JOURNEY #33 - June 9, 2003

"Nice Start, Nice Finish, A Bit Too Exciting In The Middle" (Bonnechere, Turner's Road To Round Lake)

MAP

Much of the Bonnechere River in this area is too small to appear as much more than a thin blue line on most maps. The best map is from The Adventure Map series by Chrismar. We purchased it at Bushtakah for $7. It is waterproof which is handy, but more importantly, the scale is such that you can make out islands, points, and bays which don't appear at all on other available maps. We aren't allowed to reproduce the Chrismar map here in any way, shape, or form, but the topo map for the area is reasonably useful. You can look at an online version at http://toporama.cits.rncan.gc.ca/images/b50k/03/031f12.gif.

PICTURES

Looking Back At The Old Bridge
A Scene From The Left Channel
View Of Escarpment From Stevenson Lake
Leaving Stevenson Lake And Into The Narrow Section
The Scene Of Keenan's Capsize
Near The Bottom Of The Rapids
Kayak-Wrecker
Bubble, Bubble, Toil And Trouble
Happily On Land
Logjam Between Highway 58 And Round Lake
A Nice Scene Near Round Lake
Turtles In The Sun
The End

TRIP REPORT

We thought this would be a pleasant but unspectacular day. From reading accounts from esteemed paddlers such as Kevin Callan, we were sure we had already seen the best that this region of the Bonnechere had to offer. But we decided to complete the stretch by taking a one-way trip from the cottage down to Round Lake, which we estimated at about 17km.

We left the van at the Round Lake Variety Store in the morning and "Matt" gave us a lift back to the cottage for $10, which he insisted included the price of parking all day at the store. He commented that there was some fast water to contend with (referring to the area near what is known as "Jack's Chute") but that if we were not comfortable running it, we could probably just wade through it.

The Chrismar adventure map mentions "a few swifts or rapids, depending on the water levels" and warns that they should be "scouted before running" due to "blind corners."

Kevin Callan writing in "Further Up the Creek" describes "two shallow swifts" that can be run or waded down, and a "small drop called Jack's Chute" that can be run "by experts."

Well, in our view, nobody had it quite right. We would say that there are three short stretches that could be described as "swifts" (fairly powerful at this time of year) and another stretch appropriately described as "rapids tumbling fiercly down to a large drop that churns like a boiling hellish cauldron" - or something like that.

The three sets of swifts are a lot of fun, and can certainly be run. On the second set (which is the second set of fast water by any description) watch out for the submerged log jutting out from the left side. At this time it was about two inches under the water, and Keenan smacked right into it, which instantly knocked his kayak sideways. He battled for quite a distance but it was too shallow to roll and too fast to right with a paddle thrust. He held on for a long time before giving in to the inevitable. By hanging onto his paddle throughout, he earned some scratched up knuckles and a chipped fingernail, but nothing too serious.

It was probably a good thing that this happened, because it led to a more cautious approach to the next set of "swifts" which turned out to be the rapids that crash into Jack's Chute. We tried our best to scout them, but they are on a bend and it was difficult to tell what lay ahead. The only place to land here was clearly private property, so we were in a bit of a bind. Julie took the lead, and remembering Matt's comments, thought perhaps we should wade down the left bank to get a better look.

This worked well - for about 20 feet. Then Julie found herself (or at least her kayak, if she had chosen to let go) about to be swept down the river by the incredibly powerful current. Giving it everything she had, she managed to throw the bow into some brush and get it up out of the water. Keenan of course followed suit.

We had no choice but to drag the yaks up the steep embankment, where quite a nice path was available. We walked through the woods to a small bay off to the side of the bubbling bottom of Jack's Chute. We both stared in horror at the standing waves and huge rocks. This was no place to be navigating with a 17-foot solo craft...whether being paddled by an expert or not!

Strangely enough, our reaction was laughter. And a bit of head-shaking. We had lunch on top of a big rock overlooking the rapids, took several pictures that will hopefully demonstrate that "swifts" is the wrong characterization for this stretch of fast water, and then got back underway.

There was one set of swifts left, and they were great fun. They were powerful enough to slosh a bit of water into our laps, but there were no obvious dangers and we both arrived at the bottom without incident. It was nice to escape that area with a positive experience.

As for the rest of the journey, the sections both before and after the rapids and swifts were quite spectacular. We particularly enjoyed the area between Turner's Road and Supply Lake. There are two channels here, and both the Chrismar map and Kevin Callan advise taking the right channel due to low water levels to the left. We followed this advice, and found ourselves in a brief bit of strong current flowing over a logjam and into a beautiful lagoon. This looked like a prime area for otters, but alas, none came out to play.

This section was so nice that we decided to circle back against the current via the opposite channel. We are a bit confused about the comments about low water levels, because it was plenty deep. We also took a little diversion into the Pine River, which ends in a lovely isolated bay before reducing to a tiny creek. There is also a campsite located on the Pine River right near the left channel intersection. It was marked, but it certainly hasn't been used much. It would definitely offer seclusion!

We paddled back to the top of the channels and went back down the right side for the second time. This time when we got to the end we continued through Supply Lake into Stevenson Lake. There are about a dozen cottages here, and in our opinion, a bunch of fortunate people. It's a beautiful lake with a lovely view of a cliff to the north.

The lake narrows, and next thing you know, you are into the section of swifts and rapids, as already described.

The section from the end of the swifts down to Round Lake suffers unfairly from such characterizations as "tedious" (Chrismar) or "a major problem" (Callan). Yes, it is true, there are many twists and turns, but we found this to be the best stretch of the entire 50km that we covered between this trip and the previous one. Although Callan, Runtz, and others are clearly charmed by the creek-like section between Basin Depot and Couchain Lake, it is so small that you spend most of your time concentrating on keeping your bow out of the brush rather than enjoying the scenery.

The section below Jack's Chute is just as beautiful in spots, and it is about twice as wide, so you can spend a lot more of your time looking at your surroundings. This is prime river otter territory, but once again, although we saw signs of their presence (mud slides on the banks) none came out to play. But it was an awesome paddle, and rather than finding it tedious, we were thrilled that it continued for as long as it did. There was a blue heron waiting around almost every turn.

The very end of this section of the Bonnechere is just as beautiful as the beginning. There are some fantastic campsites in Bonnechere Provincial Park, which you will pass on the right as you move downstream. We glided past a group of four wood turtles sitting on a log, took another couple of turns, and then we were out of the small river and into the massive bowl of water that is known as Round Lake.

This is truly an enormous lake, and it's shape and the geological features of the land that surrounds it creates some of the most changeable weather patterns imaginable. We were only on the lake for about thirty minutes for our paddle down to the access site behind the store, but in those few minutes we experiencing calm and cloudy, sunny with small riffles, and stormy-looking with small whitecaps.

Here are the statistics for this trip:

Total distance (including two-channel loop, Pine River diversion, and paddle to the municipal park access area on Round Lake): 19km

Total moving time: 3 hours, 52 minutes

Total stopped time: 1 hour, 42 minutes

Average moving speed: 4.9 km/h

Overall speed: 3.4 km/h

Maximum speed: 15.5 km/h (perhaps achieved by Keenan while partially submerged!)

Paddlecraft sighted on water: 0

Motorcraft sighted on water: 1 (man fishing near Round Lake)

Moving vehicles sighted on land: 3

Human beings sight on land: 4

Animals sighted: blue herons (many), kingfishers, vultures, hawk, beaver