night.

While the pictures might show plenty of lining jobs and sections with stones, it is fair to say that we also encountered some nice white water sections. None of us has a GoPro type device. And normally there is no nice stop at the river shore offering picture taking opportunities of the other canoes. The paddle simply goes on.

Lake Travers is a decent sized lake and a destination of its own. It offers some superb campgrounds with super sand beaches.

It was the first time for Margaret to go white-water canoeing and she did very well. Toby and Anna also had never done any white-water canoeing before practicing the prior week for two days in Palmer Rapids. They also did amazingly well on the water. Tobi (and Steve) also became more and more creative how to hoist up our food bags: Kudos. Zandra and Steve despite having little outdoor activities this year and just being back from a long long drive to home also adjusted super nicely to their usual self and did especially the canoe lining in style when Steve wanted to avoid a heavy portage! Little me preferred to portage my canoe in a number of places ;-).

From a logistics point of view Steve used his car to shuttle all of us and the luggage to Pembroke to the Husky gasoline stop. By the time he was done, Gongyu thankfully had arrived from Ottawa to pick up one half of us and everyone was well feed. Also thanks to Hani for driving one half of us and a lot of luggage to Lake Travers and helping shuttling Steve's car to Lake McManus. I hope we will paddle the Petawawa together one day.

We used the usual back-country map from "The Friends of Algonquin" on the trip and for planning purposes. We also used the "Petawawa Whitewater Guide" from them on the trip and for planning purposes. I did watch a number of YouTube videos showing snippets of paddling this section of the Petawawa. However most of them were done by much more experienced whitewater folks when the water levels were much higher (probably up to 1 meter higher. The measured Petawawa discharge level in Pembroke during our travel time was between 5 and 6 cubic meters during that time and likely at its lowest in 2019). The river is a very different animal with high water levels. I also read a few blogs (similar to what I am describing here) that were very helpful. Judging from the pictures some of the blog folks were our age group and also paddled the river later in the season.

The Petawawa campgrounds were well maintained during our travel. Most campgrounds had relatively new thunder-boxes.

Gear: We weren't really sure if we needed a big noodle pot in the first place. But it turned out that this was exactly what we used most. We cooked every evening noodles in the big pot for 6 people. Hansi's gasoline burner operated by Tobi complemented this. The Trangia's had their uses too, but the main cooking always happened with the big pot and the gasoline burner.

Sept. 3rd, 2019 Day 4 Petawawa - The Natch to Five Mile Rapids

We knew we had a decision to make. Originally I had booked the campground at The Natch for 2 days in a row. Our original intend was to paddle the remaining section in one day to Lake McManus. However based on the experience with the low water levels, we decided to paddle on. It was not entirely clear to us, if we had to do substantial portaging on Schooner Rapids or Five-Mile Rapids, and we wanted to be rather safe than sorry. But we also decided to have a leisurely day. It did not matter too much where we would end up this evening. I dimly recall that we started noon'ish after a good breakfast in the morning.

By the time we arrived at The Natch we got good at hoisting our food bags.

Early morning impression with the mist still rising.

The leafs of the undergrowth in that area were very large and green.

Breakfast time at The Natch.

We even had time for a group picture during our breakfast!

Someone is still a bit sleepy ...

After paddling some smaller lakes Schooner Rapids started in earnest. Compared to the previous days we knew that we could not possibly scout Schooner Rapids and Five-Mile Rapids ahead of time. They were simply way to long. But we also knew that they were not supposed to be very difficult, mostly grade 1 stuff and a few grade 2 rapids. So despite them being supposedly easier grades, it was interesting because we simply had to deal with whatever came our way. One of us typically went ahead and the others watched a bit from the distance how it went. Sometimes the lead boat got stuck and the following canoes zipped right by it 1 or 2 meters to the left or right without getting stuck. It was fun. We probably would have had even more fun if the water levels were 10 or 15 centimeters higher. But one cannot have everything in the world.

A final look at the Natch Rock from the other side, about 500m past our campground.

Somewhere before entering Schooner Rapids

Managing a rocky section at Upper Schooner Rapids

On our way somewhere along Upper Schooner Rapids.

Still somewhere on Schooner Rapids.

Somewhere along Upper Schooner Rapids.

I had to hop out to make the last rapid of Upper Schooner Rapids (the road bridge marks the end of Upper Schooner Rapids.

We had a thunder-box break right after the last rapid of Upper Schooner Rapids (marked by the bridge). The campground here is not so appealing. But the lumber road does offer a potential access point to do a fun paddle consisting of Lower Schooner Rapids and the entire 5-Mile Rapids. The hydro-line in the above picture is also a clear marker. This campground and the lumber road access probably can also serve as a clearly identified pickup point in case of an emergency.

Navigating a stretch of the lower Schooner Rapids.

Scouting the first rapid of Five-Mile Rapids. We had to stand up to better see what was ahead of us.

