Manigotagan River

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Name: Manigotagan River
Flows: 8.7 cubic meters per sec
Length: 74 km
Class:  II-III
Highlights: Several Waterfalls, moose, bear, old mining equiptment
Put In: caribou Landing
Take out: Bridge in Manigotagan
Nearby Towns: Bissett, Lac du Bonnet, Pine Falls, Manigotagan
Guide Services: North Soul (http://www.northernsoul.ca/adventures.htm)






On August 28th, 2014 some friends and I headed out to the East side of Lake Winnipeg for a four day trip down the Manigotagan River from Caribou Landing to the town of Manigotagan. The trip started in Pine Falls, we took the hydro dam across the Winnipeg River. From there we drove to the town of Manigotagan were we picked up Charles Simard. He would be running shuttle for us. Finally we hit the turnoff to the put in some time after Manigotagan. It was a 16km long road. It was rough and often too narrow for two vehicles to pass.

Road to the turnoff, put in south of marker.

We arrived at the put in at Caribou Landing and we were off. Two canoes, and three kayaks were starting on one of the best rivers in Eastern Manitoba. 

Put-in

The next portage was only a few hundred feet downstream, it passed the un-runnable Quesnel Lake Dam. Not a hard portage by any standards, we were done with it in under 15 minutes.

Bottom of the dam, definitely not class V at 8 cms.

Duncan rapids was next, on the map it said it was rated class III but it looked more like a waterfall to me. A whitewater kayak would be able to run it during higher water but it would definitely be a tough one in a canoe.

 Duncan Falls

The next rapid we hit was Elbow. Essentially it was a straight shoot, with a hydraulic in the middle we dubbed Carl's Hole. One of my buddies missed the line and ended up backwards in it. We had a good laugh as we rushed to pick up his gear which was floating downstream.

Elbow Rapids and Carl's Hole

Carl vs. Hydraulic

Wendigo rapids was just downstream. It is actually 2 sets of rapids. The first one was very easy, the second set, not so much. Some of the guys decided to take the 400 meter portage around both, some lined the first set, and one ran them. 

First set of rapids

Author on his way to scout the second set.

Second set of Rapids

After a relaxing 11 km long day of paddling we made it to the first camp at Turtle Falls. We had to get everything unpacked and had to set up camp, but first, like any whitewater kayaker would, I went to scout the falls. I concluded that I would run the second half of the falls, starting just below a sieve. 

Upper half of the falls and the start of the second half.

Picture of the sieve don't know if I would have gotten pushed in and pinned so I decided to not run it.

Top/bottom of the falls.

I ran them, and we got camp set up, went fishing at the bottom of the falls, and swimming in a little swimming hole we found in the falls.

Author running the falls

Swimming Hole

Carl's Pike

In the middle of the night it started storming. It poured rain and got crazy windy. I learned my 50 dollar Canadian Tire pop up tent was not as waterproof as I thought. The next day we awoke to freezing air and dark clouds on the horizon. He quickly packed up and made our way down a very steep, muddy portage.

We came to Kettle Rapids, the canoes lined it as it was essentially a river-wide hydraulic. I managed to talk Carl into following me through it, the lesson he learned that day is that creekboats are much better suited for gliding over holes than rec kayaks.

Lining Kettle

Over the course of the day we came across two major rapids and a small class one. First came Charles Falls. A long, steep slide with a crack in the slide that would damage a kayak pretty quickly. The portage was insanely difficult in the rain. 

Charles Falls

End of the Portage

Pillow Falls was just 2 or 3 km downstream. It was a short, steep portage. The falls looked runnable but, having no previous experience running waterfalls, I decided that days from civilization was not a good place to start. 

Pillow Falls

The final rapid before camp was Perry Davis Rapids. A small class I rapid, the canoes lined it, a friend of mine ran it, I ran it and I ran it again with another friends kayak, the temperature was about 10 degrees and so far he was 2 for 2 on swamping in the rapids.

Finally the weather started to clear up as we approached camp. Sand River Falls proved to not only be one of the nicest camps of the trip, it also had some fun rapids that everyone attempted, aside from Carl who was still traumatized from the previous days rapids. 

 Sand River Rapids

The next day started with 6 small class I rapids, the group got more and more confident. We hit the first biggish rapid of the day and everyone was in. Onion Patch was a long shallow rapid with a hole and then a wave. Everyone made it through except for one, he took a spill in the hydraulic.

Author above hole at Onion Patch Rapids.

Big Eddy was next, the low water meant a tricky entry so all but one portaged.

Big Eddy Rapids

Next on the list was Cascade Falls, marked as un-runnable I decided to give it a try as everyone else portaged. It would have been very difficult in a canoe but a whitewater kayak made it through like nothing, sort of.

Author at Cascade Falls

Engineer Rapids was the last of the day. Everyone had a blast on this longish rapid.

Hydraulic at the end of Engineer

On the third night we camped at Old Woman Falls on an island. Old Woman is definitely runnable at 8 cms. The campsite has little grass and is mostly wood chip covered dirt. The toilet is on river right. 

Carl at Old Woman Falls

The first rapid of day four was Jack Pine, definitely the longest rapid of the trip, everyone ran everyone succeeded.

First part of Jack Pine

Next was Poplar Rapids, marked as class 4, it looked more like a class 2, I gave it a go and made it though without an issue.

Attempting to boof

Looking back up at Poplar Rapids

Finally we hit Poplar Falls then paddled back civilization, taking out just above Wood Falls. Everyone was tired and excited to go home. All in all it was an awesome trip. The level was just a bit on the low side for a whitewater kayak and far to low for the canoes. 

