Kayaking On The Gaspereau River (New Brunswick)

When my friend Crazy Dave called me up and asked if I wanted to go on a kayaking adventure on the Gaspereau River, there was only one answer...yes! Yesterday Julian and I loaded two kayaks on the roof racks of the Ford Focus, met Dave at Grand Lake and then we drove to an area between Chipman and Doaktown.

Here's a crudely drawn map of where we paddled...

I would estimate the our route was about 20-25 kilometres long, though it's not easy to measure such a winding river. The Gaspereau River was about 30 metres wide, on average, and clearly quite shallow. We had to run the river now, during the spring run-off, as it would be too shallow in summer. I hit bottom, or the odd boulder, about four times though that was mostly due to negligence.

The Gaspereau River was, in a word, gorgeous! It felt amazing to be out in the wilderness. For both Julian and me, it was a nice change of scenery. Definitely a change from the big cities (F'ton and T.O.), but also a pleasant change from Cambridge-Narrows. Crazy Dave is more of a wilderness paddler, this being his third or fourth paddle down the Gaspereau.

Speaking of Cambridge-Narrows, the Brewskis arrived home on Tuesday. Boo hoo. Last evening Mr.Brewski was over 'inspecting' the dam that the 'beaver' built between our properties. I'm sure he was thinking about how industrious (and large) that beaver must have been! No doubt he was 'impressed'.

On the Gaspereau River we saw some American mergansers, one eagle, one osprey, a few kingfishers and a smattering of little flitting shorebirds. We saw piles of ice that were driven up on shore during the breakup of the ice. It must have been quite violent at times, based on the scarred trees that we witnessed. There was still some snow in the woods, but not too much. It only survived on the north-facing slopes.

I would have to rate the Gaspereau River adventure at least a nine out of ten. It was fun, not dangerous. Scenic for sure. Accessible. Thankfully the air temperature was about 15 degrees and it was sunny. There wasn't much wind. The paddle took us about 4 hours...a bit too long for my muscles/back but still very doable. We did stop along the way for a break or two, and Julian found himself 'frozen' on the river at one point. You'll have to watch the video below to see what I mean!