Topic: Petite Nation - strainer in upper canyon

[JohnCyr]

So we put in today expecting 60 cms and to cut the tree... Little did we know...With all the rain..the gauge is shot and we put in into a raging 170+ cms of brown fury...

What gauge are you using for this?

I'm seeing 45 CMS for the gauge upstream of here near the town of Ripon, and yes there is a large tributary that enters the river between there and the canyon:
http://www.cehq.gouv.qc.ca/Suivihydro/graphique.asp?NoStation=040406

Meanwhile these guys are saying that it was flowing at 64.5 in Papineauville yesterday:
http://quebecwhitewater.com/en/river-level/view/9-petite-nation-papineauville
I believe that these numbers are just extrapolated from the data that comes from the gauge near Ripon, but I'm not really sure of that.

Anyhow with folks using different means of measurement this can be a lot of confusion here. Perhaps not as rampant as back in the day when the length of a foot (12 inches) was based upon the length of the reigning monarch's foot, but it is still confusing.

That quebecwwhitewater page would benefit from an alert related to this sweeper as well if you could be so kind (I am not registered there).

The gauge in ripon is the most accurate one.. asides from when its spring and when it rains..as like you said..alot of creeks run into the river below... I am using the culvert at the put in as a reference...And the rocks below my land as well...with the flow from the ripon gauge... IE; when rockst start showing, level is around 45 cms.. etc... Based on past experiences and over 300 runs..... Quebec qhitewater suggests that in the spring melt, you multiply the flow by 1.5 to be more precise and I would agree... When we put in this weekend, we expected 60 cms... and the culvert was almost all under water... so was the boulder at the canyon... hence why my guess is it was around 170 cms based on previous runs... Here are a few shots of the strainer... an alert was sent to QWW as well..

[Cindy D]

I sent quebecwhitewater.com a message about the strainer yesterday when I heard the level was too high to remove it.

[DaveH]

So we put in today expecting 60 cms and to cut the tree... Little did we know...With all the rain..the gauge is shot and we put in into a raging 170+ cms of brown fury...

What gauge are you using for this?

I'm seeing 45 CMS for the gauge upstream of here near the town of Ripon, and yes there is a large tributary that enters the river between there and the canyon:
http://www.cehq.gouv.qc.ca/Suivihydro/graphique.asp?NoStation=040406

Meanwhile these guys are saying that it was flowing at 64.5 in Papineauville yesterday:
http://quebecwhitewater.com/en/river-level/view/9-petite-nation-papineauville
I believe that these numbers are just extrapolated from the data that comes from the gauge near Ripon, but I'm not really sure of that.

Anyhow with folks using different means of measurement this can be a lot of confusion here. Perhaps not as rampant as back in the day when the length of a foot (12 inches) was based upon the length of the reigning monarch's foot, but it is still confusing.

That quebecwwhitewater page would benefit from an alert related to this sweeper as well if you could be so kind (I am not registered there).

[JohnCyr]

First shot is the crux of the entry rapid... run left and punch the shoulder of the V into the boily eddy...make sure you catch the eddy as water pushes left into the strainer... then ferry accross to nail your line down the right of the boulder.

Second shot is the line down the right of the boulder. Stay the F away from the pillars.

Third shot is the massive wave hole at the bottom of the portes de lenfer. Go for the punch! BIG hot and it flushes!! 

[JohnCyr]

So we put in today expecting 60 cms and to cut the tree... Little did we know...With all the rain..the gauge is shot and we put in into a raging 170+ cms of brown fury... running the right line at the entry rapid is a no go due to hole/log, so cant get to river right eddy from running the rapid... so you have to run left and catch the eddy left..then ferry above the boulder/strainer and catch the right of the boulder line... if you blow your ferry, you end up the the logs, pinned and having a shitty day... The strainer is now fully underwater along with 5-6 other logs and debris and its a death trap...Running the entry rapid just became a class 5 move...if you dont think you can make that move.... My humble opinion is by all means catch the river right eddy at the cliff before the main rapid and walk down the portage trail to the river right eddy before the boulder/strainer...or park at Aquaventure and walk up the trail to put in the above mentionned eddy... I am not joking...The crux of this rapid is by all means a definite class 5 move. Beginners should definitely walk the entry rapid if not actually walking the whole first canyon...

[JohnCyr]

Level is back to normal +/- 45 cms... Lines get easier  and eddies are easy to catch.. which makes access to the tree easier..I had planned on going Thursday after work sometime

[wyszard]

Nasty, nasty,
J-N  tell me when you want to try clearing this guy out & I will come to help you if I can, maybe some evening after work or something.

[JohnCyr]

Heres a pic at 65 cms.

[JohnCyr]

Just a little update. This is a full on tree with branches on it. It is slightly above water lwvel now but still a hazard. We ran right of the rock and it goes. Would be an easy thing for a beginner to mess up and end in it though. Be careful. It should e easy to remove once water level drops.

[djutzi]

It looked pretty thick - maybe 1 foot diameter.  And really jammed in.  It might well need a chainsaw to come out.

[JohnCyr]

Good To know... I guess it mustve been way under water when we ran it at 150 cms... When the water gets lower, I will head out there with ropes and see if I can remove it.. if not.. Ill try and grab my old mans chainsaw and go back...

[djutzi]

FYI - there is a big, ugly, nasty strainer in the river-left channel at the top of the last section of the upper canyon on the Petite (where the old bridge posts are).  It is partially submerged on the right hand side, and just above water level on the left.  As the water continues to drop it will probably be at just the right level to rip paddlers out of their boats.

the river-right channel is open.  the far-right sneak channel (under the bridge posts) has a strainer it in as well.