paddling Big Molly Upsim Lake - Nictaux Canal (Annapolis Co) last week

[Dusan Soudek]

   Last Wednesday and Thursday three of us, in a canoe and a short seakayak, paddled a neat lake/river route in Annapolis County. We started at a stillwater on Kelly Brook, off West Dalhousie Road, 3 km west of Albany Cross; paddled through Big Molly Upsim Lake, then McGill Lake (see photo, both dam-controlled), Shannon River, Shannon Lake (natural), and Nictaux River; finishing at the canal bridge (Hwy. 10) near the Nictaux Reservoir.

   There was a reasonable flow in Shannon/Nictaux River, as N.S.P. was releasing water from its storage reservoirs. The river sections of the trip consisted mainly of small rapids, which we ran. Once or twice we had to get out and line due to low water. We ran Flat Rapids, almost all of Big Rapids, but portaged the impressive and gnarly Alpena Rapids. We camped just upstream of a rapid called Scotchmans Lip, soon to be the lowlight of our voyage. Dave R., the kayaker in the crowd, did just great (see photo), but the canoeists flipped.

   We didn't take the ledge/slide correctly, and were upside down in a split second. No damage done, except to our shriveled egos. It was warm, so we didn't even bother changing. Of course, my first instinct was to blame the bowperson for the mishap, before realizing that I was that bowperson.

  The route  of our approx. 39 km trip is covered in the second edition of "Canoe Annapolis County." (Available online; Routes 14, 15, and 18.) A neat trip through some quite remote country!

   Dusan Soudek