Embedded Files
Distance: 27 km
Distance: 27 km
Number of Portages: 2
Number of Portages: 2
Total Portage Distance: 560 meters
Total Portage Distance: 560 meters
This route is on the traditional territory of the Omàmìwininìwag (Algonquin) and Anishinabewaki ᐊᓂᔑᓈᐯᐗᑭ.
Maps provided courtesy of Toporama which contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada. I have marked my route in blue and portages in red.
We awoke to sunny skies and we couldn't have been happier! Weather-wise, it had been a fairly gloomy trip thus far.
We broke camp and begun the day by portaging to the bottom of Chute a L'Ours. It was a short portage but had a couple of tricky bits in terms of footing. The trail traversed over some open slabs of rock on a slant that were quite slick from the previous day's rains. The put-in was also a little devious. From the campsite at the end of the trail, it was a steep descent to the river's edge and over slick rocks to a spot where we could load the boat in still water. By the time we finished both trips and pushed off into the current, it was getting close to 11 AM.
We took a photo of the bottom of Chute a L'Ours from the middle of the river.
After putting in, we were filled with anticipation. Below Chute A L'Ours, the Coulonge River has a 7-kilometre roller coaster ride of rapids with the most formidable one to start, Rapides Guenette.
Rapides Guenette, named after a riverman who lost his life in the rapids, is a kilometre-long CII technical run fraught with boulders and ledges. Apparently, there was no portage around it.
We approached Guenette only minutes after departing Chute a L'Ours. There were some large boulders in the centre of the river, so we pulled over on the left bank to scout the area from there. The water was high and we could see a ledge drop on that side of the river, so we front-ferried back upriver a bit and made our way over to scout from the right side. From there, we spotted a CI channel through the rocks that took us to a pool on the right behind a point.
The issue was that we were now trapped on the right side of the river by some large rocks in the middle acting as a barrier preventing us from getting back to the centre or left. It was this side and section of the river that the guys at Esprit said that most canoeists run into trouble because they underestimate the difficulty of the run. If they had to return to the river to bail people out, they said it was generally at this spot more than others. There was a pushy CII heading down that side through a minefield of rocks. I could spot a line through them, the issue was at the end of that run leading up to another point on the right were a couple of boulders that looked difficult to avoid. I guessed that was most likely the spot where people got into trouble.
We began lining up the right side when I noticed a gap in the woods on the shoreline. I jumped into the woods and discovered a portage! We were still a good 800 meters or so from the end of Guenette, but maybe this trail would at least get us around the spot we were in. We took it and it emerged at the campsite on the right at the halfway point of the rapids. It did not seem to go on from there. That location was the part of the river that dropped over a ledge. Here is a shot of that ledge spanning the river from the campsite location. It looked runnable, actually.
The campsite was a nice one on a treed point with a firepit next to the river offering a great view of the rapids.
Here is a shot of the first half of Guenette looking upriver from the campsite. The pushy CII run on RR can't really be seen as it is mostly behind the point on the left of the photo.
Unfortunately, for the next couple of hours, Dad and I were so busy negotiating the rapids of the Coulonge River that I forgot to take any photos! I say unfortunately because it was a gorgeous section of frothy fun and the most exciting part of our trip.
From the campsite, we got back into the boat and paddled the pool on river-right from the campsite to the next point on the right that jutted out into the river. From there, Guenette drops down three consecutive ledges that Hap classifies as CI runs. The issue was that the line over those ledges was closer to river-left and there were boulders blocking our way to get there from the point we were at on river-right. So, we got out of the boat again and lifted our gear over the point.
On the other side of the point, we had a discussion on how to negotiate those bottom ledges of Guenette. I wanted to ferry to the left and give the ledges a run; I could see the line with some large haystacks at the last ledge that were more like a CII in the higher water we were experiencing. It was doable and I felt we would have been fine, but we definitely would have taken on water in those stacks. Dad didn't feel comfortable getting over there from where we were. In the end, we half-lined, half-ran the bottom three ledges on river-right. It was fine in the end because I didn't want to push Dad into doing anything he didn't feel comfortable with. It is a fast-moving river!
With Guenette behind us, we had a couple of minutes of calm paddling before we were presented with Rapid 56, a pushy class CII centre run that Hap suggests canoeists need to "be nimble or pay!" It was a portageless minefield of frothy madness offering a mixed bag of waves and rocks. Again, Dad and I differed on whether to run it or not. We first pulled over to the right bank to scout but didn't have a great view from there. So, we ferried over to the left and looked from there. The top part of the run was an easy line through the centre, but at the halfway point, we could spot a couple of canoe bumpers that could potentially cause some issues. Dad was reluctant to try it, so we agreed to meet each other halfway. We ran the top part on the left until rocks prevented us from continuing, got out and lined a bit past some rocks for a 100 meters or so, and then ran the bottom third over a couple of nice haystacks at the bottom.
I think that bottom part of that CII instilled some confidence in Dad, because at that point, I suggested loudly over the rapids, "Dad, we got this! It's all fun from here on in!" He acquiesced and got into rapid-running mode.
