Lower Missinaibi

Lower Missinaibi – 1976 by Tim Kotcheff

In the Cree language, Missinaibi means ‘pictured waters’. It is thought the name derived from the red ochre images painted on rock faces along the river.

It is described as one of the longest-free-flowing unimpeded stretches of wilderness river in Ontario – 755 kilometres in total running northeast from Missinaibi Lake north of Chapleau and emptying into the Moose River which drains into James Bay. In fur trade days the Missinaibi was the main route between James Bay and Lake Superior.

Craig and I decided to paddle the lower section of the river starting in Mattice and ending in Moosonee – a 316 kilometre route that would takes us to the edge of James Bay near the Arctic circle.

We reached Cochrane by train on June 17, 1976. Upon arrival, we purchased some fresh food supplies at the local market. Later, we were picked up by the canoe outfitter and trucked about 160 kilometres to Mattice and our launch point on the Missinaibi.

The beginning of our run was uneventful in warm and sunny weather. But we soon encountered our first challenge – the Rocky Island rapids. The water was extremely turbulent and treacherous but manageable. We decided to run it fully loaded. We hit 3 sizeable standing waves and took on about 6 inches of water.

Further downstream, we narrowly missed a large midstream boulder lying inches below the surface but scraped the bottom of the canoe. We went to shore bailed out the canoe and then continued down the river. We were feeling a little rusty since canoeing the Pelly last year but that would soon pass.

We found an excellent campsite for the first night and feasted on steak, peppers, freeze dried carrots, peas and closed with pudding and coffee. Before heading to bed, we played a little backgammon but that night it was tough getting to sleep.

About 1:00 am we heard fish jumping in the river outside our tent which was completely surrounded by fireflies. It was a weird almost mystical experience but we finally nodded off a couple of hours later.

It rained overnight and it was late morning before we hit the water after a hardy breakfast of bacon and eggs, hot chocolate, toast, jam and coffee. This would be our normal start-up meal.

The next set of rapids was a little more intimidating – fast water marked by a veritable rock garden. We decided to portage our equipment first and then practice negotiating the rapids.

In one section we sideswiped a large rock which capsized the canoe trapping it against another rock. It took all our strength to pry it loose before it splintered. The bugs – mosquitoes, flies etc were plentiful. We finally reached a rock ledge and set up camp. It was a beautiful site and completely bug free. The fishing was excellent. We caught pickerel, northern pike and trout and prepared the latter for dinner. While enjoying our meal, we were hit by a major rainfall and were soaked to the skin.

We slept in the next morning and decided to spend another day at the campsite fishing and exploring the surrounding area. In the late afternoon, two canoes pulled up. The paddlers were from Peterborough and New Brunswick. We chatted briefly and then they moved on. We would be meeting them again downstream.

Our destination the next day was Thunder House Falls but for now, it was a long interesting paddle with lots of rapids. A two and a half hour portage was required to reach our campsite overlooking the falls. But it was well worth the effort – the view from this location was spectacular. The four paddlers we met earlier were already there. We were exhausted by the portage and went to bed early.

Thunder House Falls