Canoe river trips let's have some stories

[MugEye]

Who has done canoe river trips ? Let me now the river , here on the river you go . How difficult was the river ? What are the high lights of the trip ? Would it be a trip to do again ?

[Mamid]

Originally Posted by MugEye

Who has done canoe river trips ? Let me now the river , here on the river you go . How difficult was the river ? What are the high lights of the trip ? Would it be a trip to do again ?

Drayton Valley to Edmonton... Always a fun time!! Take four days, three nights

Might be low this year due to the weather tho....

Cool camp-sites along the way and fun times

Can send you gps locations for camp-sites if you want

[IR_mike]

Pretty much sums up Alberta river travelling:
http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/showt...hlight=partner

[^v^Tinda wolf^v^]

Red deer to drum several times and depending on how full the river is the stretch for about 5 klms before content bridge can be challenging. Once you get to this stretch of river there's no backing off that's fore sure, your in it for a ride.

I also did a trip on the north Saskatchewan from Abraham to rocky one time that was white knuckled a good portion of the way. This trip I used a kayak and I would say it is an advanced run in a lot of areas and not very canoe friendly from the dam to Saunders landing if the river is full.

[drhu22]

This could be good... include pictures please!

[RedLabel]

The Red Deer to Drumheller trip is great! Family friendly, nothing too challenging. Still ended up dumping my canoe on the only rock i could find.

Paddle left, no, no other left!!

[Red Bullets]

If you are wanting to canoe and looking for lots of ideas and info check out PaddleAlberta.org.

http://www.paddlealberta.org/paddlin...g_database.asp

The lower NSR or lower Red Deer are casual rivers but still require an alert respect.

[neilsledder]

Originally Posted by Mamid

Drayton Valley to Edmonton... Always a fun time!! Take four days, three nights



Might be low this year due to the weather tho....



Cool camp-sites along the way and fun times



Can send you gps locations for camp-sites if you want

The water level might not be to bad this year. We don't have much snow but the mountains got a decent amount, so it might not be as bad as last year.

As for the guys in canoes don't get mad at jet boats that keep there speed up while passing you guys. The boats put out much smaller wakes going fast then while going slow. I had a group of ladies try to lecture me about me going to fast past them ( I was a very safe distance away). They caught up to us when we stopped for a wiener roast. They were mad that I put up to big of a wave when went past. I tried to explain to them how it works but they wouldn't listen. So when I past them again I went nice and slow and they found out how much bigger the wave is.

[V_1]

Originally Posted by neilsledder

The water level might not be to bad this year. We don't have much snow but the mountains got a decent amount, so it might not be as bad as last year.
.

My hopes and guess also

[^v^Tinda wolf^v^]

Originally Posted by RedLabel

The Red Deer to Drumheller trip is great! Family friendly, nothing too challenging. Still ended up dumping my canoe on the only rock i could find.

Paddle left, no, no other left!!

Would that be the rock to the right just after the train trestle, before content bridge.

[RBI]

When I was 15 , ( seems like only last century ) while at Camp Yamniska ( YMCA camp West of Calgary ) we ( 12 of us , 4 canoes ) did a 5 day, 4 night canoe trip from Lake Louise to Ghost Dam , about 122 miles on the water.

We had to portage Bow Falls ( Banff ) , CeeBee dam , and I think it was Horse Shoe dam/falls ( don't quite remember ), but there were three portages .

It rained on us about 80 % of the trip , and at the time , all I remember thinking , was that I wished I gone on the horse back trip instead .

on one of the nights , there was quite a cool meteor shower , and as opposed to having tents , we used a large piece to poly ( 6m vapor barrier ) to make one large lean to , so we all just laid there in the dark and watched the show.

during the portage around Bow Falls , we were massively surrounded by Japanese tourists , wanting to take our pictures .

When the whole trip was over , I felt bad for the group that had done the horseback trip , as they had missed out on a great adventure .

