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Reservoir Manicouagan QC Aug/Sep 2025
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August 25 - Day 6
Distance: 21.8km (Total 88.2km)
Time: 6hr 7m
Caltopo Map: https://caltopo.com/m/B8MTMST
I was up at 8:00am; the sun was heating up the POD, I know this will not last; rain is likely to return in a few hours. I will try to get on the before that happens and will have my dry top at the ready (I am almost wearing semi-dry pants). I thought about having some eggs for breakfast but decided to keep it simple and go with the oatmeal and dried fruit option. Packing and lugging everything down to the water took time but I managed to depart at 11:40am (any departure before noon is a minor miracle!).
More cloud moved in as I left, very low, up ahead I could see the rain; it passed before I reached it. Oddly, I have tailwind coming from the east while the clouds are moving directly to the north. This seems to be a pattern; the wind at water level is not in harmony with what is in the sky even when the ceiling is only perhaps 500 - 1000ft. A second band of rain passed behind me, the edge was hitting me with a medium downpour. These clouds are so low that the opposite shore and the high hills are completely obscured. For the next few hours, the rain is steady with periods of heavy precipitation. There is a lot of water accumulating and sloshing around at my feet, I could have used my sponge but instead I fantasized about having an electric bilge pump and let it accumulate! With the features ahead obscured, it was difficult to access my exact location, just the GPS to tell me how far I had come. Around 4:30pm a couple of small patches of blue sky appeared, the rain started to taper (both were temporary). I finally reached the area that offers a bunch of coves and points. Unfortunately, the “beaches” were covered with large boulders. I investigated one of the deeper coves, not great for wind protection given there is a gap in the hills that is channelling wind directly on this location. I moved on to the next possibility, I found an area of sand right back at the tree line, there is a good flat spot with no wind at this time. Not right beside the water but still a much shorter “hike” that the previous camp. I am not enamoured of sand, especially wet sand but it ticks the boxes so I set up here.
Once set up and after the required relaxation period I boiled some water for my first Meal In A Bag (MIAB), Alpine Aire Spicy Sausage Pasta. It is spicy but otherwise quite dull, one to avoid in the future. While I am waiting for rehydration, I hear thunder from the west, it gets closer and then hits with heavy rain that is so hard the condensation that collects on the inside of the POD is sprinkling down on me. This issue occurs under certain conditions; wet ground, all screens covered and the right combination of humidity and temperature. After 45 minutes, it is over, a few minutes later I thought I heard more thunder but it turned out to be a jet passing over. I am under a regular flightpath for jets heading to and from parts of Europe and South Asia to Toronto; mostly they are quite high and not too noisy if I hear them at all. At 11:30pm, I had some pie, still slowly making my way through it! It is very still out, I cannot see it but I am sure the water is very calm, it would be wonderful if it stayed that way through tomorrow but it is unlikely. I would settle for some sun, even some of the time. I should be moving on; I will get a weather update in the morning and make a final decision then.
Distance: 21.8km (Total 88.2km)
Time: 6hr 7m
Caltopo Map: https://caltopo.com/m/B8MTMST
I was up at 8:00am; the sun was heating up the POD, I know this will not last; rain is likely to return in a few hours. I will try to get on the before that happens and will have my dry top at the ready (I am almost wearing semi-dry pants). I thought about having some eggs for breakfast but decided to keep it simple and go with the oatmeal and dried fruit option. Packing and lugging everything down to the water took time but I managed to depart at 11:40am (any departure before noon is a minor miracle!).
More cloud moved in as I left, very low, up ahead I could see the rain; it passed before I reached it. Oddly, I have tailwind coming from the east while the clouds are moving directly to the north. This seems to be a pattern; the wind at water level is not in harmony with what is in the sky even when the ceiling is only perhaps 500 - 1000ft. A second band of rain passed behind me, the edge was hitting me with a medium downpour. These clouds are so low that the opposite shore and the high hills are completely obscured. For the next few hours, the rain is steady with periods of heavy precipitation. There is a lot of water accumulating and sloshing around at my feet, I could have used my sponge but instead I fantasized about having an electric bilge pump and let it accumulate! With the features ahead obscured, it was difficult to access my exact location, just the GPS to tell me how far I had come. Around 4:30pm a couple of small patches of blue sky appeared, the rain started to taper (both were temporary). I finally reached the area that offers a bunch of coves and points. Unfortunately, the “beaches” were covered with large boulders. I investigated one of the deeper coves, not great for wind protection given there is a gap in the hills that is channelling wind directly on this location. I moved on to the next possibility, I found an area of sand right back at the tree line, there is a good flat spot with no wind at this time. Not right beside the water but still a much shorter “hike” that the previous camp. I am not enamoured of sand, especially wet sand but it ticks the boxes so I set up here.
