The trip I took in July '08 included the upper Nipissing from Loontail Creek to just below High Falls, a stretch of the river I had not seen since about 1993, when I last paddled the whole length of the Nipissing. In general there were more "uncleared" logs across the river, especially in one place where a double log jam required a bushwhacking end run. It has now been more than sixty years since the last log drive on the Nipissing. Riverbank trees have grown up a lot in that time and more and more are falling into the river as part of the aging process. I have two questions. As canoeists are you seeing more debris in the rivers and creeks and is it the Park's policy, if only in response to being understaffed, to let the more remote rivers and streams return to a pre-logging state? That is, deadfall and log jams will not be cleared and by-pass trails will not be cut or maintained? If so, this will make for an exciting period in the Park's history. Those canoeists who want a true backwoods experience will find more and more of a challenge in some places. Canoeing there will be like the difference between downhill skiing and snowshoeing. Snowshoers can get big slope thrills out of a much smaller and more rugged piece of terrain.

In May 2004, from Gerald Lake, we travelled down Bissett Creek to Big Bissett Lake and the portages on the creek were non existing. It surely made for an interesting and exhausting day. That area hadn't been cleared in years and is not on the latest canoe route map.

You can expect anything early in the season on those lesser travelled areas...I am again thinking of exploring another one of those tucked away spots this coming spring.

I haven't been on the Nip in at least 15 years. We had no problems going down it, not a single blowdown and almost no trees even close enough to be candidates. Basically the same stretch, we went in from Gibson and down to Wiskeyjack.

If the interior is reverting to a more wild state, I think that's great. APP has always had the potential to offer something for everyone. If you want groomed portages, you can paddle the perimeter. If you're interested in a little more adventure, hop a couple portages.

Hi John, I've often wondered what a trip down the Nip would be like, how many days did it take you? Any problems finding camp sites along the way? I thought about beginning right at the start at Big Bob, but wondered about the low water in that area, how was the water where you started from? and of course, the most important questions, how was the fishing??
thanks
Skeeter,somewhere near Owen Sound

Skeeter-

John can surely give you his take on our trip on the Nip this summer, but I might be able to save a few thousand words with a couple of pictures that I took. We left Rosebary on July 14 for the Latour and Loontail route to the Nipissing and left the Nip for a campsite on Whiskyjack on July 17. We didn't see a soul along the way on the Nip, and only a handful of other parties before we stopped at Brent mid-way on our trip to Kawawaymog, where we pulled out on July 25.

John and I had gone over the same stretch as far as High Dam on the Nipissing in mid-May when we bushwacked in to Loontail Lake. We found the water level in mid-July to be unchanged from mid-May. For that matter, Louise and I found the same water levels in August on the Amable du Fond as John and I had seen at the end of our trip in July. In effect, mid-spring water levels held up throughout the summer this past year.

This is a shot of High Falls on the Nipissing on July 17. In a "normal" year, the falls would be a fun place to swim and play in mid-summer, but they were anything but playful this year.



If anything, our experience with water levels this summer highlights how hard it is to predict in advance what you might find in the Park from year-to-year, or even month-to-month. A backwater creek might be a slog one summer and a piece of cake another, and rapids that can be a walk in the park one year can be a thunderous Class IV another. If it matters to you, it would be best to check on conditions just before you leave. Of course, when it comes to a rapids, don't count on anything until you have a chance to see them in person.

As to the obstructions John spoke of. This is a shot of one of the extended log jams John and I encountered on the Nipissing. It really was not practical to haul loaded canoes over the obstructions (it is important to note, at least for Randy Mitson's sake, that these were our own, almost new canoes, not rentals . Fortunately, the log jams came at an oxbow, so after we clawed our way up the mud bank we didn't have far to bushwacked through the alders to get back to the river.



I have no objections to the Park leaving these obstructions as a natural feature of backcountry travel. It is reassuring to know that there are still Park routes that many people may find discouragingly primative. It would just be helpful for planning, as with the advisory regarding black routes, to have a better idea of what the Park's strategy is going forward. Speaking of black routes, the portages down that stretch of the Nipissing are all "red" on the map, but we found them in mid July to look suspiciously "black, with frequent, sometimes extensive blowdowns left over from last winter. Naturally enough, given the wet summer, we also found many lowland portions of the trails, lacking boardwalks, to be teethgrinding, bootsucking bogs.

We really didn't have much luck fishing the Nip in the summer. We were consoled by the suggestion, by fishermen we respect, that the high water gave the fish more than enough to eat and made them especially picky when it came to what we threw their way. John and I did have some fun, though, with the specs we found on the Nip in the spring. They might not have been big, but they were beautiful enough, and full of heart.



My apologies to some of the AA regulars who saw a couple of these photos when I posted them last spring.

-Mark

John and Mark, you are a truly entertaining "read". (Thank-you Louise)

I am sure those log jams had something to do with the very high water this year. Come spring, I am sure it will look completly different again.

We did it in August and were 2 days on the river. Honestly, it was some of the most boring paddling I've ever done. Winding river, high banks, alders & other growth. The horizon was 20' away. Not much to see. The fishing was decent, yeah small river trout but still spunky and fun.

Hi Preacher, where did you start your trip down the Nip from?? Like I said in my earlier post, I was thinking of starting from Big Bob, or simply staying at Big Bob and day tripping down the Nip. Any idea what that lake is like for campsites, fishing, etc??
thanks,
Skeeter

did you read this?
http://www.algonquinadventures.com/triplogs/NeilMiller/Spring2005/NMSpring2005.htm

Mike, that is one of my all-time favourite trip reports from Neil.




Barbara

thanks for the link Mike!
Skeeter

Skeeter, Big Bob is a small lake, there's like 3 campsites on it.

When we were there, one of the sites was unusable because of the fallen trees all over it.

It's definitely an out-of-the-traffic lake to stay on. It's not in the middle of a popular canoe route.

It's kind of an annoying place to get to. Seemed like we spent more time loading/unloading/loading the canoe for the portages than we did in actual paddling, throughout the whole route to Big Bob.

Indian Pipe is also a quick paddle-through. I seem to remember the take-out being a bit of a pain. Wouldn't be such a pain if you're equipped to get your feet wet.


Spring, before the bugs come out....and when the mommy mooses take the baby mooses out and about....that's a good time to head out.



Barbara

Thanks Barbara, so would you suggest getting onto the Nip via Loontail instead?? That seems like it is a long way in, does it outweight the annoyance of getting in through Big Bob??
Skeeter