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 Post subject: Natashquan River
PostPosted: February 7th, 2022, 9:50 am 
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Location: Lake Catchacoma
Looking to do this river summer 2022 and was wondering if anyone had done it in August/ September. Any information on possible water levels is greatly appreciated.


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 Post subject: Re: Natashquan River
PostPosted: February 7th, 2022, 4:25 pm 
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There are a few gauges for the Natashquan. Only 1 is currently active but for the others I think you can still access historical data.

http://www.cehq.gouv.qc.ca/depot/histor ... 4903_Q.txt

You may have to get there via the main page and click on the legal disclaimer first.

http://www.cehq.gouv.qc.ca/index_en.asp

I paddled the Natashquan in 2014 (ended mid-August) part of a longer trip that started from the QNSL rail line. Water level were ok, on the lower river levels were falling but still easily passable. Once you cross the Quebec/Labrador border it's pretty much all an easy float with fantastic beach camping. Typically from mid-August to October you will find the lowest levels during the paddling season (lowest level of bugs as well!)

Here are the levels during my trip

Attachment:
Screenshot 2022-02-07 161533.png


Here is the current annual chart which shows the historical max/min

Attachment:
Screenshot 2022-02-07 162002.png


How are you planning to access the river? Air Saguenay used to have a base in Natashquan but they went under a few years ago, another company bought out the assets but I'm not sure is they are actually flying or if they are still servicing that area. My trip took 36 days (zero layovers) but we did not reach Lac Natashquan until day 18 and personally I found the entire Natashquan section brutally rushed which was sad given how scenic it was. Unfortunately my partner on that trip had an absolute deadline to finish.


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 Post subject: Re: Natashquan River
PostPosted: February 9th, 2022, 5:14 pm 
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Location: Lake Catchacoma
Very helpful. Thanks. Have you done the river? And if so, what flight service did you use?


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 Post subject: Re: Natashquan River
PostPosted: February 9th, 2022, 5:55 pm 
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I did the Natashquan in 2014, as I mentioned, it was part of a longer trip which started From Oreway on the rail line. Downstream on Riviere L'eau Claire to Atikonak Lake then over the height of land to the Romaine. Upstream on the Romaine and then a crossover to the Natashquan watershed.

The rapids section below Lac Natashqwuan is beautiful, we ran some and portaged the really big ones. After the big Cascade it's pretty much all floating in the strong current while enjoying the scenery, just a couple of portages in that very long section down to the St Lawrence (multiple easy portages in he last couple of days.

We spent 18 days on the Natashquan, that was a very rushed pace, if I had been running the show it would have 24 days (minimum), my partner on that trip had to be home to start a new job.

Air Saguenay went out of business in 2019, they were crushed by lawsuits related to a fatal crash a couple of years earlier and could not obtain insurance.

You could check with Air Tunilik, they bought some of Air Saguenay's aircraft and apparently took over the associated float bases including the one at Natashquan. They have a Beaver and two Otters (one is a turbo) so you should check with them to see if they can fly in that area.

It won't be cheap, I'd estimate a Beaver flight would run you 4-5,000 dollars (175 miles each way)

https://airtunilik.com/en/home/

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 Post subject: Re: Natashquan River
PostPosted: March 1st, 2024, 4:53 pm 
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Hi,
I am part of a group of 4, maybe 6, paddlers looking to paddle the easy portions of the Natashquan River. Some of us flew in to the river just below the confluence of the Mistanipisipou River and paddled down to the road a decade ago. It's a beautiful and relatively easy river. We are planning another trip but this time flying in to near the Labrador border (still avoiding the demanding upper river) . I would love to fly in to just below the Musquamanaga junction if they can land a seaplane in that seection. There are two sizable rapids/ falls 9km below the junction. Are there portages around both ? In Terry Aitken's log (elsewhere at the myccr site) he mentions a single portage. I wonder if that was around both sets of rapids (which are leass than 400 meters apart) or just the first. The rapids in question are at 52.09-52.08
(https://caltopo.com/map.html#ll=52.0922 ... ire_recent)
This group has been paddling together for 50 years and we have members who have lost their taste for bushwack portages.
Any information you can provide would be great.
Thanks,
Ralph


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 Post subject: Re: Natashquan River
PostPosted: March 1st, 2024, 7:35 pm 
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Ralph, I paddled the extra long version of the Natashquan (starting from the QNSL rail line), in 2014. I'm having trouble aligning that specific location with my trip notes so I can't at this point find specific references to those two rapids/portages.