We made it until the middle of Five-Mile Rapids to a nice campground. By then we had a good idea how the remaining portion of Five-Mile Rapids would look like and we called it a day. Hmmh, maybe we called it a day. But the weather gods kept a special surprise for us. We had a very nice campground with super flat ground and all of us were happy not having to deal with roots and stony stuff. However this night it poured extremely long. I remember waking up and being very happy that everything in the tent appeared to be dry while it poured outside. I even had a plastic tarp across our tent and I felt very good about it. However I suddenly felt water at one of my hands. It took me a few seconds to realize what was going on. Water was coming into the tent from underneath. I immediately woke up Margaret and she was brave enough to go out of the tent and see what was going on and also wake up Zandra, Steve, Tobi and Anna. In the meantime I put everything that needed to stay dry as good as I could higher up within the tent. At that time I thought I also could deal with the water from below by wiping everything off with a towel and wringing it out outside. However Margaret advised me to come outside and immediately move the tent in the pouring rain because it was otherwise hopeless. Initially I thought she was nuts, why would I come outside. But after a few minutes I came around, went outside, and we moved the tent into an area that was a bit more "hilly" (and definitely had no water puddles). Steve and Zandra did the same thing with their tent. However it turned out that Toby was way more stubborn compared to me and did not listen to Anna to come outside and move their tent like we all did. By the time Tobi accepted that his case was hopeless we already started to dry the inside of our respective tents up :-). Not all was lost. As soon as we had the tents in areas that were not flooded by water pools, things became more manageable. It was a good thing that I detected the flooding situation relatively early. And even Anna and Tobi managed to move their tents after a prolonged opera of Wagnerian proportions: Anna (high pitched voice): "Tobi come out", Tobi (grumbling): Why would I come out? and so on and so forth (for a long time). I do have to say, I was way ahead of Tobi grasping the situation. But I am not saying I immediately hopped out of the tent when Margaret told me what the situation looked from the outside! Anyway, we did manage to fall asleep again, despite some things being a bit damp.

Anna and Tobi's tent: There is a puddle forming!

The puddle looks way worse on this side. And Tobi is still inside ;-) while Anna (and everyone else) is telling him to get out and move the tent ....

And this is how Anna and Tobi's tent place looked in the morning. There was a giant puddle in the night. But now everything looks very flat, smooth and inviting ...

And we even topped The Natch with this food bag hoisting!

Some of our gear stayed drier compared to what we experienced in the tents. But all of us had dry spare clothes with us.

Misc: No portaging today.

Sept. 2nd, 2019 Day 3 Petawawa - Crooked Chutes to The Natch

Today was likely going to be one of our more challenging days. Everything I read about and saw on YouTube said that Rollway Rapids had to be portaged by us and that the portage was a difficult one. And after Rollway Rapids came Natch 1 and Natch 2 rapids with their respective portages. And before all of that we still had to complete the Crooked Chute portage.

Our campground upstream of Crooked Chute in the morning.

At least the weather wasn't too bad, but not good either. To shorten the Crooked Chute portage we decided to launch our canoes again from our campground and paddle downstream to the "last-takeout" right before Crooked Chute itself. We managed all of that without problems. The water levels were low enough, that we were not at risk to accidentally float down Crooked Chute. We got all of our canoes and our gear up on high ground. Then something funny happened. I was the last of the group to get organized and the others went ahead with their canoes. Somehow I recall thinking they are not going the right way, but figured they would take a turn a bit later and organized my stuff. Then I picked up my luggage and carried it a few hundred meters towards the end of the portage. But there was nobody. Either they or I had taken a wrong turn. I was pretty sure it wasn't me. When I arrived back at the starting point, I looked more closely and detected that Steve, Zandra, Tobi, Anna and Margaret had managed to get some canoes down a super steep hike right below Crooked Chute. I pointed out to them that the true portage went a much smoother different way. After some considerations, Steve and Tobi decided to paddle/line one of the canoes from below Crooked Chute to the portage end-point and that we would get the other canoe back up again and I would carry it the normal portage route. We also had yet to manage the rest of our gear towards the portage end. So everything took a bit longer then expected but in the end we made it.

Getting a canoe towards the 3rd takeout right before Crooked Chute.

Managing one of the canoes back up again the steep decline right below Crooked Chute! What a waste ...

The Crooked Chute hut: It is located about a 100m downstream of the Crooked Chute portage end point. To my knowledge it is possible to book a stay in the hut. But on this trip we did not book it.