Once set up and after the required relaxation period I boiled some water for my first Meal In A Bag (MIAB), Alpine Aire Spicy Sausage Pasta. It is spicy but otherwise quite dull, one to avoid in the future. While I am waiting for rehydration, I hear thunder from the west, it gets closer and then hits with heavy rain that is so hard the condensation that collects on the inside of the POD is sprinkling down on me. This issue occurs under certain conditions; wet ground, all screens covered and the right combination of humidity and temperature. After 45 minutes, it is over, a few minutes later I thought I heard more thunder but it turned out to be a jet passing over. I am under a regular flightpath for jets heading to and from parts of Europe and South Asia to Toronto; mostly they are quite high and not too noisy if I hear them at all. At 11:30pm, I had some pie, still slowly making my way through it! It is very still out, I cannot see it but I am sure the water is very calm, it would be wonderful if it stayed that way through tomorrow but it is unlikely. I would settle for some sun, even some of the time. I should be moving on; I will get a weather update in the morning and make a final decision then.
Thanks for keeping this report going. I'm enjoying it! Interesting scenery.
The more I think about this sentence the more confused I get at the multitude of meanings:
The more I think about this sentence the more confused I get at the multitude of meanings:
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I've never been a fan of camping on sand either but that's a pretty good-looking site.
I'm really enjoying the report also. Should we be thankful that there are no pictures of the "almost worn" pants?
I'm really enjoying the report also. Should we be thankful that there are no pictures of the "almost worn" pants?
In that context I was outlining my preparations for what would likely be a very wet day of paddling. If you look at my selfie pic at the put-in I am wearing my standard outfit, Gore-Tex dry pants (aka waders) and a splash jacket, because the pants (integrated booties) do not have a waist gasket they are "semi-dry" (if you swim they fill up with water).
On most of my river trips I am in an out of the boat frequently, also running lots of rapids and because it usually involves cold water I generally wear a full dry suit. For this kind of all flatwater trip a full dry suite would be overkill. The water temps on the reservoir in August are not very cold and the risk of a swim is close to zero so I just use the dry pants. For my upper body It's usually just a t-shirt plus splash jacket with a semi-dry top in reserve for rainy days. On a nice sunny/warm day I will strip down somewhat but I rarely go with shorts and a t-shirt because for most of my trips it's just not that warm.
Another reason for covering up is the bugs, in the more northerly areas of Ontario/Quebec the bugs (black flies primarily) arrive in mid to late May and never go away until late September so I prefer to have a little exposed flesh as possible. On this trip the bugs were in relative terms pretty easy to deal with. On the water there were very few but if I make a stop to get out for a stretch they arrive immediately. Of course I carry some deet, it's effective but I try to avoid applying the stuff (never used it at all on this trip) and just ensure I have as little exposed skin as possible and use a head net when necessary.
@Gamma1214 @Alan Gage
I just noticed the error when I posted the pants comment.....
"I am almost wearing semi-dry pants" is missing a word, should have been "I am almost Always wearing semi-dry pants"
Sorry about the confusion....I think I was too high last night!
On most of my river trips I am in an out of the boat frequently, also running lots of rapids and because it usually involves cold water I generally wear a full dry suit. For this kind of all flatwater trip a full dry suite would be overkill. The water temps on the reservoir in August are not very cold and the risk of a swim is close to zero so I just use the dry pants. For my upper body It's usually just a t-shirt plus splash jacket with a semi-dry top in reserve for rainy days. On a nice sunny/warm day I will strip down somewhat but I rarely go with shorts and a t-shirt because for most of my trips it's just not that warm.
Another reason for covering up is the bugs, in the more northerly areas of Ontario/Quebec the bugs (black flies primarily) arrive in mid to late May and never go away until late September so I prefer to have a little exposed flesh as possible. On this trip the bugs were in relative terms pretty easy to deal with. On the water there were very few but if I make a stop to get out for a stretch they arrive immediately. Of course I carry some deet, it's effective but I try to avoid applying the stuff (never used it at all on this trip) and just ensure I have as little exposed skin as possible and use a head net when necessary.
@Gamma1214 @Alan Gage
I just noticed the error when I posted the pants comment.....
"I am almost wearing semi-dry pants" is missing a word, should have been "I am almost Always wearing semi-dry pants"
Sorry about the confusion....I think I was too high last night!
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No worries, I'd kinda assumed that there was supposed to be an "always" in there but it was just TOO easy & I couldn't resist. (alright, I guess I could but what fun is that?)
Looking forward to the next chapter
Looking forward to the next chapter
I'm still kinda stuck on the chicken, probably would prefer an "almost pants" pic to that stewing mass of biological contaminant. Just Kidd'n, keep the pictures coming.
I like this picture a lot. Is that the mainland across the open water?
