Moisie River 2020
Ashuanipi approach
General Information
Number of participants: 2
Number of days: 15
Water Level: Low at the top medium high at the bottom.
Trip Dates: Two weeks at the end of September into the start of october
Total KM: 410
Total Elevation drop: 1750ft
Maps used: 1:50000 (23 A/12 west, 23 B/9, 23 B/10, 23 B/7, 23 B/2, 22 O/15 22 O/16, 22 O/8, 22 O/9, 22 O/1, 22 J/16, 22 J/9 22 J/8)
Gauge: http://www.cehq.gouv.qc.ca/Suivihydro/graphique.asp?NoStation=072301
Some useful information regarding levels:
Having done the Moisie 3 times and the railroad rapids 4 times I have some thoughts on levels.
150-350 cms is average summer flow. 150 is very low, 250 is medium and 350 is high 350-550 is very high! I think most people will not like the railroad rapids above 450 cms. I have kayaked the rail road section at 650 and it was very reminiscent of the Ottawa lunch stop waves at 10 on the gauge. I have also portaged the entire section (I was in canoe) at over 1100 cms.
General weather: Average for end of September and early October. We had two nights well below zero, and some flurries. consistent rain on the river, which is normal for this river (the name Moisie is French for moldy). We were very lucky on the lakes and only got wind bound for half a day.
Pace of trip: Pushed at the start through the lakes, relaxed on the river.
Campsites: Mostly bush crash sites throughout the trip, we could always find a cozy mossy den. Lots of burn on the river so it made camping a little easier. We counted only 5 actual established sites on the river, most of which were in a poor state.
Route overview: There three main approaches to the Moisie river. They are the Pekans river, the traditional lake approach and the Ashuanipi crossover approach. I have included a brief description of each.
1) Pekans river:
The Pekans is the largest river right tributary of the moisie (and possible its largest). You access it from QC route 389 from Baie Comeau to Labrador City. It starts around 2000ft, joining the moisie around 1400ft. It is roughly 100km long and contains a variety of class 2-5 whitewater. The confluence falls are stunning, but a 1500m portage. Logistically this makes more sense with more people, as one could drive to the put in, then put the car on a cargo train to Sept Iles (roughly 450-500$). Below three people it becomes more expensive.
Annotated maps for the Pekans approach:
http://www.cartespleinair.org/Canot/07/PekansMoisieGoutier2019.pdf
http://www.cartespleinair.org/Canot/07/PekansMoisieKovac.pdf
2) Traditional lake approach:
Take the train from Sept Iles to the Lab city station (the train no longer runs to lab city, you are put off on the side of the highway) from there, organize a taxi (ideally pre arranged) to pick up you and your equipment and drop it off at Lac deux Miles. These lakes are less big than Ashuanipi, but are still very large. This option takes roughly the same time as the Ashuanipi crossover
Annotated map for the traditional lake approach:
http://www.cartespleinair.org/Canot/07/DeMilleMoisieGoutier2019.pdf
3) Lac Ashuanipi crossover approach:
This is the most physical option. We chose this option because we could not enter Labrador during Covid (I mean we did, just not any cities). This route is great for the following people; those looking for adventure, those that have done the Pekans, and parties less than three. although it is the hardest physically it is the easiest logistically. take the train from Sept iles to station Orway, and off you go.
Annotated map for the Ashuanipi crossover approach:
http://www.cartespleinair.org/Canot/07/AshuanipiMoisieGoutier2019.pdf
Lake Overview: Ashuanipi is a huge lake! It can get very big and windy very fast. We were very lucky we had dead calm and were able to take a big chunk out of it the first day. We planned a half day of being windbound. We could have been wind bound a full day, and could have made the time up on the River. That being said being windbound and slowed more than a couple of days it would start to get dicey.
