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 Post subject: Noire River Trip report
PostPosted: June 30th, 2005, 9:29 pm 
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Joined: July 2nd, 2001, 7:00 pm
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Location: Appleton, Maine
I just returned from 4 days on the Noire and what follows is a brief trip report and pics.

I used Noire River Expeditions for a shuttle, they can be reached at 819 778 6347. Going solo creates a problem for both paddler and outfitter. I didn't want to pay too much and they have to cover expenses yet they understand a solo paddler can only pay so much. We reached what I consider a happy medium. They are very nice folks, I would highly recommend them.

I put in at Lac Fornat and figure it was 100k back down to the outfitters takeout..

I am not a ww tripper by any means, I paddle a wood canvas Chestnut canoe and portage anything over class 2 tech. The river was high, so I scouted most runs as best I could, or walked. The heat was oppressive during the trip and I think I suffered a little from it. I drank alot of water, but I'm 57 and age has it's limits and it took it's toll. I still enjoyed the river, lots of great scenery, big trees right along the river, sandy campsites, great rapids to admire, all in all a great time.

I met a group of 8 teens with 2 adults from Ontario in 5 canoes who had taken ww1, ww2 and some ww3 courses. In the brief time our paths crossed, their skill and knowlege of running rapids really impressed me. It did my heart good to see young folks in open canoes with so much skill on the trail. I tipped my cup of late night rum to them more than once.

Go here
http://community.webshots.com/album/382032147uAhesx
for some pics, hit the slide show for a more detailed report.

Robin


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PostPosted: July 1st, 2005, 9:51 am 
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Joined: June 22nd, 2001, 7:00 pm
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Location: Strongsville, Ohio USA
Thanks for sharing the details and the link. I enjoyed the pics and felt the pull of the beauty of that river.

The tradeoffs of soloing make an interesting topic. Some of my best trips were solos while some of my less than satisfying journies were solos. Some of my best contemplative times were when traveling solo but I also I recall times when I was unsettled or agitated over something on the trip or in my life and having someone at those times would have been perhaps helpful.

Great stuff and again, thanks for sharing.

-Jester

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PostPosted: July 1st, 2005, 11:58 am 
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Joined: September 22nd, 2003, 8:55 pm
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Location: Wisconsin
Thanks for your trip report robin. I will be leaving for the Noire on July 9th. Can you give me status on the insects? Was the river crowded?

Tks

Leo


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PostPosted: July 1st, 2005, 8:40 pm 
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Location: Appleton, Maine
Leo,

Mosquito's where a problem near dusk, black flies where there but only swarmed, no bites, they will probably be gone soon. Horse flies where a constant problem, but I used Deep Woods Off spray and it kept them at bay.
I saw only a group of 5 canoes, and another pair of canoes, but only briefly, never felt crowded at all. Nice river trip, enjoy, Robin


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PostPosted: July 1st, 2005, 8:53 pm 
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Location: Sunny Wasaga Beach
Robin,
Were you still planning to do Kipawa this year. or was this trip instead of Kip?

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PostPosted: July 2nd, 2005, 11:20 am 
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Joined: July 6th, 2004, 12:10 pm
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Location: Wakefield, Quebec
Sounds like we might have been on the river at the same time, Robin. I wonder if we saw your boat?

Our party did the stretch from the bridge above the Forant down to the Black River Inn....June 24-27.

It certainly was hot on the meanders...but with a sandy beach around every bend it was easy to cool off.. Drank a lot of gatorade, tho'...

All in all, an utterly delightlful trip. The high water made some rapids easier (50/50 was running more like 80/20)) and others harder (we walked around Manitou) .

I especially enjoyed the 14 km boulder run, from Jam Rock down.

How'd you like the portage at Mountain Chutes... :o


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PostPosted: July 2nd, 2005, 12:06 pm 
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Location: Appleton, Maine
Harold,
I still have my plans in place for Kipawa the first week of August, hopefully the wife forgets about how much I just spent on a solo shuttle, UGH....And to be honest, this was my first river trip in many years and I missed the open lake vistas and camping on the shield, so I'm anxious to cruise some lakes.
Bruce,
I think I saw you guys chillin (chillin in that heat?) under some tarps, 2 canoes just around Manitou Rapids, I'm note sure if you saw me pass, old guy, looked beat in the heat, green w/c canoe.
Did you paddle to the take out just above Mountain Chutes? I scouted as best I could, looked within my range and hugged river left, no problem. That 200m portage was a wild, river noise, up hill and then down that rock slide. I lowered my canoe with a rope. I guess I should be happy I didn't have to drag my gear up that hill.
I enjoyed that ride thru the bolder alley also, I had no idea it would be so pretty and the current so swift. A nice finish to a nice trip..
:clap: :clap:


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PostPosted: July 2nd, 2005, 2:15 pm 
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Location: Sunny Wasaga Beach
Robin,
We are going Aug 6. McKillop-Pants-Pomeroy-Sseginaga-Ogascanane-Kip River-Sairs/brennan-Sheffield. guess you are coming back around the 6th? What's your itinerary?

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PostPosted: July 2nd, 2005, 8:33 pm 
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Joined: December 29th, 2004, 11:00 pm
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Location: Florida
Thanks so much for sharing your trip and the beauty of the river. it really speaks to me.
Erica


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PostPosted: July 3rd, 2005, 12:24 pm 
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Location: Wakefield, Quebec
Robin, we did have two canoes, and chillin' is always part of the plan...but we never took out the tarps. Must have been another group.

Like you, we cut the Mountain Chutes portage to the bare minimum....and it was still pretty hairy scrambling down that last cliff (suffered one casualty, I'm afraid....a nice bottle of unfiltered scotch :x ).

We're off on another trip in a couple of weeks...still haven't picked a river, but if it's half as nice as the Noire I'll be pleased. :)


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PostPosted: July 4th, 2005, 9:35 am 
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Location: Ottawa, Ontario Canada
Hi Robin,

The group of teens you met was with me. We are all from Venturers, Scouts Canada, in Ottawa, Canada. I really appreciate your flattering comments about the skill level of our group. Our youth are quite well trained in rapids up to Class 3, having taken several courses.

Our group did the Noire trip from Barrage Forant to the Black River Inn on June 25-29, 2005.

We used John Perron at Black River Inn (1 819 771-5108) to drive us and all our gear to the put-in. This worked out very well, and was well worth the cost.

The river was running fairly high, and we had fun in the many rapids. The only dumps were at the Toilet Bowl (top of Targie).

We portaged the Canyon Staircase, and Mountain Chutes (just the short carry, but still tough). The rapids after the falls were lots of fun.

We also portaged the Drain portion of de l’Islet ,which was more like Class IV than III. We also carried around de l’Ours.

We ran all the other rapids including the rest of Targie and de l’Islet, 50:50, Manitou and Jam Rock.

The Boulder Raceway was fun, but hitting a few rocks was inevitable.

All in all, we had a great time. The deer and horse flies were fairly bad. We solved the heat by swimming as often as possible.

This river should be run at a fairly high level, if possible.


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