West Montreal River

106 km/ 6 days  July 6-11, 2015

My daughter worked in Matheson the past two summers and on numerous occasions I have driven back and forth. As well, last year she and I did a canoe trip down the Larder River. Ever since, I’ve been curious about other canoe routes in this area.

Looking at the area north of Temagami, there seemed to be some routes in the Gowganda/Matachewan area that seemed interesting. I had never paddled in this area and the routes looked remote and challenging. These routes are not receiving any maintenance from the MNR and are slowly disappearing.

On this trip were I and my daughter Samantha paddling out mango ABS Evergreen Starburst. Our long time friend Peter joined us in a solo ABS boat.

This trip can be done in either direction. When I was planning this trip, the only trip report I found was from Kevin Callan’s  book Further Up the Creek. Kevin’s trip report had him starting at Edith Lake access at Gowanda and taking out at Wapus Creek. Since there was no discussion of one direction being better than another, we decided to travel in the same direction.

Day 1 – July 6 : 4 km

Since Peter was coming from Ottawa and Sam and I were coming from Mississauga, we met at our cottage in Whitney the day before to sort through gear and food and make any final preparations.

We left the cottage at 7:30 am, had some lunch in New Liskard, and arrived at the Edith Lake put-in at 2:30 pm. The 2 km access road from Hwy 560 to Edith Lake is rough and very narrow, but we endured. We completed the short shuttle to Wapus Creek picnic area and were on the water by 3:30.

We left our vehicle at the Wapus Creek picnic area even though there are signs saying no overnight parking. There really wasn`t any other option. The picnic area/boat launch is quite large and no one seems to bother our car.

We made the short paddle to our first portage, a PL150m around a nice water falls into Obushkong Lake. The portage was straight forward and in very good shape.

It didn’t look like anyone had camped on Obushkong Lake in a very long time. We found the campsite on the  point in the MNR brochure. Though it had been used as a campsite previously, it was very small and overgrowth. Though we only paddled 4 km, it was now 6 pm and we were tired after the long drive. We endured and made camp the best we could. The day had been warm, hazy, and breezy and there were no bugs at this site, a definite plus.

Day 2 – July 7 : 26 km

We had 26 km and 5 rapids to do today. We had hopes that at least some of these rapids were runnable or at least lineable.

Today we woke to heavy rains in the early morning. Thankfully the rain stopped around 7 am just as I immerged from the tent. We got on the water by 9 am under cloudy skies and a stiff wind right in our faces.

We arrived at the first portage, PL243m. This portage was awful, not well used or maintained. It was very rocky and made very slippery from the rain the night before. There were numerous trees down that had to be manoeuvred over. It was very slow going on the portage.

Next up was a PR495m. This was a repeat of the first portage, only longer.

The third portage, PR495 was one that was finally runnable and easy C1. Another kilometer paddle then brought us to PR120m, Split Rock Falls. This is a mandatory carry but is a very pretty falls.

Our last portage for the day was PL145. On this portage Samantha carried the boat.

We finally arrived at Sisseney Lake and the day was getting very late. We had passed a couple of decent campsites on Tommy Lake. In future, this would be a good place to camp to make for a shorter day. Numerous portages, slow and treacherous to do plus 26 km into a strong headwind all day got us into camp at 7 pm! Sisseney Lake is very pretty and we had a very nice island site, but a shorter day would have been welcome.

We had brought one freeze dried meal and this was the night for it. Simply boil water, add, wait, and consume; Perfect for this long, late day.

Day 3 – July 8 : 24 km

Up and on the water by 9 am with a clear ski and a cool north wind.

This morning we had three rapids to face and, thank fully, all were runnable. PR300, PR60, and PR765 were all swifts and C1s and were easy to handle. We never saw portage sign or any evidence of portages for any of them. The day was sunny and pleasant and the morning running some whitewater was and added bonus.

Our route now joined into the Montreal River. If we had turned right and followed the current, we would have paddled down to Elk Lake and eventually all the way to Lake Temiskaming. We turned left and headed upstream. Shortly we came to Matachewan where we had to wade the boast up the river that passed under the bridge in town. Shortly after Matachewan, we stopped on a point of land for some lunch.

