Well...
It would have been nice to play in the Valleyfield course. Crystal clear water, friendly waves...
But we elected to run the Rouge river, and this proved to be a very... entertaining choice. Bill, Liz, Jacques, myself and a fellow kayaker from Montreal named Matthieu who joined us for the second half of the run.
The day started misty and rainy but ended in sunshine. We watched a number of canoes negotiate rapids like the washing machine, while their canoeists swam or walked... Fun for all except for poor Jacques, who did most of the work retrieving said canoes, and bags, and clothes, and bottles...
We then entered the hunting grounds of a huge bald eagle, which didn't seem to be too afraid of us as he allowed us to get a close look before taking off.
And the annoying portage around the waterfalls ended happily at the seal launch site, a 12-foot rock from which you slide off into the current below, in between two waterfalls. We all looked at it, all thought we'd be crazy doing it. Down we went anyway, one by one, and we were all declared crazy by the teenagers watching us from the other side of the river... Our technique wasn't perfect, though, a few of us landed flat with a big SPLAT! And that was pretty much it, as none of us had the kind of boat that would have made the last waterfall safe to run.
In the end a great day. No one swam, everyone rolled up after their beatdowns and everyone felt relaxed.
Despite its reputation among some circles, the Seven Sisters section of the Rouge is at this level a great run for paddlers of all skill levels above complete beginner...
On a different topic, Highway 50 is being extended over the river and a bridge is currently being built. Spanning the river just above the last waterfall (the whole section being a canyon), it's amazing how high it will be. Well above 100 feet above water level, possibly 150. And it doesn't interfere with the river at all.
Cheers all!
--Christian
