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Paddling in Arnprior, Ontario

ca Offline Grant Lamontagne

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Paddling in Arnprior, Ontario
on: June 11, 2018, 06:59:23 PM
Arnprior has never really had that much interest for me- it is usually the first spot we stop for gas, breakfast and a pee on the way to visit my parents.  At about 60 kms outside of Ottawa it makes a good place to stop, especially as the highway sort of ends there as well.  From just past Arnprior the highway drops from a divided four lane, 100km/hour down to a 90km/hour, single road with one lane each way and the occasional passing lane almost the entire rest of the way to my parents' house.  Because of this, Arnprior has never really held much interest for me, but this is once again I have been proven wrong.

And how...



On Friday I was perusing one of the local paddling guides and saw some info about paddling in Arnprior, which is along the Ottawa River, although somewhat upstream from where I am.  It's a big damn river, and yes, the pun is intended, as it is dammed at many places for hydroelectricity generation. 

On Saturday we scouted the town and boat launch and pretty well fell in love with the town, and immediately decided that we would come back on Sunday and do some paddling.



The dams limited how far we could go, but as there was another river branching off of it, we weren't worried.  Even though we didn't make it all the way to the other stream (challenge for another day!) but we still had an excellent trip anyway.  First off, the kayaking- the weather was excellent and I got to bring along my big camera since I had picked up a Pelican 1150 in perfect condition for $5 the day before at a yard sale.  This meant that I managed to use the zoom and get some better photos than I usually do with my phone, despite my phone having at least double the resolution!   :ahhh



What can I say?  Optical zoom and high quality lenses make a huge difference!



Just before we got back to where we started again, we found a nice little beach that seemed as if it was just begging us to stop on it and have lunch, which was fine by me as we'd planned for it by bringing the Etekcity stove and an Alpine Aire freeze dried meal- specifically Southwestern Macaroni and Beef.



I'll tell you, I could have laid on that beach for hours! 



The pot and stove were set up in no time and, on full the little stove was heating the water faster than I expected was possible!  I did have some time to take some cool, "artsy" type photos.  :D







Eventually lunch was ready and it was actually quite good.  I think I enjoyed it more than Megan did, but I have to say the Southwestern Macaroni is now one of my favorites, and shall be one of my Go-To meals that I always keep around the house for potential adventures.  Megan likes the Mountain House Pasta Primavera, and we usually keep a couple of those around too.



There was more to our day, like my trip up to the falls (what Megan called my Darwin Award Attempt  :facepalm:) and a small, mid channel rudder untangling procedure, a failed snorkeling attempt and a slight trailer issue (bolts came out of the cross bars on the trailer.  Not a big deal, the crossbars are just there to hold the boats and equipment on....  :facepalm:

I'll post some more photos later on- as you can tell by the Gopro mounted on my boat, I have some cool footage of the whole thing too.  :D

Def
« Last Edit: June 14, 2018, 12:47:23 PM by Grant Lamontagne »
Leave the dents as they are- let your belongings show their scars as proudly as you do yours.


se Offline kottskrapa

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Re: Paddling in Arnprior, Ontario
Reply #1 on: June 11, 2018, 07:25:07 PM
Looks like a nice trip! Looking forward to seeing more pics

[It's not failure if you learn something from it]



ua Offline in_sympathy

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Re: Paddling in Arnprior, Ontario
Reply #2 on: June 11, 2018, 08:29:02 PM
Fantastic adventure and pics, bud!
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us Offline SteveC

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Re: Paddling in Arnprior, Ontario
Reply #3 on: June 11, 2018, 11:43:13 PM
 :like: :tu:


us Offline Nix

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Re: Paddling in Arnprior, Ontario
Reply #4 on: June 11, 2018, 11:57:19 PM
Love it!

Haven't gotten my kayak out yet this year. Good for you gius for getting out there.   :tu:


ca Offline Grant Lamontagne

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Re: Paddling in Arnprior, Ontario
Reply #5 on: June 12, 2018, 02:25:16 AM
We've been out a number of times already, and I have been out a few times on my own without Megan as well.  In fact, we just got back from a short paddle now!

There are few pleasures better than kayaking IMHO!

Def
Leave the dents as they are- let your belongings show their scars as proudly as you do yours.


ca Offline Grant Lamontagne

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Re: Paddling in Arnprior, Ontario
Reply #6 on: June 12, 2018, 03:51:43 AM
Here is a photo of the beach that I took on Saturday.



We stopped for lunch on Sunday just on the left side of this pic.

Upstream there are some major dams that we aren't allowed to go near, so of course I went near them, despite Megan's comments about me winning a Darwin Award.  Here are the falls, pictured from the top.



And the vicious whitewater at the bottom.



Of course I approached it from the bottom, not the top, so all I had to deal with was churning water, which can be dangerous in it's own right, but nowhere near as bad as trying to go down the falls!  I would also like to point out that I did not go past the warning buoys because while I may be foolhardy, I am not an idiot.  I have too much respect for the poor rescue workers that have to take time out of their day to risk their lives trying to save my dumb arse, so I don't do things that are that dangerous. 

Usually.

