From there, it was a little over a half hour to paddle to the top of Petit Chute du Diable, a technical CII drop through a narrowing in the river. We got out on the left to scout the rapid. The main channel run looked doable however Hap's notes cautioned about a tight needle to thread between a couple of boulders about halfway through. We could spot the rock in question from our scouting location and the water was quite pushy there. We erred on the side of caution and decided to meet the rapid halfway. 

We would do a bit of rapid running and a bit of lining through this one. We ran the top part section moving centre to left next to a huge boulder in the center of the run. About halfway down, we eddied out on RL, lined for 25 meters or so through some boulders, and then ran the bottom third. In lower water, we probably would have had to line it all, but then again, in lower water, we probably just would have run the center to thread the needle as the push would be lighter and the eye of the needle easier to spot. I turned to snap a shot of the last part of this Petit Chute du Diable from below once we were through it. Most of the rapid is around the corner to the left in the photo. 

We continued downriver and ran an easy CI through the centre of the river on the way to the next big drop in the river, Die Hard Rapids. Now, I don't know if it was the name of these rapids, or Hap's description of them being a " CIII Classic Boulder Crunch" but we erred on the side of caution and decided to portage them. Part of me really wanted to try the run, however. What stopped me from doing the run was that it looked to be one of those rapids where you needed to carefully pick your way through a series of large waves and rocks. There were some large CIII waves at the top of the run and a formidable minefield of rock and waves at the bottom. At lower water levels, I think I would have given it a go with the waves a little smaller and the rocks a bit easier to see. Looking back at the photos as I'm writing this, I wish I would have tried it. It looks fun!

The portage on river-right was quite short and easy, so that also helped us make our decision to take the portage. It emerged at a sandy beach area to the right of the rapids behind a wall of boulders. 

After bringing our canoe and gear to the beach, we opened up our food barrel and made some peanut butter and honey wraps before putting back into the river. 

As we were enjoying our lunch, a very unexpected thing happened! We suddenly heard a tremendous noise behind us and out of nowhere a black helicopter, barely 20' over the water's surface, flew at an incredible speed above us. I mean, we could feel the wind from it, that's how close it was. It surprised the living you-know-what out of us! It was flying so fast, it was gone in seconds. Dad and I just stood there looking at each other for a minute or two before both exclaiming, "What the...", well, you can imagine how that exclamation ended. Being fairly close to the military base at Petawawa, we assumed the chopper was on a training exercise from the base. I mean, who else would have a black helicopter like that?

But, wait a tick! We were at "Die Hard" Rapids! Could it have been Bruce Willis flying the chopper? I know he's older now, but he's Unbreakable. I bet he's in his 5th Element flying a chopper. I might be wrong, but I have a 6th Sense about these things. Ok...sorry...Armageddon really silly with these puns. I should be punished. I could repent and join a secluded ancient convent, but that probably won't teach me anything. You know...old habits, Die Hard. 

We put in and ran the swifts below Die Hard Rapids. I turned and took a shot of the frothy madness of the final drop from below. 

Below Die Hard Rapids, the Coulonge calms down for 20 kilometres or so. For this section, Hap advises the canoeist to"put your feet up on the gunwales and sink into a state of cerebral wanderings." Hap has an awesome way with words. 

While we didn't quite put our feet up, this river section does invite the canoeist to engage in some quiet contemplation. The steady current pushed us along swiftly, yet calmly, and the scenery was lovely. The forested bends in the river amongst sandy banks interspersed with occasional rock formations was a pleasant paddling experience. Hap was, once again, right. The occasional recreational structure here and there adorning the banks were the only vestiges of civilization. 

While there were some sandy sand spits at some bends on which we could have camped, we were intending on spending the night at Rapides Enrages. We arrived at those in less than three hours after paddling away from Die Hard Rapids. 

Enrages in a very interesting drop in the river. The left bank is dominated by a rocky cliff that gives the run the feeling of being in a gorge somewhat. The river splits into different channels, each going over a falls. For those trying the run to the top of the chutes, Hap's proposed route would involve taking the main channel at river-left, running a rocky CII at the top, an eddy out on the far left to run another CII adjacent to the cliff, and another eddy out on the left next to the wall. From there, he offers two options. The first would be to front ferry to the far right of the main channel to line down RR, lift over a ledge, continue lining to the top of the chutes, and carry past the chutes at the bottom. The other would be to continue to run the river on the left over a CIII ledge and then immediately get over to the far right to portage past the chutes before going over them. 

We thought it would just be safer and easier to admire the chutes and beautiful scenery from the portage trail. 

We took out on the right above it all at a road. From there, it was a quick walk on the road before heading down a trail that diverged from the road to the left and closer to the river. Here are a couple of shots of the CII drop next to the wall at the top of Enrages near the take-out.   

The following photo is the point where the Coulonge splits into separate channels near the top of Enrages. 

We walked the entire trail first without any gear to compare the campsite at the top with the one at the bottom. It was no comparison --  the one at the bottom was far superior in terms of space and view. Besides, we wanted to carry our gear across first and not worry about starting the next day with a portage. 

We found the portage trail past Enrages to be the most difficult en route; however, as portage trails go, it wasn't too bad at all. There was only one challenging incline toward the very end leading to the campsite at the bottom. There was an option to put in at the far-right channel of the river to bypass that section, but the channel was too rocky and shallow to run it cleanly. We thought it easier to just continue carrying. 

Here is a shot of the bottom of that channel. 

Further up that same far-right channel was a pretty waterfall.

The one thing about the campsite we were planning to stay at was that there was a road leading up to it. There was an information board on the road leading to the site suggesting that the place was in all likelihood a popular spot and frequently visited. There was already a car parked at the top of the rapids with a couple of dudes milling about checking out the area. Such a pretty spot with car access was bound to attract visitors and we were hoping to have our campsite to ourselves. So far, we had not encountered another canoe party on the trip and had only seen a couple of groups on the banks further upriver. We were getting selfish with our solitude! 

After our first walk to our campsite, we decided to walk the road route back to our gear at the take-out to see if it would be easier than the portage trail. We discovered that it wasn't because it was easily over 1000 meters in length. The trail was less than half that distance. 

After getting all of our gear to our site, we set up camp and collected a bunch of firewood. Blue skies began to emerge and the sun attempted to poke through the cloud cover for the first time since Day 1 of the trip. This immediately lifted our spirits. The view of the chutes and the sandspit across the river from our site was fantastic. 

While looking for firewood on the hill behind the site, I came across a collection of rocks meticulously arranged on a mound of earth. It was curious. Was it a flowerbed or garden from days gone by? Was it an old latrine spot? Was it a grave site?!? I really wanted to know...the suspense was killing me. 

I convinced myself that it was a gravesite. The thought of this confirmed the location's popularity...people were just dying to get in there. I just hoped anyone coming down that road knew that it led to a dead end. 

Sorry...I can't resist a little dark humour now and again. It helps bring relief to a gravely serious situation. I just hoped that the place wasn't haunted, and if it were, that the ghost had exorcised all its demons. Or maybe the spirit of the deceased was reborn into a new body. After all, I hear that reincarnation is making a comeback these days.  Eventually, I discovered an engraved tombstone nearby. It read, "Doug Grave".

We went for a swim in the river to wash off the grime of the day, got a nice fire going, and enjoyed a fantastic dinner and tipple of whiskey next to the fire in the evening.