Crossover Overview: the portage is easy to find and follow, at the time of this writing it was very well flagged (thank you, thank you). It is wet and physically challenging. The creak is a drag (literally)
Whitewater overview: This is probably one of the best class 3/4 multiday rivers in the world. Overall you want low at the top, high at the bottom. There are a variety of different styles of white water from creaky side channels to supper fun big water rapids. We had low water up at the top, and could have had a wee bit more (half a foot to a foot), and medium high at the bottom. The last days rapids were an incredible 650cms of huge waves, some pushing 12ft tall. It reminded us of high water Lunch Stop waves on the Ottawa River, for 6km. The Moisie floods easily, but can take water. During our last week we saw the river rise about 2ft.
The upper section has a creaky vibe and has 3 class 5 rapids, the rest are no harder than 4+, but mostly class 2/3. The River changes to big water after the Pekan river confluence. From here down there are 4 class 5 rapids, all are easily portaged or creaked around. A note on Rapid Katchapahun. It needs very, very low water to be runnable, any amount of rain will likely boost it to an unrunable flow. The portage is a workout, but you have to earn your turns.
Schedule: We planned on going for 16 days (plus an extra day of food) we cut it short because it was raining during the good hiking days. we would highly recommend bringing the same amount of food so you can hike. We hiked a lot in 2011 and 2021 and it was incredible.
Sept Iles: Great Town to Start an expedition in. It has everything that you would need, Walmart, Tims Ext. Hot Tip, Gino's has really good pizza, but Marcos in Baie Comeau is better. To sleep; there is a wide variety of hotels and motels, a thriving Tinder scene, the Walmart parking lot, and a quiet little park near the train station.
The Train: Take it!!! it is so beautiful out there, never once was our group board. The train ride is absolutely stunning. The flat water is not really that bad (although it can get quite windy), and It also gives you time to figure out your systems for your group; morning rituals, packing your boat and how your boat feels fully loaded. Lastly: YOU HAVE TO EARN YOUR TURNS!!! nuff said.
You take the train from Sept Iles to station Orway (7hrs) and is a fixed price of 50$, but your kayak can cost really what ever the person at the desk decides to charge you. Do not call it a kayak, do not call it a canoe. Say it's a wave ski and it's over 4ft long. Hopefully this will cost less than a canoe (140$). We however payed 150 for the kayak, and 10$ extra weight.
Trip Report
Day 0
HoW: 540-720pm
Distance: 5km
Weather: clear, light headwinds (from West), Frigid
Campsite: 997 267 23 A/12 west (island bush crash across from station)
Day 1
HoW: 9-4
Distance: 25km
Weather: Dead calm, cool
Campsite: 850 250 23 B/9 (esker island, burn)
Day 2
HoW: 10-1245
Distance: 7km
Weather: Heinous headwinds (from west), cold
Campsite: 805 267 (the point)
Day 3
HoW: 9-530
Distance: 16km as the crow flys
Weather: Annoying side wind (from west), cool and clear
Campsite: 668 288 23 B/10 (shitty bush crash in from beach)
Tech
Day 4
HoW: 9-3
Distance: 20.5km
Weather: Hot, sunny, light wind headwind (from South West)
Campsite: 618 104 23 B/7
Tech:
Day 5
HoW: 930-430
Distance: 20km
Weather: Overcast, warm
Campsite: 525 977 (beautiful hill, amazing!!)
Tech:
Day 6
HoW: 9- 440
Distance: 22 km
Weather: Mix of sun and clouds, light rain in the aft, cool
Campsite: 516 763 23 B/2
Tech:
Day 7
HoW: 10-330
Distance: 29km
Weather: Snow (flurries), hovering around zero till the pm when the sun came out
Campsite: 682 506 22 O/15
Tech:
Day 8
HoW: 10-4
Distance: 23km
Weather: Below zero when we woke up, everything was frozen. Warmed slightly in aft, rain in pm.
Campsite: 826 282 22 O/19 Taoti river, actual campsite
Tech:
Day 9
HoW: 10-2
Distance: 16km
Weather: Rain all day, warmer than the day before, but still cold. Stoped early because of rain.
Campsite: 838 107 22 O/9 Old site, amazing view, amazing hiking. Would recommend that you stay here, if only to enjoy the next day’s canyons more. Also there were not a lot of camping options after this for a while.
