Multi-DAY Whitewater CANOE TRIPS
Women+ With the river - Madawaska Whitewater
4-Day Madawaska River Whitewater Trip
This 4-day whitewater canoe trip takes us on a journey with our home river — the Madawaska. In the heart of Algonquin territory, this whitewater gem holds a special place in many whitewater paddlers hearts for being a very “friendly” river to learn and grow with. We’ll begin our journey in Palmer Rapids and end at Buck Bay, travelling through the Lower Madawaska Provincial Park along the way. The Madawaska features class I-III rapids, with portage trails around any and all of them. We are in love with this river!
All meals and camping are included in the cost.
Dates: July 12-15, 2024 Cost: $1475
Recommended Skill Level I-II
This trip is designed for beginners to intermediate paddlers. There is no requirement for you to have experience paddling whitewater because we’ll teach you, but we have found that having some experience sleeping in tents and camping can make your experience a whole lot more comfortable. With experience camping, it allows your nervous system to have more space to take in new information, as well as relax when we make it into camp! If you’re feeling unsure if this trip is for you, contact us for more information.
TRIP FLOW
Pre-Trip: Setting intentions
After booking, take some time for yourself to reflect on what inspired you to join this trip. What are you hoping to learn or experience? What relationships do you hope to nurture? (e.g. With yourself? If so, which parts of yourself? With other women? With the land?)
Two weeks before our workshop, we’ll meet virtually to chat about our weekend together and take the time to answer any questions. This will be your chance to introduce yourself, share your questions, concerns, fears, hesitations, excitements, hopes, and intentions for the trip. When you share your intentions, it gives the rest of us an opportunity to support you.
Remember that at any point before the trip, you are always welcome to call Braiding Rivers with any questions or concerns.
DAY 1: Learning
We’ll meet at The Paddler Co-op and spend our first evening meeting the river and our group. This evening we’ll aim to do a swim thru (yes, we jump into a rapid!) and learn how to communicate with and on the river.
The evening is dedicated to getting to know each other and eating good food before we’re off for our whitewater adventure!
DAYs 2-3: our journey
Today we pack up and leave the Co-op for our downriver journey. Every day, we’ll aim to be in our boats around 9:30/10 AM, and eating dinner in camp between 6-7 PM, but everything is a negotiation between us and the river. We travel at the pace needed to foster this relationship.
Over the next two days, we’ll travel about 25 km through Class I-III rapids, weaving in and out of the boundaries of the Lower Madawaska Provincial Park. Day 2 eases us into whitewater with gentle rapids and winding turns and ends at the beginning of the Lower Madawaska Provincial Park at Aumond’s Bay. We’ll aim to camp on Night 3 along the river to have our closing ceremony before our final day together.
If you want to see a map of the Lower Madawaska Provincial Park, or read more about the section of river we travel with on this journey, you can find it here.
DAY 4: going home
We’ll spend our last day navigating the end of our whitewater journey, with our final destination at Buck Bay. Once we’ve portaged our gear back to our shuttle vehicle, we’ll drive back to our cars at the Paddler’s Coop and say our “see you laters!”
Have More Questions?