All I really recall is that after completing the Cascades and crossing the Lab/QC border there were few if any difficulties, the portages were for the most part relatively easy.

I'll keep trying to line things up so I can accurately comment on those specific rapids.

I certainly agree that the river below the border is both beautiful and easy, we had fairly low water (mid-August for that section) so there were endless beaches to camp on (and quite a few bears to watch!).

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 Post subject: Re: Natashquan River
PostPosted: March 2nd, 2024, 4:22 pm 
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Thanks for your quick reply. The two rapids/falls are about 9km below the Musquamana ga junction just north of the Quebec border and are basically the last rapids of any sort until you get well south of the East Natashquan junction.
I just noticed you were on the Natashquan the same summer we were though you took on the much more challenging trip starting at the railway and crossing a couple watersheds to get to the Natashquan.
I wish we could take on a trip like that but I am urging my fellow paddlers to take on as much as we can, so thanks for your effort.


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 Post subject: Re: Natashquan River
PostPosted: March 2nd, 2024, 7:14 pm 
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OK, got it!

Aug 5, 2014, that was our 30th day from Oreway, we had camped at the bottom of the Cascades. Keep in mind the gauge was showing 296cms that day and continued to fall each day.

There is about an 8km stretch of fast water above the first big drop (R5), there was a little bit of gravel scrapping along the way, there is a bit of an R1 just before the drop. We approached on river right, my note "An R1 leads to the short R5 which that could be a dangerous portage or drag over depending on water levels" This drop of 4+ metres is complex, not a straight line across the river, at our levels there was plenty of exposed bedrock mid-river creating multiple channels. We were able to pull up to a tiny rock ledge on the right, just big enough for one canoe and the bow of the second, the spruce were really thick here so this little ledge was all we had. the far right side channel here is only a couple of metres wide, drops straight down to a tiny pool, my partner climbed down to the pool and found a reasonable secure flat rock so I could hand down the gear bag by bag. From there it's straight forward, maybe 20m to where you can put in. NOTE: that ledge at the top was only a few inches above water, I have no idea what the bushwacking would be like if you stopped further upstream.

My notes for the 2nd half are not as detailed, below the first big ledge we ran an "easy" R3 on the left of an island? For the final section all I have is
Quote:
"we portaged 150m over the rocks, relatively easy stuff"
Looking at my GPS track I'm seeing that we did it on the left and it was more like 225m and took far longer than it should have.

If you get any flight info about access points and current pricing please post. I might be able to dig up some photos I can send to your Gmail (if it's valid). Also have my partners notes (French) for the rapids of interest.

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 Post subject: Re: Natashquan River
PostPosted: March 3rd, 2024, 10:19 am 
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Thanks very much for your detailed descriptions. That is very helpful though it might make my sales pitch to fly in to the river upstream of this a little harder. Also, it's quite possible that Air Tunilik will not want to land on any part of the river between the Musquamanaga Junction and these rapids making this all moot.
When I get information from Air Tunilik about pricing and access I'll post it here.
Yes, my gmail address, ralphzmason@gmail.com is valid.
Many thanks.
Ralph


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 Post subject: Re: Natashquan River
PostPosted: March 3rd, 2024, 6:55 pm 
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Yeah, my notes for the section you are thinking about flying into are all about the fast water (we floated through at about 7kmph) and shallow with gravel bars. While it's straight and wide and maybe possible to land there I suspect that you would have a hard time convincing a pilot that it was safe. More likely they will want to drop you right below the border as marked on the cartespleinair map.

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