Tech:
Day 10
HoW: 940-3
Distance: 32km
Weather: Very warm and sunny
Campsite: 897 810 22 O/8
Hot Tip: Keep the camera ready budget time (half day or full day) to hike
Tech:
Day 11
HoW: 10:30-330
Distance: 20km
Weather: Warm, crazy misty all morning, rain the night before
Campsite: 875 600 Haut Moisie Camp
Tech:
We slept by the river on the helipad. There is a note on a small cabin by a sandy takeout that says the outfitters are closed for the season but canoe trippers are welcome to use the “small log cabin”. The sign is from 2008. It looked like the sight was in use, but the occupants left the day before.
Day 12
HoW: 945-215
Distance: 31km
Weather: warm and rainy, strong winds in aft. (from south)
Campsite: 827 350 22 J/16 small established site
Tech:
Day 13
HoW: 940-330
Distance: 38km
Weather: Mix of sun and cloud, cool, wind from south in aft, rain in the evening
Campsite: 024060 22 J/9 small beach, great if you like beaches. There are gravel bars a couple km upstream.
Tech:
Day 14
HoW: 1045-300
Distance: 23km floated most of the way after the nipissis
Weather: mix of sun and cloud
Campsite: 014 857 Gare Tellier 22 J/8
Tech:
Day 15
HoW: 10-130
Distance: 25km
Weather: Very warm, no wind
Campsite: the end
Tech:
Number of participants: 2
Number of days: 15
Water Level: Low at the top medium high at the bottom.
Trip Dates: Two weeks at the end of September into the start of october
Total KM: 410
Total Elevation drop: 1750ft
Maps used: 1:50000 (23 A/12 west, 23 B/9, 23 B/10, 23 B/7, 23 B/2, 22 O/15 22 O/16, 22 O/8, 22 O/9, 22 O/1, 22 J/16, 22 J/9 22 J/8)
Gauge: http://www.cehq.gouv.qc.ca/Suivihydro/graphique.asp?NoStation=072301
Some useful information regarding levels:
Having done the Moisie 3 times and the railroad rapids 4 times I have some thoughts on levels.
150-350 cms is average summer flow. 150 is very low, 250 is medium and 350 is high 350-550 is very high! I think most people will not like the railroad rapids above 450 cms. I have kayaked the rail road section at 650 and it was very reminiscent of the Ottawa lunch stop waves at 10 on the gauge. I have also portaged the entire section (I was in canoe) at over 1100 cms.
General weather: Average for end of September and early October. We had two nights well below zero, and some flurries. consistent rain on the river, which is normal for this river (the name Moisie is French for moldy). We were very lucky on the lakes and only got wind bound for half a day.
Pace of trip: Pushed at the start through the lakes, relaxed on the river.
Campsites: Mostly bush crash sites throughout the trip, we could always find a cozy mossy den. Lots of burn on the river so it made camping a little easier. We counted only 5 actual established sites on the river, most of which were in a poor state.
Route overview: There three main approaches to the Moisie river. They are the Pekans river, the traditional lake approach and the Ashuanipi crossover approach. I have included a brief description of each.
1) Pekans river:
The Pekans is the largest river right tributary of the moisie (and possible its largest). You access it from QC route 389 from Baie Comeau to Labrador City. It starts around 2000ft, joining the moisie around 1400ft. It is roughly 100km long and contains a variety of class 2-5 whitewater. The confluence falls are stunning, but a 1500m portage. Logistically this makes more sense with more people, as one could drive to the put in, then put the car on a cargo train to Sept Iles (roughly 450-500$). Below three people it becomes more expensive.
