Hey Recped, was wondering what the camping was like between Oreway and the Ossokmanuan Reservoir?

Saw that you had 11 layover days, crappy weather on the trip?

We are thinking of adding that stretch onto the end of a trip.

Thanks

Of course I'm curious what route you are doing before you get to Oreway?

In any event, yes weather was variable but I was in no hurry so only paddled in pleasant, dry and non windy conditions.

As far as camping, on all big the lakes there are lots of nice beaches available mostly big ones but as a solo I also camped on a few beaches that would be tight for a group. On the early river section the camps were mixed but I had no issue finding reasonable ones. Once you get on the Atikonak River there isn't much, There was a small beach upstream from the fishing lodge and the one major Class IV+ rapid (use caution). Once I got to The first part of the Ossok I camped at the south end on a nice beach, after that the camping is poor, at least it was for me because the water level was extremely high. I was getting messages telling me that there was a great beach up ahead but when I would get there I found the "beach" under a couple of metres of water! Spent 2 nights at a REALLY crappy mudhole in non-stop rain!

If you decide to paddle that route let me know as I can provide some further details you might find helpful.

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"What else could I do? I had no trade so I became a peddler" - Lazarus Greenberg 1915

Thanks. We have a specific amount of days and just wondering about the time line.

Thanks for reviving this thread. Recped, I really enjoyed your website with the trip log and pictures - great reading / resource. I hope you do one day finish the 2018 trip notes - I would love to see how the rest of the trip went!!

In the case of the unfinished 2018 report........pestering might actually be effective! There was some cool stuff during the last two weeks, also some very uncool stuff getting home.

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"What else could I do? I had no trade so I became a peddler" - Lazarus Greenberg 1915

Please be sure to let us know if you do - especially now that you've piqued our curiosity by giving that description of the remainder of your journey. Really enjoying all the details and the daily trip map showing your progress is super cool (plus provides vital campsite info).

It's interesting (to me) that the preferred route for doing the George seems to be to access via the De Pas. Your 2018 route seems logistically easier to access and the upper George seems spectacular. I wonder why it's not the more common access point? Maybe the issue is getting back to Lab City / Wabush from Kangiqsualujjuaq? I couldn't find any info on whether there is a commercial flight for this route.

The De Pas is the preferred for most because a) it's the shortest/fastest, b) it has the simplest and cheapest logistics.

I've paddled the George three times, first from Schefferville via the DePas, second via float plane from Schefferville into the headwaters and third the long slog across the Smallwood Reservoir.

The DePas route is easy, Drive to Sept-Iles, train to Schefferville, paddle to Kangiqsualujjuaq, flight to Kuujjuac (daily), flight to Schefferville, train back to your vehicle in Sept-Isle. You can also fly from Schefferville to Sept-Iles but flights are infrequent and expensive. The option I used in 2018 was to have a (very good) friend drive me from Toronto to the put-in on the Smallwood and at the end fly Kangiqsualujjuaq to Kuujjuac to Montreal (for all three options boats and gear are shipped back to Montreal via ocean freight, usually arrives in Mtl. in late October).

It's possible to take the flight from Schefferville to Sept-isle but get dropped off in Wabush, it's not a regular stop but can usually be arranged as happened the time I was flying back to Sept-Iles (intended to take the train but the train schedule changed while I was on the river and it would have meant laying over in Schefferville for 5 days (weekend plus) until the next train south. That flight was ridiculously expensive but it was worth it to get out of Schefferville. That flight made a 5 minute stop in Wabush to pick up one passenger.

Rough trip durations:

Via DePas - 3+ weeks
Via Headwaters - 4+ weeks
Via Smallwood - +/- 7 weeks

The Upper and Lower George are quite different, the upper river is on top of the plateau while the lower runs through a very deep "valley" in the plateau. Crossing the Smallwood is a completely different experience.

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"What else could I do? I had no trade so I became a peddler" - Lazarus Greenberg 1915