Planning a trip in May and debated paddling the Maligne river to Poohbah Creek and or the Falls Chain to/from Kawnipi, both of which promise some exciting current. I understand that its no joke to tackle the heavy flows at that time of year. I'm no stranger to paddling after ice-out and am otherwise cautious.

While reading, I heard more than one differing opinion on paddling with or against the current near waterfalls. An outfitter suggested that paddling against the current is a more conservative approach, while others suggest that you're less likely to dump while paddling with the current. What say you? How do you know? In May should one go with the current on the Falls Chain or against?

As far as the maligne, the area above Twin Falls can be treacherous. I’ve been there many times, and have had a couple hair raising experiences above the falls. Be careful no matter if it’s high or low. As far as other rivers, If I had my choice I would always go with the flow, but on smaller rivers you can paddle against the current with no problem. As far as the Falls chain, it is quite manageable against the current, the only exceptions are close to the falls. I always have a back up plan when I go to Poohbah. I call Mark at Zupps a couple days ahead of my arrival. He will tell me then if it’s safe or not. If he says it’s to dangerous to try , I’ll go with another option.

I might not be quite clear on your use of the term "with or against the current". With a fully loaded canoe, you are much safer paddling against the current because it increases the amount of time you have available to react to obstacles. It also makes traveling through standing waves safer and lessens the chance you will take on a lot of water. So if you are traveling with the bow pointed downstream, I recommend back ferrying. If you are traveling with bow pointed upstream, you front ferry.

Let me know if I misunderstood your question.

It sounds like you understood! I like the time to react idea, and the taking on water in standing waves principle. Any thoughts on eddies and other undulating boiling currents? When are you most likely to dump?

Standing waves indicate a strong current. Most paddlers would have a difficult time making upstream progress in these conditions, one result would be the amount of time that you would be spending in those waves, this increases the likelihood of taking on water. Just a few gallons of water can greatly effect the stability of the canoe. Also if you are using a typical touring canoe with no rocker the bow will catch on every current, way more so if your canoe is loaded with gear. In my experience paddling against a current is far more difficult than paddling with a current. Unless the malign is super high it doesn’t present any serious dangers if you have good control of your canoe.

TheGreatIndoors: "It sounds like you understood! I like the time to react idea, and the taking on water in standing waves principle. Any thoughts on eddies and other undulating boiling currents? When are you most likely to dump?"

An empty canoe I like to power forward into eddies and have the bow do a strong bow draw to whip the canoe around. But with a loaded canoe, I prefer to do a back ferry into an eddy. Coming out is trickier (IMO) with a back ferry depending on the strength of the eddy line. So I will do an eddy turn out of the eddy as long as people are trained to lean downstream.

With a fully loaded canoe I prefer to avoid strong boiling currents unless the paddlers are very comfortable with whitewater. But if it an obstacle free area without any big standing waves, I would power forward through them.