Annotated maps for the Pekans approach:
http://www.cartespleinair.org/Canot/07/PekansMoisieGoutier2019.pdf
http://www.cartespleinair.org/Canot/07/PekansMoisieKovac.pdf
2) Traditional lake approach:
Take the train from Sept Iles to the Lab city station (the train no longer runs to lab city, you are put off on the side of the highway) from there, organize a taxi (ideally pre arranged) to pick up you and your equipment and drop it off at Lac deux Miles. These lakes are less big than Ashuanipi, but are still very large. This option takes roughly the same time as the Ashuanipi crossover
Annotated map for the traditional lake approach:
http://www.cartespleinair.org/Canot/07/DeMilleMoisieGoutier2019.pdf
3) Lac Ashuanipi crossover approach:
This is the most physical option. We chose this option because we could not enter Labrador during Covid (I mean we did, just not any cities). This route is great for the following people; those looking for adventure, those that have done the Pekans, and parties less than three. although it is the hardest physically it is the easiest logistically. take the train from Sept iles to station Orway, and off you go.
Annotated map for the Ashuanipi crossover approach:
http://www.cartespleinair.org/Canot/07/AshuanipiMoisieGoutier2019.pdf
Lake Overview: Ashuanipi is a huge lake! It can get very big and windy very fast. We were very lucky we had dead calm and were able to take a big chunk out of it the first day. We planned a half day of being windbound. We could have been wind bound a full day, and could have made the time up on the River. That being said being windbound and slowed more than a couple of days it would start to get dicey.
Crossover Overview: the portage is easy to find and follow, at the time of this writing it was very well flagged (thank you, thank you). It is wet and physically challenging. The creak is a drag (literally)
Whitewater overview: This is probably one of the best class 3/4 multiday rivers in the world. Overall you want low at the top, high at the bottom. There are a variety of different styles of white water from creaky side channels to supper fun big water rapids. We had low water up at the top, and could have had a wee bit more (half a foot to a foot), and medium high at the bottom. The last days rapids were an incredible 650cms of huge waves, some pushing 12ft tall. It reminded us of high water Lunch Stop waves on the Ottawa River, for 6km. The Moisie floods easily, but can take water. During our last week we saw the river rise about 2ft.
The upper section has a creaky vibe and has 3 class 5 rapids, the rest are no harder than 4+, but mostly class 2/3. The River changes to big water after the Pekan river confluence. From here down there are 4 class 5 rapids, all are easily portaged or creaked around. A note on Rapid Katchapahun. It needs very, very low water to be runnable, any amount of rain will likely boost it to an unrunable flow. The portage is a workout, but you have to earn your turns.
Schedule: We planned on going for 16 days (plus an extra day of food) we cut it short because it was raining during the good hiking days. we would highly recommend bringing the same amount of food so you can hike. We hiked a lot in 2011 and 2021 and it was incredible.
Sept Iles: Great Town to Start an expedition in. It has everything that you would need, Walmart, Tims Ext. Hot Tip, Gino's has really good pizza, but Marcos in Baie Comeau is better. To sleep; there is a wide variety of hotels and motels, a thriving Tinder scene, the Walmart parking lot, and a quiet little park near the train station.
The Train: Take it!!! it is so beautiful out there, never once was our group board. The train ride is absolutely stunning. The flat water is not really that bad (although it can get quite windy), and It also gives you time to figure out your systems for your group; morning rituals, packing your boat and how your boat feels fully loaded. Lastly: YOU HAVE TO EARN YOUR TURNS!!! nuff said.
You take the train from Sept Iles to station Orway (7hrs) and is a fixed price of 50$, but your kayak can cost really what ever the person at the desk decides to charge you. Do not call it a kayak, do not call it a canoe. Say it's a wave ski and it's over 4ft long. Hopefully this will cost less than a canoe (140$). We however payed 150 for the kayak, and 10$ extra weight.
