I was there last week.  Overall, water levels are OK and it's passable.  Between Gauthier's Dam and the Nadine portage there are a number of areas where you'll have to wade when it's gets shallow (the whole stretch is pretty shallow.....).  There's still a bit of current in this section, and you'll need to avoid rocks, stumps and logs.  It took me just under 2 hours to do this section, and I usually travel quite quickly.  It probably depends a lot on how nice you want to be to your canoe.   If you plan on heading up to High falls from Gauthier's Dam, you will reach a point where you have to wade.  Your best bet is probably to park your gear and wade the rest of the way to the portage.  Keep an eye out for the kitchen sink....you'll probably miss it unless you're wading.

From the Nadine portage to Cedar, it's pretty slow moving and reasonably deep.  There are only a few areas where you need to be careful.  Jeff's map shows to rapids around the 230m portage.  There's actually 3, and you'll need to wade/carry over these.  There's not much water in these areas.

I was traveling solo with a lightly loaded canoe, so depending on how much of a load you have you might be wading more than I was.

The only other thing to keep in mind is the camp sites on the Nipissing aren't fantastic, and aren't hammock friendly.  I stayed on Nadine, and was planning on staying at the midpoint to Cedar but just went straight from Nadine to Cedar non-stop.  I wasn't too inclined to take water from the Nipissing, so I took extra from Nadine.  The portage to Nadine is a bit of a beast, but it was worth it in my opinion.

We did the Nip from Nadine to Cedar in 2 days. They were comfortable days (we are not so fast) but I agree about the campsites - the one we stayed on was horrendous.

I would guess that low water levels won't be a problem after the most recent weather.


Barbara