Our Red Deer River Run Adventure

May 26, 2015

Our Red Deer River Run Adventure

With much thanks to my Father, I grew up canoeing. I can't remember where I first went canoeing but I do remember adventures in Nakina and Algonquin in particular. He taught me how to paddle in the front, how to paddle/steer in the back, and how to bail water madly while he frantically paddled to a nearby island during a sudden downpour. He taught me canoe games that make me marvel to this day that I still have my own two front teeth. Really how can two people standing on gunwales at each end of the canoe rocking back and forth trying to knock the other person off their precarious perch end well? I have this memory of sitting on a clear still lake at dusk, fishing from the canoe with a loon mere feet away from me calling into the setting sun. At the time I remember thinking that if I were to die right then in that moment it would be fine because I had just experienced perfection. I was 19 and heading off to university but it was such an amazing moment that I was willing to throw that all away...that is how powerful that moment was for me. Aidan has his favourite canoe memory too. It is not quite as dramatic as my 19 year old self but his memory involves catching his first pike on Lower Twin Lake near Nakina. There was much shouting and whooping...most of it from me as Aidan jumped around in the canoe and almost tipped us into the leech infested waters.
I would not call myself an expert canoeist but I do have some experience under my belt. Aidan now sells canoes for Mountain Equipment Co-Op. His knowledge is surpassing mine. I find between us we make a good team. I would never advocate that someone just heads out on the trails or the water without knowledge and experience and some very very good planning. Start at your ability level and learn and grow as I did. Even at your ability level Mother Nature is going to throw you some curve balls that will make your trip hair raising at some point. Adrenalin is good for you. It reminds you that you are alive! Aidan and I did just that prepping for our Red Deer River Run. We poured over maps and canoe routes selecting a route that matched our abilities for our first adventure this summer. I monitored the river level app to check water flows. My greater concern was high levels as you can always deal with low levels. Flash flooding though is another story entirely especially in the badlands! So after packing our essentials of food, water, first aid kit, extra paddle, extra life vest, maps etc off we went to arm wrestle with Mama Nature on the Red Deer River and we were looking forward to spending some time with her moodiness.

We decided to put in at Trail. There is a campground there and you do have to pay a launching fee but I wanted to talk to a local about the river and glean some info especially since we were planning an upstream paddle on the second day.He was a typical Albertan."Paddle upstream? Sure you can do it. Just stick close to the shorelines". I have had enough experience with these local Albertans to know that meant that day two was going to be one helluva paddle. I said to Aidan that we had better not make Day One too long as Day Two was going to be a mother! As we pushed off shore Don the local Albertan called out, "you know I have never seen the river this low at this time of year". Another hint from the Albertan. We were soon to discover what that meant.
In vintage Aidan and Martha fashion, we started out paddling the wrong way. Aidan said I was to never tell anyone that...sorry Aidan :) It was interesting though. Our research prior to our trip had mentioned that there is often strong upstream winds that can make paddling downstream a challenge. We started paddling with the waves...usually a good plan. The winds were in fact so strong that they created waves on the surface that ran the opposite direction of the current of the river. An interesting phenomenon. It only took us about 10 strokes to realize what was going on. The craft was turned and off we went.
It didn't take long to sort out the parting comment from Don at the campground as the bow of the canoe bounced off a rock just under the surface. I tell Aidan "this is where we need to figure out how to read this water and it is going to be tricky with waves on the surface running one way and a current below the surface running another way." As a canoeist you have got to be able to read the water. That person in the front (me) needs to watch for dead heads, rocks, currents, chutes and all sorts of fun stuff. I tell Aidan that we need to just take our time and learn the river for the first bit. Well that river got to teaching us right away. We would go from deep water with waves to shallow water rapidly spilling over rocks where all you could do was steer because it was too shallow to paddle. All of our skills were put to the test within the first hour.
The river route we were taking is an historic route, of course! Trail is actually the site of the last great buffalo hunt in Alberta. Sam Steele also set up a post here to trade and bring law and order to the country. We also knew that on October 11, 1754 Anthony Henday had crossed the Red Deer River on his journey west. Henday was the first white man to see the Rockies. He crossed at the Backbone Riffle which is a Class II rapid on the Red Deer River. Aidan and I were going to be going through the Backbone Riffle and we had decided that rather than run the rapids on this trip we would take a route around them. Our research told us that we would hear the rapids as we approached and then see an island. At that point we were to stay to the left of the island and take the channel around the rapids. Our research also indicated that this would be the only time we would hear rapids as we approached an island. It all seemed reasonable. As we approached our first island we could hear rapids. We immediately pulled to the left and went down the left side of the island beaching the canoe about halfway down on the island so that we could get out and take photos. We had a picture of Henday's crossing and wanted to compare the landscape....it didn't match. Don's words came back to me. "I think Aidan that we are going to be hearing rapids a little bit more than expected with these low water levels...". Back into the canoe we got. More paddling as we started to enter the Badlands landscape. It was glorious. The cellphone signal disappeared. Now it was just Mother Nature and us. Game on as the adventure gets into full gear. We hear more rapids and see another island. Over to the left we go paddling down a channel that seems to have rapids as well. Ok...we beach the canoe and hop out for another picture comparison moment. It doesn't match. That is OK. We are enjoying our breaks on the islands. We do this several more times always staying to the left of the island just in case. The breaks are good because the paddling is tough. The upstream wind is crazy. I lose my hat into the back of the canoe several times. We find that despite the current travelling in our direction we have to paddle hard against the surface waves and negotiate boulders beneath the surface and shallow water tumbling over river rocks. There isn't going to be any floating in that canoe. Visions of lounging on our provisions in the canoe with my feet propped up on the gunwales disappear. "I think tomorrow is going to be nasty" I tell Aidan. He responds that this strong upstream wind should help us out a bit tomorrow.
As we continue down the river the scenery is astounding. It is pure Alberta. The badlands rise on the sides of the river. There are leased grazing grounds here too where the ranchers let the cattle run loose for summer grazing and then round them up in the fall. Every now and again we see a couple of cattle along the shoreline. It is easy to transport back in time and pretend you are an early settler in the west...as you crinkle open your sweet and salty granola bar.

