Little Clyde River April 2023
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- Created: Monday, 17 April 2023 10:09
Little Clyde River and Rivens Lake Trip Report
April 16 2023
We left the Lammermoor Road launch on the Little Clyde River about 9 am April 16, 2023. It was sunny and warm (25 degrees C.) with no wind. We were dressed in our cold-water gear and had our hypothermia kit along. We saw a few places where snow remained from snowbanks beside the road. The water was still cold but there was no ice.
We paddled upstream against some current to Rivens Lake and beyond. The Little Clyde River had many twists and turns to meander through the valley. The water levels were about a foot higher than they had been the last two years we had visited. This time we only needed to climb over one beaver dam instead of seven or more each direction. The dam we did climb over was where we had turned around other years. Undeterred, we paddled on. The beaver lodges were mostly under water and there were so many of them that we lost count. Eventually we came to a tree that had fallen across the whole river. Full of adventure, we decided to do a liftover to get around the tree. We paddled another kilometre or so and came to several more trees down across the river. This time we decided it was time to turn around. We almost reached South Lavant Road. We did the liftover again going downstream. We collected twigs and debris. We found a pretty spot near a waterfall for lunch. After lunch we floated in the current to Rivens Lake. We paddled around Rivens Lake with a bit of wind.
We saw three trumpeter swans flying and swimming several times. We suspect they live in the area. We saw Canada geese and two of their nests on top of beaver lodges. We saw a loon, mallard ducks, red-winged blackbirds and lots of fish. We heard frogs. We saw dogwood bushes. We did not see an eagle this year. We paddled about 15 km in all. We quickly removed our cold-water gear which made us feel hot. We headed home mid-afternoon, after an enjoyable adventure. Later in the year, low water levels can make paddling more difficult here.
