Clinton News-Record, 1987-12-09, Page 21RECREEITIO M
linton News -Record
IV:011114MATI MAT1IF: [ 1A sTASPARI TOWRA$'iIY.I,6MI(Ae''S
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 9, 1987
SECOND SECTION
Clinton. man paddles 'gti(1 miles
By David Emslie
For many people, a summer vacation
night consist of camping trip, or a nice
.elaxing stay at a resort of their choice.
This was not true of Doug Rhude of ani-
on though, as he embarked on a canoe trip
of approximately 280 miles down the
Nahanni River in the North West
Territories.
Mr. Rhude explained they started plann-
ng for their July trip in December of 1986
vhen he was approached by Bill Rowe and
3ruce Brogden. As neither of these two
)addlers was terribly experienced at white
water paddling, they asked Mr. Rhude to
:ome along.
"They were determined they wanted to
;o. We booked the plane, and looked for
more people," Mr. Rhude said.
The next to join the group was Jerry
Plum, a gentleman who hadn't paddled in
a number of years. The last to enlist were
Gwen McKinnon and Dave Grant from the
London Canoe Club, an organization Mr.
Rhude also belongs to.
"They were pretty well committed by
March. We had our six people," said Mr.
Rhude, adding that six was the ideal
number economically as the plane they
had to take held six people and three
canoes.
Before embarking on their trip, the
group had to gather the proper equipment.
As most were relatively seasoned canoers,
not too much new equipment had to be
bought. Sorne items such as dry packs and
clothing to keep the paddlers dry and
warm were purchased though.
"We needed something for the extreme
cold of the water, we needed some protec-
tion," Mr. Rhude said of some of their new
equipment.
Also taken along on the trip were special
white water canoes, made from ABS
plastic, which were designed to maneuver
well and to carry a lot of weight.
Enough food for 21 days was packed in
one day portions. Those carrying the food
on any given day were also the designated
cooks for the day.
Rather than taking along canned or
packaged food, the paddlers went with
mostly bulk foods. "We took lentils,
pastas, flour. We had a lot of good spices.
It (food) wasn't drab at all," Mr. Rhude
said.
To help in the preparation of this food a
little oven was taken along, and the group
was able to bake such food as bread, snack
cakes and cookies.
Mr. Rhude commented, "One of the en-
joyable parts of the trip was seeing who
baked the best bread."
Lightweight nylon tents and a large tarp
rounded out their list of supplies.
After packing up all of their gear, the
group took off for Fort Simpson at 2 a.m.
on July 18. While they were expecting to
leave in the morning, after getting all
packed they decided to take off that night.
This first part of their trip, taken in a
t,
The paddlers' trip was a very scenic one as they travelled down the Nahanni River. In
this photo is Rabbit Kettle Lake.
van, lasted about 70 hours. Crossing the
border at Detroit, they came back into
Canada near Alberta, and headed straight
up to Fort Simpson.
In Fort Simpson a hired plane was load-
ed with all of their gear and canoes, and
the group flew to Moose Ponds, the head-
waters of the Nahanni River.
The river, which starts up in the Rocky
Mountains, is named from an Indian word
which means "people over there."
Mr. Rhude explained they wanted to
start at the headwaters of the river
because the most exciting rapids, called
the Rock Gardens, begin there.
"We really wanted to go up there to do
the white water. That was close to 70 or 80
miles. It was a real highlight," he said, ad-
ding that they ran most of the rapids, but
in one area there were just too many
rocks.
Although the most exciting rapids were
run during the first 70 or 80 miles of their
trip, the rest of the trip did not prove to be
anti -climactic.
For one thing, the paddlers had to con-
tend with very different daylight hours.
Mr. Rhude noted, "About midnight, it was
reasonably dark, and by about 3 o'clock, it
started getting light again."
With the different daylight hours, the
group discovered that 'the temperatures
got the hottest around 6 p.m.
Aside from paddling, they also found
some very nice places to hike along the
way. One such area was Mount Wilson,
which proved to be a fairly difficult hike
because there were no paths, and they
didn't know if they would end up sliding
back down the mountain.
Another hike took them up Sun Blood
Mountain, where they could look down on
Virginia Falls. These falls are approx-
imately 90 metres high, twice the height of
Niagara Falls.
"There are hikes all the way along.
That's why I'd like to do it again, just to do
some of the things we didn't do," Mr.
Rhude commented.
The wildlife along the way also added to
the group's enjoyment of the trip. Five
bears were sighted by the group, with four
black bears and one grizzly being spotted.
