We departed our island home by mid-morning. By the time we reached the eastern end of Eighteen Mile Island and were heading south toward the main channel, the sky had become completely overcast. 

Our plan for the day was to get through most of the section known as Five Mile Rapids. That was the part of the trip that I was most looking forward to; it was devoid of motorboats and known for its scenic beauty. However, first, we thought we'd saddle up to Crane's Lochhaven Wilderness Lodge, a fishing resort across the bay from Little Pine Rapids -- the start of the main channel. We weren't sure if the resort was open to the public, but we'd thought we would try to see if they had any treats for sale. 

We tied our canoes to the docks and went up to the resort. We met the owner there and she said that it was private and open to clients by booking only, but she was very kind and sold us some treats that we enjoyed on the deck overlooking the bay. Sweet! How often does one get to have ice cream on a canoe trip?

Soon after, we had made our way back across the bay to the west and were scouting Little Pine Rapids. It was little more than a ledge that dropped a foot or two and looked like a straightforward run, but we were reluctant to try it in kevlar canoes. The river was low and it looked rocky. Prudently, we opted for the 25-meter portage along the rock on river-right. Since we were now in the provincial park, the portage was marked with that familiar yellow sign.  

Below the rapids, we cast a couple of lines out but didn't have much luck. 

Fifteen minutes later, we were getting out of our canoes again to the right of Big Pine Rapids. This set of rapids looked extremely bony, so we didn't think about running them. Though the portage was listed as 25m, it seemed closer to 100m from end to end. The topography was rugged and the area was something to behold. 

Below the rapids, we paddled out and tried our luck at fishing again. This time we had better luck. We tapped into a school of bass and spent about 45 minutes having fun reeling them in. 

Paddling a few minutes downriver brought us to a vacant campsite. There, we cleaned our catch and enjoyed a fish-fry shore lunch. 

We had taken our time with the fishing and eating our catch, but it was getting late in the afternoon and we needed to get downriver and through more of the Five Mile Rapids. The sky was still dark, but miraculously the rain was holding off. 

Ten minutes past Big Pine Rapids, we came to Double Rapids which was a small drop on either side of a granite island in the middle of the river. It was an easy little run and a good warm-up of what was to come. 

Almost immediately following that, the river split into two channels around a land formation called Double Rapids Island. The right channel is known as The Ladder and the left is a whitewater section called Blue Chute. Originally,  we thought we would just lift over The Ladder, but upon closer inspection, we saw the water levels were quite low and it looked to be more of a long scramble over a series of rocks with some iffy footing. So, we paddled a little further down to Blue Chute, which looked like it might be runnable, but again in kevlar canoes at lower water conditions we were afraid of hanging up on rocks. There looked to be a couple of tricky boulders in the run that might have caused trouble. 

We ended up paddling into a narrow crevice of an inlet and did a short, but precarious portage up a steep rock face and put in our boats near the marked campsite below the rapids. From there, we slid into the bottom of the rapids and rode our way downstream. 

Our next hurdle, just a five-minute paddle past Blue Chute was Big Parisien Rapids. The trip reports that I had read stated that the first and most frothy set of whitewater should be portaged on the ridge looking over the canyon on river-right, while the bottom section could be run. So, when we came to it, that is what we did. 

We carried our gear over first and left it at the put-in below the rapids which is also the location of the campsite. A couple was camping there. Jason chatted with the man for a bit and he said that the rapids could easily be run. So, I walked up to the ridge and got a better look. Indeed, it looked like a very straightforward run except for a right turn at the end to avoid hitting a large boulder on the left bank. 

I'd had enough of portaging past all of the fun, so after conferring with the boys, we decided we'd give it a shot. We carried our PFDs and paddles back to our canoes and ran the 40-meter long rapid. It was a lot of fun and one of the highlights of the day. 

Just downriver from Big Parisien Rapids, we came to a very pretty part of the trip with thick coniferous forest sitting atop steep rocky river banks.  In addition, we were beginning to see breaks in the clouds; it all made for a stunningly beautiful landscape. 

The river split into a few channels a little further downstream just above Little Parisien Rapids and Devil Chute, where there were a couple of islands dominating the center of the river. The larger one to the south is called Big Bluff Island. We ended up staying at a campsite (now numbered 412, it used to be 410, I believe) on the smaller island just to the north of Big Bluff. 

It was incredible to have this wonderfully scenic part of the river to ourselves. As we were setting up camp, the sun came out to play and we could hear the gurgle of rapids just to the west of the island.  It was a fantastic place to be. 

Jason and I paddled to the north bank of the river on a firewood expedition and we returned with a load to last us the night and the morning. Then, we all went for a swim to wash off the sweat of the day. After that, it was dinner and then basking in our surroundings for the evening. 

Eighteen Mile Island Loop

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Trip Chronology

Hello Canoe Trippers and Wilderness Lovers. Canoe tripping in the Canadian backcountry is a strong passion of mine. I thoroughly enjoy writing about my experiences and sharing them so that readers can benefit in their own trip planning. However, publishing these trip reports takes an enormous amount of time. Kindly consider buying me a coffee for my next trip out! Thank you for your readership and happy paddling! 

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