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Great trip report, true_north! Good photos and map detail. My 15-year-old son and I started our Coulonge trip Aug. 2 on Lac Nichotea. We stretched our trip to two weeks to accommodate lots of fishing. We ended at the "Chutes". I recognized many sites in your photos, though some others were only vaguely familiar. The clarity of my memories of specific locations is already compromised! Too much tripping since, perhaps. Maybe, too, diminished by our lack of disciplined note-taking and journal-keeping. I don't push my son to go beyond basic picture-taking in documenting the trip as he finds journal-keeping about as attractive as visits to the dentist. His laziness validates my laziness and voila, here we are with practically no records to simplify a possible second descent some time in the future. As John Cleese would say: "Typical!" Oh well! My son's a fantastic canoeing companion, and giving him canoe-trip "homework" at the end of the day could pose a risk to his future willingness to participate. I'm cautious about messing with a good thing!
As it was for you and your brother, water levels were low, but acceptable, with occasional interruptions on the extended sand flats above the Corneille junction. We made the Corneille site a layover, and while there, we tracked the boat up a couple of ponds up the river to fish and explore. Pretty country.
Probably our favourite campsite was the one mentioned by Hap on a small sand-ringed island in Lac Nelligan. There were many mediocre sites with ATV access on the river. As with you, we found better sites at rock outcroppings and at rapids, as we're not fans of camping on sand.
You don't mention the fishing, so I'm surmising that fishing's not a significant part of your tripping. For my son and me, it is, and we weren't disappointed. We enjoyed good pickerel and pike fishing in many places along the La Vérendrye section and at rapids and falls on the river. Some very slow spells, too, that seemed to coincide with north and east winds. We only got into smallmouth bass in the bottom 40-50 km. of river.
Michel Pouliot provided us with the shuttle, and we were extremely satisfied with his service, and with his driver, Rudy, a retired baker formerly of Bowmanville and presently living off-the-grid in a small cabin he built for himself and his wife on the Noire River.
I fell ill in Fort Coulonge prior to the our departure for la Vérendrye. We were camping at Esprit headquarters, and, unfortunately, had to delay our departure to the Coulonge for a couple of days. Jim Coffey, Dennis, and the staff at Esprit helped us out immensely during a difficult moment, going so far as to invite my son out for a day of Ottawa River rafting while I was recuperating. They went "above and beyond", refusing offers to compensate them for their efforts and kindness. I was really impressed by Jim and Dennis, and would recommend them to anyone interested in rafting or paddling in the Ottawa Valley.
Thanks, again, true_north, for sharing your excellent report.
P.S., WCPP and the Bloodvein are on the short list for next summer...
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