Hi all, I live west of town and will probably be paddling the Carp River this week. The Carp River is only runnable for a short period of high water in spring or after very heavy rains. I'll probably be taking my novice 13 year old son on it. It's about as difficult as paddling the Pump House, although it does not have the big man-made eddies you find there. I think it's about 6 km on one section, and can be over 10 km, depending on levels and if you go all the way to the Ottawa River, but levels need to be a bit higher past Galetta Sideroad. I usually start where the river passes under Carp Road, just beyond Kinburn Sideroad.
The water level has to be about 5.1 metres on the gauge to not be too shallow to run. This is not a river to float down upside-down since it is shallow. Ability to stay upright in easy stuff is recommended. But, most of the rapids are easy fast moving water with small waves. I've paddled it in an open 17 foot Grumman canoe, although at a 5.43m level we did bail a lot and we swamped in one rapid. I've seen typical kayaks on it, along with bigger Canadian Tire type kayaks on it, and open canoes with flotation and even a raft once.
Water will be cold, and with all the farms around, you probably don't want to drink it. But, for those not ready for surfing Champlain or doing the bigger rivers, this is a nice easy paddle within the rural city, which only works occasionally. I'm probably looking at after work this week and maybe later in the day on the weekend if levels stay high enough.
Let me know if anyone wants to tag along.
Peter
