Gatineau River Trip by Nathan Bond

This wednesday my fellow Keeners and I boarded the bus once again for another roadtrip.  Our destination was the Gatineau river two hours away in Quebec.  Me and a few others had planned a video the night before and started filming timelapses of boats being unloaded at the put-in and people getting gear on.  Once in the water it was only a short paddle to the first (and most exciting) rapid named Lucifer.

My first run down I tried surfing a large hole on the right side of it and make my way to the left of the hole where it turned into a wave.  Instead of side surfing successfully I wasn't prepared for the power of the hole and my paddle was ripped away from me.  I preceded to hand surf out of the hole and find my paddle.  For the next two hours we surfed various waves in the rapid.  Towards the end of our stay my skirt imploded and I paddled part of the rapid with a boat full of water.

After having tons of fun at the first rapid we all headed downstream to run the rest of the river.  The next couple rapids we didn't stop for much surfing and quickly made it to a beach where a few of us hopped out to hike up and run an alternative line.  Everyone completed that drop with ease and we all continued downstream.  A long flatwater paddle later we reached the take-out.  We loaded up the boats, hit the road, and stopped for Poutine at a roadside restaurant in a cute little town in Quebec.