The End of the Road – Part III-A – The River by Jean-Yves Domenjoz

La Grande river lives up to its name. It is a gigantic, fast flowing river, half a km across river that feels no smaller than the St-Laurent. But for all that, it is not too technically demanding. Before setting off, I made sure to call Hydro Quebec to find out how I can legally get to the river. Upriver from LG2 is nothing but an endless artificial freshwater sea called the Robert Bourasssa reservoir (see picture of Dam, above). I figured I would canoe the river part from LG2 to the James Bay, somehow portaging around LG1 along the way. I learned from Hydro’s helpdesk that I could access a boat launch behind the security portal if a native Cree dropped us off, since the Cree have access rights. So I hired a man from Chisasibi to drive us in and to drive the car back to Chisasibi. As a bonus, this would eliminate the need to call in a bush plane to fly back to the car at the end of the trip since a new dirt road connects Chisasibi, on the bay, to Radisson on the James Bay road.

Interlude: Problems with Hydro Security

We crossed the security portal that guards the vast expanse of land around LG2 with our driver and we got dropped off 1km further at the boat launch that we were told about by the Hydro Québec helpdesk. There, we packed our canoe and prepared to launch. On our driver’s way out, however Hydro security noticed that he was leaving alone and decided that, afterall, we couldn’t launch our canoe from “Hydro’s land”. (This was despite the fact that we followed precisely the instructions we received from the helpdesk.) Hydro security did have the courtesy to allow our driver leave with our car, without telling him that they were about to kick us off the premises, so he had no way to know we would be prevented access to the river and left stranded with no car. When they found us, we were just about to set off, and we would have launched away if we had expected what would ensue.

When security showed up at the boat launch, we were about to take off. But since we had no reason to doubt the instructions we received from Hydro Québec the day before were no longer valid, we merrily greeted the guard instead. Our smiles were met with threats and accusations. What were we doing there, and why weren’t we with our guide? Oh we were launching our boat? Well we can’t be there alone. Yes, on the water we’re fine, but we can’t be on shore. No they would not then let us get on the water, we had to leave on land. Etc… And with that, security took all our equipment and our canoe, and heartlessly dropped us off outside “their” premises in Radisson with no car, no money, no access to the river and no apologies for providing us wrong instructions and potentially ruining the trip.

The End of the Road – Part III A – The River by Jean Yves Domenjoz

Not made for a river of asphalt

Before resorting to calling our driver to return the car (praise the satellite phone!) I enlisted the help of the local Radissoners in the hopes that one could show us a way to the river. A kind resourceful man came up with an unorthodox solution: we would portage our gear 3km across a forest path and down the treacherous overgrown slope of a former ski hill at the bottom of which we would find the river… It was a tough portage, but it worked like a charm. After half a day in Hydro Québec custody, we gladly did a long portage and several slips and near-broken ankles carrying the canoe down the ski slope.

That night, the temperature dropped to -7°C, which I learned is quite common for August. But we had a clear sky (which I learned is uncommon in August) and the temperature eventually rose to 16°C that day, a trip maximum! As we set off onto the rapid waters of the river, we were instantly propelled by the strong current. Yet for all its speed, the river has very few rapids, mostly just little ledges that don’t span the entire width of the river. We therefore easily negotiated most of the rocky parts with our open top canoe, only taking in significant water once. At that occasion, we had to stop to bail out calf-high frigid water that threatened to flip the canoe as it sloshed around in it. Mercifully, my tent, food and change of clothes stayed dry in my sturdy seal-line pro. And my feet, though submerged, stayed dry in my trusty old gore-tex boots… For about 5 minutes...