Newfoundland Whitewater.

When the last call you get from the President of KNL is "now I caan't stress the moose enuff, really watch out for the moose" you take it seriously.

It's now 2am on the Newfoundland portion of the TCH with some doughnuts and coffee and my rather erratic driving. I'm not sure which is scarier, me driving having had little sleep in the last two days or the fact that 90% of a moose's body weight is at the same level as my head or higher propped up on some very spindly legs. An overactive imagination and fog is not a good thing. Luckily we did not have to deal with any moose and arrived at the retreat at a respectable 5am and a very friendly Dave Ennis. Not really thinking of it at the time but in retrospect I am sure we looked rather disheveled and concerning to our hosts having managed only a few words in response we crashed.

Dave returned at 9 for the much needed wake up call and we were off to the river. Bryan joined some of the experienced paddlers on the upper section of the Terra Nova River while I headed to The Ruins. Typical of Canadian rivers the water was black from the tannins and running over bedrock ledges to form great class 1 and 2 rapids for the beginner group. Set under the backdrop of an abandoned factory adorned in some of the better graffiti that I have ever seen in the middle of nowhere this section of river provided an atmospheric and perfect setting to paddle for these novices.

The Ruins

Saturday evening was a chance to relax, socialize, share stories from the rivers around the world and gorge ourselves on some enormous steaks once again provided by Dave Ennis. I keep using Dave's surname on this one since I met more Daves than I can count over the weekend. Bryan came back from the Terra Nova with some good carnage from his group that another Dave was subjected to. Putting his brand new helmet fully to the test and breaking his boat, it was an eventful day. Despite his head Dave M. was in high spirits. As with most paddling events the beer was always present and some of the sea kayakers were dancing to Michael Jackson with some moves I am sure the King Of Pop would be proud of.

Now with some reasonable rest Bryan and I were to switch up the groups and I was off to the Northwest for some quality creeking. Maybe it's a Newfie quality or just Darren, he definitely understated the quality of both these runs. I was blown away by the solid nature of the rapids and their quick succession with classic Canadian backdrops.
The day was set up as a creeking clinic which supplied an interesting dynamic while they were giving me rapid descriptions and I'm trying to convey some body mechanics for the boof. After a few drops the guys were pretty sold on some of the new ideas and happily clearing holes on their way down the run.

Darren in Fishhook

As far as Newfoundland paddling this group was huge. We were fortunate to paddle this run with Jim who is pretty much the Grandfather of Newfoundland whitewater having pioneered these runs over 20 years ago, and was joining us on this run for the one of his first in a year and half. Paul of Red Indian Adventures, Chris, Dave, Darren, Cody and I rounded of the group.

Distinctly split into three sections the run never lets you down. Starting off with a very open and ledge type rapids the run rolls through several bends over multiple drops. With great boofs and smooth lines the run would not be that fun upside down due to the rather abrasive bedrock.

Bryan clearing one of the many boofs on the run.

With the open section of the river ended we entered the two mini gorges of the run.

Dave Ennis entering the first mini gorge.

Both had similar style drops that flowed well into each other for great flowing moves.
The second gorge was short and sweet with a good lead in rapid to the infamous weir. The guys were able to give me great beta to route it and after cruising up to the lip it was the best boof of the run.

The lead in to the Weir.

Bryan clearing the Weir.

Feeling Lucky is the biggest stand alone drop on the run and having only been run Kevin England and Fraz Champion it holds a fair amount of local lore. The group looked hard at this one on Sunday but we all walked away from it and ran the salmon ladder instead.

Making it through the golf course with only two swims and no stray golf balls, which was probably a larger achievement. Running between the tee off and the green was nerve wracking. After all golfers must be sick and twisted if they are going to stand in the rain chasing balls. So we scampered through the drop as fast as possible.

Chris boofing through Par 3 in the golf course.

Golfers are a strange bunch.

Several golfers we playing through while we ran down
Darren routing the last big drop of the golf course after spending a few good moments in the hole at the top.

At the banquet dinner Bryan and I were required to say a few words after which Bryan gave a helluva presentation chronicling his team's Vacation to Hell expedition in Peru. Mixing video, slides and his take on the trip it gave a very unique perspective to the group dynamics and factors that lead to them hiking out of the Wayaga.

Then the Screech-In begun. Jim put us through Screech-In. Inaugurating us into the Newfoundland community. For whatever reason we bit the head off a dried fish and then drowned it in a hefty shot of Screech, newfie rum. I could taste this for a couple of hours after this each time I belched. Bahhh!

Following more stories and accounts from locals we heard all about kayaking in Newfoundland and learned a fair amount of the general history. As with many maritime cultures the people are hard, welcoming and when plied with a little lubrication will open up more than you would expect.

Leaving full on pancakes and bacon we had one more trip to the Northwest waiting for us before all heading in different directions. After a full night of thinking about the run, I was feeling just a little luckier.

Sunshine always make the bigger rapids just that little more enticing and when we arrived at the drop I was pretty psyched for a good run. Bryan got into position on river right for some video and Darren and Dave got downstream. Rolling up to the lip it was all looking sweet and coming off the lip right where I wanted to be it was home free from there on.
With the apature set it was now Bryan's turn to roll to the lip and cruising up he styled the line.

Bryan stomping the drop.

Sitting in the pool below the drop a float plane gave us a immaculately timed flyby. New people, sunny days, big drops, long rapids, it all adds up for a great day on the river.

The view back up to Feeling Lucky

Finishing the run not letting 50/50 live up to it's name and a couple of take out beers we loaded up, caffeined up, donutted up and made the hike to St. John's. Passing a refinery and many miles of beautiful coast we got the word that the ice bergs had moved south of the city so we were to take a slight detour. However, the catch was that the dreaded fog was moving in fast leading us to duck onto some back roads making the decent down to the coast a touch faster.

50/50

Unfortunately as we ducked down off the plateau the fog was in full effect and while we could feel the icy presence of the bergs we could not see hide nor hair of them even though they were only 200 feet offshore. We tried a couple more bays to see if anything was visible but after 30 minutes we left the fog to check out St. Johns and grab some fish and chips.

The ice bergs are out there somewhere.

Having filled up we wound our way up to Signal Hill for a lit up city view. Suitably though we had less than 20 feet of visibility with fog so thick you could not even see the glow from the city below.
Standing up on the top of a socked in hill freezing in the Atlantic breeze listening to the fog horn my first trip to Newfoundland ended much as it had begun; shrouded in fog.

St. John's.


Thank you to everyone at Kayak Newfoundland and Labrador. Especially, Leslie Wells, Dave Ennis, Darren Macdonald, Paul Brennan and everyone that made the trip happen.
Cheers