[^v^Tinda wolf^v^]

In my original post I meant the stretch before tollman bridge can be challenging not the stretch before content. This stretch before tollman bridge has no where to pull off in case you need to saddle up better due to the cliffs on both sides. For fishing on the red deer I've always had great success fishing the bends in the river. I learned after my first river ride to bring a bandana to cover my face for sun glare off the river. A really hot summer day canoeing the river through the bad lands can be punishing.

[ghfalls]

I've done the Nordegg to rocky a fe times. It's a good trip and you can avoid most of the rapids by staying on the opposite side. Every time,someone has gone for a swim, but that's part of the fun. Last year we did jasper to Hinton, and it is crazy how slow the Athabasca is. It was beautiful, though. We stayed on jasper island the first night, then two nights at the brule tunnel, then to Hinton on the final day. Crossing jasper lake in the rain and a 40 kph headwind was a long and tedious task. At the tunnels, there is great opportunity to go for a good mountain climb. This year we might try Hinton to white court. It's a bit longer of a trip, but looks like it should be a good run.

[MugEye]

Has anyone been on the north sask river east of Edmonton to the sask border ?

[Yaha Tinda]

North Fork Prairie Creek.
Conditions- Some obstructions; beaver dams, enraged farmer.
Highlights- Decent fishing for pan sized brookies and browns, wildlife.
Again? not without backup.

[Bushleague]

Too many to list, too many stretches to bore you with but heres a few of my favorites.

Hinton to Whitecourt on the Athabasca: about 3-4 days, pretty easy, some sections with big-ish waves that can be avoided, sweepers as always. Good fishing, decent scenery, you can hear rigs and logging trucks pretty much the whole way which is depressing but it also means you can walk out if things go bad. Good way to introduce the kids to "Wilderness" tripping and some mild white water excitement with low risk.

Wabasca River Chip River to North Senex Bridge: my absolute favorite trip, the river is challenging and sections of this are remote, VERY remote. Short of fly in or leaving the province it would be hard to find a more truly WILD section of river to run, I've tried. There are some jetboats once in awhile but on a low water year, if you mess up in the wrong place, help is not coming for a long time and theres a good chance they will only find your bones when they get there... absolutely love this stretch.

Little Smokey, Valleyview to High Prairie: It looks pretty sedate at each end but there is a pretty sizable section in the middle that is absolutely crazy. I've always been able to run it but under high water conditions I could see needing to line it or portage. Pretty easy to walk out but frankly some of the locals scare me a little, and I spend a lot of time in Wabasca.... some nights you may be was serenaded to sleep by the sounds of drunk farmers yelling at their Ol' ladys.... and banjos.

[220swifty]

I've done Trunk road to Horburg on the NSR 3 times, went swimming against my will on 2 of those trips. Lots of fun and great scenery though, and if you plan on dunking, it isn't so bad....

I've also done Drumheller to Jenner rodeo grounds. Awesome tour of the badlands, but gets pretty flat after you get through Dinosaur. Also, your camps have to be timed well, as riverside camping isn't allowed in Dinosaur PP, and it's about a day to paddle through the park depending on the time of year. Plan to camp just upriver of the park, hit the general store in the park for lunch/ice cream and an ice resupply, and be clear of the park by supper.

[Bushleague]

Originally Posted by 220swifty

I've done Trunk road to Horburg on the NSR 3 times, went swimming against my will on 2 of those trips. Lots of fun and great scenery though, and if you plan on dunking, it isn't so bad....

I've also done Drumheller to Jenner rodeo grounds. Awesome tour of the badlands, but gets pretty flat after you get through Dinosaur. Also, your camps have to be timed well, as riverside camping isn't allowed in Dinosaur PP, and it's about a day to paddle through the park depending on the time of year. Plan to camp just upriver of the park, hit the general store in the park for lunch/ice cream and an ice resupply, and be clear of the park by supper.

That Drumheller stretch is one I've been planning to do with the kids, thanks for the trip report.

[Bushleague]

Originally Posted by drhu22

This could be good... include pictures please!

As requested