Nagagami River: Northern Ontario Wilderness Canoeing 

Thanks man! That was definitely not the most enjoyable way to start off a trip, but it was wayyy better than Dirty Bush or Jackpine :D And you've got that right about a sufferfest! The perfect trips never have a truly compelling story to share.

Thanks Chris!!! I'm getting to work on another one already!

Thanks Jim!!

Leah's one tough gal! Our first outing was in a crazy deep freeze, blizzard with thundersnow. I knew she was a keeper after she powered through that one!

Leah loves it. In fact, she craves challenging trips, sometimes to the point she's disappointed if a trip was too easy. Lol.

I just read a report the other day about a couple who paddled the Anderson River and had a gas leak ruin their oatmeal as well! Haha, never putting fuel in the barrel again... I'll shuffle weight another way. Seems everyone has 'one' experience. Thankfully all the electronics worked after the fuel evaporated. It took about a month for my phone to lose a fuel streak though. Biggest causality was my wallet.... Thanks for watching! Glad you enjoyed it!

@@ExploreTheBackcountry Sucks about the gas leak. Mental note to keep fuel bottle elsewhere.

Thanks man! Glad you enjoyed it!!

Thanks for watching!! More on the way, hope you enjoy!

You've got that right! Being prepared makes a world of a difference. That icy water would have led to hypothermia without the dry suit. Getting out in the spring is challenging but, oh so worth it!.

Thanks Jim!!

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!

Heck yea she is!!! Trip was a wee frosty haha. Thanks lads!

:D Thanks a lot! Glad you enjoyed it!! It was certainly heart pounding in person!

Oh yeah! Northern Ontario has some great whitewater opportunities, you don't have to travel too far. Some are spring only (Nagagami gets fairly tame later in the year), but some of the big rivers keep flushing all season. Glad you enjoyed the video! Hope a few of the other videos give you some ideas.

Haha you got that right. Well deserved bombs! Thanks man!

haha, and believe me, our heart rate was up too, pre, during and post :D If you run whitewater, sometimes you'll go for a swim! Thanks for watching!

You got that right!

Thanks mark! 😁

Thanks!! Glad you enjoyed it!

Ah, this was quite the fun, yet challenging trip. Nagagami did not disappoint! Leah is quite the trooper! She can hack it out there with the best of em 😁 and I agree, tops on the awesome scale 😉 Glad you've enjoyed the videos!!

Wow! Awesome! It hasn't seen much maintenance since. Parks did some work a few years back, but some of those portages are now in terrible shape - dirty bush is getting close to non-existent! I checked in with parks and they have/had plans to send a crew in. Great river to paddle, would love to see it taken care of.

Awesome! Glad you've put it to good use. I still have to finish the updated one... nearly there. Too many things on the tasklist.

The boreal is certainly gorgeous! These arctic watershed rivers are always fun to run. Thanks for watching Dave!

Ha, no eh? Dirty Bush not enticing enough? ;)

Thanks!! We can't either. They way this winter's going.... it may be a lonngggg wait 😥

Thanks! Glad you liked it!

Thanks for watching Jim! I agree, we surprisingly didn't see much in the way of wildlife in this trip, and those we did see, hightailed it into the bush before I could get the camera out. Ah well! Was a fun trip despite the conditions, they just season you 😁

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it :) Happy adventuring!

Good thing I take it? 😉 Let me know if you ever have any route questions.

Thanks 😀 We try to balence it out as much as we can. Sometimes that means a bit of a financial sacrifice for emotional wellbeing, but you really can't put a price on that!

Yes I have learned that now.

Thanks 😁

Did you catch any good speckle trout?

Ah, yea. The highs and lows of tripping! Lots of teachables from this trip. We keep our fuel external now to avoid duplication....

Thanks for watching! Oh yeah, we felt pretty beat at the end of each day, but it was that good beat feeling that only comes from pushing yourself. Thanks for watching 😁

Oh yeah, sure was 😅 Haha! What type of motivation are you going for here 😉

Thanks a lot Matt!! 🤙

Thanks Dan! Those hard trips are always worth it. Little harder than expected, but an amazing trip nonetheless!

Thanks George!

😁

You've got that right!!

