Brazeau River Canoe Trip - Smallboy Camp To Brazeau Dam
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 ต.ค. 2024
- Canoe trip on the Brazeau River. Started at the Smallboy Camp put-in, and paddled 136 km to the Brazeau dam. Class II/III at the start, then braided channels and lake paddling at the end. Be aware for log jams. There is a 1-2 km portage to the put-in. Flow was 53, 51, and 47 cm/s for the trip. August 10-12, 2024. Hope you enjoy.
I use to canoe Alberta rivers in groups of 6-12 people. You’re brave to do this on your own.
Yeah I got a late start at canoeing, and I am not really into clubs and such... so most of my paddling is solo. Thanks for watching Quinn, take care.
Haven’t done this route in years. Brings back awesome memories from my younger years. Smallboy’s to FTR was a favourite. As always, thanks for sharing.
I had been wanting to do this trip for a few years now, and it did not disappoint. Paddling and camping in the canyons was a great experience. Yeah a bit of work getting to the river, but very much worth it to start at Smallboy's. Just a wonderful trip overall. Thanks for watching, take care.
As a cautious yet determined river paddler, your videos are much appreciated. This looked like so much fun!!! Thanks for taking the time to share your adventures!
This was a lot of fun. Most of the video is focused on the first half of the trip. The second half was slower and calmer. Still, a great trip overall. Thanks very much Miranda, take care.
If I could give this one two thumbs up, I would! I’m very impressed with how ‘canyony’ the bulk of your journey was - and what a nice spot to camp the first night ☺️
Hey thanks very much. Yeah there was quite a lot of canyon and canyon-like terrain in the first 50 km of the trip. The final 80-85 km of the trip was flat. I definitely focused on the upper sections for the video. Camping was great along this river!!
I went at the end of May, start of June. It was alot hairier. Hit an unseen rock, veered off my line. Dumped, canoe took on some water and kept going. I found it hung up in rapids about 5km down. Couldnt get to it. Stranded for 5 days with a knife,compass, and lighter. My Zoleo was in canoe, not on my person. Chopper picked me up. Jetboat friends took me back to rescue my outfit. Quite the adventure!
Wow!! Quite the adventure indeed!! I'm glad you are OK and still with us!! That sounded rather terrifying. Yeah those early summer flows would be a lot to handle, I'm too much of a chicken to try that. I'm glad you were able to get your boat back too. Was there any damage?
Another awesome trip. Great job. So nice that you can travel that far without a portage. Thank You my friend!
Thanks very much Luke. Yes this was a nice trip over three days. No portages at all. Thanks, take care
Thank you for showing us how beautiful our province is.
It's my pleasure Jason. Thanks for taking the time.
Thanks for highlighting our rivers. Greetings from Hinton.
It's my pleasure. Greetings from Edmonton.
Thanks again for another awesome video of your trip on the river
It's my pleasure Jo. Thank you for taking the time.
What a awesome rive to paddle, your old canoe love to rock and roll… 10 out of 10 camp sites
Thanks Jim. This was an exciting trip, and the camping was great both nights. Cheers.
Another enjoyable video Nick! Thanks for sharing once again. Beautiful scenery as always.
Thanks very much David. It's my pleasure. The canyons and canyon-like terrain were very nice to paddle through.
Beautiful river and landscapes. Thanks for sharing, and making the effort!
Thanks Udo. It's a great part of Alberta. Take care.
Enjoy your videos .Love Alberta’s foothill rivers and creeks .Keep up the good work !
Thanks very much Mark. Yes, the Alberta foothills are great. So many nice rivers and creeks in there. Take care man.
Yeeehaaa , well done Nick, you rode her like a champ. Quite the workout on the top and then the incredible surprises that mother nature through at you , all I can say is wow and thank you for sharing your passion for the rivers
Thanks Martina. It is a great part of Alberta, and the river is fantastic.The camping was great too, many good options. All around great trip!! Thanks.
Actually at 16:38. The island you eddied out on, at the top of it was where my canoe hung up. I lived on the south bank by the little creek.
