Swampy Bay River

In 1989 we paddled with Dave and Ann on the Swampy Bay River from Schefferville to Kuujjuaq. It was a scenic and remote feeling trip. We ran into a few people at a fly-in fishing camp but saw no other canoeists.

The fishing for brook trout and lake trout was excellent.

On the fourth or fifth day out from Schefferville, Ann got up just before sunrise to start the breakfast fire. We heard the snapping of twigs in the bush and Ann quietly said "caribou.” We were in the middle of the migrating herd. They were walking around our campsite and we had to slow down while padding the rapids because we didn't want to spook them. We saw thousands of caribou during the next several days while on the river and in camp. At one campsite, they walked right next to our tents all night long. We could hear the clicking of their ankle bones as they walked.

We portaged two major canyons and numerous ledges and steep drops but also had miles of runnable rapids before the Swampy Bay spilled into the Caniapiscau River. After the junction of the Larch River we were on the Koksoak, which took us to Kuujjuaq and a flight back home. The canoes stayed in Kuujjuaq until early fall when they were shipped to Montreal on a freighter.