Post by mitchell on Apr 28, 2009 8:17:32 GMT -5
Kyle and I were in the hunt for a river that neither of us has paddled. We didn't have to go far to find the South Oromocto. We both knew little about it other than having some nice rapids and a falls about half way down.
We parked my vehicle at the take out at the Smyth covered bridge and Kyle's friend drove us to the put in off the South Oromocto Lake rd. Water looked promising as it flowed over the dam on the South Oromocto lake, under a bridge and around a quick corner. We launched a little before 9am.
We paddled cautiously in the fast moving current with only a width of 15-20 feet. Some nice rapids and no sweepers put us into the first quiet section. Nothing much to worry about in the upper stretches other than sweepers, although we had no issues on this day. Many quick rapids with quiet pools below for the first couple hours.
We entered a couple large deadwaters, each ending in some nice rapids with big waves. We spent most of the morning scouting any rapid that disapeared around a corner. Neither of us were quite sure where exactly the falls were or how big they were, nevertheless we did not want to take a chance.
It was around noon when we passed under the only bridge before the falls. It is only a couple kms downriver from here to the falls. There is a fairly long rapid before another quiet section and then one short rapid and a quick turn which signals the beginning of the gorge. We first eddied out on river left but could see no signs of a portage trail so we ferried across to river right. There was no immediate signs of a portage here either. After looking around for a couple minutes we decided to start making our way through the trees. Most of this area had just been pre-commercially thinned, making for enough room between the trees but a mess of brush and small stumps all over the forest floor. We decided that we would both take one canoe at a time and man handle through the woods. Shortly into the portage, our path ended at a steep vertical drop to the gorge. We were forced to go straight up the hill. After about a 100 feet or so we stumbled onto an old road. From here we followed the road away from the river until it met with another that headed back towards the falls. He hauled the canoes by rope over the snow down to a lookout spot. From here we had to make our own trail down the steep hill to the river. I'm glad we decided to do this portage in one trip instead of two. It was certainly not an easy portage and porbably the reason why not many people canoe this river. Now I am going to be really pissed if someone tells me there was a perfectly good trail on river left. Well good exercise if nothing else.
The river below the falls is all quick water with no rapids right up to the Smyth covered bridge. It is an enjoyable trip and the most scenic from the falls down. Steep hillsides and large trees make up most of the scenery. Definetly worth doing again but it sure would be nice to have a proper portage trail. Here are some pics.
mitchellamos.spaces.live.com
We parked my vehicle at the take out at the Smyth covered bridge and Kyle's friend drove us to the put in off the South Oromocto Lake rd. Water looked promising as it flowed over the dam on the South Oromocto lake, under a bridge and around a quick corner. We launched a little before 9am.
We paddled cautiously in the fast moving current with only a width of 15-20 feet. Some nice rapids and no sweepers put us into the first quiet section. Nothing much to worry about in the upper stretches other than sweepers, although we had no issues on this day. Many quick rapids with quiet pools below for the first couple hours.
We entered a couple large deadwaters, each ending in some nice rapids with big waves. We spent most of the morning scouting any rapid that disapeared around a corner. Neither of us were quite sure where exactly the falls were or how big they were, nevertheless we did not want to take a chance.
It was around noon when we passed under the only bridge before the falls. It is only a couple kms downriver from here to the falls. There is a fairly long rapid before another quiet section and then one short rapid and a quick turn which signals the beginning of the gorge. We first eddied out on river left but could see no signs of a portage trail so we ferried across to river right. There was no immediate signs of a portage here either. After looking around for a couple minutes we decided to start making our way through the trees. Most of this area had just been pre-commercially thinned, making for enough room between the trees but a mess of brush and small stumps all over the forest floor. We decided that we would both take one canoe at a time and man handle through the woods. Shortly into the portage, our path ended at a steep vertical drop to the gorge. We were forced to go straight up the hill. After about a 100 feet or so we stumbled onto an old road. From here we followed the road away from the river until it met with another that headed back towards the falls. He hauled the canoes by rope over the snow down to a lookout spot. From here we had to make our own trail down the steep hill to the river. I'm glad we decided to do this portage in one trip instead of two. It was certainly not an easy portage and porbably the reason why not many people canoe this river. Now I am going to be really pissed if someone tells me there was a perfectly good trail on river left. Well good exercise if nothing else.
The river below the falls is all quick water with no rapids right up to the Smyth covered bridge. It is an enjoyable trip and the most scenic from the falls down. Steep hillsides and large trees make up most of the scenery. Definetly worth doing again but it sure would be nice to have a proper portage trail. Here are some pics.
mitchellamos.spaces.live.com
