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.