Well, it is a pretty location. Just Wow, you are a trooper!!
Great video. Never once gone down one of our great rivers but your videos are very inspiring. Been to a lot of spots you have gone thru and was always wondering how the rest of the river/waterways are. Thanks for posting and be safe out there.
Thanks very much Bob. Yes there are some great rivers in Alberta, and it is a pleasure to paddle them. It is an amazing way to view the landscape. Thanks for taking the time, take care.
awesome paddle. love the high cliffs on a lot of it and the fast spots look pretty fun./ Dam sure changes things at the end there, Big lake! always good to be on the water with you thanks for sharing
Hey thanks Thorn. Yes there were many high cliffs and canyon-like walls in the first half of the trip. It was an exciting section to paddle for sure. Yeah the river really slows at the end, and the lake was very slow paddling:) Much different compared to the start of the trip. Thanks for taking the time, take care.
Love this one man. Beautiful section of river. As a non river canoe guy…that looked scary as fuck lol. Wish I could do what you do, great one man.
Thanks very much. Haha, yeah there are a few spots that got my heart racing. I almost swamped the canoe a couple times in the first 30 minutes of the trip. Thank you for taking the time, take care.
That Was A Wonderful Paddle Up Yonder Shared Nick ! Loved The Scenery As Always, Stay Safe Friend ! ATB T God Bless
Thanks so much Terry. I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it my friend. Take care. Nick
Wow. Worked in that area in 1984.
It's a beautiful area for sure. Thanks for watching.
WOW great video!
Thanks very much Lee.
Wow that was intense lol beautiful waterfall and then at one point I thought you were going to get pushed into the one side. You sure are brave with those rapids. I wasn’t sure about the landslide and how you were going to make it! Truly enjoy your videos.
Hey thanks very much. Yeah I got pushed around a few times, it made for an exciting trip :) The landslide was a big surprise, I was definitely not expecting that. Thanks for taking the time, take care.
Great run!
Thanks very much.
Awesome water level. You should do a bit more explaining about the landmarks you pass. Not just the forestry trunk bridge- but how it is a road along the east shore of the Rockies. Etc. I know it. You know it. But many would like to know it.
Yeah it's been a lower than normal year for water flows. It worked out very nice for an early August trip on this river. Usually people canoe this river in late August/September.
Another great video…. As always…. At about the 17:30 minute mark you point out a major land slump that covered about 2/3s of the river. Were you aware of the slump or was it a surprise. MB
Thanks very much Michael. I was not aware of that land slump. I came around the corner, and all of a sudden there was a small lake in front of me. I could see the mass of debris in the river, and could see a horizon line on river right. It was easy to pull over and have a good scout. There was also an easy cheat line on the far left of this "new rapid". After the trip, I searched for it on google-earth, and you can clearly see it.
Love the video
Thanks so much.
Go Nick
Will do, thanks!!
Flow was quite fast for this time of year! Wow that landslide was significant!
It is definitely a fast river in the first half of this trip, but good levels for canoeing. High water of early summer would make canoeing very difficult I think. Yes, that landslide was quite a surprise, was not expecting that. It is quite large... I looked at it on google-earth after I got home, and you can see how much of the hill is gone. Thanks for watching, take care.
Did that trip with a buddy many years ago , dumped the canoe two hours in, didn't lose anything, camera was useless, but strip to remember !
Yeah the first parts of the trip are quite exciting. It was a lot of fun paddling in the canyon. Definitely a trip to remember. Thanks for watching.
Your first camping spot looked incredible!!!! Just wondering, I'm a beginner to intermediate whitewater solo paddler at best. Would I be able to do this river? LOL...I would have probably portaged that land slump with my skill set. Thanks for posting Nick!
My pleasure Tyler, thanks for taking the time. The camping was great on this river. I had 2 nice spots, and there were plenty more all around. Parts of this river are rated class III, interspersed with class II. In a few sections, it is continuous. This trip is definitely not recommended for beginners. Maybe intermediate in a group setting with more experienced whitewater paddlers. I almost swamped twice in the first 30 minutes of the trip, so decided to take the safer, dryer lines after that. After the bridge, I missed most of the larger waves, and generally tried to stay out of trouble. A different line, say a couple meters to the left or right, would make for a wetter ride and a much greater chance of swamping, capsizing or wrapping around a boulder. I would recommend paddling the Nordegg to Rocky Mountain House run on the North Sask River before attempting this one.
@@nickharland3795 LOL...that's what I thought. Thanks Nick, much appreciated!
Halfway through the vid. So great. Some of the panning (like in camp) seemed fast but that could be me and my eyes. I'll save the rest for coffee in the am. I truly need to sort out overnight river paddleboarding.
Yeah I'm not much of a filmmaker. Just a weekend warrior with a camera :) Thanks for watching.
A trip down memory lane for the majority of this trip (Forestry Trunk Road to Brazeau Dam). The gorge is an impressive part of this trip. I recall a small waterfall (2-3m) surrounded by big boulders near the end of the gorge section. A friend and I went over it in our Zodiac boat. We were very grateful for not flipping over. Shortly thereafter the gradient and river slowed down as terrain opened up. Did you portage over the little waterfall? Beautiful river. A little tricky with sweepers and shallow water in the braided channels when we went (late September, 1987).
This was a trip I had wanted to do for a few years now, and it did not disappoint. The gorge section was really exciting, definitely the highlight of the trip. I focused most of the video on this part, and did not film much of the braided sections. I didn't notice any waterfall or large ledge. I found that the river eased up further down the canyon section, and there was certainly nothing to portage around. The landslide was the only major obstacle in the latter part of the canyon. Maybe the river has changed? I'm not sure, but I didn't encounter any waterfalls. Thanks for the comment Nestor. It's always nice to hear from someone who has paddled the same rivers. Take care.
@nickharland3795 Interesting. I can only conclude that it's changed, perhaps due to the slippage of the bank. It was probably the most memorable part of our trip, no doubt due to how rapidly we came up on it and how there was no way to avoid it (by the time that we understood what was going on, we were committed to going over it). Shortly after there was an old hunting camp on the north bank (complete with a sun-bleached elk skull nailed to a tree) and the river took a couple of lazy turns over deep pools. A very memorable trip, for sure. Watching your video definitely makes me want to do it one more time. Thanks again!
When I first read your original comment, I thought, maybe the landslide covered it, haha. The odds of that make it kind of hard to believe, but it's also hard to believe that big boulders and a small waterfall would change drastically or disappear in 37 years. Either way, there is nothing there now. I hope you get the trip in sometime, best of luck Nestor.
Looks nice, I was just inquiring about a Nahanni trip for 2026
It was a nice trip, overall it was very enjoyable. Good luck with your Nahanni trip... that would be amazing!!
What a great river to paddle! Hey Nick, have you seen many grizzlies when you’ve been in this area? My canoeing schedule took a hit because of a broken rib but I hope to get another river trip in this summer. Take care of yourself👍🏻.
This was my first time in this area. I did not see any sign of grizzly, or any bears. Hardly saw any wildlife at all on this trip. Heard one beaver, saw a couple deer, 2 or 3 birds of prey, and some geese... that's it :) I hope you heel up well and are back on the river soon. Take care man.
Hey Nick, you think one of those floating islands from Canadian tire would make that trip?😅
Nice scenery. 8 of use went on the red deer river a couple of weeks ago on a floating island and 2 person dingy.
Hey, how's it going Perry? Sounds like you guys had a fun trip on the Red Deer. Hmmm... well I would not recommend that particular water craft for this river :) It might make for a great adventure if you did though, haha!!
@@nickharland3795 things are not bad.
Yes, we went down by content bridge from a campground called trenville park and floated to Mckenzie crossing.
Running pretty slow and shallow.
That sounds like a nice trip. I hope to paddle the Red Deer in that area... one of these years.
@@nickharland3795 pretty views, not very eventful lol. Some people said they have floated from content bridge all the way to dinosaur park. In sections not all at once lol.
