We had a friend drive Vicki and I to Athabasca Falls (a 15m waterfall which is amazing to see) and carried the gear to the beach where the water pools at the bottom of Falls canyon. Before building the canoe we watched 3 rafts from Jasper Raft Tours start from where we were planning to begin so could see the route to take as we had not canoed this particular section before in its entirety. Once the canoe was built Maligne Raft Tours also arrived with 2 rafts so we watched their route also. They took the same path to the right of a large rock after catching the current from the mouth of the Falls canyon and took off at speed.
We put the canoe in the water, and with an audience watching from above on a look-out point and from the shoreline we set off. The eddy was surprisingly powerful and for a fleeting moment I thought it might end in disaster against the big rock but I worried needlessly. We passed by quickly and proceeded to navigate well around the first bend. After the first bend to the right there is an incredibly tight left wheel (a sharp ‘U’) with water surging against a cliff face which is part of a short Class III section followed by a series of Class II’s. I turned the boat incorrectly and we were inches from striking the side of the wall of rock when our efforts and the current swept us along the river. Our technique was much better through this next fast-paced, turbulent section until the end of the rapids in the canyon and the short tranquil and very scenic part before the Hardisty Ledges (Class III & II). We had portaged this section before, putting the canoe back in just before the Ledges. This part of the paddle which took less than 5 mins on the water had taken us an incredible 4 or 5 hours to bush-bash! Needless to say, that was an exhausting day.
The water was higher on this paddle than our previous visit which surprised me as it was flood season before. Before, the Hardisty Ledges were obvious rock ledges and we navigated between the largest protruding boulders on the left. On this occasion, there were no rocks to be seen – only a line and the whole river dropping at least 2 or 3 feet in a surge of water from the river joining on the right and pushing hard against a sheer wall of rock on the left. Again, I wasn’t so confident in the new techniques we were putting into practice (after reading ‘Le Guide Complet Du Canotage‘ the night before) so made an error of judgement and instead of back-paddling and using the current to assist us in changing direction I tried brute force which was a struggle and not so graceful. Much like the first bend except not so dangerous.
We continued without trouble following the Maligne Rafts which we had caught up with and took a break before the Beckers Chalet Rapids, another Class II/III section. The waves here are high all the way around a sharp bend which is a challenge, providing us with a couple of bum-twitch moments almost tipping out of the boat which would have been disastrous, especially as one was right at the beginning of the rapids. We wear PFD’s but the water is incredibly cold, draining from a glacier around 50-60km away.
We took another break after Beckers rapids to recover from fatigue and to discuss the navigation of the rapids. A lot still to learn! The rest of the way was easy and very smooth with the corners being taken in text-book style. We decided to stop at Old Fort Point at the edge of Jasper townsite as a storm was on the way. We packed the canoe into its bag and hiked back. It’s pretty easy moving a canoe when it fits into a backpack!
A fun trip which we shall do again shortly as it has a few challenging areas to practice canoeing techniques such as catching eddy’s, dodging rocks, etc.