JOURNEY #6 - June 23, 2002

Rideau River (Windsor Park to Strathcona Park): "I Need A Motor On This Thing"

You might say we overdid it a little this weekend. Three straight days of kayaking in winds and currents. But we'd probably do it again given the chance.

We decided to launch from Windsor Park again, but this time heading north. It would have been better to start out against the current so we could simply turn around when we got tired and enjoy and easy ride back, but we didn't want to waste time searching for a launch site to the north, so we made do.

The ride down to Strathcona was lovely of course, with the wind and current both behind us. Right at the start we saw an adorable baby blue heron, and Keenan had a muskrat cutting right in front of him down by Rideau River Park.

We had a hint that we would be working hard on the way back when we passed under the pedestrian bridge adjacent the Queensway overpass. The water was shallow and moving fast, we just flew through this area, and soon found ourselves facing what appeared to be some very shallow rapids at the top of Strathcona. We weren't familiar with this part of the river, and given we had already been paddling hard for two days, decided not to shoot the rapids out of concern for our ability to make it back upstream to the car.

It was actually not so easy to carry out this decision. The water was blasting along here, and paddling with an all out effort was required to prevent backsliding. This became more of a cardio workout than anything, as it was very hot and humid. And of course the struggle was not over, we had to face the current and wind all the way back. The current did not really settle down until we were almost back to the Main Street bridge. It was a great workout, but we were both ready to give our arms a rest by the time we got back.

When we landed, Keenan took of his lifejacket and revealed his shirt was completely saturated - not with water, with perspiration! This seemed to impress a couple passing by, who stopped to chat us up about kayaking vs. canoeing. They seemed a bit skeptical but we may have started another couple down the path to kayaking bliss.