Credit River Swamp Run
Friday, April 13, 2001
route:
length: 1 day
difficulty: novice
leader: Ben
participants: Ben ,
report:
Weather: Sunny / Cool / Windy
Put-In: Forks Bridge (Forks Of The Credit Road & Dominion Street)
Take-Out: Georgetown (River Street Bridge)
Duration: 5 hours moderate but steady pace
Boat: Mad River Explorer (royalex)
Water levels were high but not flooding, debris indicates the water is down 6 - 10 inches from earlier in the week, approx. 1 - 2 feet below flood level in areas prone to overrunning the banks, water temperature unknown but pretty damn cold.
The section from the Forks to Inglewood required 10 liftovers around obstructions which varied from single tree dead fall to proper (but not immense) log jams, the river was otherwise unblocked with very little other debris.
>From Inglewood to Mississauga Road you will encounter 3 low head dams, there was no difficulty reaching shore upstream of the dams to enable scouting. At current water levels all three dams could be run with caution, all were easily lined on the left (as I did), extreme caution is required if you try to run dam #2, it is an easy chute if you are lined up correctly, if not the possibility exists for a very dangerous situation, YOU MUST PASS ON RIVER LEFT! on river right there exists a very powerful whirlpool in the remnants of the dam where self rescue could be impossible. From Mississauga road through Terra Cotta, Glen Williams and Georgetown it's all one big long
swift/CI.
Other than the dams there is little danger on this route, all bridges (except one) were clear of debris and water levels left plenty of clearance. The second bridge downstream from the Forks is partially blocked with deadfall, the current is slow here and therefore it's an easy liftover the single log blocking the right channel. In the areas of posted private property where the majority of the log jams are I only had to place one foot on one occasion on the actual shore, in spite of this I only needed to get wet over knee level once.
Final comments; it's a pleasant run water wise, the wind required considerable effort as it seemed to be constantly shifting direction but of course never became a tailwind. At this time of year with no new leaf growth on the trees and bushes you really get a good view of all the garbage along the banks, you will also see around Cheltenham what has to be the slummiest area of Caledon, even worse than the trailer park north of Terra Cotta. There are some sections where you sort of get a brief experience of semi-wilderness and enroute I did see one beaver, one mink, a number of
ducks and of course numerous Canada geese.
What did I learn on my canoe trip?
Boy am I out of shape, I'm so stiff I don't think I'll ever be able to paddle again!
Ben
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