 >:D

Def
Leave the dents as they are- let your belongings show their scars as proudly as you do yours.


us Offline SteveC

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Re: Paddling in Arnprior, Ontario
Reply #7 on: June 12, 2018, 05:45:02 AM
Nice pics !   :tu:


ca Offline Chako

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Re: Paddling in Arnprior, Ontario
Reply #8 on: June 12, 2018, 11:04:01 AM
I have not been through Arnprior in decades. Nice photos.  :salute:
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us Offline Barry Rowland

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Re: Paddling in Arnprior, Ontario
Reply #9 on: June 12, 2018, 11:18:32 AM
 :like: +1!! 
Love it!

Haven't gotten my kayak out yet this year. Good for you gius for getting out there.   :tu:
Barry


ca Offline Grant Lamontagne

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Re: Paddling in Arnprior, Ontario
Reply #10 on: June 12, 2018, 12:24:09 PM
Here are a couple of screen grabs from the GoPro.  The first is me going up to the falls at the dam.



And this one is a screen grab from the mid-channel rudder repair on Megan's boat.  Somehow the rudder cables had gotten tangled and I had to untangle them.



Def
Leave the dents as they are- let your belongings show their scars as proudly as you do yours.


us Offline SteveC

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Re: Paddling in Arnprior, Ontario
Reply #11 on: June 12, 2018, 09:16:44 PM
Any multi's used in the repair ?


ca Offline Grant Lamontagne

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Re: Paddling in Arnprior, Ontario
Reply #12 on: June 13, 2018, 12:14:48 AM
No, not in the on water repair, nor the proper repair on land afterwards, although I considered one for helping to untie some knots. 

Def
Leave the dents as they are- let your belongings show their scars as proudly as you do yours.


mc Offline Gerhard Gerber

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Re: Paddling in Arnprior, Ontario
Reply #13 on: June 14, 2018, 12:12:48 PM
If we had bread we could make toast, but now we don't have a toaster  :facepalm:

I hope in 2018 I can get a canopy built for my Suzuki, that would mean I could load my kayak and use it for the first time in probably 4 years +  :facepalm:

THAT I find incredible considering the fun I had on it........

In the mean time I'll  :drool: over your photos.  :salute:


ca Offline Grant Lamontagne

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Re: Paddling in Arnprior, Ontario
Reply #14 on: June 14, 2018, 12:53:00 PM
The year I bought my house was so busy that I didn't get to use my kayak at all, and I missed it terribly.  That is probably the only time in the 10 years (or so) that I have been kayaking that I missed an entire season. 

How far are you from decent, navigable water?

And what kind of kayak do you have?  Inquiring minds want to know...  :pok:

Def
Leave the dents as they are- let your belongings show their scars as proudly as you do yours.


mc Offline Gerhard Gerber

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Re: Paddling in Arnprior, Ontario
Reply #15 on: June 14, 2018, 03:39:52 PM
Well, no rivers, basically the 3 closest dams are 70km, 90km and 220km one way.

When the fly fishing bug bit me in 2003 I bought a pontoon boat, spent hundreds of hours on that until I got a Feel Free Nomad SOT.

The pontoon boat is very comfy.....like fishing from an arm chair, but it's not meant for long distances.  After getting the kayak I only used the pontoon on a smaller dam where we caught Largemouth Bass, only 45km from town, now almost empty and no longer accessible.

After my stint in the deep South 20km from the Orange river I was completely spoiled by river fishing, way too fat for the kayak (160kg+)

Since I've been back here I lacked a way to transport the kayak, I've used the pontoon about 3 times.

Over the last 5 years all the possible destinations have become worse or just much more expensive, and my other hobbies have taken over a bit, but I do miss putting in some miles on the kayak  :dd:


ca Offline Grant Lamontagne

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Re: Paddling in Arnprior, Ontario
Reply #16 on: June 14, 2018, 03:56:32 PM
Pontoon boats are great for long distances, provided that you have a current pulling you along!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYi2ccQ-YzY

Seriously, a friend of mine has a nice pontoon boat like that and e has attached a car battery and small trolling motor to it.  He puts along at about 7-8km/hr in it.  He's never run the battery down completely, but the math shows that he should get several hours out of it.

Def
Leave the dents as they are- let your belongings show their scars as proudly as you do yours.


mc Offline Gerhard Gerber

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Re: Paddling in Arnprior, Ontario
Reply #17 on: June 15, 2018, 09:21:29 AM
That's one of my big regrets, always wanted somebody to drop me and the pontoon boat upstream of the camping spot, would've allowed me to see parts of the river you can't reach from the side.

Also had many plans to mount a trolling motor but never had the $$, had enough afternoons trying to row back at 3pm against the wind till my shoulders were in spasms :facepalm:  It doesn't track at all, so one missed stroke means you go back 3-4m.



ca Offline Grant Lamontagne

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Re: Paddling in Arnprior, Ontario
Reply #18 on: June 15, 2018, 12:34:14 PM
I've done that in my friend's boat before he got the motor and I feel for you!

Those oars are pretty much just for maneuvering IMHO.  Good enough for traveling a few meters and orienting the boat but not much else.

My friend got his for half price when they were clearing them out at Costco.  At the time he didn't have a membership so I bought it for him, and I have been kicking myself for not getting one for me at the time too.  Every time I see one I just kick myself again.....

Def
Leave the dents as they are- let your belongings show their scars as proudly as you do yours.


 

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