After lunch, we arrived at Old Woman Rapids. We saw the portage first which is on the left side of a point of land. We continued past the portage and were able to avoid the PL140m by wading up the rapids on the right side of the island.

The next rapid, PR100 has a boardwalk so motorboats can get up and down this rapid in between Matachewan Lake and Lower Matachewan Lake. I stayed in the boat while Samantha walked along the boardwalk, towing me up the rapid.

Next up was High Falls dam at the Great Northern Bend. This is a mandatory PL200 around a very large waterfalls and dam. Here, the water from Mistinikon Lake tumbles down 140 metre high Matachewan Falls into Matachewan Lake. The portage is quite steep and uphill the entire way, but it is wide and well groomed and not overly difficult.

This got us onto Mistinikon Lake looking for a campsite. The three marked in Kevin Callan’s book do not exist. The MNR map is slightly more accurate. We made a bush camp on a crappy little island about XX km from the dam. It was 6 o’clock and we were exhausted after another very long day.

It seems that the two branches of the West Montreal River that we are doing are classified as provincial park. There seems to be some signage for portages and campsites along these sections. Obuskong Lake and Matchawan Lake are not part of the park and campsite options are very limited. Mistinikon Lake is also not part of the part. There are no campsites on this lake until the site listed on the MNR map at the south end of the lake.

Day 4 – July 9 : 18 km

Though a shorter day was planned for today, the entire day was spent paddling south on Mistinikon Lake. We set off from our crappy little island site at 9 am and paddled unabated until we reached camp at the end of this very long, narrow lake. Thankfully, there was no wind. Today was hazy, warm and calm which led to a pleasant but otherwise boring paddle.

We arrived at camp at 2:30, the MNR site marked at the south end of Mistinikon Lake. This is a very nice site, large and breezy. We bathed, swam, and relaxed our sore muscles after the last two very long days. Sam was particularly sore, especially her shoulders. I hope this easier day helps her to rest up.

We passed a scattering of fishing camps and fishing boats out on the lake, especially after Bell Island. You can tell by the short description that today wasn’t a very exciting day.

Day 5 – July 10 : 20 km

We were up and on the water at our usual time of 9 am. The day looked like it was going to be hot and sunny. We finally finished off Mistinikon Lake and arrived at Caribou Falls. Caribou Falls is a spectacular double drop canyon with an easy PL280m around it. The next 4 rapids (PL170m, PR155m, PL40m, and PL162m) we were able to wade up. This was good since we only saw evidence of a portage around one of these. It was a hot day and the wading was easy and pleasant.

The river is quite narrow and marshy from Caribou Falls to Penassi Lake. We never did see the entrance to Rankin Lake where ther is supposedly a great beach campsite. We eventually had to eat lunch in our boats since the area is all march with rock outcrop to stop for lunch.

We arrived at our campsite by 4 pm at the south end of Penassi Lake. The site was quite large and decent.

Though we were in the park and this was marked with a campsite sign, there was a lot of development at this site. Here we found a tent structure, tables, an outhouse, a huge fire pit and plenty of dry firewood. This has obviously been used as a fishing/hunting camp.

If this site is too developed for you, there is another site just across from it. It is up a steep bank, a little overgrown and not as flat.

Day 6 – July 11 : 14 km

Our final day dawned bright, sunny and hot. Today was an easy paddle out with no portages. We were up a little earlier today and were on the water by 8:30. This was a straight forward 3 ½ hour paddle to Wapus Creek where our car was waiting for us.

We arrived at the take out by noon, completed the shuttle and loading our gear. All that was left was the ride home.

Though the trip started out very difficult with 2 very long days, I would to this trip again with a couple of changes. First, I would do this trip in the opposite direction. Now all the rapids that we waded up on Day 5 we could now run. These were all straight forward C1s. As well, all of the mandatory portages we did on Day 1 we have to do anyways, no matter which direction we chose.

We did the trip in 5 days but 6 days are more reasonable. The first 2 days for us were very long, being 10 hours and 8 hours in length. Adding an extra day would make the kilometres paddled each day more reasonable.

Slideshow of West Montreal River Canoe Trip

Wayne