Paddlers: Brian Newhook, Trent Hardy and Rooster the Dog
Date: November 8, 2009
Weather: +1 deg. C., rain and or snow, winds NW 50 gusting to 70 gusting to 90
kph.
I had been looking at this river on Google Earth, that starts near Ocean Pond
and flows to Whitbourne, emptying out into Beothunes Pond, not too far from my
house. November 8, 2009, I was finally able to check it out. The forecast was
terrible for Saturday, rain and/or snow, with winds NW 50 gusting to 70 gusting
to 90 km/h. So again, not much of a day to paddle on the ocean, so we decided to
try out this river route. It had been constantly raining for weeks, so we
figured the small river would have enough water for us to paddle in.
Thumbnail - click on image
to enlarge.
We departed from a small pond near Ocean Pond. When you turn off the TCH at
Ocean Pond, its the first pond on your right. The river is at the opposite end
of the pond.
You can finish at several locations. The
pumphouse on Whitbourne Ave, or the small park on Main Road are probably the
best places. Or, you can drive to the end of Main Road, then cross the T'railway,
and leave a car there. This way, you do get to paddle the entire river to where
it dumps into Beothunes Pond. The pump house offers more parking if there are a
few cars. Of course it makes sense to do the car shuttle, leaving one in
Whitbourne and starting in Ocean Pond.
Thumbnail - click on image to enlarge.
It started off kinda rough, and we
contemplated turning around, as the river was too shallow and rocky. We spent
the first kilometre mostly dragging our kayaks, but after that, it opened up a
bit to more of a boggy/marshy river that made for a great paddle. It's pretty
sheltered most of the way, and we didnt' really notice the winds gusting to 90.
It took us about 4 hours altogether and was about 10.5 kms.
I would not recommend this paddle during this summer, as the river would surely
be too low to paddle on. Early spring would probably be the best time, with rain
and the snow run off.
The last kilometre or so near Whitbourne was also rocky, similar to the
beginning, and we had to walk our boats a little at the end.
There are a lot of beaver lodges and dams along the way, which can make for some
interesting paddling. We had to jump a few dams in our kayaks.
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xndvSunKRZk)
We saw 2 grouse, and 4 Canada geese. And a lot of wind and rain. Most of my pics
came out very blurry, but here are a few.
Trent gets the pontoons ready for Rooster the dog
Heading across the pond
Still heading across the pond
Rooster loves the ride
The start of the Hodge River
Not the best conditions at the start
Road block along the way
Trent making his way down
When the river opens up
Mostly boggy, marshy, grassy conditions
One of many beaver lodges along the way
In a downpour
Trent waiting for Rooster to return after a jaunt through the woods
One of several small ponds that the river opens up to along the way
Pushing through the reeds
I wouldn't recommend paddling this river
during summer, as it would probably be much too low. Early spring or fall when
there is lots of rain would be best. Another recommendation, don't bring your
$500 Werner......bring your cheap plastic spare. Also, its a good idea to have a
bow line, makes it easier to drag your boat behind you when the river gets too
shallow.
There are also several routes that can be added to this, to even make it a 2 day
trip, paddling across a few ponds and joining onto the Rocky River, eventually
ending up in Colinet. I plan to add a trip report about that too when I get a
chance.
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