my name's Ken white I'm a world champion
whitewater paddler and I've led trips
and taught hiking around the world as an
athlete and Explorer
my lifelong passion has been to
challenge myself meet interesting new
people discover beautiful places and
share these experiences with others this
is the story of these adventures
this is tattletales hey everyone I'm Ken
whiting and here we are again with
another episode of paddle tales it's a
series that explores some of the most
amazing places in the world and goes on
cool paddling adventures along the way
now in this episode we're going to
explore a land that's filled with rivers
lakes and mountains by whitewater kayak
and by sea kayak but before we get
started please subscribe to paddle TV if
you haven't already so that you get
notified the next time an episode goes
live now in this episode we're heading
to another place that can best be
described as a wilderness paradise with
beautiful rolling hills countless lakes
and wild rivers it's a region that
features endless opportunities for
outdoor adventure along with one of
Canada's top adventure sport
destinations in this episode of paddle
tales were exploring the Laurentians
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sandwiched between Canada's capital city
of Ottawa and the never sleepy city of
Montreal the Laurentians known as de la
Conte by French Canadians takes its name
from the chain of mountains that run
through it although it's the most
accessible region of Quebec it's a land
with an amazing amount of ecological
diversity and wide-open spaces
smack dab in the center of the region
Motum la is a resort town that draws
countless visitors and for good reason
it's a beautiful and lively place but
although it's probably the most popular
destination in the Laurentian z-- there
are so many other places worth exploring
in the area looking to get off the
beaten track a bit my adventures are
getting started at Lac plus all blown a
regional park with incredible canoe and
kayak camping to show me around I'm
meeting up with Fabian half a a local
paddler who loves exploring the world by
kayak as much as I do
this is a pretty big lake and I love how
many different islands there are it's uh
yeah almost a maze of islands right it's
amazing actually it's a thirty
kilometres long four kilometers wide
more than 80 islands but we have the
opportunity to camp on about thirty five
and there is about 45 camping sites oh
wow
some private islands I don't know I just
like to see summer time it's busy I mean
all the islands are occupied by people
now better you don't see them
no no that's the amazing thing is yeah
you do there's a lot of vehicles in the
parking lot but this is not a lot of
traffic out here
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although lack puss on blonde is
definitely a beautiful lady it's beauty
isn't what makes it unique because the
Laurentians are packed with gorgeous
lakes and rivers what's so awesome about
it is how accessible they've made it you
don't need to be a hardcore canoeist or
kayaker to enjoy the place in fact you
can rent canoes kayaks or paddle boards
and you can even have your luggage
delivered to and from your campsite now
I can tell you there was definitely a
time when I would have laughed at the
idea of someone carrying my gear to camp
for me but age has delivered more than
an aching back and a redistribution of
body hair it's also come with the
acceptance that there's nothing wrong
with giving up a little bit of the hard
core to make your adventures a little
cozier
what I love about a lake like this is
that you can all pretty much take
anything you want out here you know it's
it's big so if it was windy you know
it'd be nice to be in a kayak but even
in a canoe there's so many islands you
always can stay sheltered behind behind
the islands and and find your way it's a
great canoeing Lake great hiking lake
yeah right right and I love hiking but
there's something really cool about
loading all sorts of stuff in a canoe
right I'm showing up a camp with yeah
lawn chairs
yeah right and usually you see people
walk can you in here they have
everything on the candy oh yeah it's
been an absolutely amazing day on the
water and it's only getting more
beautiful as the Sun starts its final
descent but our stomachs are starting to
rumble and so we're both excited to get
to camp to get dinner going in to wind
down for the night
tell you what the only things better
than a good day of paddling is finishing
a good day of paddling camping on an
island
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although we had a beautiful time on lock
+ on blah one of the things the
Laurentians is well known for is having
great white water and so next on the
list is a trip to the Rouge River one of
the most popular whitewater rivers in
Eastern Canada at home to new world
rafting new world has been running trips
on the Rouge for 38 years and offers
both high and low adventure rafting
experiences depending on what you're
after but what new world is really proud
of is the experience and passion of
their guides many of these guides are
lifers who absolutely love sharing the
river experience with people and so they
travel around the world to work on the
best rivers which brings them back here
to the Rouge every spring and summer to
join me for a run down the river I've
met up with Derek clappa a lifelong
river guide and Tiger who knows the
river as well as anyone my name is Derek
Lepke I am a senior river guide on the
Rouge River and had been for about 23
years I showed up here in 1996 looking
for a job I ended up working in the
kitchen and then kind of found it funny
that people were paying people to go
down the river so I thought that was
pretty cool idea
I started going down the river did a lot
of duck eating or sport yakking that
started going down a rap more often and
more kayaking and then by the end of
that season I was guiding a boat and 23
years later I'm still doing it I don't
know
like it I love it I know I guess I love
it yeah you did this for this long
non-stop we were like we're going to be
hundred days over the years it's not
because you like it because you love it
I spent a lot more time now in New
Zealand there is a saying if fuckathon e
that calls go oh it's a a lot C a local
I am the river the river is me it's just
like eight it's more like Keeling I
guess in my case it is a connection or a
symbiosis with something that you have
an affinity with so whether I'm in a
kayak or a raft I just like going down a
river it is probably one of the best
ways to ever travel or discover in the
heart of the country because you could
walk beside a river you could fly over a
river but being within or on the river
you're running through the veins or the
arteries in the country or a continent
[Music]
okay this is it yeah this is the washing
machine section but the real washing
machine is the pit over there are you
going to go into it think about it right
for very non-committal
it's very non-committal it's like it's
actually animals that it's crunchiest
right now and if you hit the washing
machine here some I right could end up
in a spin cycle so bit of a Maytag kind
of thing happening like it and then swim
to the right then there you go swim to
the right yeah if you're not even bows
or your motor
you're nothing to the right if you're
not in your boat keep your battle and
I'll guide your boat
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
well that does it for this episode of
paddle tales thanks for watching I hope
you enjoyed it and if you did please
give it a big thumbs up also leave a
comment down below if you'd like and
subscribe to paddle TV so you get
notified when the next episode goes live
last but not least stay tuned for a
sneak peek at next week's paddle tales
adventure
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next time on paddle tales I'm heading to
the authentic Quebec region a beautiful
and wide-open landscape that offers
incredible access to the natural world
through its two national parks 15
regional parks and three wildlife
reserves will paddle through the winding
marshes of Montcalm la National Park and
then explore the urban paddling around
12 ad air which has one of the most
active paddling scenes that you'll find
anywhere the authentic Quebec region is
a stunning and diverse place and you
won't want to miss it
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