Trip Report
Day 0
HoW: 540-720pm
Distance: 5km
Weather: clear, light headwinds (from West), Frigid
Campsite: 997 267 23 A/12 west (island bush crash across from station)
Day 1
HoW: 9-4
Distance: 25km
Weather: Dead calm, cool
Campsite: 850 250 23 B/9 (esker island, burn)
Day 2
HoW: 10-1245
Distance: 7km
Weather: Heinous headwinds (from west), cold
Campsite: 805 267 (the point)
Day 3
HoW: 9-530
Distance: 16km as the crow flys
Weather: Annoying side wind (from west), cool and clear
Campsite: 668 288 23 B/10 (shitty bush crash in from beach)
Tech
- Portage 1.2 km 747 320 23 B/10. it took us about 1.5hrs Starts right beside the massive glacial erratic. There is flagger if you can't see the boulder. The trail starts directly back from the boulder. It is difficult to find and not well flagged (although the rest of the trail is well flagged). It is a 400m game trail to the first swamp (the southern tip of Lac Lune 745 320). It is then a lovely swamp walk to the creek. We portaged in the middle of Lac Lune (it is split by a passable swamp) to the forest at 743 322. There is good camping in the adjoining forest at 744 319. The trail bears west across the swamps and is well flagged. When you think you have had enough you are almost done. The end was flagged with blue flagger
- The Creek is about as wide as a kayak and around 2km long (as the crow flies). It is long, windie and very shallow, expect to drag numerous times. It took us just over an hour to do the creek. The creek from Lac du Petit Portage is also a drag. Every narrows will have a shitty swift rock pile to drag down.
Day 4
HoW: 9-3
Distance: 20.5km
Weather: Hot, sunny, light wind headwind (from South West)
Campsite: 618 104 23 B/7
Tech:
- Took right channel at 648646 23 B/10
- Swifts 646 206 23 B/10
- All narrows have shitty shallow scrapey stuff till Lac Opocopa #2
- swift/ R1 from 650 166 23 B/7 to 616 155
- R1 615 114
- R1 617 105
Day 5
HoW: 930-430
Distance: 20km
Weather: Overcast, warm
Campsite: 525 977 (beautiful hill, amazing!!)
Tech:
- Rim Canyon
- R1 468 097-560 097
- R5 560 097 (ran R4 mank RL, would be smoother with more water). Then...
- Three R3 ledges till 557 098
- R2 super fun 555 098
- R1s till…
- R4+ two back to back class 4 ledges scouted RL 547 080. Immediately after…
- R5 huge gorge. Portaged RL 100m, slide boats back down through ravine to river. Found lost canoe paddle. Lost paddle chute? Right around the corner...
- R3 545 080 then…
- R2 continuous fun to the bottom of the gorge
- swifts/ R1s for 1 km after gorge
Day 6
HoW: 9- 440
Distance: 22 km
Weather: Mix of sun and clouds, light rain in the aft, cool
Campsite: 516 763 23 B/2
Tech:
- R2 with R1 run out 511 974
- R1 513 953 till 507 933
- R3 496 908
- R3 494 904
- R5 495 901 Big slide, would be better with ½ foot more water. Scouted RR, paddled to island, re-scouted then portaged on island, 50m. Easy lower to run washout
- R3 495 900
- R2 493 889
- R1 495 883
- Portage, Five Finger Falls 496 870 lands on rocks
- R3 498 860 Big water
- Continuous R1s till...
- R3 504 823
- R3 504 821
- R3 506 805
- R3 507 799
- R1s/ R2s till campsite
Day 7
HoW: 10-330
Distance: 29km
Weather: Snow (flurries), hovering around zero till the pm when the sun came out
Campsite: 682 506 22 O/15
Tech:
- R1s/ swifts from campsite till…
- R5 515 743 scout/ portage RL 50m
- R3 515 740 then…
- Continuous R1/ R2s till 536 680
- Chute marmot. Very impressive falls. RL channel is unrunnable, RR channel is a shallow 15ft falls very undercut on river right. Portage out of the pothole, 5m. The main portage is RR 100m.
- R2 576 627 22 O/15 then…
- Continuous R1/ R2s till 583 613 O/15
- River flows at 4km/hr till
- R2 645 539
- River flows at 4km/hr till campsite
Day 8
HoW: 10-4
Distance: 23km
Weather: Below zero when we woke up, everything was frozen. Warmed slightly in aft, rain in pm.
