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LCC Talk – Bloodvein – A Canoe Expedition to the Canadian Shield

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LCC Talk – Bloodvein – A Canoe Expedition to the Canadian Shield

LCC Talk – Bloodvein – A Canoe Expedition to the Canadian Shield

This was the last talk of the winter season at the Anchor Bar (Liverpool Marina). It was good to catch up with both before the talk for a bar meal and afterwards in the bar.

Mike and most of the team were there to talk us through the trip of the year 2024. It was clear that a lot of preparation had been put into the trip along the Bloodvein River in the deepest part of Canada. Stories of lost bags, dodgy hotels, frightening float plane journeys and the occasional mishap in the middle of a grade 5 drop.

They all survived and clearly had a fantastic time with some truly memorable campsites along the river. If you missed the talk, you can find the journey online on this site with the links below.

2024 Bloodvein River, Canada Day 12 by Nikki Aldridge

  • 3 November 2024
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Bloodvein River, Canada Day 12: The End by Nikki Aldridge The final day. Not quite as planned given that we had already reached the get-out a day early but hey… We woke up to the sound of rain on the tents. Thunderstorms had been forecast to come in at 6 am and stay all day. They got the 6 am part spot on but by the time we emerged from… Read More »2024 Bloodvein River, Canada Day 12 by Nikki Aldridge

2024 Bloodvein River, Canada Day 11 By Graham Rowe

  • 2 November 2024
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Bloodvein River, Canada Day 11: Lagoon Run to Camp After The Bridge (10km) By Graham Rowe The massive camp on the north bank of the Lagoon run offered a fine place to relax into the sunny morning. The little tent drying that was necessary was easily achieved. There was no rush today, and even less than expected it turned out. Still, we were on the water at a respectable time… Read More »2024 Bloodvein River, Canada Day 11 By Graham Rowe

2024 Bloodvein River, Canada Day 10: by “Martin Aldridge”

  • 31 October 2024

Bloodvein River, Canada Day 10: Rapid 78 – Lagoon Run (24km) by “Martin Aldridge” After the morning coffee watching the morning view, and now with regular drone flight done, time to pack up camp. Day 10 started with some big rapids. Ankuasi Falls was a grade 5 do not run. A short 5-metre lift over past the drop into a nice little pool and we were able to launch into… Read More »2024 Bloodvein River, Canada Day 10: by “Martin Aldridge”

2024 Bloodvein River, Canada Day 9 by Ruth Alter

  • 23 October 2024
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Bloodvein River, Canada Day 9: Rapid 65 – Rapid 78 (29km) Breaking camp is now a well-oiled process; tents down, kit packed away, breakfast eaten, boats loaded and away we go again! The weather was a bit kinder today, back to more sunshine albeit with some headwind throughout the day, pushing Force 4 at times. The first rapid appeared within 50m of camp, followed by more flat sections with grade-one… Read More »2024 Bloodvein River, Canada Day 9 by Ruth Alter

2024 Bloodvein River, Canada Day 8 by Ian Bell

  • 22 October 2024
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Bloodvein River, Canada Day 8: Dancing Fire Rapids – Rapid 65 (10km) by Ian Bell After a night of lying in the tent and watching the lightning storm but not hearing any thunder and no rain, we had a late start due to having to complete the repair to Martin and Nikki’s canoe. This gave a chance for a more relaxed morning start than the last few days. Once underway… Read More »2024 Bloodvein River, Canada Day 8 by Ian Bell

2024 Bloodvein River, Canada Day 7 by Mike Alter

  • 21 October 2024

Bloodvein River, Canada Day 7: Kautunigan Lake – Dancing Fire Rapids (31km) by Mike Alter Despite what Nikki has said about Day 6, we (Ruth & I) were never in any danger of inspecting the riverbed. Well, that is how it felt whilst running the rapid and giving a big palm push off the rock whilst the boat was at about 45 degrees, I may however review this opinion if… Read More »

2024 Bloodvein River, Canada Day 6 by Nikki Aldridge

  • 20 October 2024
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Bloodvein River, Canada Day 6: Rapid 37 – Kautunigan Lake (24km) by Nikki Aldridge After our usual breakfast and de-camp, we had an easy start to the day’s paddling. Before long we reached our first rapid of the day, which was an easy grade 2. That was followed by another divergence in the river. The South route would take us via Island Rapids, a Grade 4/5, or in other words,… Read More »2024 Bloodvein River, Canada Day 6 by Nikki Aldridge

2024 Bloodvein River, Canada Day 5 by Graham Rowe

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Bloodvein River, Canada Day 5 – Goose Rapids – Rapid 37 (22km) by Graham Rowe Comfortable, dry night at a rocky Peninsula/Island Camp… Pleasant morning and start, but a change in the weather was to come. Ian is in the bow, and I am at the stern. We paddled down short easy water to Goose Rapid (rapid 29). The grade 5 of the first drop was an obvious portage, then… Read More »2024 Bloodvein River, Canada Day 5 by Graham Rowe

2024 Bloodvein River, Canada Day 4 by “Martin Aldridge”

  • 16 October 2024
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Bloodvein River, Canada Day 4 – Stonehouse Rapids – Goose Rapids (27km) by “Martin Aldridge” Well what a rollercoaster of a day. Three great successes, and then a near disaster. So, I’m going to start this report with restating one of the golden rules of expedition (especially wilderness expeditions), and that is, you MUST always take care of your boat. It is the one piece of equipment that is hard… Read More »2024 Bloodvein River, Canada Day 4 by “Martin Aldridge”

2024 Bloodvein River, Canada Day 3 by Ruth E

  • 15 October 2024
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Bloodvein River, Canada Day 3 – Artery Lake to Stone house Rapids (28km) by Ruth E Today was the first day of multiple rapids, and multiple portages! After breaking camp, off we set for a day covering 28km and rapids 10 to 23. The weather was glorious and very warm! We came to the first rapid, number 10, which separates the upper part of Artery Lake from the lower part.… Read More »2024 Bloodvein River, Canada Day 3 by Ruth E

2024 Bloodvein River, Canada Day 2 by Ian Bell

  • 14 October 2024
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Bloodvein River, Canada Day 2: Barclay Lake – Artery Lake (30km) by Ian Bell Having had a very comfy first night out in the wilderness on our island camp. We woke keen to get underway. Having breakfasted and repacked the kit, we were ready for the off. A quick check of the map and we started to paddle. The map check was more of a formality as Nikki had noted… Read More »2024 Bloodvein River, Canada Day 2 by Ian Bell

2024 Bloodvein River, Canada Day 1 “Getting there” by Mike Alter

Bloodvein River, Canada Getting there and Day 1 – Barclay Lake by Mike Alter I can’t speak for the rest of the team, but Ruth and I had been putting in the hard miles to prepare for this trip. We are both independent souls, with different boating styles, who enjoy paddling our own boats, so with thoughts turning to the hundreds of white water kilometres to be paddled as a… Read More »