In fact, one morning they woke up to find
bear tracks going right through their camp
sight.
Two moose were also sighted, along with
an elk, some dall sheep, a couple of
beavers and a bald eagle at its nest, which
held baby eagles.
One other piece of nature the group en-
joyed were the hot springs. Mr. Rhude
pointed out that it was nice to finally have
a bath in the springs after being out for six
days.
While the trip had many good high points
for the paddlers, there was also one .tense
moment when Mr. Rowe and Mr. Brogden
dumped in a fast moving area where there
was a log island in the middle.
"The canoe upset, and the water was for-
cing them under. They both got out, for-
tunately. I was scared, I was really
scared. That was the worst part. That was
the most tense part."
The same pair also dumped in some
rapids, but their companions threw them
ropes and got them out.
Without pushing themselves to hard, the
paddlers completed their trip in 16 days.
They had allowed themselves 21 days to
finish. Averaging approximately 20 miles
a day, the most they travelled in one day
was probably 40 miles, Mr. Rhude said.
He summed up his feelings for the
journey when he stated, "It was a pretty
good trip; pretty spectacular."
Compared to a regular vacation, Mr.
Rhude said their trip was probably
cheaper. While they were gone for over
three weeks, it cost each member of the
expedition only $1,100.
"We really did well. I haven't heard of
anyone doing it as cheaply," he said.
Although it was an enjoyable trip, they
were glad to get home when it was all
done. "We had enough. By the last few
days, by the time we hit the last ranger
station, we had 40 miles of flat water. I was
glad to get it over with," he stated.
However, Mr. Rhude is planning to
make the trip again. "I'm definitey going
to do it again sometime," he said, adding
that he has applied to a company that
guides tours through the area.
In order to join the Trail Head company,
Mr. Rhude will be taking one more trip
down the Nahanni, and then he will have to
be licenced by the park.
"I think it would be great to do it again,"
he said.
A hike to Rabbit Kettle Lake was one side -
trip the paddlers decided to take. They set
up their campsite at the lake, which is at the
entrance of Nahanni National Park. In the
foreground is Jerry Plum, and in they
background is Dave Grant (left) and Gwen
McKinnon.
These rapids, known as Lafferty's Riffle, were in one of the ca-
nyons cut out of the rock by the Virginia Falls. Paddling here are
Bill Rowe and Doug Rhode.
Joey MacDonald leads
Novice Selects to a win
With four goals and two assists, Joey
MacDonald led the Clinton Novice Selects
to a 9-1 win over Mitchell on December 5.
Joey started off Clinton's scoring with
only 22 seconds gone in the game. He
scored again at the 1:12 mark, then once
again at the 6:27 mark of the first to give
Clinton a 3-0 lead at the end of one period of
play.
The shots on goal after one were Clinton
6, Mitchell 6.
The Selects carried their good play into
the second period as Tyson Miller put one
away with just four minutes gone to give
Clinton a 9-0 lead. Joey MacDonald
assisted on that goal.
Less than a minute later Joey scored his
fourth goal of the game off an assist from
Trevor Burma.
The score at the end of the second period
was Clinton 5 and Mitchell 2. Clinton had
seven shots on net, and Mitchell had two.
Clinton's Chad Chipchase was the first to
score in the third period with an unassisted
marker.
Mitchell was finally able to get on the
scoreboard at the 6:32 mark of the third
period.
Clinton's Trevor Buruma was the next
one to score, assisted by Joey MacDonald.
Then, two minutes later, Jeff Lobb tucked
one in. Assisting were Trevor Buruma and
Darryl DeRuyter.
Just 30 seconds later Clinton's Steven
King popped one in. He was assisted by
Chad Chipchase.
The final score of the game stood at 9-1 in
Clinton's favor. Clinton had 16 shots on
goal in the third, compared to four from
Mitchell.
Clinton's goaltender, Matt Wieckowski,
gave the team a fine game, allowing only
one of 12 shots into the net.
The action was intense around the net during the third period of the C Division champion-
ship at the Clinton Arena on december 8. The game was won by LMHA out of London by
a 24 score over Tavistock. The teams were participating hi the Clinton Optim'ist's 8th An-
nual Bantam Tournament. (David Bindle photo)
Re dmen
start
out strong
By Jeff Howson
The 1987-88 Huron Perth Hockey season
has begun and the Central Huron Secon-
dary School (CHSS) have come out strong.
The team has 11 returning players along
with 10 new players this year. Returning
are: Jeff McLean, Dan McDougall, Larry
Hunking, Dean Laurie, Mike Radford, Jeff„
Jewitt, Drew Allen, Steve Vandendool,
Jamie Gibbings, Greg Falconer and Brent
Radford.
