Have you ever wanted to go over the rapids of the great Ottawa River / Kichi Sibi?
Experience the rush of water and serene peace of tree lined corridors? Feel safe, content + exhilarated?
World-class adventure is just a drive away at OWL Rafting – white water rafting for everyone!
Hi, I’m Morgan Mercury – an Ottawa-based drag king, and creator of Fairy Cowboy Tours, (queer history of Ottawa walks, talks and bikes). I’m partnering with Rainbow Registered to highlight queer friendly businesses and organizations in the national capital region.
First stop – OWL Rafting in Foresters Falls, ON, part of the Ontario Highlands region, just an hour and a half drive outside of downtown Ottawa.
It’s early morning, aka 6:30 AM – YIKES.
As a drag king, I work in nightlife – my sleep schedule is usually getting up closer to 10am. But today is worth waking up for – I’m going RAFTING!
Starting with a scenic drive through the Ottawa Valley, I arrive at 8:05 AM at the gorgeous OWL Rafting facilities, taking in cutie cabins for overnight stays, an inviting beach with kayaks, and a spacious pavilion for meals and gathering. After checking in, I head over to the briefing – where our raft trip leader shares lots of info about how to stay safe on the water, emphasizing a “challenge by choice” model, with low, medium and high intensity routes down the rapids. It gave me a lot of confidence and knowledge about what to expect and mitigated any fears of falling in!
We suited up in wetsuits, (the water was still pretty chilly in early June), lifejackets, helmets, (I attached a mini cowboy hat to mine), and grabbed a paddle. To complete the look, I wore a pink tutu and rainbow jacket. After a short drive to the put-in, the rafts are loaded off the bus, and ready to be floated down the river!
The rest of the folks who were in my boat were all from out of Canada (Germany, Belgium and the UK) – demonstrating how world-class Ottawa River rapids are. We paddled together through seven different rapids, the waters splashing and spinning our boat with teasing power. For the biggest rapid of the day (which was a little too scary for me!), we refuelled with some trail mix and juice on the shore, watching the daredevils in the rushing foaming waves, bouncing amidst the rocks and trees.
The best part of the day for me was seeing my favourite bird, a great blue heron, fly overhead and indulging in a post-paddle photoshoot and deliciousm, chicken barbeque meal on the pontoon boat.
As a Rainbow Registered business, OWL Rafting has demonstrated diligence and effort with making their space safe and inclusive to queer folks of all identities. In the past, I have felt nervous about appearing too queer to fit into a more sports/active space. In a lot of outdoor sports spaces, the male/female binaries are very rigid, which makes it a challenge to see myself in outdoor sports as a non-binary/gender-fluid person.
Jill from OWL Rafting shared that being Rainbow Registered provides OWL Rafting with a platform through which they can explicitly demonstrate their commitment to inclusivity, and that it also holds them accountable with best practices to support the queer community.
“Historically, urban centres have been places where it’s maybe easier to gravitate towards queer communities. But in this region which is relatively rural, I was taking a look at the map functionality on the Rainbow Registered website, and it’s cool to see all these little businesses popping up. It’s this warm cozy feeling that all of these establishments have taken that step to be really loud about the fact that they want queer people in their spaces, and just making this region in general, the Ottawa Valley and the Ontario Highlands, more accessible as well.”
All of the OWL Rafting staff were wonderful, with so much knowledge and passion about rafting and the river. All of the interactions I had were so kind, welcoming and chill – special shoutout to Alex our guide! The overall rafting experience was well-spaced, (some nice easy paddling in between rapids), and well-supported by the staff – the comfort and safety of participants is key. I left wanting more – MORE paddling, rafting and experiences with the river!
After grabbing a snack for the road from the OWL Cafe, checking out all the cool sunglasses at the merch shop, and waving goodbye to the three pigs who live near the staff area – I headed back along the dusty two-lane highway to bustling Ottawa.
“Rafting at the heart of it, is all about breaking down barriers in terms of accessing the river. [..] We [OWL Rafting] feel super lucky to be in a position to be able to introduce folks to the river.”
Another beautiful day of being Out in the Capital – check out this video for more on the experience at OWL Rafting and stay tuned for upcoming content from Rainbow Registered!
Watch the full video of Morgan’s experience:
