CdB Forum
CdB Whitewater Paddling Club Discussions => Paddling => Topic started by: ChristianG on October 26, 2008, 09:03:34 PM
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Hi all!
Following an invitation from Rob Zwanenburg, Cl?o and I joined the Cornwall crew (no pun intended), along with other paddlers from Ottawa and Southern Ontario, to run the bottom section of the Rouge river. For many, it was the first time there. Also known as the Seven Sisters, this section ends in the Ottawa river under a bridge on Road 148. The last rapid, a fun, long-ish class III run ending at the mouth of the river, got its name from the many people suntanning there on the rocks with little clothing, or none at all... Needless to say, there was no sightseeing expectations yesterday.
Our run was amazing (at least so I think--as we'll see, someone we know may have a different opinion), but also... eventful. To those accustomed to the Ottawa Main and Middle channels, or to the Gatineau river, the Rouge will have on the menu something definitely different and... refreshing (well, at this time of the year at least!). It begins with a nice, long continuous class II-III warm-up (le Familial), followed by some more class II. You get used to navigate shallow boulder gardens. Then the fun begins.
Just like on the Gatineau river, when you spot power transmission lines crossing the river, you know it's time to get out and scout... The river narrows down to a double drop called Le Seuil ? Elizabeth. It's reasonably straightforward, except when you miss your line in the first drop (as I did) and finish it upside down. No danger here, it's very deep. So deep in fact that the water below the drop is very boily and "funny". While I was trying to roll up, I distinctively felt being sucked downward by the water...
Next comes a long and more or less continuous rapid section, thankfully with many rest/scouting eddies. Class III with some class IV drops. That's where you encounter, after negociating an already fairly impressive rapid, La Machine ? Laver (the Washing Machine). It's a narrow 5-foot drop. To me, more like a giant laundromat-style commercial front loader, with the coins already inserted and waiting for you.
There is a very easy line river left through La S?cheuse (the Dryer Machine). But those lacking sanity who decided instead to go through the Machine enjoyed the full wash cycle. Some got flushed quickly. Others rolled back up and found themselves in the strong recirculating eddy below the drop, quickly realised that they could not even fight the eddy current, and had to drive into the giant boil in order to get out. Pinned against a rock below the monster hole, I bailed out and ended up in said eddy, swimming hard just to stay in place without being sucked into the white mess. Crawl, back stroke, grab a tiny crack in the rock wall, repeat...
After 2-3 minutes of this regimen, I managed to climb onto the slippery rocks, fished my paddle out of the water and grabbed the stern handle of my boat still magically floating behind me. But getting the boat out of the water was out of the question: I was lying down on a rock two feet above the water surface, exhausted, only able to keep the boat from being sucked into the hole... Luckily for me, Cl?o had climbed up the rocks from below the rapid and helped me get the boat out of the water. I did not know at the time that in this respect I was indeed very lucky...
A little rest, and we go again. What's coming next appears to be a class II boulder garden. That is, if still a bit disoriented after the washing cycle, you didn't notice the following river-wide ledge, which then comes as a surprise (hence the name, La Surprise). That was fun, and later was a cool zig-zag game to avoid hitting rocks.
We arrived at a weird spot: wooden beams sticking out of the water, a 20-foot high pyramid-like rock pile in the middle of the river. Remnants of the log driving era signalling it's time to get out! Five consecutive waterfalls follow, only runnable at much much lower levels. The strange part is that the signs on the shore do not warn of the coming waterfalls, but of bridge construction! What bridge?
Heavy rain, slippery roots, mud, all covered with fallen leaves: we joke about being in a class V portage... It is almost the case... so much that typically, kayakers want to skip a portion of it and paddle the flatwater between the last two waterfalls, before portaging again. The problem: it's a canyon, and the "put-in" for this is either a 15-foot seal launch on treacherous wet rock, or a seal launch on comparatively safer dry rock... 20 feet high. I had decided earlier not to try it, still being tired from my earlier swim, but others went. They pretty much all landed on their head. Including our friend Cl?o, with the badluck of an imploded skirt, a sinking boat, and a long stressful swim trying to get to "shore" (it's a canyon) above a dangerous waterfall. While I and others are frantically running down the muddy path to try to catch him before too late...
Well, we find him safe at last. But his boat's going down, orange piece of plastic; if it doesn't get pinned against a rock in the last rapid, it'll end up in the Ottawa river, direction Montr?al. I was hoping for the former, life would be easier for us that way...
We all get back on the river for the last stretch. Most of us at least, Cl?o had already begun his trek home along the river. We finally spot our poor friend on the shore; at least he had found his paddle. So we park in an eddy created by a big rock near shore. As I pass by that rock, I could not help but notice that the water above it had a strange orange tint... Looked like he had also found his kayak! Underwater, pinned by the current against a big rock. A kayak that contained, among other things, a thermos full of warm soup which would have been rather welcome then, in the cold rain... After 20 minutes of valiant efforts, with two tow ropes, someone in the water and two others holding the ropes, it became clear that it was not possible to reach the underwater kayak, let alone dislodge it from its position. We had to abandon it there, in the middle of the Rapide des Tout-Nus... Thus the day ended for us, 10 paddlers and 9 kayaks. And later, on the road in heavy rain, with only one boat in the back of the truck and one sad kayaker...
From Qu?bec's ministry of environment website, we know that when we started the run yesterday the river gauge had been steady at 72 cubic meters/second for a few days. With all the rain, as I write this, it is now over 130, and is still climbing. If we're lucky, that extra flow will dislodge Cl?o's kayak, in which case it will definitively be on its way to montr?al. Otherwise, the only hope (and it's a loooong shot) is that the level soon goes down significantly so we can mount a rescue expedition, and see if the soup is still warm...
Still, and this is my opinion of course, I would say that apart from this giant (and expensive) case of badluck, our run was quite enjoyable. We took part in one of the only outdoor activities that can be enjoyed in cold rain, we met some really nice people and we explored a river which was markedly different from our usual runs.
While it is clear that the whole run is not a beginner's one, all the big things are walkable and the remaining class II-III rapids are well worth the drive (shorter than driving to the Gatineau anyway). And I speak from experience: this section of river was the first that I ever did when I started kayaking last year, before even trying the Ottawa or the Gatineau, which are in a sense more beginner friendly...
I am sure that many members of our club would have enjoyed the Seven Sisters run, and thus am a bit puzzled by the lack of interest. This reminds me of a trip to the Gatineau exactly one month ago, where only four of us ended up having the whole river to ourselves, which seemed amazing to us then, compared to the crowded times on the Ottawa, with the rafts and all...
Cheers everyone!
--Christian
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wow! Did everyone run all the waterfalls ??
I hope the boat gets found/returned.
the 7 sisters are huge , large and in charge , here is a u tube clip ,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94D3X5aOCd4
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Okay, someone is going to win a special prize for sure for that one at the AGM.... Best swim, no, best seal launch, no, how about boat longest under water but paddler survives? Seriously, I' glad you guys are okay and that you were with Robertz's crew. He is top notch safety guy in case things go haywire on you.
Paul ;D
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I am pretty sure this beats my boat drifting from Champlain to the Prime Minister's backyard.
At least, my name and phone number was in the kayak and very quickly my wife got a call from the Monties about the found kayak but missing husband, while frogmen were still diving for me.
I hope Cleo had contact info in there.
Maybe they will trace him back based on that soup...
Well, that was fun, like Captain Kirk said when he died...
Sorry I missed the fun... ;)
LD
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Hi
Before logging on to the site I opened up Microsoft Word and typed up a lengthy trip report about our weekend adventure. Now that I'm done writing I log on and see Christian has already beat me to it there goes 45min i'll never see again... ::)
If you ever run the rouge and are considering doing this seal launch here is my description of what it felt like:
Feeling a bit nervous I sat in my boat and did a quick mental review of the things I should do: lean forward so the boat doesn?t over rotate on top of me, paddle to the side so it doesn?t smack me in the face upon contact with the water ok I?m ready! I tell Rob I?m good to go and he gives me a push over the cliff. I was definitely not prepared for the feeling of vertigo that hit me as I was free falling. It felt like my heart had flown up in my throat. For this reason everything I was thinking about while setting up was forgotten and I did not lean forward at all as a matter of fact I was told I actually leaned back. This caused my boat to rotate over me and I basically hit the water face first. The impact felt a bit like getting punched in the head with boxing gloves, it doesn?t hurt but leaves your head ringing for a minute.
In spite of my bad luck the run was quite enjoyable the bigger rapids were all easily scoutable with fairly easy lines at this level. I was lucky that my incident was so close to the take out it was an easy hike to the road. This will facilitate things when I go back on Thursday so see if the boat is there and attempt another rescue. After sleeping on it I have a few ideas that might work without compromising safety. I really want my thermos back and it would be nice to get my boat too! :P Does anyone want to come and lend me a hand on Thursday?
The really unfortunate part is I've been looking around for a creek boat recently but my creeker budget will disappear if i need to buy another playboat...
Does anyone have a boat for sale?
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Cl?o, I could go with you Thursday but I am busy until 11:30 in the morning. Which means that we can only walk up to the pin spot, bringing boats maybe so we can float back down... However, is it a good idea? The level is now at 170 m^3/s (and still rising), compared to about 75 when we were there. Just getting near your boat will be quite dangerous in that current... Plus, will we be able to find it if there's more than double the water? As I said, I don't mind taking a look, but the odds are against us.
--C.
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The odds are certainly against retrieving it with more rain or maybe even snow in the forecast for the next 2 days. Chantal has the day off on that day and the boat being there is kinda of an excuse to get out of the house and go for a hike. It's a nice area. I'm curious to see if the huge rise in volume has dislodged it or bent the plastic completely. I'm also curious to see how the river changes at this level. I've been told that the run changes completely when the water gets high. If you want to come along for the ride you are more then welcome.
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is the boat in any strong current ? , could I (scuba ) dive under there with NO danger ?, could use a hand wench also ?
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Cleo, air bags??
It would be a shame to leave it there.
Hey one time in San Diego, we lost about 3000$ worth of an R/C airplane in one of the lagoons.
We went and bought scuba mask and fins, dove to it until we recovered most of the parts (after triangulation) and then returned the equipment to the store the same day.
OK, as I recall you have a full body dry suit.
I should have an old cheap diving mask from the kids.
I've got a hand winch and can dig my rock climbing equipment.
Carabiners, slings, anchors points; the works.
I am no expert in river rescue, but that hand winch will either rip the boat or take it out.
If it is still there.
We just need to be able to slip a carabiner to a secure point on the kayak.
If we can see, but not get to it, then, maybe a solid perch with a biner taped to the end as a hook.
Then reel the whole thing back in.
I would think we need at least 3 people. 4 even better.
Weather for Thursday looks better. 6C, little clouds.
How far the drive and the walk to the spot?
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Well well...
Guys (Louis, Mark)... You didn't see the 'location'... Le Rapide des Tout-Nus is a fast-moving water class II/III shallow rapid, level dependent. In other words, at 75 on the gauge when we were there it was class II but now it is certainly above class III. But it's still not deep since the river is very wide.
There, the river is perhaps 100 feet wide and the boat is pinned only 10 feet from river-left shore, under the water pillow that forms in front of a big rock. The boat is just under the surface, there's maybe six inches of water flowing over it. Even after crawling up onto that rock, Cl?o wasn't able to (safely) reach the grab handles. He could touch the cockpit rim, but that was it. In the current of last weekend, it was more or less safe to get to the rock and back (using two tow ropes tied together with two guys holding the ropes!), but don't even think about it now, as the water flow has more than doubled since (it is above 180 right now).
It's not that the boat has sunk in deep water, it is pressed by the current against a big rock... I wish we had a photo of it. Cl?o had a camera, but was too annoyed and busy trying to get to the kayak, I suppose, to take a picture... By now, as Cl?o mentionned, if the kayak is still there, it would have deformed and wrapped itself around the rock. Of course if we hook anything through a grab handle, we stand a good chance of retrieving it, although ideally because of the way it was pinned, we would have to be pulling from the other side of the river for best results...
So Cl?o, go take a look and take some pictures of the river. You can walk all the way up above the last waterfall. Since it was already quite big last time, it must be quite impressive now.
As for the strange presence of the "Bridge Construction" warning signs above the five waterfalls (no sign to warn of the coming waterfalls themselves!), Bill Schlarb seems to remember that the extension of Highway 50 will pass there, with a brigde spanning the canyon in a narrow spot. And we were wondering why the satellite images of that area had such high resolution... Maybe that's one reason. I was wondering too, as can also be seen in Google Earth, why just below the last waterfall one can see a strip of land, perpendicular to the river, that has been cleared of trees (Google Earth coordinates: river left 45?39'0.16"N, 74?41'15.29"W and river right 45?39'2.63"N, 74?41'8.65"W). That would explain too why the road to the put-in, which I remember was crappy, is now wide and freshly paved (up to a point). The good news is that the proposed bridge would have to span the whole river in one shot, so would not modify the river itself. I'm sure the three rafting companies on that section voiced their opinion here...
More Google Earth fun: because of the way the water flows when a river turns, I believe Cl?o's kayak is located approximately at (45?38'57.25"N, 74?41'7.74"W). The seal launch is at (45?39'9.41"N, 74?41'13.31"W), the washing machine at (45?39'57.55"N, 74?41'2.57"W), the put-in at (45?41'49.64"N, 74?39'52.06"W) and the take out is approximately at (45?38'40.93"N, 74?41'23.69"W).
Cheers!
--C.
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ok thanks , I remember in costa rica someones kayak got pinned in only a few inches of water !!!, it took 4 of us with rope to get it out , it was tottaly bent in but after sitting it in the hot sun the massive dent came out. A photo would be nice if possible in the future.
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So it seems to me that a long collapsible shaft like what is used to extend paint rollers, with a carabiner taped to one end might work.
Carabiner has also the end of a rope attached.
Someone standing near by, armed with that collapsible shaft extended, belayed by another one or 2 nut, themselves well tied to a tree.
And someone on the winch and rope.
Once in a kayak loop, winch pulling the most appropriate way to "slip" the kayak out of the locked position.
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Certainly there is a chance to get it out, but only if it is still there. We will find out Thursday if that's the case. Then, if it is still pinned, we can mount an expedition; by then the level will have gone down hopefully...
--C.
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There is a small flaw to this.
We never know exactly what will dislodge the kayak by itself.
You go there Thursday, say the kayak is still there, you will need to tie it down or extract it right away (unless the conditions are too difficult) as it may not be there by the time the salvage expedition comes a day or 2 later, with the water dropping down again.
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Sure the whole thing is sketchy. Anyway, here's the location. I also included the water flow data: it has almost tripled since we were there, but has now leveled. Thats' insane...
--C.
[attachment deleted by admin due to low storage space]
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Chantal and I drove out there yesterday and went for a hike to see if the boat was still there. Unfortunately our investigation is inconclusive. The river has come up so much that it is barely recognizable. The boat is either completely submerged and too deep to see or it has washed out downstream...