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PostPosted: August 18th, 2019, 7:22 am 
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Joined: October 27th, 2006, 5:51 am
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Location: Montreal
We wanted to add on a couple of days and the Camitogama River-Dozois-Cawatose extension fit the bill so off we went from Portage Lake.
We had excellent weather with two days of moderate headwinds only. 18-inch rollers pushed us eastward along the Dozois to where we camped.

Notes: The two portages on the Camitogama River are in excellent condition. The first is on your right and is marked. The rapids are beautiful with a great swimming hole at the bottom. The 2nd is unmarked,very short and on your left. We missed it and easily carried over the flat rocks (see pictures). It is incorrectly marked in Trakmaps if you use that program in your GPS.

The River took us about 3 hours to paddle and was well worth the detour.
All along the shore of the Dozois, after the River, we saw no likely looking camping spots. Very rocky shore and thick woods. There were maybe two locations where, in a pinch, you could make do. We camped on a huge beach (pics). However, roughly 50 boats roared back and forth. They all headed directly for us then veered away. Probably due to hidden shoals.
The port into Cawatose was difficult. Hadn't seen a saw or loppers in a long time. The (soaking wet) Balsam branches were not a problem but the frequent blowdown was tiring. The portage was flagged, including a deviation that avoided an obliterated section. The blueberries were insane (never seen so many and in such big clusters) and we ate a pint or two to make up for the pint of blood we fed to the voracious mosquitoes.

I think this year is a good one for mosquitoes-if you're a mosquito. Not good if you're a camper. At a couple of campsites they chased us into the tent.

The only thing I didn't like was the section along Lavérendrye Bay where you are close to the highway. Also, on two nights we could hear the highway from where we were camped.

What we really liked was our relaxed pace of 15 km/day and taking afternoon naps in the tent. Overall, this was a very zen trip where time slowed down to a near stop and every minute was savoured.

Pictures


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PostPosted: August 24th, 2019, 12:12 pm 
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Joined: May 25th, 2007, 10:53 am
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Location: Montreal
I need some details HN

Was the river current from Lac Camitogama to Dozois with or against you?
How grassy/zen was this portion?
Did you go through lac Alene or Lac Draisine?

Where did you enter back into Cawatose from?
Im assuming you used Topo Maps, updated with the ones at le domaine... none had campsites on Dozois?

Thanks for the feedback, Im always looking to go off the beaten path and make my loops a little more unique


-Gabe

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Mens sano in corpore sane


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PostPosted: August 28th, 2019, 5:35 am 
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Joined: October 27th, 2006, 5:51 am
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gcc_mtl wrote:
I need some details HN

Was the river current from Lac Camitogama to Dozois with or against you?
With us, not strong.
Quote:
How grassy/zen was this portion?
Very zen. Sections had deep water others were shallow with grasses waving in the current. The shore was wooded, then it was marshy, then wooded again. Two portages, first on the right and marked and well-maintained, second on the left, unmarked and we missed it and instead took a very short hop over some flat rocks.
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Did you go through lac Alene or Lac Draisine?
We passed by Lac Alene, which is a swamp.
Never noticed Draisine.
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Where did you enter back into Cawatose from?
Im assuming you used Topo Maps, updated with the ones at le domaine... none had campsites on Dozois?
I used the on-line mapping program, Caltopo. You can view my map and route, which I printed, here: https://caltopo.com/m/5FLE. We scrutinized it and the shoreline did not look camper friendly from the mouth of the River until the gigantic sand bar due north of tiny Lac Oublié. There was a LOT of motor boat traffic back and forth there.
You can see from my map where we returned to Circuit 37. The portage out of Dozois was rough with considerable blowdown and it was grown in tight. Others here said they were able to line their boats up the drainage.
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Thanks for the feedback, Im always looking to go off the beaten path and make my loops a little more unique


-Gabe
My pleasure! Some of my pics tell the story of the extension.


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