Algonquin Adventures / Kiosk - Nipissing: May 17-25

**Posted by Paddlerunner** 6/15/2019 12:08 pm

Day 2 now available. Thanks in advance for all views!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3BGjxmZJvY&feature=youtu.be

**Posted by oldboyscout** 6/17/2019 12:03 pm

Whew!! Tough slog on Maple creek!!! Love the montage at the end. Only one criticism; no lifejacket??????

**Posted by Paddlerunner** 6/18/2019 4:21 am

Thanks oldboyscout. A fair criticism to be sure. I admit that although I always carry a PFD, I pretty much only wear it when I sense an elevated risk of capsizing. I'm certainly not interested in debating the relative weaknesses of this choice, since I'm well aware how quickly a paddling situation can change from calm to hairy -- a reality that came to bear on day 5 of this trip. It's simply a long-lived habit that happens never to have resulted in calamity, no doubt more by luck than skill. So suffice to say you are right and I was wrong not to wear it, and perhaps more wrong still to post such footage on a public site. I'll have to think about that going forward.

**Posted by solos** 6/18/2019 10:22 am

Thanks for sharing the video of just how bad Alder Creek can be. I think the music and production value has gone up since part 1. I especially like the fast forward through the creek, with the occasional bump/dead stop when you couldn’t quite make the turns.

Were you mostly using your canoe paddle of your double bladed paddle for the tight parts of the creek?

**Posted by Paddlerunner** 6/18/2019 5:37 pm

Thanks solos--nice to know the attention to detail is paying off in the edit. This is actually upper Maple Creek . . . or was that a joke because of the endless alder LOL? I believe the official Alder Creek runs into Longer Lake from the west.

I started with the kayak paddle and soon became completely frustrated as the alders closed in overhead and there wasn't enough room to maneuver the kayak paddle. In the end I was much happier with the canoe paddle anyway--much easier to handle steering strokes.

**Posted by MartinG** 6/18/2019 7:13 pm

Upper Maple creek looks like HELL! Great job powering your way up stream. Thanks for bringing us along on your journey.

**Posted by Paddlerunner** 6/19/2019 5:08 am

Thanks Martin! Kind comments much appreciated.
. . . And now I'm going to bump your thread ahead of mine, since it's a better video LOL

http://www.youtube.com/user/kayakcamper · **Posted by Uppa** 6/19/2019 7:57 am

Well that looked like quite the slog. I have to admit I was also taken aback by seeing you out on the water, on an ice-out trip, without a PFD on. I hope you'll reconsider that approach on future trips.

Alder creeks are a nightmare with a kayak paddle for sure - at least you had another option! Your site on North Raven looked more well-used than I would have expected, given that it's not exactly on the beaten path. You must have been heading to Birchcliffe the following day?

**Posted by jvermast** 6/19/2019 10:42 am

I went through Maple in 2011 and I'm glad to see that it's still an absolute gong show. We still tell stories about that day.

5 meters from the final portage into One Mile my stern man put me into an alder at chest height which knocked me all the way back into the rear of the canoe and sunk it and all of our gear in stank water.

**Posted by AlgonquinLakes** 6/21/2019 1:31 pm

Great video. I think the thing you saw on that portage was a water lily ribosome. I'm guessing that because I had the exact same reaction you did to seeing a bunch of them on my ice out trip last year, and someone told me that it was probably from water lilies. Which is a thing I would not have guessed in a million years (my original guess was snake palm, which was wrong)

**Posted by Paddlerunner** 6/21/2019 8:03 pm

@jvermast: Yikes!! I had a few close calls with the overhangs but nothing quite like that!! But it's true--those experiences always make for the best stories later.

@AlgonquinLakes: Thanks for the info. I got that same answer from another viewer so I'll take it as fact at this point! The big mystery to me now is how did it get where it was -- i.e., I presume something was feeding on it, but what?

**Posted by scratchypants** 6/22/2019 8:56 am

The other viewer was me.

Lily roots (er, ribosomes) are an absolute delicacy to moose. Perhaps you spooked one and it made a hasty getaway without finishing its snack.

Last edited by scratchypants (6/22/2019 8:57 am)

**Posted by dcmcelroy** 6/22/2019 12:45 pm

OK so I'll be a pedantic PITA here and comment on terminology. Briefly, a ribosome is a small particle inside a living cell, and is the site where messenger RNA directs protein synthesis out of individual amino acids. A rhizome (the item in question above) is a modified plant stem that grows horizontally under the earth (or in this case, water) and puts out shoots and adventitious roots (the little white wormy-looking things). Wikipedia will tell you more than you'd ever want to know about both of them.

The water lily rhizomes really are impressive in their size and bizarre appearance - they're the "Algonquin anacondas", for sure.

**Posted by Paddlerunner** 6/23/2019 4:53 am

@scratchypants: Apologies, as your comment was posted to YouTube so I missed the proper citation--but credit where credit is due, and thank you.

@dcmcelroy: Wow! Thanks for the clarification. Quite astonishing really. And to think I've been travelling the Algonquin backcountry all these decades without ever seeing one before --or at least, not that I can recall. Goes to show that there's always something new discover out there.

Kiosk - Nipissing: May 17-25 - Day 2