Author scouting Poplar Falls

Wood Falls

Happy Paddling,

Braeden

Brokenhead River

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Name: Brokenhead River
Flows: 18 cubic meters per sec
Length: 15km
Class: I
Highlights: Great Woods Park, Turtles, sandy cliffs
Put in: Where provincial road 70 N crosses the river
Take Out: Provincial road 45 E
Nearby Towns: Brokenhead, Winnipeg
Guide Services: Wild Harmony Canoe Adventures (http://www.wildharmony.ca/)








The section of the Brokenhead we paddled  this particular trip ran from the bridge over the river on provincial road 70 N and ended on provincial road 45 E. From Beausejour follow highway 44 east, after crossing the Brokenhead river you will find provincial road 44 E. Follow it until you find provincial road 70 N, turn left onto it and follow it until the bridge that crosses the river.

After heavy rains you can choose to start the trip off with a 50 meter long rapid, running through a ditch running parallel to the road. You're boat will get a few scratches, even in high water, but it is worth it.

 End of the ditch.

The Brokenhead river flows through Southern Manitoba farmland but the trees on either side of the river makes you feel like you're in a thick forest. Multiple bridges cross the river. At 18 cm/s the river starts off as a swift deep channel but the first rapid is not far away. It is the second longest rapid of the trip and, in my opinion, one of the funnest. It is shallow and full of rocks, which makes it one of the more technical rapids on the trip.

Running a good line

The next rapid on the river is a weir. It is a simple, short rapid but it is still a lot of fun. We chose two different lines, one left of the island and one right of the island. Both were fairly easy lines but the one left of the island was extremely shallow.

The left and right lines.

Sitting above the rapid.

There are only two rapids above highway 44, after the highway the river picks up gradient and rapids are more frequent. There are roughly 12 rapids after highway 44, I only took pictures of a few of them. 

Highway 44 bridges.

The first rapid you will encounter after the bridge is a man-made rapid. It is a relatively simple rapid to run , it is deep with standing waves. This rapid does have very powerful eddy lines creating large whirlpools but as long as you don't hit the eddy line it is an easy rapid. We had one swamping there and unfortunately I was filming and not taking photographs.

Houses line this section of the river's banks and rapids become more frequent. There is a weir right after a suspension bridge that crosses the river, the hydraulic is not particularly strong and is a fairly straight forward rapid. 

The bridge.

Sitting above the weir.

Over the next little while the river is full of super easy rapids with easy to identify and lines, small waves, hydraulics and some strainers and sweepers. We were invited to have lunch at a house and, after a short snack, we were off again.

After lunch rapids.

Soon we hit Great Woods Park, this was definitely the most scenic part of the river. We stopped at a beach to go scout out the next two rapids from a suspension bridge. The rapids in front of the beach were a great spot to practice ferrying.

Nice beach in Great Woods Park.

Bridge scouting.

After leaving the beach we came to an area with a half a km long rapid. I didn't get any pictures but it was similar to the first one. We hit a weir, some of the hydraulics looked pretty sticky but I found a line and ran it without too much difficulty, this was defiantly the high point of the trip for me. 

Scouting the rapids.

Towards the end the rapids ran out, the river got very shallow, we saw an eagle nest and the trip was over, it felt like a long trip but that could be because I am out of shape from the long winter or because I have a new boat that I am not used to paddling but either way it was a great trip. 

Eagle nest.

Take out at last.

Author tired after a long day paddling.

Mr. Turtle

Happy Paddling,

Braeden

Bird River to Elbow Lake

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Name: Bird River to Elbow Lake
Flows: Unknown (but low)
Length: 30km (round trip)
Class: II
Highlights: Granite cliffs, amazing fishing
Put in: Tulabi Falls parking lot
Take out: Tulabi Falls parking Lot
Nearby Towns: Lac du Bonnet, Bird Lake
Guide Services: Unknown






Our trip on the Bird River started and ended at the Tulabi Falls Campground at the end of provincial road 315. We parked in the parking lot just past the campground and carried our boats down a short path to the small beach above the falls. Once everything was packed and ready to go, we paddled
to the far left corner across Tulabi Lake and up the Bird River.

\

Directions to the put in from Lac du Bonnet

The river was full of wildlife, including moose, beaver, geese, pickerel, pike, and bear.
Before long we where at the first portage. Manitoba Conservation and a group of volunteers had fixed the trails recently to make traveling the portages much easier. The put in for the portage was muddy, to say the least. It may not have been a big problem during higher water, but was definitely a time consumer during the  lower water levels of mid September.

Upper Tulabi Falls



After all that hard work on the portage we wanted to paddle an hour or two until the next one. Unfortunately the second portage, the longest of the trip, was just across the pond. The start and end are both fairly easy but the middle of it was an ankle twister.
You can either choose to take the muddy path or the path full of roots and stumps.

 Once we were done with that portage, we paddled the placid waters of the Bird for another nine kilometers through some fen until we reached the last portage of the trip.

The placid Bird



 This easy 30 m portage surpasses a ledge that may be runnable on the way back down the river.

Author running the ledge



After a few minutes of paddling you will reach a lake with a large granite cliff. It has a
campsite on the far side of the lake that isn't marked on many maps.

Cliff



 Just around the corner, you reach Elbow Lake. We camped on the large island on the far side of the lake.

View of Elbow Lake



It has 2 campsites and a toilet. Both campsites have beautiful views of the lake.

View from the campsite



 At the cliffs closest to the island there was a bunch of large Pickerel. We had to throw back several because they were too big. The smallest one was at least 10 inches. Our group of 4 caught 24 that we could keep. We also caught many pike over the course of 2 days.

Some nice sized walleye

After 3 days in the Shield country of Nopiming we made it back to Tulabi Falls where we packed up and headed home.

I would say that this trip is a good choice for beginner flatwater paddlers, and people looking for a weekend fishing destination.

Happy Paddling,

Braeden