| Author |
Message |
nicoleg
Member
Post Number: 1
Registered: 08-2013
| | Posted on Thursday, August 1, 2013 - 11:51 am: | 
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Looking for some advice,
Planning at 250-300km route for this fall, want part of that route to be travel down the length of the Sturgeon River...I don't really want to bring the river boat and have to portage it for the rest of the trip (80 vs 30lbs = huge difference, the majority of the trip is through small lakes and carries on the west side of the park).
Question is: is it possible to line, portage or carefully run most of the river to avoid rock in a carbon boat? Or, is this just asking for trouble???
We did quite a bit of river travel with this boat in Wabakimi last year, only minor damage after a few rock encounters. Having never never been/seen the sturgeon before, I'm just not sure!! |
brian
Moderator
Post Number: 1568
Registered: 02-2004
| | Posted on Friday, August 2, 2013 - 8:36 am: |
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The chance of scratching it is high, just in portaging or lining, but who can predict?
BTW, I have one and use it everywhere. Yes, it is scratched, but I bought it for strength and weight. |
doug_2
Member
Post Number: 181
Registered: 12-2004
| | Posted on Friday, August 2, 2013 - 9:01 am: |
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I have done the Sturgeon is September in a Kevlar canoe and did lots of tracking...You need to be careful and you will get some scratches but you should be Ok. I have seen kevlar canoes damaged there though...sometimes because people lose contol of canoe while lining a rock garden. |
pierre19
Member
Post Number: 59
Registered: 07-2007
| | Posted on Friday, August 2, 2013 - 9:38 am: |
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I have done the Sturgeon at high and low water, in ABS and in Kevlar. In my arrogant opinion, your lighter canoe will be just fine. If by "trouble" you mean a few scratches, then you will get into alot of trouble. If trouble for you means a brittle fracture, then if you are careful you can most likely avoid it. I think anyone can make a mistake and wrap a canoe around a big river rock and that would make for alot of walking if your canoe is broken in two.
BTW we noticed the red canoe from the Obabika river falls incident has washed downstream about 1.5 km. It sits up high on the shore of the Sturgeon. It was torn in half. There is other canoe debris on this river including an ABS canoe that was torn in half in high water.
PT |
nicoleg
Member
Post Number: 2
Registered: 08-2013
| | Posted on Friday, August 2, 2013 - 9:54 pm: |
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thanks for the input guys!
scratches i can handle (have more than a few of those already); wrapping i cannot handle - but we are very experienced paddlers so i can't see that happening... carbon it is!
now to plan the rest of the route knowing portages will be way better with a 30lb carbon boat vs the 80lb royalex!! |
pierre19
Member
Post Number: 60
Registered: 07-2007
| | Posted on Sunday, August 4, 2013 - 8:13 am: |
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A couple of weeks ago we did the Sturgeon again and we ended up only doing three formal portages, around Twin Falls, Kettle Falls and Upper Goose with a take out at Lower Goose. Everything else we either ran, lined or just carried around the actual drops. Probably not recommended though! In Retrospect it would have been less work to just do the portage into The Pilgrim Triangle and a couple of other "Do Not Runs". But it turned out a little more scenic actually making our way close to the drops.
Have fun on your trip!
PT |
Temagami canoe routes & backcountry travel