Grandby River (North Kettle River)
Pictures coming soon.
Rivers Paddled:
- Chilliwack River
- Similkameen
- Granby (North Kettle River)
- Middle & Lower Slocan River
Have you ever been to Grand Forks? You may not know that they have some of the best Russian food in B.C. What does this have to do with Paddling...? read on to find out! Whenever we drive east, we make it a point to drive through Grand Forks to view the heritage homes and stone buildings but more importantly, for a big bowl of borsch including real peroggies.
Paddling gives us an excuse to explore the environment, history and communities we enter. Grand Forks is no exception. This community has a rich history of minning, railroads, agriculture, and disaster. A large doukhobor settlement was formed at the turn of the century which explains the excellent russian cuisine. Check out the Doukhobor History and the history of Grand Forks.
Grand Forks was not named in honour of big untensils because of the great food.... This is where the connection to paddling may be obvious. It is located at the fork of two great rivers—the Kettle and North Kettle River(Granby). The upper Granby is our main objective for our summer trip.
We welcomed Brenda Stevenson (Qualicum Beach) whom has never paddled before but was trusting enough to join our group.Ken, Darryl and Lori from Revelstoke and Dan, Pat and Mich from Nelson with Carol and I completing the group.
Our first order of business was to practice strokes in the Hope Slough where a slalom course can be found.. It also happened to be located beside Cliffs house. This is our first real world test of what Carol and I had been training for the past year. It was soon apparent there was more to paddling a canoe than strokes alone.... We decide our short comings with communication would be the main objective for this trip!!! Ken was doing a fine job with Brenda in the bow so we decide to test the Chilliwack River.
After scouting the river, we decided to putin below sawmill rapid. It is located below Tamihi, but will still give us some excitement to begin. This is our first real whitewater test and too say the least.. we were a bit apprehensive. Being relative beginners we stayed back to follow the experienced paddlers, but not too far as we don't want to miss the safe lines. Pulling into the river behind Dan we juggled the stress of our untested paddling abilities, how to communicate effectively, what lines to take, and left from right.... Then it happens..... Dan starts to back paddle like a windmill in a freakin huricane, OH,OH. we're too Dam Close!!!! BACK PADDLE! Shortly it became obvious why Danno was desperately altering his course... A very large rock/ledge which was concealed until the last moment. OH OH! Back paddling did not seem to change our destiney so we implemented a new strategy. I manage to turn the canoe and then holler "Power"
This would seem silly to seasoned paddlers but it was all I could blurt out with our lives hanging in the balance? What the hell does that mean was soon heard from Carol? Hardly the appropriate time to engage in a deep discusion about effective communtication so I replied"Paddle as hard as you possibly can" a short, intense silence followed and then "WHERE?" was belowed back! Anywhere but here was all I could manage as we dropped over the ledge sideways.We fought to stay afloat with solid or perhaps lucky bracing... full of water and the remainder of the drop to look forward too, things were a bit tense.
As Luck would have it, we actually made it through upright with adrenilan rushing through our viens.. I would like to point out that this is also not a good time to discuss deficient communication skills with you're partner! Turns out everyone had similar issues with water as we all had to purge our canoes.
The remainder of the river was fairly easy containing very few rapids, the only real hazards were trees and sweepers on the corners. We made our way to the take-out just above the Vedder River bridge... Now wasn't that exciting eh Brenda! It was on this river I realized we needed a proper whitewater canoe and stored that thought until we got home.
Soon we were packed and on the road with a plan the meet at Bromley Rock on the Similkameen River for a short paddle. At this location there are a few waves to surf and holes to play in. This is my first summer as a kayaker/canoeist and have something to prove to myself and perhaps Dan... Not that we are competative.. well, yes we are! At least I have some paddle skills this time and am willing to tempt fate by following him.
We dawned our kayaks for a quick park and play and as destiny dictates, Dan leads the way down river and eventually in trouble for taking so long while the rest of the group waited patiently for OUR fun to finish. We exited at the first highway bridge and because we took so long, ended our day at a hotel in Grand Forks.
After a good feed of Borsch and restock of supplies, we headed into the upper Granby River to meet up with more paddlers. It was a scenic drive as the road twisted and turned through ranches,farms and homesteads. Some of the areas history is visible along this route. As we climb into the back-country, every now and then we would get a glimps of the river from far above. It looked like a white snake winding down the valley bottom. I did sign up for this so it didn't matter if I couldn't spit this far from the river! Eventually we all end up at a campsite where the bridge splits the upper and lower whitewater sections. Jane and Keith as well as Jim Gillman with his two daughters in tow joined our wet adventure.
The Granby is a class 3 + river which contains continous boulder rapids forming holes to be avoided. Dan,Cliff, Ken, and I were the only ones to paddle the lower section which proved to be fun and exhilerating... for a while! This would be my first 3+ river on my first real summer paddle trip.
Tandem open boats would be tested to thier limits so we opted to kayak instead. The fun starts very quickly as you lose sight of the put in. Carefull lines had to be chosen to avoid the many boulders and ensuing holes. At the least, you should have good skills with punching or riding out holes. Large waves were found at most corners and a few constricted ledges with definate consequence needed to be navigated properly. This first run was more about survival than anything else for me. In the end, I was just happy to make it back to camp and a cool beer.
The next day I was given
the abrupt lesson on why you should always paddle in a group! We started
this run with a notion to play more now that we had a feel for the river.
I looked forward to surfing some of the waves passed up the day before.
At one point, one of the group decided to continue on while two others kept playing
on a wave. I decided to pair up and continue down to the next feature
because this wave was too intimidating for me. Out of sight from the two
we left behind, my partner ran into trouble and ended up swimming! I have
never attempted a rescue before but I had studied the text?? I stayed
with the swimmer managing to get him to shore. I then proceeded to
get his boat onto the far shore by pushing it with my bow. All the while,
I was keeping a eye on his paddle which was much further down stream.
I eventually caught up to the paddle and while attempting to grab it in
the middle of a rapid, I broached a rock and found myself attempting numorous
rolls while bouncing off rocks. I suppose if I had released his paddle
I may have had a better chance at rolling, but at the time that thought
had eluded me. Now there are two swimmers with no support so I had no
choice but to swim the rapid chasing my boat...I still had hold of both
paddles?? As I mentioned earlier, the rapids were mostly boulder gardens
so by the time I caught the kayak I was bruised and beatup. Shortly after
starting my hike up river with the first paddle, the second pair showed
up. Limping back to camp, I resoved to improve my roll and self-rescue
skills. That same evening we went
for a paddle with the canoes below the lower take-out. I don't know how
far we paddled but I would suggest doing this stretch in the morning to
avoid the very strong afternoon headwinds. All that aside, it was an easy
float being carefull of trees, roots and strainers on most corners. The
Granby River winds it's way through ranch land which offers an interesting
perspective.
The Slocan River flows down the Slocan valley ending it's journey in the Kootenay River. We paddled two sections starting with canoes and then switching to kayaks for the lower and more exciting section.
We ended our trip here and as always, looked forward to our next roadside adventure.
~River Life~