The next four or five kilometers were some of the most enjoyable paddling I have ever done. Dad lent me his trust, let me read the river, and responded awesomely while we worked our way through rapid after rapid. There were some technical little dodges here and there to avoid rocks as we barreled our way through. We didn't come in contact with a single rock. The high water probably had a lot to do with that. At one point, after gleefully riding some haystacks and taking on water, we had to pull over to a beachy landing to bail the canoe on river-right. Whoo-hoo!
Eventually, the rapids gave way to swifts, and those finally gave way to a meandering current. With the excitement subsiding, it finally dawned on me to take a photo or two.
At mid-afternoon, we pulled up on a shallow rocky area on the left bank to have some lunch.
Downriver from there, we started to see more and more cottages and homes adorning the banks. At one point, we passed a "dock" that had quite a last step to the water's surface. There were a couple of ladies sunning themselves on it.
"Watch out for that last step, it's a doozy!" I wanted to say but didn't.
Was it a bridge that simply wasn't completed? Who knew? We guessed the engineers of the bridge must have had truss issues with each other and couldn't complete it. Perhaps their goals were too over-arching. Regardless, the ladies were sure to be having an uplifting experience. Their view from there must have been span-tastic. We wondered if the water was deep enough to jump into. Either way, it would require a lot of deck-sterity. Had enough of bridge puns? Don't worry, you'll get over it.
As the afternoon wore on, more dark clouds began to creep in. We laughed about how apropos it would be to end the trip in more rain. Rain seemed to be our third companion on this one.
It was nearing 4:30 PM when we saw a narrowing in the river that would offer our last little bit of moving water for the trip.
Immediately beyond that was Terry Fox Bridge and shortly past that was the golf course on the right. We texted Dennis, our driver, to let him know we were at the golf course and would soon be at our take-out spot.
Being at the golf course so close to the trip's end, we paused in reflection. As par usual, I'll end this trip report with a few puns. We both now felt that running rapids was our cup of tee. Running the rapids of the Coulonge was certainly un-fore-gettable. In fact, paddling was a hole new ball game for us now. Sometimes, when presented with a whitewater obstacle, you just have to golf fore it, hit the haystacks, and green and bear it. In the end, it's all fore the best. Balls well that ends well!
Eventually, we spotted the buoys and warning signs to let us know that Chute Coulonge was up ahead. We could go no further. To the right of that were some signs to identify the take-out. It was the end of the line.
The rain held off and Dennis was there to pick us up. We loaded the van and were back at our vehicle within 15 minutes of doing so.
Final thoughts about our experience on the Coulonge River?
Pros:
1. The river is accessible. It isn't a far drive from Ottawa, Montreal, Sudbury, or even Southern Ontario, relatively speaking.
2. If you are a burgeoning whitewater paddler and would like a next-level trip from rivers like the Spanish or the French, then the Coulonge would be a nice option. Hap Wilson's guidebook details every major whitewater run in amazing and incredible detail to help those learning how to read rapids. There are portages past anything too hairy. Likewise, there are enough high-level runs for experienced whitewater aficionados.
3. The access to logging roads on many parts of the river can also make rescues easier in the event of a damaged canoe.
4. There are some excellent campsites at most of the major rapids and some lovely beach-type sites for those who like to pitch a tent on sandspits.
5. The falls and rapids are gorgeous.
6. It isn't busy, either. We did not encounter a single canoe-tripping party on our 6 days on the river in August at higher-than-normal water levels.
7. No permits are necessary to paddle it, so it is essentially free crown-land camping.
Cons:
It isn't much of a wilderness trip for those who like to get away from it all. There are cabins, cottages, and camps along many parts of the river. Logging and access roads meet the river throughout most of its length.
While the major drops in the river offer scenic and dramatic rocky vistas, many parts of the river meander through a bushy shoreline. Some may find these stretches boring. Personally, I found there was a subtle beauty and charm to these areas...à chacun son goût.
If trippers are not parking two vehicles at either end of the run, then a shuttle must be arranged. We found ours was overpriced, especially for two people. Having said that, Dennis, our driver was very nice and we really enjoyed talking with him. He was knowledgeable and reliable; he was there waiting for us at the end of our trip. Also, one must keep in mind that in addition to the shuttle, Esprit also offered a safe place to park our vehicle while we were out on the trip, and the possibility of a rescue on the river if logistically possible. But when looking at the fact that the shuttle service price was essentially the same price as a fly-in trip into the interior of Temagami for about 2 hours and 15 minutes of total van shuttle time, it seemed overpriced to us. Perhaps this feeling was exacerbated by the fact that we felt that we paid for a shuttle to a spot on the river that was advertised on the Esprit website as a 7-10 day trip. We finished it in four and a half days of actual paddling from the location on the Coulonge that Esprit used as our put-in. (Day 1 was a half day and Day 3 was a rest day in the rain.) We used the portages past most of the major drops in the river and did not once leave our campsite before 9 AM. We were certainly not putting in long days and trying to rush down the river. In the end, canoeists will need to do their due diligence in terms of research and decide if they are willing to pay the shuttle prices and whether they feel it is worth it.
We had a fun and wild ride on the Coulonge River, nonetheless. I would like to push my whitewater experience further and can't wait to try trips down the other two sisters, the Dumoine and the Noire, especially if the paddling experience is comparable to the Coulonge.
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!
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse