Post by mitchell on May 18, 2009 19:07:55 GMT -5
After having no luck in finding a shuttle driver for the Nepisiguit, we decided on the Gounamitz River. Alica, Tyson, Scooby and I left Fredericton around 6 PM Friday night and arrived at Andre Arpins at 9:30 PM. The campground was closed for the night so we found a nice campsite on the Restigouche River. We were the only tents in the campground. There were lots of blow downs which gave us plenty of dry firewood for the night. We set up our tents and had a few drinks.
Morning came early as the temperatures were at or below zero. I was first to get up and started a fire and warmed myself as the others awakened. We boiled some water for coffee and had a quick breakfast of oatmeal. The sun rose slowly over the Restigouche as we packed up our tents and readied ourselves for the trip ahead. Alicia was nervous the river might have too many difficult rapids. We did know there were 3 sets of falls that might have to be portaged. Andre had also warned us that there may be many sweepers on the upper stretch as we were most likely the first Gounamitz paddlers of the year. His shuttle driver arrived shortly after 8 am to pick us up.
The shuttle was around 45 minutes of woods road travel. There were many blow downs across the wide lumber roads that we could barely get around. Our driver had a chainsaw though in case we needed it. Alicia was not long figuring out that if blow downs like these were across the wide roads, the narrow Gounamitz would be most likely be blocked by many sweepers. Around 4 kms from our put in, a large washout about 5 feet wide by 3 feet deep spanned the road. Tyson and I were quickly and silently thinking of ways we could get around this unforeseen obstacle when the shuttle driver told us we would go no further. I'm sure the looks on our faces mimicked that of a child who has just dropped their candy down the sink.
Meanwhile, Alicia was ecstatic and glowing from ear to ear. Unbenounced to us she was praying the whole drive that we would not be able to reach the put in. Our only option was to put in at the second falls, about 12 kms downriver from our initial plans. The secondary road was steep and we had to cut and remove a few blow downs along the way. Alicia's chin was very high as she expressed her exuberance to the shuttle driver about our new starting point, at which time I asked him if he could perhaps shuttle Alicia back with him. ;D
After a little sulking from Tyson and I, we reached our destination. None of us were interested in running the falls this early in the morning. The river ran very clear like many of the northern NB rivers. We thanked our shuttle driver and began packing our canoes for the journey. Shortly after launching, we came to the third falls. The only passable route was on river right but a sweeper hung over the only runnable line. We ferried across to river left and lifted the canoes over the rocky ledge. The river ran quickly at a fairly steep elevation drop. We stopped and scouted some rapids along the way that we ran successfully before stopping at an island for lunch. The sun was shining and the temperatures reached the high teens. Shortly after lunch, we reached the confluence with the Little Main Restigouche. The river deepened here but remained swift. We began searching for a suitable campsite for the night. Our driver told us there were a few shelters along the river. We came to our first around 3PM, but that did not interest us as there was much noise coming from the many vehicles and ATVs parked there. We continued about an hour downstream and came across the second shelter completely empty. The road to the shelter was washed out and had a few blow downs across it. We happily set up camp here. After a few refreshments and a nice supper of marinated venison, chicken, potatoes and vegetables, we retired for the night.
Rain pelted out tents all night but we remained dry and comfortable. We took our time and cooked up a nice breakfast of fried potatoes and eggs under our shelter. We only had about 1.5 hours to the take out but enjoyed ourselves in spite of the rainfall. We packed our gear in our awaiting vehicle and headed for home. It was a very nice trip even though we did not get to run the full length of the Gounamitz. Pics are below.
mitchellamos.spaces.live.com/
Mitchell
Morning came early as the temperatures were at or below zero. I was first to get up and started a fire and warmed myself as the others awakened. We boiled some water for coffee and had a quick breakfast of oatmeal. The sun rose slowly over the Restigouche as we packed up our tents and readied ourselves for the trip ahead. Alicia was nervous the river might have too many difficult rapids. We did know there were 3 sets of falls that might have to be portaged. Andre had also warned us that there may be many sweepers on the upper stretch as we were most likely the first Gounamitz paddlers of the year. His shuttle driver arrived shortly after 8 am to pick us up.
The shuttle was around 45 minutes of woods road travel. There were many blow downs across the wide lumber roads that we could barely get around. Our driver had a chainsaw though in case we needed it. Alicia was not long figuring out that if blow downs like these were across the wide roads, the narrow Gounamitz would be most likely be blocked by many sweepers. Around 4 kms from our put in, a large washout about 5 feet wide by 3 feet deep spanned the road. Tyson and I were quickly and silently thinking of ways we could get around this unforeseen obstacle when the shuttle driver told us we would go no further. I'm sure the looks on our faces mimicked that of a child who has just dropped their candy down the sink.
Meanwhile, Alicia was ecstatic and glowing from ear to ear. Unbenounced to us she was praying the whole drive that we would not be able to reach the put in. Our only option was to put in at the second falls, about 12 kms downriver from our initial plans. The secondary road was steep and we had to cut and remove a few blow downs along the way. Alicia's chin was very high as she expressed her exuberance to the shuttle driver about our new starting point, at which time I asked him if he could perhaps shuttle Alicia back with him. ;DAfter a little sulking from Tyson and I, we reached our destination. None of us were interested in running the falls this early in the morning. The river ran very clear like many of the northern NB rivers. We thanked our shuttle driver and began packing our canoes for the journey. Shortly after launching, we came to the third falls. The only passable route was on river right but a sweeper hung over the only runnable line. We ferried across to river left and lifted the canoes over the rocky ledge. The river ran quickly at a fairly steep elevation drop. We stopped and scouted some rapids along the way that we ran successfully before stopping at an island for lunch. The sun was shining and the temperatures reached the high teens. Shortly after lunch, we reached the confluence with the Little Main Restigouche. The river deepened here but remained swift. We began searching for a suitable campsite for the night. Our driver told us there were a few shelters along the river. We came to our first around 3PM, but that did not interest us as there was much noise coming from the many vehicles and ATVs parked there. We continued about an hour downstream and came across the second shelter completely empty. The road to the shelter was washed out and had a few blow downs across it. We happily set up camp here. After a few refreshments and a nice supper of marinated venison, chicken, potatoes and vegetables, we retired for the night.
Rain pelted out tents all night but we remained dry and comfortable. We took our time and cooked up a nice breakfast of fried potatoes and eggs under our shelter. We only had about 1.5 hours to the take out but enjoyed ourselves in spite of the rainfall. We packed our gear in our awaiting vehicle and headed for home. It was a very nice trip even though we did not get to run the full length of the Gounamitz. Pics are below.
mitchellamos.spaces.live.com/
Mitchell
