6 September 2010
Maiden voyage from Pinehouse to Missinipe
3 August 2010
Scouting Howse Pass along the David Thompson Trail
I’ve recently returned from an exploratory trip with Shane and a handful of our friends to the historical David Thompson Trail that crosses the continental divide through the Howse Pass. Since we had heard that the quality of the trail may be questionable, we had hoped to check the feasibility of portaging canoes along it next year. During our previous trip to British Columbia in May, we had approached the David Thompson trailhead from Blaeberry road but our time constraints and hatchback meant that we couldn’t quite make it all the way to the trailhead. This time, we chose to approach the historical portage on foot starting from Mystaya Canyon in Banff National Park. The first portion of the trail was in very good condition, however, the quality of the trail decreased rapidly as we passed the park boundary. This trail, that runs parallel to the Howse River, was thoroughly rutted, overgrown, and blocked by plenty of deadfall. We greatly improved our speed when we abandoned the trail altogether and walked along the river’s gravel banks. Although the water level at the time in the Howse River was much higher than we anticipate it will be in May 2011, the main channel appeared as though it would be passable in canoes. The landscape will fly by next year riding down the swift current. Based on this exploratory trip we anticipate that crossing the continental divide at this location will be challenging, but manageable. It will involve biking up the Blaeberry logging road with carts, lining or portaging the boats up the gravelly shore of the Blaeberry River, dragging our canoes ~10 km along the poorly maintained trail, and paddling or lining the boats down the Howse River to its confluence with the North Saskatchewan River. We also had the chance to assess some gear on the hiking trip. We confirmed that having topographic data displayed on the GPS is very convenient, but best combined with 1:250,000 scale paper maps for planning routes on a larger scale. The silty water in the Howse River plugged our MSR MiniWaterWorks EX consistently after as a little 1 L, however, we think that we could resolve this issue with a pre-filter such as the MSR SweetWater Silt Stopper. All in all, it was a great hike – have a look at some of the highlights posted to Flickr. <Nathalie>
2 July 2010
Meeting with the Canadian Heritage Rivers System
When planning for the Cross Canada Canoe Odyssey was in its infancy, the crew decided that we should try to use any publicity we could generate to benefit a cause we were passionate about. As paddling junkies and outdoor enthusiasts, we have a great appreciation for the water-bodies that we are able to enjoy every time we get on the water. Naturally, we are very supportive of groups that work with Canadians to conserve water bodies and ensure their sustainable stewardship. We also feel that the heritage aspects of Canadian rivers are very important. Two groups in particular came to mind that we had collectively been ‘fans’ of: The Nature Conservancy of Canada and the Canadian Heritage River System (CHRS) – both of whom work tirelessly to conserve Canada’s rivers. The CHRS is Canada’s national river conservation program working to ensure the sustainable management of some of the most important rivers in Canada. The Nature Conservancy of Canada works to protect ecologically significant lands, many of which are water bodies. There are other groups that do similarly fantastic work and we applaud them for it, but we chose to limit our scope to just two organizations.
Now that planning has reached a sort of adolescent stage, we are starting to actually put action to our ideas. We have started our dialogue with the Nature Conservancy of Canada and the Canadian Heritage Rivers System to find out how our expedition can benefit them. While recently in Ottawa attending an academic conference, Nathalie and I had the privilege of meeting with representatives of the Canadian Heritage Rivers System from Parks Canada. We entered the meeting with one question in mind: How could our expedition benefit the CHRS? I was taken aback by how supportive the people we met with were. They were full of questions concerning the trip and offered to introduce us to media contacts they had in the paddling world. Their communications expertise will be exceptionally beneficial in generating publicity for the expedition. We will acknowledge the CHRS during interaction with the media and do what we can to help make the Canadian Heritage Rivers System better known to Canadians. The meeting left me inspired and feeling as though the CHRS was certainly a program I could believe in. I would encourage everyone to learn more about the Canadian Heritage Rivers System, find out about the Heritage Rivers in their area, and enjoy them. Canada’s rivers are a treasure. As Canadians, we should work collectively to conserve and protect them for the enjoyment of future generations. <Ross>
17 May 2010
Confirming a route through the Shadows of Giants
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