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Kedgwick River |
All the rivers in southern New Brunswick were too low, so we went north to the Kedgwick. Our outfitter, M. Arpin, took us to Camp 16 up in Quebec, the furthest upstream put-in point accessible by road.
The shuttle is long but in for a penny, in for a pound. We ran over four leisurely days to our outfitter's base where the Kedgwick meets the Little Main Restigouche. The river ran quick and steady, with no sweepers and frequent yet easy rapids.
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This ledge is called the Ladysteps. It was scenic, and was not an obstacle.
I made only one carry, around the North Branch Falls. Aaron, being a more skilled paddler than I, ran the Falls no problem ... he only grabbed the gunwales at the start. Despite being told by the outfitter that the carry was river left, we found the portage trail on river right.
The scenery was awesome, we enjoyed the play of the sun against the many-shaded green cliffs of the canyons all the way down.
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The bright aspen, birch and poplar waved in the breeze against the dark green background of the spruce and pine, offering a new vivid tableau at every bend of the stream.
This is the entrance to Depot Rapids. They were long, I couldn't take a picture as we ran them. We chose mostly to hang left.
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We camped beside the river the first two nights, and were glad we had pads to soften the rocky soils. There was always wood in riverside drift piles.The site on the third night found up a short ladder by the stream's confluence with the Kedgwick included a shelter, picnic table, a freshly-mowed lawn and a clean outhouse.
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There were almost no blood-sucking insects, hard to believe for the first week of June.
We had one partly-cloudy day, but it was warm and didn't rain.
This waterfall is on a tributary only a few miles upstream from the takeout on river right. To see it, hike a short distance from the wonderful campsite.
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This is my intrepid paddling buddy Aaron.
This is me.
This is just upstream from the junction of the Kedgwick and the Little Main Restigouche where we finished. Our outfitter is just across the river.
