"We accept it as normal that people who have never been on the land, who have no history or connection to the country, may legally secure the right to come in and by the very nature of their enterprises leave in their wake a cultural and physical landscape utterly transformed and desecrated.......We take this as a given for it is the foundation of our system, the way commerce extracts value and profit in a resource-driven economy. But if you think about it, especially from the perspective of so many other cultures, touched and inspired by quite different visions of life and land, it appears to be a very odd and highly anomalous human behavior."
-Wade Davis in The Wayfinders

May 26, 2009

Magpie River



The Magpie River attracted attention a few years back when Hydromega wanted to refurbish an existing dam structure just above highway 138. Vocal opposition from the paddling community in Canada as well as environmental groups was unable to stop this development, but fortunately for river travellers it has not affected the vast majority of the whitewater. There have been proposals by Hydro-Quebec in the past to develop the Magpie farther upstream, but nothing in the near future. In fact, there is proposals to create four biodiversity reserves in the Basse Cote Nord region. One of which includes the Magpie River from its headwaters. This is exciting since it could ensure the Magpie free of future hydro development. Here is a link to the english translation of the proposals.



http://www.bape.gouv.qc.ca/sections/rapports/publications/bape236_eng.pdf



A few years back some of us New England boaters did a trip on the Magpie. In fact, there were several groups from New England that year. The Magpie saw more Vermonters than it ever had in the past. It is one of those true classics. Our group flew into a lake that flows into the Magpie Nord-Ouest. (Can't remeber the name right now) Five days on the river, no bugs since it was september, and some great paddling. Here are some photos of the trip.

Sunrise after a chilly night

Misty Morning on the nord-ouest

Well, it got a little cold on the first night


Must have been a cold night



Portage!



Running the gorge after the portage

Ed paddling out of the gorge.

Scouting one of the many rapids on the nord-ouest

Trip showing how you boof if your from the southeast.


Ed on an early morning scout below camp 2



Brian on the Magpie Nord-Ouest




Ed, Boyce, and Brian somewhere in the middle of Lake Magpie


That's a long way to go in a Jefe


Cruising into camp for the night.


Early morning on Lake Magpie

The lake is finally behind us!!

......and then there was a river
Nice waves on the Magpie

Greg showing the young guys that the hole at the bottom is really some "sweet action" Boyce threading the needle
Out of the mist


Nice photo Beckwith


Brian somewhere on the lower Magpie, having fun


Justin contemplating the possibilities.



The first drop Justin fired up

The next one had a pretty big hole, but.....


This hole (hard to tell scale) was something else. Maybe the jedi-plug. It worked for the logs.


Justin and Fred portaging the gnar. The runout of this canyon is sweet whitewater.

Ed admiring Magpie Falls



.....and the concrete keeps pouring
Posted by FredC

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