By Marc Ornstein and Bruce Kemp
I know, I know, this seems like a contradiction in terms, but I assure you, it is not. Read on. I’ll explain just how and why you can have your cake and eat it too.
Most often, when I suggest paddling upstream, I’m met with doubtful, even bewildered, looks, or worse. “Why would you want to do THAT?” “Sounds like a lot of work.” “I want to see more of the river.” “We’ll spend all day going no place.” These and more are common reactions. But there are some good reasons why an up-and-back paddling trip might be a worthwhile option.
From a practical standpoint, the need for a shuttle and all of the attendant logistics and time allowance is entirely eliminated. You and your companions can just arrive at the put in and go. Or of course you can go by yourself if that’s your cup of tea, or if all of your paddling pals are otherwise engaged on that day.
For many paddlers smaller rivers and creeks, with their narrow and twisting bends, hold a particular charm and challenge. If a given stream is new to you, or if it is a familiar one but there is a fair chance that stream conditions may have changed since the last time you paddled it, it may be more prudent to do an up and back trip rather than to simply head downstream. What do you do, on a downstream trip, when you’re surprised by a dangerous sweeper? Do you risk running it, because there isn’t a good walk-around? Or when impassable blockages become numerous and increasingly difficult (and tiresome) to negotiate or portage around? If for any one of a variety of reasons turning back isn’t a viable option, then you’re committed to continuing on to get to your shuttle vehicle at the take out– no matter what you may find ahead, or how long it may take you to get there. If you’re paddling upstream and you come upon a dangerous situation, or a blockage that would be difficult to portage past, you can always turn around and go back.
Paddling upstream need not be as much work as you might think. Moving water paddlers learn to read the water – spotting areas of greater or lesser flow rate, obstructions lurking just below the surface, eddies – and to use these to their advantage. Those same river reading skills and natural features are just as useful when going upstream, and maybe more so. Taking advantage of the relatively slacker water inside bends, moving from side to side in the stream; hopping the eddies behind small points or obstructions; anticipating, and compensating for, the swifter current that will grab the bow when you round that tight bend.
Using this imaginary river as a guide, let’s work our way upstream…
We’ll begin in the slow water, behind turn #1. We’ll hug the right bank (to our left, since we are facing upstream) until we meet the fast water, coming off the point. We’ll then side slip or ferry into the slack water on river left (our right side) and follow that up to point #2. A short sideslip to the center of the stream will put us in the eddy behind the rock. Here we can sit a moment while contemplating our next move. From our vantage point behind the rock we can see another eddy behind the log on river right so we slide to our left, far enough to clear the rock, punch out a short, uncorrected forward stroke, followed by one or two cross forwards and we’re sitting comfortably in the eddy, below the log. A few sculls with the paddle and we’re to the end of the log where (if we’re paddling on the right) a couple of sweeping forward strokes will take us into the slow water along the bank at #3. If we’re paddling on the left, perhaps a couple of sweeping cross forwards (or maybe a forward followed by a brief post and another forward) will do the trick.
This game can go on until we’ve reached our destination, run out of time or simply decided it was time to head back down. On the downstream run, we can use all of our tricks to stay in the faster water and dodge the obstructions. Warning: Most strainers will be located on the outside of turns, where the faster water runs. A strainer that escaped notice, on the way up, may present a hazard on the way down. Don’t race blindly around the outside of a bend. If in doubt, stay toward the center, go slow and be prepared to stop.
Side slips, axles, posts, wedges, accurate forwards (including their cross variants) are the tools needed to play this game. Combined with good water reading skills, a whole new world of stream paddling is opened to us. The more we practice, the easier and more fun it becomes.
We teach the basic maneuvers at all of our canoe symposiums. At the Pine Barrens Function Freestyle Workshop we concentrate on the maneuvers most suitable to stream travel. We include river reading and we put it all to use, on beautiful Pine Barrens rivers.
https://freestylecanoeing.com/pine-barrens-workshop/
Any stream that one paddles routinely becomes very familiar. You come to know its look, its shape, and its moods. Paddling that same stream in the other direction, one finds that it presents a very different prospect. You do get a very different look at the river and the scenery, in each direction. It’s all familiar, but in many ways new at the same time. I’m amazed how often I see things on the return trip which I had missed completely on the way up.
And with proper technique and the right stream, you may find that you have covered the same – or nearly the same – total distance in the same time that you would have by simply heading downstream, especially when you factor in the shuttle time.
With knowledge and the proper techniques, going upstream, in some situations, doesn’t use much more energy than going downstream.
It’s fun and a new challenge. With skill and practice, there can be great satisfaction in this game of hide and seek with the current. Once mastered, it opens up a new realm of possible trips.
Note: These techniques work best on meandering streams with mild to moderate current. On relatively straight, featureless streams, you’ll find fewer opportunities to avoid fighting the downstream current.