Joining the team this year are: Jason
Cox, Jason Fleet, Jim Crawford, Dean
Martin, Kriss Snell, Bryan Beattie, Craig
Caldwell, Paul Hoggart, Mike Henry and
Jeff Weber.
Last year's Redmen team was not very
successful as their only competition, F.E.
Madill, beat them in all six of their games.
They were entered in two tournaments
and at the one in Kitchener they lost to a
strong Toronto school and to Kitchener
Collegiate.
At the second tournament, held in
Wingham, the Redmen won their only
game of the season,
The outlook for this year has changed,
though. The Redmen came out and beat
South Huron in two consecutive games.
The first game, played in Clinton, was
won by a 5-4 score. Dean Laurie led the
team with two goals, and Larry Hunking
had a goal and an assist. The other goal
scorers were Jeff McLean and Dean
Martin.
In their second game of the season,
again against the South Huron Panthers,
the Redmen came out on top 7-4. Larry
Hunking and Dean Martin each scored a
pair, while Dean Laurie, Dan McDougall
and Jeff Jewitt all had one goal each. Mike
Henry played a strong game in net.
On December 4 the Redmen travelled to
Wingham to play against the F.E. Madill
Mustangs. Here the Redmen faced their
first loss of the season with an 8-7 defeat.
The Redmen came out strong and led 3-0
after the first period, but then their luck
changed and Madill came flying back late
in the second and in the third period.
Clinton's goals were scored by Dean
Laurie with two, Dean Martin, Mike Rad-
ford, Steve Vandendool, Jeff Jewitt and
Jeff McLean.
Once again Mike Henry played a very
strong game, facing 53 shots.
The Redmen won't be playing again un-
til after Christmas, but January looks busy
for them as they are entered in two tour-
naments. They will be playing in London
on January 16 and 17, and in Wingham on
January 28 and 29.
Pee Wees
notch four
victories
On November 26 the Clinton Pee Wees
toppled Mitchell Hawks 6-4.
Clinton opened up the scoring in the first
period at the 1:49 mark when Rob Consitt
found Lee Gibbings in front of the net for a
beautiful tip in goal.
At 8:53 Shawn Chipchase made it 2-0
when his blast eluded the outstretched arm
of the Mitchell goalie. The play started
when Jason Carter passed to Mark Liver-
more in the corner, who then fed Chip -
chase in the slot area for the booming shot.
Goals by Mitchell's Jody Eidt and Mike
Hodgert knotted the score at 2-2 in the se-
cond stanza. But late in the period, with on-
ly 36 seconds showing on the clock, Clin-
ton's Mark Livermore scored on a scram-
ble in front of the net. Scott Rathwell drew
the only assist on the play.
In the third period, Rob Consitt's
breakaway goal at 1:54 gave Clinton a 4-2
advantage. He broke away at centre ice
and put a beautiful deke on the goalie.
As the period wound down Mitchell tied
the game at 4-4 with two minutes left as
they scored two goals within a span of one
minute.
As they had done a couple of other times
this year, the local boys bounced back and
Rob Consitt's second goal of the game,
with 1:13 left, proved to be the winner.
Scott Jewitt deserved full credit on the
play as his long lead pass found Consitt in
the clear for the goal.
With 10 seconds left in the game. Scott
Jewitt put the icing on the cake as he con-
verted a Jason Carter pass from close in.
Clinton's goalie, Derek Hoggarth,
jplayed a very strong game in goal even
though he was beaten four times.
Clinton 6 - Lucknow 2
On Novernber 27 Clinton travelled to
Lucknow to play an exhibition game
against the northern crew. The gaine was
rugged at times, withlots of solid body -
checking, but Clinton downed Lucknow 6-2.
Goalie David lo7ahrgang turned in a
stellar performance between the pipes.
In the first period Lucknow struck very
quickly as Chris Stevenson scored with on-
ly 14 seconds gone. Clinton's Scott Jewitt
got that one back at 2:21 as he combined on
some beautiful passing with linernates
Danny Wildfong and Mark Livermore.
Before the first period ended Stevenson
restored Lucknow's lead at 2-1.
In the second period Mark King's blue
line shot was tipped in by Shawn Chip -
chase at 6:01 to tie the score at 2-2.
A minute later Scott Jewitt gave Clinton
a 3-2 lead when he went in all alone from
centre ice to deke the goalie. Mark Liver-
more's long'lead cross ice pass had found
Jewitt in the clear for the break away.
Turn to page 2A