I'm sure there will be one heck of a log jam or even a dam when the trees on the other side of the land slide fall across the river in next years ice break up. Could change a lot of the river and surrounding land next year. possibly dangerous.
Yeah it will be interesting to see what happens there in the next few seasons. It definitely added some extra excitement to the trip. Thanks for watching Tammy.
That hill failure looked bad, I can't imagine the one on the Chilcotin river in B.C. a few weeks ago.
Yeah the one in B.C. was huge. Extremely impressive, and dangerous.
Hate to admit this but I finally put an electric bilge pump in my old ME. Hurricane Debbie created some big water here in NC. I have an Outrage that I paddle in the big stuff and can transfer the battery and pump to the ME. Beautiful place as always up there. Some really torchered looking geology along that river
Yeah I almost swamped a couple times in the early going. Decided to take the safe, dry lines after that. This was really enjoyable paddling in these canyons, and canyon-like terrain. There is some interesting geology in there. Overall it was a very nice trip. Thanks Gary, I hope you're getting lots of canoeing in this summer.
Nice trip Nick, did you meet any jet boaters coming up the river? I know some people jet in that area.
Thanks Kimberley. Yeah on the second day, I saw five or six boats heading up river. Saw a few more on the reservoir too.
Another great video Nick. Do you know if this flow rate you experienced is about average for this river? This video had a lot of rapids, were you just filming the exciting parts on the first day or is that part of the river pretty much non stop rapids?
Thanks very much. This has been a lower than normal year for water flows. I ran this at 53 - 47 cubic meters/sec (Aug 10-12). Those flows usually occur in late August and September. Running this river in early summer would be very difficult in an open canoe. I would not want to canoe this river if the flow was over 65 cm/s.
I definitely focused on the rapids for this video. The first 50 km involved a lot of rapids. Some of it was fairly continuous too. Even if starting at the FTR bridge, there would be 25 km of rapids to start the trip, seemingly at every corner.
Ok thank you for the reply. Keep going with your adventures. These videos help me with details on current and future kayak trips and adventures. Thanks again for these videos and information for it can save someone’s life.
Ok thanks, will do. Best of luck on your kayak trips.
River tried to eat you a couple of times, your very skilled. What is your emergency plan if you dump, there is no way your catching up to your ride........?
Hey Jerry. Yeah I almost swamped a couple times in the first part of the trip. After that, I avoided the larger waves and played it safe.
No real plan, just make sure everything is tied securely into the canoe. If I swim, stay with canoe and get to shore. If I were to lose the canoe (and all my gear), I'd try and get to the north shore, and climb out of the valley. Then hike to find the highway, and try hitch a ride.
@@nickharland3795 😀
Nice! I'd like to do this in my raft.... well, all except the reservoir of course, but I think it's still doable.
Do you think I could get a vehicle wirh a trailer down the road to the smallboy camp or did you have to carry your stuff down?
I drove south past Smallboy Camp to the cut block. Then drove in that cut block a couple hundred meters, to an opening beside the little creek. From there everything was on foot. You cross the creek, go up the hill on the other side and immediately pick up the cut-line. It is easy walking for most of it. If you had a quad or something I suppose a person could do that too. I don't think I would want to get my truck in there. Descending the river bank and getting to the actual river was the most difficult part for me. There were probably better spots to go down, but I went down at the spot where I first saw the river. Are you taking a large raft or a pack-raft? Yeah, paddling the reservoir was a slog!!
@nickharland3795 on that trip I would probably take my 14 foot cataraft.
So not small!
@@jshortyh I assume there will be others with you. The hike is not long, and most of it is easy. Just the downhill to the river might be tough. You can see the cut block and the cut-lines on google earth. I would think it could be done.
@@nickharland3795 thanks!
Curious what model of Mad River canoe you are paddling?
This is a Mad River M.E. It's a whitewater canoe from 1988.
I am sure I have the evil black sheep of the Mad River whitewater line up, the Howler. Challenging to paddle.
Right on!! Yeah sounds like they are very unforgiving.