By: Johno Foster
The Dumoine River is one of Eastern Canada’s most well known canoe tripping rivers. With beautiful scenery, classic campsites, a vibrant history, and lots of class 2-3 whitewater, it has certainly earned its reputation as one of the best. I have a particular fondness for the Dumoine as it was on this river that I learnt to whitewater canoe and it’s also where I led my first trip as a guide for Black Feather. Since those early days in my paddling career I’ve run the river countless times and shuttled in lots of groups as well. It feels like a home away from home for me.
The Dumoine is known for having quite a few portages, the longest of these is a big drop known as Grand Chute. It’s your first sight of the river when you drive in and when seen at high water it’s a very impressive rapid. I’ve managed to run almost all of the other rapids that are traditionally portaged but Grand Chute, being the biggest of these drops, remained as a huge temptation for many years. I knew that it had been run by a number of kayakers in the past but I had never heard of anyone running it in a canoe. This fall everything lined up: good water level, a good paddling crew, and most importantly I felt my skills had progressed to the point where I could commit to doing it. It’s certainly not the biggest rapid that has been paddled in a canoe, and it’s just a riffle compared to what some kayakers are prepared to do, but for me it was one of the most satisfying rapids that I’ve run yet. I’ve been grinding my teeth wanting to do this for so long!
So this September 3rd, I grabbed my Esquif L’Edge, met Dave Humphrys, Brodee Harte, and Adam Taylor and we made the early morning drive up. Everything went off without a hitch and resulted in one of the best days I’ve had on the river. Wally, Louise, and Russ happened to be up at their cabin so they came over to watch – thanks for your patience guys ;)
(Photo's by Brodee Hart)
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