JOURNEY #21 - September 7, 2002

Rideau River (Jock Landing/Mosquito Creek): "A Solid Two Hours"

We didn't have a lot of time today, but wanted to get in an interesting little paddle, so we headed up to the Jock River Landing and headed north. The water was very shallow but the launch site is still great for kayaks and canoes. Motor boat traffic was light, but we encountered quite a few paddlers.

We had been in this area in July (Journey 14) but had never noticed Mosquito Creek. We almost missed it this time as well. We were on our way back, having turned around in the area somewhere near the Merivale Road junction. Keenan was exploring the eastern shoreline and thought he had found a little bay. It turned out to be Mosquito Creek, which is carved through thick high reeds and bullrushes, and passes under River Road and then a large culvert which we think went under Leitrim Road. We turned around at the culvert due to time constraints, but it appears one could continue to explore the creek on the other side.

Near the River Road bridge there are the remains of an old stone bridge. The creek is fairly deep and there were several small motor boats docked behind some of the properties it adjoins. There were no bugs this time of year, but one could imagine that it would be thick with stinging critters earlier in the season. We surprised a few ducks, but the herons must have been sleeping through the heat today. Red-winged blackbirds and a single kingfisher were the only wildlife visibly represented.

On our way out of the creek we met a young lady in a yellow open kayak who asked Julie "do you know where Mosquito Creek is?". That's how we found out the name of it, which was confirmed by a gentleman in a lawn chair relaxing near the river.

This was hopefully one of the last scorcher weekends of the year. We paddled hard for the two hours which accounted for a bit of the fatigue on our return, but the heat was pretty oppressive. Soon the fall weather will be here, and we are looking forward to it!