Nother summer trip idea - OWL - rafting/kayaking

[MacDoc]

Cross posted this from movies ....

Nice to see in 4k and brought back memories, not that I was anywhere near those guys level but partner at the time was Canadian Downriver champion and occasionally I'd get to go along cuz I could roll...lousy paddler but at least they didn't have to tow me out.

This would be a good trip to plan.

OWL Rafting - Whitewater Rafting on the Ottawa River -

World-Class Whitewater Rafting on the Ottawa River

owlrafting.com

I knew them long before OWL was completed and partner got hooked on kayaking on a weekend adventure and went on a few years of competing across North America.
Nice to see they are into a third generation.
Or give kayaking a try...

Whitewater Kayak + Canoe Courses - Madawaska Kanu Centre

The Madawaska Kanu Centre offers 5 day and weekend whitewater canoe and kayak courses at our wilderness resort between Toronto and Ottawa.

www.mkc.ca

So many memories....Herman was an arrogant ass but Krista a gem and their daughter Claudia, narrating this, at the time when we were there ( many times over the years ) she was 17 I think and competing... scrumptious too

 

[Baggsy]

Started going in the late '70's or early '80's with Wilderness Tours (OWL had those fugly green hockey helmets and the double oars).
Been quite a few times since, mostly with OWL. We went last year in fact.

 

[STARSHIP]

( old guy) On our first visit with group from school, they told you wear running shoes (long before water shoes) and point your feet downstream as no one wore helmets then.

 

[MacDoc]

Part of that feet forward is fending off rocks with your hands and feet and especially underflow branches or undercuts that can kill you helmet or not.
You need to be able to see where you are floating ...see who is trying to pick you up etc. When partner was racing, another competitor died in two feet of water in front of her and others trying to free him.
His feet were trapped under a ledge in heavy current and they could not free him.

There are rafting accidents once in a while but the Ottawa River has big volume, warm water and quiet stretches in between rafting. We used to jump off the raft and just float.

Western rivers and some other Quebec rivers are very cold - the Ottawa is almost unique in the combination of warmth, scale of rapids ( huge in spring ) and scenic quiet stretches near a big city is pretty special. Also it has two distinct routes so in a weekend you can have two runs that are different. Go have fun.

 

[jc100]

I looked into this a few years ago and similar excursions to the Black River in NY State (apparently a world class kayak River) were a fraction of the price. Only issue is if you get injured of course.