On the way from Crooked Chute to Rollway Rapids the Petawawa crosses several eskers with pine trees. I found it a very pleasing, and different again scenery. We also passed a few swifts and finally arrived at Rollway Rapids. This time we played it safe and carried our luggage towards the end of the portage first. The portage way was fine the first half, but definitely not so nice during the 2nd half. Maybe not as bad as the one in Killarney from Nelly-Lake to Murray Lake, but definitely not too far away from it and our Royalex canoes were much heavier. Nevertheless I decided to portage my canoe. Whereas Steve and Tobi definitely wanted to paddle and line their respective canoes downstream. I have to say, in the end they managed their canoes down, but I was happy that I carried my canoe about two-thirds of the portage way and then launched it at the first possibility (actually Tobi and Anna paddled it from there downstream for me). I was very happy with my decision, but the others also felt elated with their decision: They definitely overcame a challenge. During the lining job the weather also deteriorated and we had a few short showers.

Here is the description of making it through Rollway Rapids in Steve's own words:

For Rollway rapid we had intended to line the entire route but it became impossible 1/2 way down because we ran out of shoreline to stand on to line. So, we were faced with the choice of hauling the canoes up the little cliff to the portage path or to run it. In the end Tobi and Anna decided to go for it first, while I waited for Zandra to give my shoes back which she accidentally took with her at the start of the portage (I was doing the lining job in bare feet). By this time it had started to rain, so the rocks were very slippery which was another reason we had to abandon the lining job. After Tobi and Anna made it down, Margaret and I followed. It was a rock garden as can be seen from the pictures. It was a long slope so the water was flowing pretty fast. It would have been a wild ride in higher waters but we made it after a few blows to the canoe from the submerged rocks.

Downstream of the Crooked Chute portage (close to the hut).

Passing some sandy eskers with Pines on the way.

Paddling somewhere upstream of Rollway Rapids.

Some Impressions from the Rollway Rapid Portage. It was not straight-forward to portage a heavy canoe here.

A challenging lining job at Rollway Rapids.

More lining at Rollway Rapids!

And still not done lining! Zandra and I watched all of this from a rock way up there close to the portage way. :-)

Steve and Margaret paddling the lower section of Rollway Rapids. No more lining! They are doing well!

Steve and Margaret paddling Rollway Rapids. Further down Tobi and Anna are paddling my canoe to the portage end point to pick up the luggage.

By the time we reached the First Natch Rapid we were running a bit late again. Again I decided to portage our canoes a very challenging but short portage and the others decided to line their canoes (we did portage our luggage). I was happy with my decision, because I felt it was much faster and easier to portage the canoe than to line it. But so what. As we wrestled with the First Natch Rapid the weather improved. The scenery below Rollway Rapids towards the Natch became very nice again: Steep rocks on both sides and a relatively narrow river. Very different to the eskers we had experienced earlier in the day. Because we were running late, we did consider looking a bit earlier then planned for a campground but there were no good ones and we kept on moving.

Somewhere between Rollway Rapids and the Natch Rapids.

First Natch Rapid: The begin of another lining job. Only I portaged my canoe happily ...

First Natch Rapid: Steve and Zandra in lining action!

First Natch Rapid: A lining job well underway!

First Natch Rapid: A nearly completed lining job! Well done! :-)

By the time we arrived at the 2nd Natch Rapid I did become a bit chicken. I decided to carry our luggage right with us on the first scouting trip and go down the whole portage way with Margaret. Whereas the others checked out a potential campground on the other side of the shore. From there they had a good view of the 2nd Natch Rapid and decided to canoe it. By the time Margaret and I were back at the begin of the portage, they were already on their way. Based on what they told us, it was clear that we would try it as well, despite some lingering concerns on my side, because the rapid from our side looked not so easy (especially we could not see all of it). Anyway, we canoed it. And it was sheer bliss and similar to what we experienced a week earlier at Palmer Rapids. Natch 2 had enough water, enough white water to make it fun and threw also a few turns into the mix. Margaret was a bit miffed, because we had wasted all that time carrying a good chunk of our luggage down the portage. But the river definitely had done us a favor and sped things up with this nice rapid.

Steve and Zandra confidently paddling towards the Second Natch Rapid. They had every right to be confident!

Margaret and I approaching the 2nd Natch Rapid.

We knew that a super campground was coming up a few 100 meters after Natch 2. We actually had booked that one and we were back on schedule :-). The campground was indeed gorgeous and the weather also improved and we had late evening sunshine and a clear night sky.

The last few hundred meter stretch from the 2nd Natch to our actual campground: Very nice indeed.

Settling into our "gorgeous" campground in the Natch area.

A beautiful evening view from our gorgeous campground.

And another picture featuring the same rocks!

Evening impressions from our Natch campground. Just gorgeous.

A well deserved dinner: Chickpea curry with noodles!

Misc: We completed the Crooked Chute portage (I guess 800m). We portaged our luggage and one canoe (two-thirds) at Rollway Rapids (800m or so) and lined and paddled the other canoes. We portaged our luggage and one canoe at Natch-1 Rapids (300m) and lined the other canoes. We portaged the luggage of one canoe at the Natch-2 rapids (250m).