Petawawa River
BY KEVIN CALLAN PHOTOS BY PAUL CHIVERS
All aboard nature’s rollercoaster
Graduation day on the lower
DON’T TRIFLE with the Petawawa River. The ferocity of the lower Petawawa is the stuff of legend on Algonquin Park’s only major whitewater canoe route. Dave, Peter, Scott and I cut our whitewater teeth on lesser rivers before we felt our skills were sufficient for the river the Algonkian tribe called “a noise heard from far away.”
The Petawawa originates in
the western reaches of the 7,725 square-kilometres that is majestic Algonquin Park. The renowned lower stretch separating Cedar and McManus Lakes by about a week’s paddle boasts the most intimidating whitewater on the river. As intermediate paddlers, our
group elects to limit ourselves to the shorter route between Lake Traverse and McManus Lake. The
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car shuttle is less time-consuming, the rapids are less technical, and most portages can be avoided with moderate whitewater experience. Beware the river in the spring, however, when it’s gorged with Algonquin’s abundant snowmelt – the water may bring to bear too much volume and speed to be safe. And it’s cold until mid-May. At the Lake Traverse put-in, we take advantage of the frothy water
at the base of the rapids to practise our paddle strokes. Most whitewater enthusiasts find the 90-minute flatwater trip across the expanse of Lake Traverse a bit monotonous. It has every bit of the splendour of an Algonquin postcard, but all we can think about are the hammering rapids ahead of us. We finally see where Traverse narrows and the flat water is pinched between the steep- sided, V-shaped valley. The water slides faster under our
craft as we approach the first run at Big Thompson Rapids, but it’s rather anti-climactic. Some years the water level is low during the summer and autumn from lack of rain. We lift the canoe around the first drop and walk ahead with the gear to scout the lower portion of the rapid. Convinced we can take the canoe through, we return to our craft to
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