Yes, it is the mainland to the north, you can see on the map it's one of the areas where the gap distance is relatively small.
For scale, the shelter is about 6' 6" at the peak, I'm short so I can stand up in almost all of it except the corners.
For scale, the shelter is about 6' 6" at the peak, I'm short so I can stand up in almost all of it except the corners.
August 26 - Day 7
Distance: 0km (Total 88.2km)
Time: 0hr 0m
Caltopo Map: https://caltopo.com/m/B8MTMST
I woke up for the first time at 5:00am then back to sleep for a few hours. At 10:30am the sun was hitting the POD, condensation that had accumulated in the night was dripping, I opened up the screen windows to allow the interior to dry out. I am not feeling particularly energetic, unsure about paddling today. The forecast indicates some wind and rain. Eventually I boiled water for tea to go with bread and cheese, a clementine and several cigarettes. About 1:00pm, I ordered up another forecast for the next two days, gradual improvement is coming, high pressure moving in, humidity falling. While I have been waffling about packing up or having a second layover day time has been marching on. At 2:00pm, there is a sprinkle of rain, the wind has been picking up and it is likely to be in my face. At this point it is so late that packing up and paddling seems pointless given I would probably only have 4 hours of paddling time before needing to camp. I have convinced myself that I should opt for plan B, stay where I am, get to bed early, get up early, and make up for it tomorrow. I make it official with a notification to Mapshare.
Not a lot to do so a good time for a nap, at 6:30pm I woke up to a little light rain, lots of cloud and greatly increased wind (still not REALLY bad). I spent a couple of hours snacking, studying maps, looking at the forecast yet again and updating my notebook. I also had intermittent chats with a frog that had dropped by for a visit. Eventually I made a MIAB, Alpine Aire Grilled Chicken Pad Thai, the seasoning of this one is a bit of a shock but after a couple of spoonful’s I’m really liking it. Plenty of chewy chicken, feeling somewhat stuffed I decide to postpone tonight’s dessert (pie of course) for an hour.
Distance: 0km (Total 88.2km)
Time: 0hr 0m
Caltopo Map: https://caltopo.com/m/B8MTMST
I woke up for the first time at 5:00am then back to sleep for a few hours. At 10:30am the sun was hitting the POD, condensation that had accumulated in the night was dripping, I opened up the screen windows to allow the interior to dry out. I am not feeling particularly energetic, unsure about paddling today. The forecast indicates some wind and rain. Eventually I boiled water for tea to go with bread and cheese, a clementine and several cigarettes. About 1:00pm, I ordered up another forecast for the next two days, gradual improvement is coming, high pressure moving in, humidity falling. While I have been waffling about packing up or having a second layover day time has been marching on. At 2:00pm, there is a sprinkle of rain, the wind has been picking up and it is likely to be in my face. At this point it is so late that packing up and paddling seems pointless given I would probably only have 4 hours of paddling time before needing to camp. I have convinced myself that I should opt for plan B, stay where I am, get to bed early, get up early, and make up for it tomorrow. I make it official with a notification to Mapshare.
Not a lot to do so a good time for a nap, at 6:30pm I woke up to a little light rain, lots of cloud and greatly increased wind (still not REALLY bad). I spent a couple of hours snacking, studying maps, looking at the forecast yet again and updating my notebook. I also had intermittent chats with a frog that had dropped by for a visit. Eventually I made a MIAB, Alpine Aire Grilled Chicken Pad Thai, the seasoning of this one is a bit of a shock but after a couple of spoonful’s I’m really liking it. Plenty of chewy chicken, feeling somewhat stuffed I decide to postpone tonight’s dessert (pie of course) for an hour.
I notice that the water looks low. If it were high would you still have a lot of campsite options?
It would definitely not be as easy. Although levels do vary somewhat due to normal seasonal changes most of the variations are a result of Quebec Hydro's power generating needs. When there is more demand for power from the northeast US (where a huge amount of Quebec's electricity ends up) they increase the flow going through the 5 power stations on the lower river (Manic-1 through Manic-5). Quebec Hydro has a somewhat controversial plan to maintain much higher average levels in the coming years in order to deal with greater variations in demand from their customers (primarily in the northeast US). The other factor is climate change which has led to much greater variation in annual precipitation. It's possible that I picked the very best year to paddle the reservoir if your considerations are for easy camping. In some of my pictures you can see that there is narrow band of deciduous growth between the old growth coniferous (mostly spruce and fir) forest and the "beaches". If Hydro-Quebec has it's way most of the "beaches" will be underwater year round. That narrow band of relatively recent growth would be the only available camping areas as the old growth boreal is mostly so dense it's near useless for camping.
Here is a Sat image from this year (Mid-July). The red dot is camp 6/7
Here is a Sat image from July 2017 when levels were considerably higher
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