Thanks Bill! Yeah we stopped to make camp about 25m away from that portage where she's shaking. Thankfully a prime island campsite not marked on our old MNR topo was just waiting for us! Both feet had about a cup of water and then another cup in my saturated socks. I was pretty thirsty at the end of that one. Went through about 3L of water in 10mins!

Oh yeah! Exactly. You're bang on too, "sometimes it just doesn't happen". That's the beauty of whitewater. Never underestimate its power and dynamics. Every flip is a learning opportunity, but sometimes the bigger runs just don't work out. When they do, it's quite the rush 😁 Thanks for watching. More content on the way this winter!

Thanks Scott!

Haha! Thanks a lot!! It's always (usually) fun in the end, no matter what is thrown out way. Thanks for the support! More on the way. Cheers.

Thanks! Oh yeah, Leah is something else 😁 one tough cookie!

Oh that she is!! I used to watch OLN back in the day when it was actually about the outdoors.... now I just stick to RU-vid for all the 'real' stuff! Have fun on the Ranger Lake Loop! I've always wanted to paddle that one. I hear low water can make it a slog... but that's half the fun! Enjoy!! I'll look for the video when you're out of the woods ;)

Thanks Paul 😀

Awesome! Yeah this trip was May 24. Crazy how a few months (and many years) can make a big difference. I brought the fishing rod but we never really had the time, or the weather, to fish, but I'd imagine it would be top notch. I'd still like to put at the Foch and go further down the river, connecting with the Albany and taking that out to the Bay.

Safe travel advice: When you're driving - Keep the Shinny side UP. When you're canoeing - Keep the Shinny side Down! That was years ago, but the Shinny side is still down - mostly solo. I've got been doing trips that don't require the SS UP. I could still portage but I fear for my ankles. The Foch is not very interesting - better to start at Hwy #11. Albany return logistics are complicated: Planes, Trains and Automobiles. Paddle on!

Yeah they totally do! We tend to dehydrate all our meals but we bring flavouring and satay kits like that to enhance things. Makes for a great backcountry (and at home) meal! I tend to grab a bunch of those when they go on sale.

Thanks!!

Thanks for watching 😁

Thanks for watching 😀

Some awesome places to bike and hike though! We do enjoy a good winter escape to the sunny south 😁

@@ExploreTheBackcountry Yes, I do a lot of biking & hiking year round...

Haha, it's always okay to grumble to yourself if it's not what you had expected!

Hey thanks 😁 Really loved the decking last season. North Water makes a great product!!

Yup! You can still do that today!! So many wild palaces in Northern Ontario. A train or plane could drop you off and you could paddle for months without seeing a soul! Love Texas too btw, paddled the Rio Grande twice and absolutely loved it!!

That's an older model Mantis 2

Thanks 😁

No, Tuffstuff Expedition. Needs a bit more maintenance overtime (gelcoat), but I've been pleased with it. Layup is from a few years back, so materials may have changed a bit.

Sometimes. I always bring a rod, but it's a lower priority and I don't always film when I do. Tend to eat fish on trip a a few times per year.

Certainly! This is 16ft Prospector from Nova Craft Canoe. The layup is TuffStuff Expedition with skid plates and anchors for whitewater attachments. The spray deck is from North Water Paddle Sports and Equipment. The P16 is probably, imo, the best all around canoe design for wilderness tripping and it's offered by quite a few companies. Short enough for whitewater maneuverability, but still retains capacity for gear. You could make do with a 17 as well if you want extra capacity, but we love the 16. The TuffStuff layup is much lighter than SP3 and the royalex of yesterday, the only catch is it's coated in gelcoat and will require patchwork after every season if you beat it up on rigorous river trips. The hull integrity is solid even if you chip some of the gelcoat. I actually pinned one a few years back and despite a big crack, continued to paddle it without leaks etc. I haven't had to do too much patching, the odd gash and dime size nick. Last year was our first year paddling a decked canoe and we loved it. Left it on all season. It adds a bit of weight and reduces visibility on the portages, but the water shedding protection is more than a fair trade off. You can customize it to fit your requirements and it's hand sewn in Canada. Lemme know if you have any questions

Hahaha! Wise words there 😁😁

Hahaha, this makes sense! Really thought it was a fitting name for this location too. I live in the NE and hadn't come across the term in my travels before. Not much is moving through there fast at all.... Cool, thanks for the info!!