So here I might be exagerating, but not much: it's almost worth the trip just to hit the last wave of the Zipper. As they say, 'hit it moving right for maximum effect.' Those who have done this know what I'm talking about. However I suspect that Larry was not in a position to see much of what was going on...
Luc demonstrated where not to go in the very first rapid (a Class IV business to be fair) on the first day. A blind run, in the order: Luc (I think the line is on the left), me, Jon (who had never even seen the rapid before) and Jim (I don't remember--we'll find out). As the rest of the crew was on shore to scout, I faintly heard Jon, who had listened to a description of the rapid earlier, behind me over the roar of whitewater, 'he's wayyy too far left!' Indeed Luc was, as I saw him disappear completely. With a last ditch effort to hit the green tongue, I went by, looking at the bottom of a red Dagger Nomad which--no exageration here--was a good 5 feet vertically lower than me, being trashed in a huge pourover hole. Not until I finished the rapid and eddied out that he emerged from the hole and manage to roll up in the Class III wave train below... And Jon, as you saw it's ok to hit the 2nd massive wave/hole!
Not to be outdone, Larry demonstrated yet another way not to run the same rapid: a rocky shallow creek-style line suited for a creek boat. He'll probably need a new skirt, perhaps also a new thumb.
I found out that sometimes coincidences happen. For instance, Matt Hamilton was paddling with us all weekend, and we discovered that I was paddling his old Burn. Thanks Matt for helping pull the boats up the portage climb--it really helped! The other coincidence: if you say just before entering a certain rapid that once you had to find a way to punch a massive hole because you had no choice, well, sometimes you might finally roll up to discover that you have one paddle stroke left before said hole... Let's say that a Pyranha Burn is good at punching big holes...
Something else that should be said: Dani now owns the Kipawa river. She got all her lines. And no sneak lines for her: ran all the meat. Very impressive! Everybody remained in their boats the whole river both days. Of course there were close calls... Somebody might need
one of those plastic balls for the skirt grab loop... And kudos to Jim--running a river blind, with no recollection of his previous run many years ago, all this one year from retirement!
This year's festival was a success. Credit goes partly to the nice weather, but mostly to the people who organized the event, and who negotiated with Hydro Québec a nice release for the whole weekend. The organisation has a new executive, and the past president was even able to paddle both days even though his car, boat and gear was in a garage in Deep River. The weather was amazing, insects were manageable and Scott allowed us to bring our vehicles down to the lodge which saved a lot of efforts... And everybody's belly was full after Saturday's fish fry dinner.
I wrote earlier that it was an intermediate river, not expert. But out of the 16 rapids, 4 of them are definitely a notch up in difficulty. Still, this leaves 12 amazing Class II-III rapids where it's ok to hit all the waves! That's two Ottawa rivers in a row, and you get to do it twice in two days. Something to consider next year if you want to bring your paddling up a notch! And bring a big boat. I am sure Larry and Bruce slept really well afterwards...
--C.