Campsite: 826 282 22 O/19 Taoti river, actual campsite
Tech:
- River flows at 4km/hr till 682 500 22 O/15
- All narrows have swifts/ R1s
- R1 743 385 22 O/16
- Continuous swifts till…
- R3 778 322 22 O/9
- R1 787 315 22 O/9
- R5 793 312 Big water R5 RL of island, creaky R3 RR (look out for sives) immediately after...
- R3 immediately after...
- R4 immediately after…
- R1 800 307
- R4 805 300
- R3 813 293
- R4 814 290
- Continuous R3 till 822 284
Day 9
HoW: 10-2
Distance: 16km
Weather: Rain all day, warmer than the day before, but still cold. Stoped early because of rain.
Campsite: 838 107 22 O/9 Old site, amazing view, amazing hiking. Would recommend that you stay here, if only to enjoy the next day’s canyons more. Also there were not a lot of camping options after this for a while.
Tech:
- 4km/hr current to campsite, occasional R1s
Day 10
HoW: 940-3
Distance: 32km
Weather: Very warm and sunny
Campsite: 897 810 22 O/8
Hot Tip: Keep the camera ready budget time (half day or full day) to hike
Tech:
- 4km/hr current, occasional R1s
- R2 860 085
- R3 869 082
- R2 Nice Rock Rapid 873 075
- 4km/hr current till campsite
Day 11
HoW: 10:30-330
Distance: 20km
Weather: Warm, crazy misty all morning, rain the night before
Campsite: 875 600 Haut Moisie Camp
Tech:
- 4km/hr current till 900 663
- R5 Rapid Katchapahun, there are portages on RR and RL. We took the RR trail (there is a sign posted) 400m. It is straight up, then straight down. Super duper steep. In 2011 I portaged on RL, we had difficulty finding it this year but it should be at 895 632 and around 600m, and is slightly flatter.
- Note* rapid Katchapahun could be run at very, very, very low water level. The entrance rapid is R3/4(5), and is very sivy and undercut, at our water levels it was quite meaty. There is a large eddy RR above the main drop. The main drop is R5 and has some huge undercut rocks
- R3 891 627 (right after rapids katchapahun) then…
- R2 till 890 624
We slept by the river on the helipad. There is a note on a small cabin by a sandy takeout that says the outfitters are closed for the season but canoe trippers are welcome to use the “small log cabin”. The sign is from 2008. It looked like the sight was in use, but the occupants left the day before.
Day 12
HoW: 945-215
Distance: 31km
Weather: warm and rainy, strong winds in aft. (from south)
Campsite: 827 350 22 J/16 small established site
Tech:
- River flows at 4km/hr all day
- R2 857 556
- R3 847 505 22 J/16
- R1 855 499 22 J/16
- Hunt camp at 860 490
- R1 843 466 till…
- R3 842 449 till…
- R2 835 446 blending into…
- R1s till 805 430
Day 13
HoW: 940-330
Distance: 38km
Weather: Mix of sun and cloud, cool, wind from south in aft, rain in the evening
Campsite: 024060 22 J/9 small beach, great if you like beaches. There are gravel bars a couple km upstream.
Tech:
- River moves at 4km/hr with the occasional R1
Day 14
HoW: 1045-300
Distance: 23km floated most of the way after the nipissis
Weather: mix of sun and cloud
Campsite: 014 857 Gare Tellier 22 J/8
Tech:
- R4 The Wall, R3/4 RR of island 024 057 22 J/9
- River moves at 4km/hr till campsite
Day 15
HoW: 10-130
Distance: 25km
Weather: Very warm, no wind
Campsite: the end
Tech:
- River moves at 4km/hr till
- R3 994 804
- R4 994 796
- R2 993 793
- R3 Powerline: Continuous R3 wave trains 993 785 immediately fellows into...
- the largest where around 12 feet (reminded us of lunch stop waves on the Ottawa at high water)
- R3 Trestle Rapids: Continuous R3 wave trains from previous rapid till 995 763
- Only slightly smaller than previous section
- R1 run out