Wednesday, September 26, 2018
Travelled 7 miles from Tincan Rapids to Baldrock Rapids Yesterday I got into camp later than I probably should have, so I wanted to get going a little earlier today, regardless of the weather. Despite having only 7 miles to travel today I wanted to make sure I was easier on my canoe, and taking the time to get out and carefully line or drag it through shallow or rocky sections of river. I didn’t know if the river was going to get ‘bumpier’ or not as I went further down, but I was nervous about getting a tear in my hull.
I woke up in the rain and made a quick breakfast of coffee and oatmeal. I packed up quickly and fished Tincan Rapids a bit (excellent fishing).
At 10:30 am, I decided to make my way downstream. As I proceeded there seemed to be a bit less shallow, swift water to deal with, but still a fair amount. The rapids were getting more ‘ledge-like’ with pronounced drops too. Most of the ledges were too rocky to run at this water level, but there were a couple that I was able to cautiously paddle through.
I reached Baldrock Rapids at 1:00. The rapid itself is a large ledge that drops about 6 feet or so. Although you can walk out on part of the ledge in low-water, I imagine in the spring there would be a massive amount of water plowing through here. There is a nice clearing on this campsite (which is also the portage) and a beautiful, open view. There are a few cedars down at the end of the portage, which were an excellent source of dry firewood once you peel off the wet bark. I quickly got a large fire going and tried to dry some gear out near it. It rained on and off all day, periodically driving me off to the black spruce forest behind the camp, where my hammock was hung. Black Spruce have a way of breaking up the rain drops and turning into a mist before it hits the ground, leaving dry spots near the trees even in heavy rain. After dinner (cheesy hashbrowns with salami) and coffee I tried to stay up and enjoy the campfire, despite the rain. I would love to camp here on a sunny day, but it wasn’t in the cards this trip.