South Branch, upper Clyde River

 

South Branch, 7.5 km track

The South Branch of the upper Clyde River can probably only be paddled in the early spring by canoe – there are beaver dams to hop over. Today’s paddle was my second (or third) paddle up the South Branch, so I knew what to expect. From the Clyde Forks Road culvert, you can paddle about 3.5 km up the south branch through various river conditions. It’s about one kilometre to the first dam, and this river stretch is mostly a marsh with various vegetation areas to navigate around. This year, the first dam was relatively high and had to be jumped. But, before hopping the dam, I was excited to see a few River Otters playing on some logs just above the dam.

River Otters

Painted Turtle

After Dam 1, it’s a forested area with clear river paddling to the next beaver dam (1 km). At Dam 2, a channel led me to bypass the dam, but I still had to exit the canoe over a bank area (a good spot for a break). I explored the side channel/marsh towards Peterson Creek before continuing up the last navigable kilometre of the south branch. At 300m past the transmission line, you come to some rocks/rapids. At this point, the K&P trail is only 100m to the north. Next time, a walk to the K&P trail would be fun – don’t get lost!

Rusty Blackbird (a bit rare)

Yellow-rumped Warbler

The return paddle (downstream) was fun. I was able to paddle over Dam 2, but Dam 1 had to be jumped. At Dam 1, I took a break in some side channels and spotted a few bird species, including a Rusty Blackbird. Then, it was back through the marshy area and home.

	I paddled through on the way down
End of the road (rocks & rapids)