Credit River (Terra Cotta to Georgetown)
Saturday, March 30, 2002
route:
length: 12.0km, 1 day
difficulty: beginner
leader: Keith Nunn
participants: Beth Baskin, Keith Nunn, Liam Nunn, Morgan Baskin, Michael Johnson
report:
Wanted to paddle with my family this weekend, so had to pass on the Head, Salmon, Moira. Hope they were good runs folks! With the rain on Friday, it seemed that local rivers would be running so we rejected the notion of paddling the mouth of the Humber. A good thing too as the lake was absolutely nuts.
We chose the upper credit as a good first trip of the season for Beth, Morgan, Liam, and my dad (Michael, for those who keep track). (Beth and my dad could have handled something tougher, but we needed Liam's co-operation too :) ). It's a pretty stretch with almost constant swifts and class I rapids on the run.
When we went to get our Tripper for the run, we discovered that it and the Peregrine stored with it were damaged. The Tripper was holed right through. Don't know how, but it looks like it was smashed into another rack (they're steel). One gunwhale and one thwart on the Pergrine were pretty ground up, but it was clearly the more paddleable boat. I can no longer recommend the boat storage at Harbourfront. UPDATE: Harbourfront paid for all repairs and provided new and better (wooden) boat storage facilities.
Paddling a fibreglass boat in a river was quite an experience after so long a time in ABS. Even though the run would not have been especially challenging in an ABS boat, the fragility of fibreglass put an edge on the run that made it much more interesting. With that hightened awareness, we managed the run with only one touch. Whoo hoo!
Water level wasn't bad, but I'm glad I wasn't using a wooden paddle. The weather was pretty nippy most of the time, so we opted not to run to Norval. I didn't want to drag up the steep, muddy bank at the variety store anyway. Too cold to stop for lunch so we ate before we set out.
Morgan was good at holding down the bow of Michael's boat, but, strangely, after her proclamations that she was going to paddle the whole time, she slept through most of the run. Liam was pretty freaked at the beginning, but settled down and enjoyed himself after about 15 minutes. Although he wouldn't come out of the bow, so we had a pretty bow-heavy run.
About halfway down, we came across someone felling trees and stayed to watch for one to drop. An amusing interlude and Liam and Morgan were pretty impressed.
As was traditional after this run we went to the Copper Kettle pub in Glen Williams for drinks and food. The menu is quite good and has several veggie options, as well as stuff for the steak and kidney pie set. Good beer selection. Not the cheapest, but probably the best post-paddle spot of the many I've entered. You could even end your run at the pub as you go right by it.
Good fun, and the kids are back in the swing of things. Hoping for a good season... |