Ahhh...another island. It is a big one that wraps around a corner. For the first time we cannot go down the left side of the island as there are rocks exposed in the low water blocking off the entrance. We go right. We can't hear rapids anyhow so shouldn't be a problem. As we start down the right side of the island the current picks up significantly...then we hear the rapids. Around the corner we see the rapids....big rapids....Level II rapids... I have ran white water in a canoe before. My instincts kick in. I sit forward and dig in with my paddle. "We are going to have to cut this canoe sharply Aidan" I shout back to him. "On it", my powerhouse paddler replies. Then we are into the rapids, right, left, right, cutting around rocks. The chute spits us out at the bottom still upright and relatively unscathed. We are laughing our asses off because it is so us. The one thing we swore we would not do on this trip, we did. Thank you Mother Nature!
After Backbone Riffle we decide to start looking for a campsite for the night. You are allowed to camp on the river banks as part of your journey down the river. We wanted a spot that was vintage Alberta and we did not want to go a whole lot farther. We had been on the water for close to 5 hours. I figured with the current and the low water levels, our upstream trip would take twice that time which was going to make for a long day. Our first choice for camping went badly. I stepped out of the canoe onto what appeared to be sand and sank up to my ankles in goo...then I fell over backwards into the goo. As I lay in the goo, I noticed the wide variety of wildlife prints in the goo. "Get back in the canoe Aidan" I tell him. We picked a much less 'sandy' shoreline for our next stop and that went much better. After changing, rinsing goo out of my canoe clothes and laying them out to dry for tomorrow, we set up camp and had a quick supper. We both wanted to explore a bit and walk about a bit to shake off our canoe legs. An animal track led us right up to the wall of one of the hoodoos. It was amazing to actually be able to examine these unique geological features right up close. There is a law that if you see any fossils in the badlands you cannot remove them. You note their location and report it to the Royal Tyrell Museum for their team of archeologists.We are sure we saw many fossils...we did not report any knowing we would be wasting the archeologists time. There were also coal seams that ran through the ground with chunks of coal everywhere. Not a good place for a wildfire. It would burn for years in those seams! Returning to our campsite was wonderful. As we sat on the shoreline after Aidan's dip in the river, some cattle came out of the trees on the other side. Badlands behind us, cattle in front of us with the Red Deer River running in between. Now that is just good for the soul. I had a great sleep. The coyotes were howling, the cattle were lowing and the air was crisp...and my air mattress held its air wonderfully. Aidan's did not. His sleep was not so marvellous. Regardless we faced the daunting task of getting back up the river to the truck.We knew it was going to be a long day!
Camp was packed up quickly and we were on the water in good time. About a half hour into our paddle, Aidan and I both noticed that there was no upstream wind today. Ah yes you are a wily woman Mother Nature. It was tough slogging. I will not say otherwise. We sought out the deep channels on the river where we could dig in our paddles and get a good hold against the current but often these deep channels were non-existent. Then we were into shallows and small rapids where paddling was impossible. "This is where we line the canoe", I tell Aidan. I had done that years ago with the my Father. Time to pass along a skill to another generation. Everytime we came to an island we tried to find a channel around. Cutting through the current at the bottom of the island as the two courses of water from either side met was always a challenge. We only pulled it off a couple of times. We did learn how to paddle together a whole lot better though! That was probably the point...thank you Mother Nature. We lined around the Backbone Riffle content in the knowledge that we had run that sucker on the way down. Every now and again we got into deep still water along the cliff faces on the river. Those were our 'moments' where we thought it might all be worth it. Then all too soon we were pulling against the current again or lining along a rocky shore and wondering "why in the hell are we doing this?" We certainly had our low moments where I looked glumly at the signal-less cell phone and wished I could call John to just come and pick us up off the river. Not sure how I thought he was going to drive to the river but I figured if the cattle could get there he could too. Then we had our high moments when we realized a Bald Headed Eagle was travelling with us and that the Bald Headed Eagle liked to have his picture taken. Finally we came to the very first island we encountered on the way down and had a good laugh at the fact that we had thought that Henday crossed here and then again at the next island and then again at the next island and the next and the next. "My God", I tell Aidan. "We had him journeying west like a drunken sailor!". Ten hours later we finally put in at the campground. Don came down and expressed genuine shock that we actually made it back upstream. If I could have raised one of my exhausted arms, I would have slapped that Albertan!
Aidan and I are a little sunburnt and alot tired. We got stood up on our toes for sure and our knowledge was most surely tested...as it should be because there is one thing I know for certain. When you go on an adventure, it does not matter how 'expert' you are, Mother Nature is a wily woman and she is going to test you....and she is the mother of all experts! In my mind if at some point during your excursion the thoughts of "why did I think this was a good idea?' or "am I going to make it back...alive?" do not cross your mind then you are just not having a good adventure. You should be challenged in nature. You should have to reach deep down into your bucket of experience and draw from your knowledge. You should have the need to work out solutions, change plans, and debate courses of actions. You should learn and grow from your experience. You should feel raw and alive. Because that is an adventure!