Paddling NB

Description

(part 1 of 1)

Note: Weather conditions can drastically vary the speed and difficulty of your trip. Please plan accordingly.

Kennedy Lakes is probably the most wild place you can paddle in New Brunswick. It is a Natural Protected Area in the middle of nowhere on the way to nowhere. It has been somewhere that I have really wanted to visit and I finally got the chance to last last summer. I left my parents house in Miramichi early and drove to the Plaster Rock-Renous Highway that cuts through the centre of the province. I made sure I had my offline maps saved on Google Maps because I heard that the access road wasn't marked. I drove towards Plaster Rock and quickly lost cell reception as the sun rose behind me. It was going to be a beautiful day to explore!

After 40 minutes I slowed and found the access road. The access road had seen better days. If you don't know how to use your GPS, map and/or compass to find the right road, then this is definitely not the paddle for you. The road looked rough, but passable in my Honda Civic. At least at the start. The road was solid enough. There were only a few places with rocks sticking up that I had to watch. My biggest issue was my lack of ground clearance. The road was grown in with small fir trees that were perfectly cut off at the height of a truck. Since I didn't have a truck, they gave my underside a really good cleaning. It also made it hard to see any rocks below the surface of the cut off trees so I had to drive slow.

If you have a truck or an SUV with some clearance you should have no trouble getting in this road, but if you care about your paint then you may want to reconsider. It's grown in on the sides too. Because I didn't care about my car, or its paint, I kept going. I had the added security of my SPOT satellite device. If I ripped the bottom completely off my car, I could send my father a message to come and get me in his truck. When I finally reached the parking area at the end of the road, I let out my breath. The parking area was well cleared and flat.

Now was the hard part, a 500 metre portage into Second Fowler Lake. There was a clear portage trail off the end of the parking area and what looked like another portage trail off the end of the road. I thought I heard a large animal in the woods off the end of the road. I was intrigued but decided that I should stick to the trail more traveled.

I portaged the kayak down a slight hill, through a young spruce stand. I eventually came to a small stream. It wasn't big enought to put a kayak in, so I followed it out towards the lake. It may be deep enough in different conditions but was really low on my visit. When I came close to the lake, I saw a great blue heron hunting. I got a couple of pictures before he flew off to find a more quiet place to have breakfast. None of the pictures were good enough to include here.

The edge of the lake was a mossy layer of floating bog. Every step sunk my feet into the moss and under the water. Good thing I had already put on my wet shoes. I eyed up the shallow lake and wasn't sure if it was navigable. There was only a couple of inches of water over some very thick mud. I couldn't wade my way through this one. I had come this far so I decided to give it a try. I slid on the mud, more than I floated on the water. I developed an interesting paddling technique of digging into the mud enough to get leverage but not too much so my paddle got stuck. By the time I got across the small lake I was exhausted, and I had barely started my paddle.

I was pretty excited when I paddled through the channel surrounded by large boulders with white pines towering overhead. It was starting to feel wild now and the anticipation built every time I came around a turn. My next issue was in the bigger part of Second Fowler Lake. I came out into a shallow section that was a bit better than before but I then ran into a rocky section that was very shallow. I had to veer a hard right to go around the rocks and drag myself through some deep mud to get there. I was starting to feel discouraged. You could see from the rocks that the water was usually about 8 inches deeper. That would have been perfect.

Description

(part 2 of 2)

Once I got around the rocks, the lake got deeper. I could see the sign for the portage trail to Main Kennedy Lake on the far side. When I got to the portage trail I came to my third (or was it fourth) obstacle. I was about 15 feet away from the portage trail and there was a patch of deep, black mud between me and the trail. I sunk my paddle down into the mud and didn't think I was getting it back. The mud was easily 3 feet deep. When I pulled the paddle out it smelled really bad. All I could do was laugh.

I made my way along the shore on the left to find a place to get out. It was another mossy, floating bog. I finally found a clump of rhododendrons along the shore that made a more solid piece of ground. I rolled out onto it, all the while wondering what I would do if it didn't hold. Always wear your lifejacket! The floating bog held and I dragged the kayak back to the portage trail through a patch of Pitcher Plants.

I portaged the kayak and all my camera equipment across the 150 metre portage without incident. When I got to Main Kennedy Lake something caught my eye to the right. I quietly put down the boat and made my way out to the point with my camera. I could see a beaver swimming into the cove. As I watched the beaver go to his hut I saw four juvenile mergansers also swimming into the cove. As I watched, they went over near the beaver hut and were playing in the water around the hut. The beaver finally got fed up with his unwanted visitors and tried to chase them away. They enjoyed the chase for a bit and then made their way out of the cove and along the shore right in front of me. I was well hidden between two boulders. I was wedged in so I had to do some fancy taichi moves to turn and follow them with the camera. As I did, one of them went under and grabbed a good sized fish to eat. I love experiencing these moments when I feel like I am part of their world.

Main Kennedy Lake was much deeper and rockier. My only problem now was that the wind had picked up. I made my way out through a narrow channel and then turned right towards Lake Brook. I was looking for the large, barren, rocky hills that I had seen photos of. I thought the large, open bog I saw on Google Maps was a good place to look. I made my way to Lake Brook and couldn't go any further. A beaver had started building a dam at the mouth of the brook and the water below looked too rocky to navigate with a boat. I decided to check out the open area surrounded by boulders next to the stream and have lunch. The boulders were bigger than my car.

I climbed up on the largest boulder and flew my drone to see what I could see. The area I was targeting looked to be mostly flat bog surrounded by a series of streams and small ponds. The other end of Main Kennedy Lake looked more promising because of the larger hills surrounding it. That would be a trip for another day. I had to head back.

I made my way around a few small islands and chased a buoy that I thought was a duck. I got lost in a cove that I thought was the channel to get back to the portage. I passed by the mergansers half way down the lake, but now that I was in the water they were much more skeptical of my prescence. I made my way back to the portage trail and took a break before the carry. I watched for the beaver but didn't see any sign of him so I watched the frogs bobbing in the waves. I portaged the boat and then drug my way back through the shallow mud on Second Fowler Lake. I then portaged back to the car. After packed up the kayak, I checked out the portage trail off the end of the road. It is a much nicer trail that follows a white pine ridge. It is a bit longer but has a more solid launch point. The only problem is that at low water levels its a longer drag to get out of the lake.

I made my slow ride out the old gravel road and hit rocks on the bottom of my car a couple of times. I was quite happy to get to the pavement and looked for moose all the way home with no luck. A great first adventure at Kennedy Lakes. It definitely won't be my last!

Directions

From route 8 in Renous, take exit 139 and turn west towards Plaster Rock. Drive for 56 kilometres and look for an old gravel road on the right (see map). There is a blue Natural Protected Area sign next to the road.

Other Routes nearby

• Miramichi City Routes
• Guagus Lake

Trail Last Hiked: August 31, 2024.

Page Last Updated: January 8, 2025.