Petite Mecatina - 5 day self support - Part 2

Posted by bobby johnson on 15 October 2007 | 0 Comments

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Days 3,4,5 of this northern Quebec classic featuring Joe Barkley, Willie Kern, Fred Coriell, Billy Murphy, Anthony Yap, Erik Boomer, John Grace, Pat Camblin and Tommy Hilleke. Also make sure to check out the video on LVM TV ...

Day 3 - We knew this was going to be a brutal day... Our looming deadline dictated that we push through a 40km section of flatwater. As we shoved off our gravel bar campsite a strong wind started up and it was immediately apparent that our long day was also going to be a tough one... There isn't much else to say about this day other than it was long day of character building - strong headwinds impeded the length of our journey and didn't relent until the wee hours of the next morning... We persevered and, with the sun already having set, finally found an outcrop of rock that we tried to make into our home for the night. The winds ripped through the camp all night and even secured items were in jeopardy. Sometime in the night Billy's spraydeck blew away. With a solid day of whitewater still ahead this could have been a major issue.

Day 4 - Having completed the marathon we were right back into quality whitewater.... The first major drop was an off-vert chute that went into a heinous looking hole. After this the river did something pretty incredible, it split at a 180 degree angle, dividing the flow for the final 20miles before both channels dumped into the ocean. After a group meeting we decided to take the left channel towards the ocean. Even though we lost half our water the day's rapids proved to be arguably some of the best of the trip. The river took on a completely different look as it winded its way through a maze of islands with more of a creeky feel compared to the pushy big water we'd been facing the last few days. Our left channel started with a mini gorge and a couple awesome rapids. After the gorge Billy (and the grouop) lucked out with the gradient being lost in pool drop nature meaning Billy could run down and get a skirt from someone then run back up and charge the rapid. The final rapid of the day saw the flow splitting again before dropping into the ocean... The right channel lost its entire gradient in one shot, with a ~30 footer that landed in walled-out section with an intimidating boil popping up 30 feet downstream... Most of the crew ended their day of whitewater with this beauty. The left side was a leveled slide into a mean looking hole. Willie fired this one up first and got briefly stopped by the hole but came through unscathed... Billy, having already run the right channel, decided he still wanted more, and got it - taking a long powerful beating in this deep hole - eventually swimming and getting body recirced for good measured before flushing deep. To quote Willie, with this final drop ending in the ocean, this hole was "backed up by England", ha! With the sun setting we set up our final camp beside the slide. Stoked.

Day 5 - 5am wake up to make sure we met our ride, we put on for our paddle out and with the sun rising Boomer hiked up and ran another line down the left slide - nice way to start the day. We paddled out with the same sense of purpose the whole trip had held, still needing to beat the tide - which would prevent our ride from reaching us... We were met by the mayor of Huntington Harbour, Paul, who brought us by fishing boat to his small island town where we would eventually get on the ferry that would bring us back to our cars. The ferry stayed docked, delayed 12 hours due to rough seas. The 14 year old girls of the town were pretty happy that this delay coincided with their friday night and spent about an hour giggling in close proximity before finally getting up the courage to go profess their love for Boomer... Classic. When we finally left there was still a 6metre swell and the 220foot ship surged and listed heavily for the duration of the trip... The pukefest that ensued was funny for the first minute but then it was just sad, and it continued for the whole 12+ hour trip. Our group had solid stomachs for the most part, but we had taken over the room that had the toilets at the back, and so were witness to the many casualties of the crossing.

We finally made it back to our cars, stoked on such a successful and thoroughly enjoyable epic. This might seem it was where the journey ended. In reality it took the team another 3 (some 4) full days of traveling before actually getting home. It was a mission for sure, but an epic journey all of us would gladly do again.

This river is one of the many of the area in cue to be damned by Hydro Québec... It was pretty sad coming through such a spectacular section (the gorge) knowing the only other people that had been able to experience this place were dam surveyors. Quebec has the goods, get out there and experience them before they are gone forever.

 


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