I first heard of this river almost a decade ago. I was just getting confident in my creeking, and the crew I was with had kicked around the idea of trying to have a go at this river. No one really knew much about it; just rumours, bad internet beta, and a topo map that shows a nice combination of gradient and volume and forest access roads. Sounds great. Throw in rumours of angry moose hunters, a short runnable window and terrible bugs... needless to say, despite only being three hours from Ottawa, the only attention this river got was around the campfire.
Eventually, a small group of friends headed in one weekend,
and came back with tales of high water class five, long portages and a shuttle
mission from hell.
Thoughts of the ‘Gens’ never really went away for me. The possibilities of this river were
huge. All the ingredients were there for
a spectacular, accessible, new river.
Flash forward five years and the trip finally started to take shape.
Myself, Mike McKay, Alex Sauve, Joanne Tognarelli, Marc
Audette under the guidance of Todd Keesey, finally got organized enough to get
into the Gens. Did it meet
expectations? Yes. Was it a long day? Yes. Did it have class V? Yes. Did it have alot of
flat? Yes. Is it good for a mixed group? Yes. Is it an adventure? Absolutely.
Heading up to Verendrye at the end of the workday, meant a
bit of scrambling in the dark to get the shuttle done, and the campsite arranged. I’m intentionally leaving out some specifics
so that part of the adventure will remain...
Take Out: In the dark and pouring rain we drove as far up
the severely grown-in but otherwise passable road on the river left. This
included at least one very sketchy bridge.
Looking at the topo, this road becomes clear. Looking at the forest in
the pitch dark the road is less clear.
The further up the road you travel, the less flatwater you finish
with. A high clearance, low roof vehicle
is great. We took a 4-Runner with boats
on top. Not ideal due to the overgrowth. A pickup works better in this situation.
Put in: There are
many options, some better some
worse. Some easy to find, some not so
much. He headed another 45min – 1 hour
up the road, and took a fork off into the forest. The idea was to take this FSR to the
Gens. We camped in the middle of the
roadway. Slept. Ate. Drove what we hoped was the rest of the way in. Pushing,
pulling, dragging and driving over trees we reached an impassable bridge over a
small marshy creek. Looking at the topo and canoe routes map, we guesstimated
that that marsh entered the Wapus River, which several long and winding
kilometres later, entered the Gens. We
were correct. We’re paddling.
~9km of flatwater winding through marsh, the Wapus met the
Gens about 1 km upstream of the first substantial rapid (IV/V). It was long., maybe a little shallow, and a
great start to the day. No established portage route, but you can head through
the forest.
Then a fun, class IV with a couple ledges. Then a long IV/V boulder garden and you are
well inside the canyon. Beautiful
scenery. Cruisy class II and III for a
few kilometers. Somewhere late morning
or early afternoon you come to a substantial falls (Hell’s Gate or something
similar). We all shouldered on an easy
trail. The falls may go, but it would
take a different water level and some substantial courage.
Continue on easy III. Stop for lunch. Pack a good one. This is a long day.
You will come on a long class IV/V. Big hole at the bottom. Strainer rock pile on the left. Two of our group stepped up, the rest stepped
around.
Continue on easy II and III. Another big rapid/falls. We all shouldered for this one.
You are essentially on flatwater from now until the point
you left your car. I would suggest
marking the location where you parked (take out) with something visible from a
distance, as the Gens is quite wide, and there are many tributaries to distract
you from the long flat ahead.
I estimate we paddled another 7 – 10 km of flat at the end
of the day before reaching our takeout around 6:00pm. Back into Maniwaki by 10:00PM.
There are many ways to access the Gens. Many ways to egress
the Gens. What your group decides to do
is all part of the fun. Enjoy the
photos. The internet has lots of
disorganized, somewhat confusing resources that – with enough effort – you can
cobble together to make a great weekend. I would do this river again, but would
likely make the paddling portion a two day adventure just to remove the stress
and strain of pushing through the flats.
Take your time; it is lovely country in there.
(All photos courtesy of Marc Audette.)
By: Philip Kompass
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