Night Paddle down the Restigouche

Hey Bones,
That sounds like it was a great trip.
What are the water levels like this time of year on the Restigouche?

Keep on paddlin'
Tom

I went down the Kedgwick-Restigouche with my wife a few years back, and after our first wet night on the Kedgwick, we had to dry our tent out. We stopped at the junction of the Kedg and the Gouche to spread our tent out on the beach and shake it to get the worst of the water off, and two beefy guides came up to me menacingly within seconds, tellng us we couldn't stop here. I just couldn't persuade them that we weren't staying more than ten minutes. They glowered at us, standing two feet away, and practically pushed us back into the water.

So I can understand how the fisherfolk and camp owners feel about the fleets of drunken fools who terrify their river. I confess I too have been among the drunken louts on the river, sailing down with dozens of quarts of cold beer once upon a time. So I see it from both sides, I guess.

People are going to party, I don't think we want anyone to stop partying. Nothing wrong with a good hoot, except for the hangover. It wouldn't be so bad if folks made sure their campsite's clean when they leave in the morning, and pack out their beer cans. Burying the business is also a good idea.

I'm lecturing again, I know, but someone's gotta do it.

Ken

I'm not saying there should be an end to partying either, because I've floated that river too, with many cans of cold beer in my cooler but I've also had the decency to ask where I could float through the salmon pools when they were fishing and we ALWAYS picked our garbage as well as many other peoples. It just makes no sense not to because there are drop off sites along the river for your garbage, so you don't have to take it with you for the whole trip. There are two people who's jobs it is to clean the campsites and pick up the bagged garbage. However, they end up having to pick up scattered garbage. This seems to be the worst year yet for horror stories from the Restigouche this year.... canoes left behind, people just getting up and getting in their canoe, not packing a thing, even leaving steak in the frying pan and the tent and all their gear behind. Two young fellows drank so much that they passed out while floating until somebody eventually hauled them to shore, and they didn't even wake up until the next morning!!! It's a terrible shame because it is a beautiful river, a Canadian Heritage river no less, but it will soon be ruined for all!

Linda

As an ex-guide for Arpin Canoe Restigouche and an avid paddler who tries to make the treck up from Moncton a few times a year to do the Kedgwick and Restigouche rivers, I understand where most of you are coming from. There are some total idiots out there. Then again, there always were, but for years the Reparians paid people to pick up after them on Mondays. Since the Reparians went the way of the Buffalo, the trash left by these people can be unreal (I'll post a pic of our group of friends from July 9th 2006 and the garbage we picked up from Gilmore Island).

However, as an ex-citizen of Kedgwick, I will have you know that July 1st weekend on the Restigouche is not a family vacation. The same could even be said for the following weekend. You wouldn't expect a peaceful beach in Daytona in the middle of Spring Break, would you? Anybody who wants peace and quiet on the Restigouche can find it on any other weekend.

Of course, the River is more and more popular, so many people with deferent agendas meet on its waves, from the drunken idiots to the uptight snobs to the fun loving eco-tourists (my fav.) and of course, the fishermen, who can run the gamut from pleasant to evil. If seclusion is what you want, try the Gounamitz, Kedgwick (two branches), Upsalquitch and the Little Main (upper Restigouche from Saint-Quentin) in May and June. The Restigouche is also great (although colder) in June and if you can deal with the low water, early August is pretty quiet. In fact, some friends of mine enjoyed a day trip in October 2006 after lots of rainfall raised the river's level.

In the past two years, efforts have been made by Kedwick's mayor, Jean-Paul Savoie, as well as André Arpin, to set up a coalition designed to protect the river and take care of its infrastructure. Arpin has even gone out of his way to construct new outhouse facilities where others were burnt down. I like to have fun on Canada Day Weekend but I have never, ever had a problem with any other paddler and I and my crew (most of whom are Kedwick and Saint-Quentin natives) have always picked up not only our own trash, but that of others. So this year, if you ever see a bunch of tattooed French twenty-somethings in a group of 20 or more, give us a shout, we're much nicer than you might think.

End rant.

I have to disagree with the statement that there is no garbage collection along the restigouche because I know people who have that unpleasant task as their job; they deserve a big "2 Thumbs Up" from everybody, should even be profiled on the Discovery Channel's "Dirtiest Jobs" show, IMHO. One of the workers has told stories of coming to Gilmore Island campground and finding a whole campsite, including canoe, just left there. There was clothing, the tent was set up with sleeping bags and there was even a steak in the frying pan! It was just as if there had been a UFO come along and sucked the people up. When the rented canoe had been traced back, the parents of the young adults said " My son wouldn't have done that!" and nothing was done about it, instead of being charged for littering(up to $1000 fine I believe???) Perhaps if some people were made held accountable, there would be less littering and mess.
There could be weekends that it is quiet along the Restigouche, but I don't believe I've heard of many in the past few years. If it's not the canoes heading up river, it's the townies going upriver in their motorized canoe for a day of drinking and partying. I think they can be one of the worst bunch of people to meet up with if you work on the river. They just don't realize the amount of money that is left in the area by those #$%^ americans. There is alot of talk about the amount of our young people who are heading west to greener pastures because there are no jobs in the area, well if those $%^& americans stop coming to fish this area will be a ghost town, or retirement area because in addition to the jobs that are created directly on the river there is all the spin offs, such as the money spent at grocery stores, car dealerships(most camp vehicles are bought locally), gas stations, etc. Then the workers of the camps all spend their money locally as well. Not many people realize how much those
$%^& americans affect their lives and how it would all spiral out of control if they were to leave and stop coming and spending their money here. Not to sound too "glass half empty" but I could see that happening sometime soon because they are starting to get fed up! And nobody can convince me that the tourism of the Restigouche(canoe rentals) is going to make up the difference in money that comes to an area that has it in short supply already.

Well that's my rant.... Anybody else happy to see that ice melt away and see that lovely clear water shining in the sun? It's been a long winter and I for one can't wait to get a weekend after the ice all melts away to go canoeing!

Linda