Leaf River (Quebec)
Leaf River (French: Rivière aux Feuilles; Inuktitut: Kuugaaluk (the large river) or Itinniq (where there are spring tides)) is a river in northern Quebec, Canada, at the northern limit of the tree line. It flows from Lake Minto northeast through the Ungava Peninsula into Leaf Bay off Ungava Bay over a distance of 480 kilometres (300 mi). At the head of Leaf Bay is the Inuit community of Tasiujaq.
The Leaf River herd of Barren-ground Caribou is one of the world's largest, estimated at close to a half-million animals.
It is possible to paddle the whole length of the Leaf River (with caution) without portaging - it doesn't contain impassable waterfalls or non-navigable rapids. The length of the river measured from Charpentier Bay to Tasiujaq is 320 kilometres (200 mi); if measured from first descernable current, it is 288 kilometres (179 mi).
The ice-free period on the river is short: about sixty days. That implies a quite low average daily temperature in the summer (approx. 10°C) generally accompanied by rain (or snow) and wind. In short, it is an environment where hypothermia can easily occur.
Read more about Leaf River (Quebec): Tributaries, History
Famous quotes containing the words leaf and/or river:
“Once they came on a maple in a glade,
Standing alone with smooth arms lifted up,
And every leaf of foliage she’d worn
Laid scarlet and pale pink about her feet.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“We are bare. We are stripped to the bone
and we swim in tandem and go up and up
the river, the identical river called Mine
and we enter together. No one’s alone.”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)