This is a photo log of our early fall run down the Petawawa River. 3 AA'ers: Smedleyco and MartinG in a Royalex Dumoine, ShawnD in a Swift Keewaydin 14 (Carbon Fusion?). Peek was going to join us to make it 4. But, he had other commitments. Getting married or some such lame excuse. I think this trip may have originally been ShawnD's Idea. He really wanted to see the Pet. My memory is foggy but I think he asked what I thought about doing it in an Ultralight solo. I responded, "Sure, it's easy! How about I show you the way!" A lot of people shy away from the Pet because of all the rapids. I'm pretty Gung ho to tell people not to worry. It's worth it! You can always portage. In my opinion, the Pet below Cedar maybe the most beautiful part of the park. But, then I really like rivers. This enthusiasm might get someone into trouble some day.

Setting out from Wendigo!


ShawnD


Smedleyco

First day was a beautiful sunny day to travel from Wendigo to Radiant. I have a problem with portages. Always wanting to skip them. You can skip the second portage. The one between Allen and North Depot. I don't recommend skipping the others. There's a hundred waterfalls and none of it is runnable. My desire not to unload/carry/reload the canoe probably lead to a whole lot of extra effort hauling around rocks and down waterfalls. 


Waterfalls bad, take the portage!


North River


Happy campers! First night was spent on the north shore of Radiant at the first site east of the North River. Nice site!


Smeds brings the Steaks and Mash


Radiant by Starlight


Green Machine

Day two was a short day from Radiant to Wagtail Raps. I have to point our here that Smedleyco and ShawnD did great! List of fast water run by Smedleyco: All unnamed swifts on the North River and Pet, Squirrel Raps, Cascade and White Horse (carry around the last drop), Francis, Kildeer, Wagtail (to the island campsite), Big Thompson, Little Thompson, Grillade, Crooked Chute to the 3rd Takeout,  Rollaway (After the big ledge), Natch (second part), Upper Schooner, Lower Schooner and 5 Mile.  ShawnD also went down the river in an ultralight solo running all the swifts, Squirrel Raps, Kildeer Raps, Grillade, Crooked Chute to the 2nd take out, bottom part of the Natch and most of 5 Mile with very little issue. All in all pretty awesome!!


Blueberry Falls on the Crow


Cascade by our campsite at Wagtail Raps


Sunrise at Wagtail Raps 


Some colour on the Pet

Day 3 brought rain and lots of portaging. We didn't run any of the Rapids between Wagtail and Travers where we stopped for the night. I would have liked to explore the area around the Temptations but it seemed like more trouble than it was worth. Today we also ran into a few people. I managed to shorten the Macdonald Raps portage by hitching a ride with a a couple of kayakers in a pick up truck. We got quite the show when they ran a huge Devils Cellar Rapids an hour or so later. We also ran across 3 Fat Bikers on the old rail bed. They were bike camping there way from Petawawa to Parry Sound. Planned to sneak through the entire length of the park in 2 nights. Good use of abandoned infrastructure if you ask me. 


Soggy Bypass Falls


Devil's Cellar


Kayakers at the bottom of Devils Cellar


ShawnD's Keewaydin parked for the night on Travers

 
Rare smile from Smedleyco

ShawnD making dinner


Next day was the start of the Lower Pet. Just gorgeous! We had the place to ourselves. 


Top of Crooked Chute


Crooked Chute Cabin


Blair Fraser Memorial


Running swifts after the Natch Raps


Natch Cliffs


Group shot Left to right; MartinG, Smedlyco, ShawnD

Next day was a long one. More so for Shawn than Smeds and I. We didn't have to get out of the boat after we loaded up at the Natch. Shawn had to portage the Schooners and part of 5 Mile. We took his pack for those ports. I hope it wasn't too hard to hustle over those ports with a 26 pound solo canoe! Running the rapids was a hoot for Smedleyco and I. We had more beautiful weather and a couple of surprise treats. The first was running into the McElroys. They had decided to have a lunch date on Whitson Lake. The spot of their first ever interior canoe trip in the '70's. I have so much respect and admiration for both Bob and Diana that it was a real thrill to finally meet them. For those who don't know who the McElroys are be sure to check out their Bushlog at http://www.mcelroy.ca.  The second surprise was a couple of huge moose just before we exited Whitson Lake.  


Colours on Whitson


McElroys on Whitson!

END!